9 is a lucky number. And it's my 9th birthday.
In a certain fantasy series, a man does not get to gain years until he has received his sword. A grown man may refer to himself as being five years old.
Once someone told me of her gay friend who counted the day she came out of the closet as her birthday. She celebrated it as the beginning of her new life.
In China they tell kids at the new year that everyone is now a year older. The new year is celebrated for several days, incidentally ending today-the-27th.
Interesting that it should go from the New Moon to the Full Moon. For today-the-28th is a 100% full Full Moon. (Still a waxing gibbous, according to Google Desktop; a 14.74 day-old moon, but let's not be so anally picky. It's the fully full moon.)
And that bright moon glows over my 9th birthday. According to Master Phan, 9 is a lucky number (as much as he puts stock in such things, which he doesn't much). And the 28th of February is the date on which, 9 years ago, I came home from school, went to get an after-school snack, and said, "Hey, wait!, it's Lent! I think I'll go vegan for Lent this year." Silently I added, "And probably forever after . . . but I don't have to mention that aloud to Mom just yet."
That was the last Lent I ever celebrated.
That day at lunchtime was the last time I knowingly and consensually ate dairy cheese.
(A few mistakes have taken place over the years, but those were always utter mistakes. It's weird what they sneak into things, sometimes!)
I was already a vegetarian.
As Donald Watson [the man who coined "veganism"] would have said, I started with vegetarianism and took it through to its logical conclusion.
So the full moon shines brightly on my ninth birthday! I'll be celebrating the whole lifestyle, taking a shower with animal-friendly toiletries, going out in my newly-polished-with-"100% Vegan No Bull"-brand, non-leather, fashionable boots, dropping by a yarn store with friends and not buying wool or silk yarn, then going out to celebrate with my mother and a boyfriend at a Chinese vegan restaurant and getting, among other delicious delicacies, the chocolate vegan cheesecake that I love so much. Hanging out with my mother whom (if I may put it in these self-centered terms) I made vegan. Who supports me through moments of weakness strain, and whom I support in return. Who guards and loves my two daughters who came from the streets in need of a home, a warm lap, and a soft touch.
Once someone told me of her gay friend who counted the day she came out of the closet as her birthday. She celebrated it as the beginning of her new life.
In China they tell kids at the new year that everyone is now a year older. The new year is celebrated for several days, incidentally ending today-the-27th.
Interesting that it should go from the New Moon to the Full Moon. For today-the-28th is a 100% full Full Moon. (Still a waxing gibbous, according to Google Desktop; a 14.74 day-old moon, but let's not be so anally picky. It's the fully full moon.)
And that bright moon glows over my 9th birthday. According to Master Phan, 9 is a lucky number (as much as he puts stock in such things, which he doesn't much). And the 28th of February is the date on which, 9 years ago, I came home from school, went to get an after-school snack, and said, "Hey, wait!, it's Lent! I think I'll go vegan for Lent this year." Silently I added, "And probably forever after . . . but I don't have to mention that aloud to Mom just yet."
That was the last Lent I ever celebrated.
That day at lunchtime was the last time I knowingly and consensually ate dairy cheese.
(A few mistakes have taken place over the years, but those were always utter mistakes. It's weird what they sneak into things, sometimes!)
I was already a vegetarian.
As Donald Watson [the man who coined "veganism"] would have said, I started with vegetarianism and took it through to its logical conclusion.
So the full moon shines brightly on my ninth birthday! I'll be celebrating the whole lifestyle, taking a shower with animal-friendly toiletries, going out in my newly-polished-with-"100% Vegan No Bull"-brand, non-leather, fashionable boots, dropping by a yarn store with friends and not buying wool or silk yarn, then going out to celebrate with my mother and a boyfriend at a Chinese vegan restaurant and getting, among other delicious delicacies, the chocolate vegan cheesecake that I love so much. Hanging out with my mother whom (if I may put it in these self-centered terms) I made vegan. Who supports me through moments of weakness strain, and whom I support in return. Who guards and loves my two daughters who came from the streets in need of a home, a warm lap, and a soft touch.