CrazyBeautiful

April 3rd, 2012

I thought this post needed a smiling puppy to balance out the sad.

Empathy isn’t just an affliction for psychic vampire musicians. It’s a very real thing that strikes when you least expect it, like on a sunny Saturday morning through a window.

Every Saturday I work the front desk at Thrive fitness studio where I take Nia classes. I’ve been doing it for a couple of years now, and it’s always a good way to start my weekend – nothing like riding the energy groove of a class full of happy dancing people to put a smile on your face.

The studio shares its parking lot with a veterinary clinic, so I often see people arriving with their dogs and walking across the narrow street from the lot to the vet’s office. I’ve seen all sorts of canines and all sorts of humans with them.

This morning I was in the middle of marking off class cards when a luxury SUV pulled into the parking lot and all but flew into a space. A blonde woman in her mid 30s and a typical dude-bro looking man got out and ran around to the back of the vehicle. They opened the hatch, revealing a large dog crate.

Right away I knew something terrible had happened. The woman opened the crate door and reached inside…then a moment later backed up, hands going to her mouth. The husband (?) didn’t seem to know what to do, so he stood there patting her back awkwardly.

I realized I had just seen their dog die.

The woman lost it. Completely. Right there on the curb, she went to her knees and threw up into the landscaping, then sat rocking back and forth sobbing for several minutes. The husband ran into the clinic and came back with a cup of water for her. Finally he helped her to her feet, caught her when she nearly passed out, and the two closed the SUV’s door and walked into the clinic together. He had seemed kind of helpless in the face of her pain, but once he figured out practical ways he could help her, he was pretty amazing.

By the time they came out, the woman was calmer, but she had that shell-shocked look people always get when death strikes them out of the clear blue nowhere. They got back in the SUV and drove away much more slowly than they’d arrived, taking their dog back home.

I managed not to break down sobbing while I was behind the desk – there’s nothing more awkward than walking in on a crying woman – but as soon as I got in my car I had a brief but intense moment of weeping for the woman, the husband, and their dog. I felt terrible, not just because of what had happened, but because I felt like I had intruded on what should have been private grief. I tried, in my clumsy way, to send them love – love for the dog, as he or she passed; and love for the humans he left behind, especially the woman who loved him so much she broke down in the middle of a busy Saturday on South Congress.

On the outside these were not the sort of people I would ever have spent time with out in the world. But we’ve all felt that kind of pain, that sweeping loss that washes everything away. I found myself thinking about other people I’d seen that morning. The lady who cut me off in traffic – what if she did that because her dog had just died and she was driving his body home to bury, her eyes overflowing with tears? What about the weird smelling guy at the post office? Any one of the people in the studio at that moment dancing? I know from experience that to dance is to free stuck emotions and break up energetic stagnation, so any one of them could have been dancing out a deep wailing grief just as easily as just having a good time.

Or even when people have been cruel to me, I still have no idea what’s going on in their hearts at the time; I just know that it’s almost never about me. The woman from Pilates class who gives me the stink-eye when I arrive for Nia…it could be that she hates her body so much she can’t imagine loving a body like mine. It could be that her mother died due to diabetes and she feels like her weight was a direct factor. It could be her high school bully was a big girl who taught her to fear large women. That won’t, of course, stop me from giving her the “Can I HELP you?” look, which usually earns an embarrassed retreat, but it does remind me that behind every person causing pain, there almost always is pain – a mountain of pain left to fester and rot until it stinks up everything around them.

You just never know what’s going on with someone – why they look the way they look, act the way they act. That’s not to excuse inconsiderate behavior by any means, but it does give me pause when I get ready to leap to judgment against someone. Just as they have no idea looking at me what I’ve been through, I have no idea what wounds they are nursing, what demons they’ve faced. You just never know.

There’s a quote that’s been on my mind since then, often attributed to Plato but actually traceable to the 1890s and a writer named Ian MacLaren:

Posted in Ahimsa, Spiritual Living |

Now Open: Registration for Becoming a Spiritual Nomad

April 2nd, 2012

The next round of my six-week e-course will begin on April 16, 2012.

Registration is now open here on the Nomad page.

Hope to see you there!

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Posted in Spiritual Nomad Course |

TVD Recap, Episode 318: The Murder of One

March 31st, 2012

People seem to be pretty divided on this episode, which is interesting. Although the Big Twist in this episode was something a lot of fans (myself included) had already discussed online, I thought this week’s ep was much more satisfying than the last few.

I think it’s because we had way more of the central cast present than we have lately – everyone was a part of the plan. I love it when they plan. Even though it never works out and someone usually ends up dead and/or tortured.

Speaking of torture:

Elena Gilbert is one of the most self-centered selfless people I’ve ever seen. How is it that every conversation she starts that’s about another character ends up being about how it affects Elena? Even Caroline’s dead dad is about Elena. I think her magical rainbow lady parts might be going to her head.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still way more positive on her than I was in seasons 1 or 2 – or at least I am when she’s taking Buffy lessons and staking Stefan in the gut – but still, I marvel at her sometimes.

I’m also kind of “Huh?” at Stefan this week – I think he was supposed to be emotionally confessing his continuing love for Elena, but it sounded more like an ultimatum: I’ll love you if you say you don’t love Damon. What the hell was she supposed to say to that? I’m just thankful she didn’t throw Damon under the love bus and jump Stefan’s bones – not because I think she should get all up on Damon, but because she’s been kind of a shit to Damon this season and it would be nice to see their relationship get a little less facepalmy before she destroys him again and gets back with Stefan.

Because you know she will. It’s the Petrova in her. Which might actually explain the rest, too, now that I think about it.

To the recapmobile!

Alaric/Evilaric’s Loft of Stealthy…Power Tools?

Elena feels compelled to bring our newest Mystic Falls murderer some nice muffins and a latte, but Damon answers the door and implies, or at least seems to imply, Something Has Been Going On Up In Here.

ELENA: Why are you covered in sawdust?

DAMON: Um…insert joke about Ric sporting wood, now leave.

He totally gives her the brush-off and even shuts the door in her face, which for some reason satisfies me in a very Scorpio sort of way.

DAMON: Okay, boys, hit it!

We see that Alaric now has a power saw in his loft. HE HAS A FREAKING COMPOUND MITER SAW in his APARTMENT. He, Damon, and Stefan are cutting the Wickery Bridge sign into bits for the stakin’.

Okay…so…since they’re not letting Ric out, either Damon or Stefan had to procure the saw, assuming of course that Ric didn’t have it in a closet somewhere with his drill press and lathe. Did they rent it at Home Depot, or did one of the boys actually go down to Dangerous Blades R Us, plunk down a Visa card, and say, “I need to buy my occasionally murderous hetero life partner a SAW!”

I don’t know why I fixated on that, but there you go.

*TITLE CARD*

Damon is in charge of whittling, and he’s not doing a good enough job for Stefan, who gives a cute call back to the ep where Jeremy halfheartedly came after Damon for that whole neck-breaky thing.

Again with the silly details: That sign wasn’t nearly as thick as those stakes are.

ALARIC: Allrightythen, I’m gonna go turn myself in.

DAMON: Psychosayswhat?

ALARIC: I HAVE GUILT, GUYS. Or at least half of me does.

STEFAN: Sorry dude, no guilt until after the Originals are dead.

DAMON: While we’re at it, you should definitely put your Ring of Undeath back on, because I’d rather have you out killin’ than accidentally impaling yourself on your own stake and being dead for good.

ALARIC: YOU CANNOT OFFER ME THIS…Fuck it, never mind. Give it.

DAMON: I should probably knock off the eye contact before this feels even more like a proposal, shouldn’t I.

Mystic Falls Forest Where Nothing Bad Happens Ever

CAROLINE: So…Alaric killed my dad.

ELENA: Look, I know none of you asked for your horrible supernatural fates, but we need to move this along or I won’t get to talk about how it all affects me.

Side note: Elena names off people who had vampirism thrust upon them, and she names Stefan but not Damon. My take on it was that Stefan kind of made his own bed and then put his dead dad in it, but given how powerful baby vamp bloodlust is you could argue either they both were forced or neither was. Regardless, Damon didn’t ask for it either, so the omission is interesting. Probably meaningless, but interesting.

MATT: What are we all doing here in the woods where nothing bad ever happens ever?

DAMON: We found more white oak!

MATT: Well that’s just fucking amazing since they grow EVERYWHERE.

STEFAN: No, no, he means…the special oak.

Stefan tosses down a sack full of stakes. Everyone’s reactions are priceless – they all look like Stefan just whipped out a bag of dildos and started spanking Damon with a trout.

You Can Tell By the Way I Use My Walk I’m a DOUCHEBAG

Finn struts orangely down the street in a nameless city. What is it about this guy that makes me want to punch him in the wiener?

KLAUS: Yo, bro. You’re looking kind of Oompa Loompy.

FINN: Well, I met this guy called the Situation, and he introduced me to the joys of spray tan.

KLAUS: Very flattering. Where’s Mom?

FINN: At a Murderware party buying something to kill us all with.

KLAUS: You’re coming back to Mystic Falls with me. I found myself a witch who can unlink us.

FINN: Gee, I wonder who that is. Piss up a rope, brother.

KLAUS: *is charming*

FINN: *is flung*

REBEKAH: *is looking kind of weary of all this crap*

Mystic Falls Wooded Area

Stefan explains the plan: They only have to kill one Original to kill them all, so they’ll offer Caroline up as Klaus bait, have Matt distract Rebekah, and Stefan will actually do the killing. Or something. Elena’s role is undisclosed.

Caroline and Damon snark at each other and it’s rather cute – she suggests that Rebekah was desperate if she slept with Damon…which Caroline has also done. I know he was compelling her for most of it, but if I recall correctly she did open with the flirty banter, so at one time she was into him. Notice how nobody ever brings up that whole situation? I guess the thorny consent issues would awkward things up. I’d rather they didn’t just forget it ever happened, though.

The scene closes with Elena holding a crossbow, of which I approve, although the damn thing is bigger than she is. It’s like she’s playing dress up with her daddy’s crossbow! Awwww.

Haus of Klaus

Finn is once again flung. He refuses to help Klaus, but Klaus is all, “Well, this extremely boring redhead will convince you otherwise!” and Finn is all, “Zzzzzzzz…” and Sage is all, “MY BOO!” and Finn is all, “Shit, I guess I have to hug you.” and Sage is all, “Sexytimes Y/N?” and Finn is all, “No, I am VIRTUOUS.” And I’m all, “That dumb fucker died a virgin, didn’t he.”

Then Klaus offers up some awkward product placement and we learn that he’s in contact with Kol.

REBEKAH: Gotta go bleed a Salvatore, see ya.

KLAUS: Be home for dinner!

Salvatore Den of Antiquities

Damon is hiding his stake in the firewood. Alaric is unconvinced of the plan’s awesomeness.

ALARIC: Soapdish.

DAMON: Oh my God, am I never going to live that down?

ALARIC: You fell for one of the classic blunders.

DAMON: Never get involved in a land war in Asia?

ALARIC: NEVER HIDE STUFF IN THE SOAPDISH.

*noise downstairs*

ALARIC: *is flung*

REBEKAH: *stabbity*

DAMON: …ow.

Mystic Falls Town Square

Elena is growing increasingly worried that Bonnie isn’t answering her calls; you could chalk it up to the whole thing with *snore* but if Bonnie weren’t in trouble she would at least call Caroline, so given everyone’s track record of being jeopardy friendly they really should take this more seriously.

MATT: Hey, look, it’s that guy.

Finn and Sage are walking around downtown mooning over each other…well, Sage is mooning, Finn is kind of ambivalent. I would be too, really. The whole idea of loving someone for 900 years is kind of unbelievable, to be honest – after a couple of centuries wouldn’t you…oh never mind, these are vampires and this is TWU WUV.

Granted I can’t even stick with a desktop background for more than a week, so what the hell do I know?

Den of Antiquities

Stefan arrives home to find Alaric groaning on the floor; Elena calls to tell him Finn and Sage are a-mooning, and Stefan tells her not to go after them because Sage is apparently really strong.

Haus of Klaus

Rebekah is hardcore, yo. She’s got Damon chained up using rusty old BEAR TRAPS. And she put a tarp down. Good girl, Bex – those are probably hardwood floors, and once you get blood in between the slats those stains are never coming out.

REBEKAH: You faked liking me, shagged me, and let your nasty friend get in my head.

DAMON: Look on the bright side. You got to shag me.

Rebekah intends to “bleed the vervain out of his system.”

Um…huh? Okay, anything “in your system” is going to be equally distributed in solution throughout your body. It’s not like the vervain is all concentrated in the blood in his chest; it’s everywhere. In order to bleed it out of his system she’d have to empty him completely. She doesn’t do that, and yet he becomes vulnerable to compulsion.

PAGING DOCTOR FELL…DOCTOR FELL, WE NEED AN ANATOMY TEXTBOOK AT HAUS OF KLAUS, STAT.

Klaus at least has a grasp of physics and recommends she hang Damon upside down. Bex, however, has to do things her way, so Klaus just sort of shrugs and leaves her to it.

Have I mentioned how much I missed Klaus? I really hope he doesn’t die. He’s just so fun to watch.

Klaus strides into another room where we see his witch – Bonnie, of course, completely devoid of hair care products. She looks like hell. Klaus menaces her quite convincingly toward doing an unlinking spell – damn, these witches just leave their undo button laying around anywhere, don’t they?

KLAUS: Basically if you don’t do what I want, I’ll have my second douchiest brother kill the Littlest Gilbert, who you can now see in the screen of my Android 4G Mobile Phone, which can download an app in two seconds and holds all my music files. Get the new Android today for only $299 plus activation fee! All I have to do is tell Kol and he’ll murderfy your not boyfriend.

BONNIE: ASSHOLE YOU ARE TOTALLY PLAYING ANGRY BIRDS.

Den of Antiquities

Now comes our regularly scheduled “Caroline is More Awesome Than You” moment.

Caroline brings Ric his Bong Water of Non Homicide, and Alaric tries to apologize for killing her father. Caroline, however, is strangely philosophical about it – she feels that since she killed someone once, she can’t be judgy. This is extremely mature of her, but can even Caroline be that mature?

CAROLINE: I’m taking a page from the Elena Gilbert handbook.

ALARIC: Can we go by your handbook? Because you know Elena’s book is like 87 chapters long and all of the chapters are called “People Who Want My Magical Hoo-Hah and Then Die Screaming.”

CAROLINE: …my handbook it is.

Mystic Falls Square-type Area

Elena and Stefan get into an argument over whether they should kill Finn or rescue Damon. Stefan claims Damon would want them to go ahead with the plan, and Elena claims that if the situation were reversed Damon would go barreling after Stefan and to hell with the plan. Funny thing is they’re both right.

Stefan came across kind of weird to me in this scene – kind of jumpy and erratic like a meth addict. Then of course he stalks off, leaving Elena looking outraged.

Yeah, she so needs to get back on that ride.

Haus of Klaus, Torture Chamber

Damon’s looking pretty rough. Elena just walks right down the hallway in a strange pool of light, which is not suspicious at all, and then rescues him…without anyone seeming to notice or care. She then feeds him her blood, and I gotta admit it’s kind of hot. They get really close to kissy business, at which point we know it’s fake.

Bad Rebekah! Bad!

Back in the real world, Damon taunts Bex with psychoanalysis of her desperate need for attention, and she stabs him in the stomach, which is what I do when guys try to psychoanalyze me. I’ve been through seven shrinks in the last year alone.

Over in the Witch Storage Area, Bonnie gets high-horsey with Klaus…um, Bon, not the best time to be self-righteous, okay? Unless you can manage a Witchy migraine and teleport Jeremy out of Denver, you might want to not bait the homicidal bastard.

KLAUS: I know you need our blood for the spell, and it just so happens I have bottles of each of us…sitting around in this day planner?

BONNIE: Okay, I give up. Anybody who has a binder made to hold bottles of blood is not going to blink first.

Mystic Grill

SAGE: You’ve never had tequila?

FINN: Wouldn’t you have known that since you know I was boxed for 900 years? I didn’t have a wet bar in my coffin, you know.

SOME RANDOM ASSHAT: Hi, Sage! I happen to be a vampire you made about ten minutes ago for no real reason! This may be important later!

FINN: We’re going to need more booze.

Sage commands Matt, who is not a waiter, to wait on her. Stefan passes Matt a bottle of vervain extract.

Haus of Klaus

Bonnie chants the same six words she always chants.

Back at the Grill Finn gives Sage shit for turning lots of vampires. Stefan looks particularly dour, so we can infer that shenanigans are about to ensue.

Bonnie pours blood into a chalice and then onto the table.

Opening the tomb took two Witches and the really powerful one died, remember? But un-binding a bunch of Originals after a thousand year old Witch linked them only takes Bonnie, six words of Witch Latin, and Klaus glowering at her.

Mystic Grill

If you thought the taste of vervain would come through tequila, turns out you get the extra cookie. Sage and Finn spit their tequila everywhere, and Sage spots Stefan waltzing meaningfully out of the bar, giving them a cheeky raised eyebrow, indicating he’s the one who did it. The fact that he’s not trying to hide it ought to give her pause, but…eh, I’m on board with whatever it takes to get rid of these two.

So in some flipping-back-and-forth scenes, Bonnie finishes chanting and gets her witchy O face, meaning the spell is done. Meanwhile Stefan attacks Finn but totally drops the damn stake.

Elena and Matt burst out the Grill’s back door, and Elena shoots Finn with her giant crossbow, but it looks like a gut shot. Then MATT DONOVAN FTMFW STAKES THE FUCK OUT OF FINN.

SAGE: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

EVERYONE ELSE EVER: YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!

Finn goes all veiny and then bursts into flame like Mikael did.

Haus of Klaus

Rebekah, wiping blood off her hands, sees Klaus escorting a slightly shell-shocked Bonnie out of the house.

Bonnie catches sight of Damon hanging in his chains all bloody and mangled.

KLAUS: You should go save him. Since he turned your mother and all.

BONNIE: There is a bus, Damon, and I am now throwing you under it.

Den of Antiquities

Stefan and Elena come home to a waiting Caroline, who tells them Alaric went home; they don’t know if their stakey business worked until they see Klaus dead.

Then Bonnie calls Elena to tell her that a) Klaus is not so much dead, b) she was forced to unlink the kids, and c) Damon’s in trouble. She then pretty much loses her shit and sinks to the ground sobbing – long overdue, really. I mean, Bonnie’s far from my favorite, but the girl’s been through some shit this season. Her friends-and-family death toll is starting to look a lot like Elena’s.

Stefan borderline loses his shit too – enraged over Klaus dodging death AGAIN, he storms off to kill him despite Elena’s insistence that they need a new plan because Klaus is way stronger than Stefan.

Klaus was stronger than Stefan for the last plan too, you know.

Caroline barely has time to get a one-liner off before the door flings open and Stefan is catapulted back in the house.

SAGE: SAGE RHYMES WITH RAGE!

Sage, who has brought her random vampire minion, proceeds to lay a smackdown on Stefan…but midway through, she gets a nosebleed and starts coughing, whereupon

THE PLOT: *twists*

The same thing starts happening to Random Guy, and in fact Sage looks like she’s bleeding a bit round the eyeballs.

She and Random gag and choke and vein out, and everyone watching the show gets it, but everyone on the show looks around like WTF?

After some dithering, Stefan’s the one to put two and two together.

STEFAN: They’re all from Finn’s bloodline. So if an Original dies so do all their kids.

ELENA: But that means if we kill them all, all of you die too!

LAW AND ORDER THEME: BONK BONK!!!

Haus of Klaus

Damon is still hanging around, and sees Stefan walk in with the duffel full of stakes. It would be really funny if the scene played out exactly like the Elena hallucination and it turned out Rebekah’s a total perv, but unfortunately it’s real. Stefan has come to barter the bag o’stakes for Damon’s life.

KLAUS: Is that all of them?

STEFAN: Of course it is. These are my sincere eyebrows.

KLAUS: Yeah, I don’t think so. Hey Damon! Now that you’re compellable, tell me how many stakes there are!

DAMON: More than that.

KLAUS: Okay, now pull your hands through the bear traps and basically rip them off.

DAMON: Cool.

Den of Antiquities

Elena tells Caroline there are still three stakes – they just have to figure out which Original not to kill. The two discuss Caroline’s lineage, and trace it back as far as Rose before hitting a wall.

ELENA: Let’s just hope it’s not Klaus. He needs to get dead.

CAROLINE: *oh shit face* Back that up a minute…we’re forgetting someone.

ELENA: Tyler. Damn it. This is going to be a problem for you, isn’t it.

Haus of Klaus

This bit is really gross, with the blood and the noises and all. Then Klaus and Stefan get into it because…Klaus is such a good friend he made himself the object of all of Stefan’s hatred? Klaus logic is not like our Earth logic.

Stefan throws himself at Klaus using the stake he had hidden in his jacket, but Klaus gives him Meaningful Eye Contact, which Stefan is powerless to resist.

Rebekah decides enough is enough and lets Damon loose, telling Stefan to bring the other two stakes or they’re dead, et cetera. Klaus seconds the motion.

When we return, Klaus and Rebekah are alone, Klaus brooding over the table where Bonnie did the unlinking, Rebekah expressing disbelief that Finn’s really dead. Klaus makes jabs at Finn’s memory, earning Bex’s outrage; she says that while the Salvatore brothers might rip each other a new one for all eternity, they’d still die for each other, and that’s what family’s all about, and Klaus obviously has no idea.

KLAUS: Fine then, I’ll take my stakes and my Doppelganger and blow this one-horse town.

REBEKAH: I think I’ll stay.

Klaus actually looks surprised and hurt that she wouldn’t continue to follow him around the world letting him insult her.

Den of Antiquities

Now comes the Stefan-gives-Elena-an-ultimatum scene, and I really don’t like it. He goes on about Klaus ruining his life and how he lost Elena and he wasted all that time hating Klaus and so forth.

Elena tries to convince him that it’s all Klaus’s fault but that Stefan came through it and isn’t it awesome to have learned this valuable lesson? It comes off really trite, mostly because I think there are a few dozen people with their heads ripped off who might disagree with her.

Then Stefan gets to the important part – the only consequence of his behavior that actually matters, losing Elena. They both express their undying love, of course, but then Stefan basically wants her to work out all her complicated feelings RIGHT THEN to reassure him or some shit like that, and thank God, she can’t. First of all, if Elena could just dismiss her feelings that would make her kind of an asshole (and a liar), and second of all, if a guy tried to pull that emotionally manipulative crap on me I’d knee him in the nuts and then go fuck his brother out of spite.

Again, Scorpio.

Alaric/Evilaric’s Lair

Damon arrives to collect the stake they left Alaric. Alaric goes to dig it out…and it’s gone.

ALARIC: I think my alter ego may be involved in this. You guys did leave the ring with me, after all, and apparently wearing it overrides Bonnie’s Bong Water.

DAMON: Your vampire hating alter ego has a stake that can kill a whole fuck ton of vampires including me?

ALARIC: That’s about the size of it, yeah. Muffin?

*TITLE CARD*

Posted in TVD Recaps |

Event Review: Texas VegFest 2012!

March 31st, 2012

March 31 was the very first Texas VegFest here in Austin, held at Fiesta Gardens, which is right on Ladybird Lake. I, like a lot of veggiesaurs in our fair city, was really surprised we’d never had one before – Austin is loaded with vegetarian and vegan resources. They were certainly well-represented at the festival!

I headed out with a friend who’s a health coach, into what was outwardly a gorgeous day but was, in fact, blistering-hot because there wasn’t really adequate shade near most of the vendors. I don’t fault the planners, though – they’ve been working on this thing for two years, and how were they to know we were going to skip right over Spring this year? 90 degrees at the end of March is positively unholy.

There were somewhere near 100 vendors and booths, ranging from local restaurants and bakeries to animal rights organizations to health and wellness services…and of course live music, this being Austin and all. My own favorite Austin Pets Alive! was there, as were Compassion Over Killing and Vegans Rock Austin.

It was really something to behold – especially since there was such a big crowd! I’m really hoping that the turnout will make it feasible for the planners to hold one every year, although I know what a freaking nightmare that kind of thing is to put on. I salute the hell out of the planners and volunteers.

Upon entering we received Whole Foods swag bags full of coupons, stickers, various sorts of literature on health, environment, and animals, and even a couple of samples.

There were samples galore to be had in the food booths and plenty of tasty things to buy – the most popular were of course the ice cream makers like Luna & Larry’s, NadaMoo, and our local vegan ice cream parlor Sweet Ritual. The longest line (aside from the ice cream) was at the Daiya foods booth where they were giving out samples of the latest vegan cheeses. Several of the local veg food trucks were there. And oh, the smells – especially the various Indian restaurants represented, including one of my favorites, Curry in a Hurry.

But the best part was an opportunity to be a goofy fangirl – Isa Chandra Moskowitz did a cooking demo, with all her wit and kitchen wisdom. She was both hilarious and practical, and demonstrated recipes for barbecue seitan and sunflower seed mac & “cheese.” For all that she and her partner in crime, Terry Hope Romero (who also did a cooking demo of tamales later in the day) are basically vegan rockstars, Isa was wonderfully genuine and down to earth. I may or may not have squeed a number of times, including when she shared the scoop on her forthcoming cookbook.

One of the best things about the fest, which is a personal thing for me, was the body diversity on display. A lot of veg communities are, to be blunt, real jerks to fat people, since veganism has been touted as the new great white hope in weight loss and I guess we make them look bad. There’s also a stereotype that vegans in particular are all white yuppies, which isn’t remotely true. Today I saw all shapes, sizes, and shades of skin, a true reflection of the wild mix of people who call our groovy city home. Go Austin!

Really, my only complaint was the heat – I think next year I’ll try to go earlier in the day. The speakers’ pavilion was air conditioned, so getting there right around opening time and making the rounds then settling in the A/C to listen to the speakers I think would work out better…assuming, of course, that we skip Spring next year too.

One of the major reasons I wanted to go was that I’ve been needing something to rekindle my veg passion; despite all the work I’ve been doing lately on my mental health, my dietary habits have, shall we say, sucked balls. And balls, as we know, are not vegan. Now I’m inspired to read some of my books again and thumb through my cookbooks…right after I finish sorting my swag.

Posted in Ahimsa, Reviews |

Now Available: Shadow’s Fall

March 27th, 2012