I'm still here
In the land of Stephie:
I got a new job. I start next Monday. It's in the graphic design field. I don't have to work in a call center anymore.
I'm still obsessed with knitting. I made 1 pair of socks (and two singles, but we don't really need to discuss my second sock syndrome). I'm now working on a hat to keep my head warm. I know that as soon as I finish it there will be warm weather, and I will be happy about that.
I went to NYC for a week and visited a friend. I made some new friends. I also met some...cyber friends? I guess that's what you'd call them; people that I've known online for a while now. I visited 12 yarn stores in 4 days (I told you; obsessed). I bought a lot of fabulous yarn, and ate some really good Thai.
I've stopped eating eggs and drinking milk. The exception to this is that I'm not worrying about them being cooked in things. The road to veganism seems to be well on it's way. It's really funny cause a little over a year ago I would've said that soy products in general (especially tofu) were pretty gross and made me gag. Now I think about the various meat products that I used to eat, and some that I wouldn't eat but other people do, and all I can think is there's nothing they can make soy look or taste like that can be as gross as some meat products. I mean...it's a plant; it can't be that bad. PS I don't know if I'm really planning on becoming vegan. To really be vegan I'd probably have to give up wool and alpaca and silk. That interferes with the obsession.
I've become so conscious of my impact on the world around me that I visibly cringe when I hear someone say "disposable is always better!" Also when I see tv shows (like home design, etc) that don't recycle...at all. I've been reading No Impact Man and finding it fairly difficult to justify what some would say are necessary purchases, etc. Maybe I'm just finally embracing that dirty hippie I've always figured was there.
Overall I'm feeling like a good person, and that things are falling into place in my life. I had a cathartic moment that maybe no one else will understand, but I'm going to put it out here anyway. A friend and I were talking about yarn, and how "they" have bred sheep over the years to have more folds in their skin so as to get more wool. When they shear the sheep they will nick these folds and many times the skin will become infected requiring them to do this really horribly painful process to keep the sheep from being eaten alive by maggots. She responded with the fact that yarn from bison (yes, you can pretty much make yarn from any animal that has more than 1/2 inch hair/fur) comes from dead bison. That because the hide is so short that they can't brush it (like angora rabbits) or shear it (like sheep). They take the fiber from the hide when the bison is killed for meat. She was utterly appalled by this, stating she'd never buy bison yarn. I just looked at her in a dumbfounded way. I couldn't believe the line she was drawing (considering she had just consumed a rather large portion of beef and was wearing several pieces of leather) as to what was acceptable and what wasn't. So, I asked her where she thought leather came from? She said that was different. When I asked her how it was different she really couldn't give me an answer.
The reason she couldn't give me an answer was because there was no logical answer. That was the line she had drawn in her brain. It's ok to kill cows for meat and leather, but not bison for meat and yarn. (Don't get your knickers in a twist; I'm not saying she's a bad person, etc...just illustrating the point). The reason this was so profound to me is because I realized that I have many of these lines in my life. I'm against animal cruelty, etc yet I eat eggs bought from huge manufacturers that keep chickens in small cages where they can't stand up or extend their wings. I'm against dairy farms that keep their cows hooked up to milking machines for 18+ hours at a time, and feed them growth hormones to keep them lactating yet I still drink milk. I'm against global warming, and yet I drive my car to the 7-11 that's about 2 blocks from my house.
So, I'm trying to...put my money where my mouth is so to speak. Will I ever be completely at one between my beliefs and my actions? I don't know. I'm not perfect by any means. You notice I didn't say I'm vegan now. As much as it just seemed to be a matter of flipping a switch for Nathan; it's really not for me. I can't just will myself to be vegan. Being as no/low impact as possible isn't any easy feat either, and well, I'm lazy. This leads me to the other big thing I'm working on.
I'm doing everything I can to not be so concerned with what other people do. Even when it comes to things that I believe any conscientious human should do (like recycling, etc). I can't change the world. I'm kidding myself if I think I can even change my friend's lifestyles. Not to mention with my catharsis, who am I to be pointing out other people's flaws or shortcomings? So, I'm focusing on my life, and what I can do to make it better (my version of better).
You know what the funny thing about all that is? I feel fulfilled. I feel happy. Much more so than I ever have. It's cool. I feel like I'm doing things and progressing my life in a way that helps me and the world around me.
I got a new job. I start next Monday. It's in the graphic design field. I don't have to work in a call center anymore.
I'm still obsessed with knitting. I made 1 pair of socks (and two singles, but we don't really need to discuss my second sock syndrome). I'm now working on a hat to keep my head warm. I know that as soon as I finish it there will be warm weather, and I will be happy about that.
I went to NYC for a week and visited a friend. I made some new friends. I also met some...cyber friends? I guess that's what you'd call them; people that I've known online for a while now. I visited 12 yarn stores in 4 days (I told you; obsessed). I bought a lot of fabulous yarn, and ate some really good Thai.
I've stopped eating eggs and drinking milk. The exception to this is that I'm not worrying about them being cooked in things. The road to veganism seems to be well on it's way. It's really funny cause a little over a year ago I would've said that soy products in general (especially tofu) were pretty gross and made me gag. Now I think about the various meat products that I used to eat, and some that I wouldn't eat but other people do, and all I can think is there's nothing they can make soy look or taste like that can be as gross as some meat products. I mean...it's a plant; it can't be that bad. PS I don't know if I'm really planning on becoming vegan. To really be vegan I'd probably have to give up wool and alpaca and silk. That interferes with the obsession.
I've become so conscious of my impact on the world around me that I visibly cringe when I hear someone say "disposable is always better!" Also when I see tv shows (like home design, etc) that don't recycle...at all. I've been reading No Impact Man and finding it fairly difficult to justify what some would say are necessary purchases, etc. Maybe I'm just finally embracing that dirty hippie I've always figured was there.
Overall I'm feeling like a good person, and that things are falling into place in my life. I had a cathartic moment that maybe no one else will understand, but I'm going to put it out here anyway. A friend and I were talking about yarn, and how "they" have bred sheep over the years to have more folds in their skin so as to get more wool. When they shear the sheep they will nick these folds and many times the skin will become infected requiring them to do this really horribly painful process to keep the sheep from being eaten alive by maggots. She responded with the fact that yarn from bison (yes, you can pretty much make yarn from any animal that has more than 1/2 inch hair/fur) comes from dead bison. That because the hide is so short that they can't brush it (like angora rabbits) or shear it (like sheep). They take the fiber from the hide when the bison is killed for meat. She was utterly appalled by this, stating she'd never buy bison yarn. I just looked at her in a dumbfounded way. I couldn't believe the line she was drawing (considering she had just consumed a rather large portion of beef and was wearing several pieces of leather) as to what was acceptable and what wasn't. So, I asked her where she thought leather came from? She said that was different. When I asked her how it was different she really couldn't give me an answer.
The reason she couldn't give me an answer was because there was no logical answer. That was the line she had drawn in her brain. It's ok to kill cows for meat and leather, but not bison for meat and yarn. (Don't get your knickers in a twist; I'm not saying she's a bad person, etc...just illustrating the point). The reason this was so profound to me is because I realized that I have many of these lines in my life. I'm against animal cruelty, etc yet I eat eggs bought from huge manufacturers that keep chickens in small cages where they can't stand up or extend their wings. I'm against dairy farms that keep their cows hooked up to milking machines for 18+ hours at a time, and feed them growth hormones to keep them lactating yet I still drink milk. I'm against global warming, and yet I drive my car to the 7-11 that's about 2 blocks from my house.
So, I'm trying to...put my money where my mouth is so to speak. Will I ever be completely at one between my beliefs and my actions? I don't know. I'm not perfect by any means. You notice I didn't say I'm vegan now. As much as it just seemed to be a matter of flipping a switch for Nathan; it's really not for me. I can't just will myself to be vegan. Being as no/low impact as possible isn't any easy feat either, and well, I'm lazy. This leads me to the other big thing I'm working on.
I'm doing everything I can to not be so concerned with what other people do. Even when it comes to things that I believe any conscientious human should do (like recycling, etc). I can't change the world. I'm kidding myself if I think I can even change my friend's lifestyles. Not to mention with my catharsis, who am I to be pointing out other people's flaws or shortcomings? So, I'm focusing on my life, and what I can do to make it better (my version of better).
You know what the funny thing about all that is? I feel fulfilled. I feel happy. Much more so than I ever have. It's cool. I feel like I'm doing things and progressing my life in a way that helps me and the world around me.