crunchycanary - Tumblr blog

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#shamphree #hennahead #braids #fishtailbraid

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#hairtoy

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Thanks, Maryrose, for altering one of my favorite hair forks make it more functional.

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My porcupine quills came in the mail! #shamphree

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An old favorite - the maiden bun http://www.howtohairgirl.com/2013/04/3-perfect-diyhair-styles-to-channel-spring/ #hthg

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My new #microcrimper sure does make for some FAT #braids!

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First try at a #5strandbraid on my #shamphree hair.

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Thanks, @kayleymelissa, for getting me to give #got2bpowderful another shot - It actually makes my baby-fine cobwebby hair obey. The stuff sat neglected under my sink forever, and now it just may be #hgproduct material! #TBDbigbraids

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My new go-to: it's super easy, looks great, and ends up just slightly different every time. #hairromance

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I'm not sure if I'll use both this blog and the one at blogger, or if I'll settle on one over the other. I like tumblr.'s interface in terms of the posting itself, but when it comes to looking for/at other blogs, I can't say I get it. That could change.

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Chchchchchanges

I'm not sure how I feel about tumblr's interface for what I want to do here. I may switch over to another blog. More to come.

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Nutrition

I had a lot of misconceptions about veganism - I thought it was incredibly unhealthy and restrictive. Yet the nutritional aspect of veganism ultimately attracted me first and foremost (because it was so ingrained in me that animal compassion is sentimental, or that it can't exist along with compassion toward other humans). Here's the truth: we have no nutritional need for animal products. None. Zero. Zilch. Every nutrient we can get from meat, milk, and eggs come from the plants (or supplemented feed, in the case of factory farmed animals) that the animal ate. So by cutting out the middle man(imal), we can get not just adequate but rather supreme nutrition without killing anyone. Imagine that! I had no clue!

Moreover, I've mentioned the book The China Study to many friends. This one is a REAL eye opener. Now, if you want details, read it. It's a reputable study that has been duplicated time and time and time again. Bottom line: animal protein (Dr. Campbell used casein, a protein derived from milk) directly promotes the growth of cancer, advancements of heart disease, development of diabetes and more. On the other hand, switching to a whole foods, plant-based diet STOPS heart disease in its tracks, then reverses it! It halts tumor growth immediately! The other health benefits are along those same lines. Why haven't I heard this before? Dr. Campbell was invited onto several national nutritional boards & does a pretty good job telling why this info hasn't been disseminated as well. So now I know these things. And it breaks my heart to see people I care about dying from diseases over which they have the power to take control yet think is a normal part of aging (it's not!) And it sucks to see people staying away from veganism because they think it's unhealthy (it's not!). And it saddens me that we are killing billions of animals solely to kill ourselves with these diseases of affluence. And I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to learn these things.

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I just listened to an audio version of this story and definitely choked up a bit.

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Confession

I went vegetarian once(/1.5yrs) for a boy.

I had the hugest crush on a veg boy, and I stopped eating meat because of it. I never dated the boy; in fact, we're still friends. He was so gung-ho in his beliefs; I was in love with his beatnik philosophy. I dropped 25lbs and he has yet to notice my existence as anything more than "friends." (By the way, more or less of that 25lbs found its way home. Good doggie). Thas ok, though, as I has a hubs. & I can't help but think ironically on the photos of cooked meat that this kid posts on his Facebook. Today. Literally. I mean, come on - it happens to the best of us.

What I find awesome is that after more than a year, I don't think I ever thought once about animals. That wasn't the issue. Because thinking about animals is weak. Emotional. Feminine. These things never appealed to me.

But why, exactly, are these things bad? Why is it so hilarious that someone should look at a cow and verbalize: "How ironic that I should eat that while I pet this dog." PUSSY. Yep, I did that. I ain't too proud forAnything. Vegetarians/vegans are such a GREAT. target. Maybe this is where my humor has a place. This is my mission. To deprecate myself AND vegans. &make it work. In our favor. Sure.

andbytheway, steak and burgers still smell good. Going vegan doesn't mean these things start to smell like compost (which, by the way, doesn't smell like much of anything). It means we go back to the whole modest proposal scenario I brought up in a recent post. New theme of lyfe: JUST BECAUSE WE CAN DOESN'T MEAN WE SHOULD. Good motto to live by. Great circular logic. GOOOOd night.

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I don't have a whole lot to say today, so pictures of food.

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The Vegan Police

So what do I do with my tried-and-true Doc Martens, or that leather wallet I got for Christmas? How do I feel about wool? I struggled with this for a while. Nobody wants to be hypocritical. So here's what I have came up with; maybe the logic is flawed, but I don't think there is an easy answer for this one:

1. Wool.

When sheep stop producing wool, they are sent to slaughter. Lambs are killed for meat and their hides used to make, well, lambskin products. I really want to picture all these sheep hanging out, eating grass, being, well, sheep - for the rest of their lives. But I've got to be serious - if there is a sheep farm like this, it would be the exception and not the rule. Such a place would not be economically feasible. I think I'll have to start looking at what goes into the clothes I buy.

But that doesn't answer the question of what do I do with the clothes I have...

2. Leather.

So my goal is to decrease the amount of animals that need to be killed for my taste and pleasures. The way I see it, throwing away a pair of boots that I bought 10 years ago will not save a single cow. It's also wasteful, in my opinion. Bottom line: I'm keeping those suckers. Let the vegan police come knocking on my door (They won't, by the way, and getting over this fear sure was a big help for me). But in terms of clothing/household items and cosmetics, I am moving forward from here.

My ultimate goal is to not actively promote the industrial meat machine. Like I said, I'd love to picture Old McDonald's farm (if you've read Omnivore's Dilemma or watched Food, Inc., I'm thinking of Polyface farms) with birds chirping and orchestral music playing, farmer in overalls with hay hanging out of his mouth, the chickens running around, following the cows, fattening themselves up on fly larvae and fertilizing the ground with their nitrogen-rich droppings, the cows acting as giant lawn mowers, grazing the land to perfection, the pigs acting as the farm's garbage disposal, everything organic and intertwined - the circle of life and death.

*cue record-screeching-to-a-halt sound* But let's face it - that is not how it works! And even though farms like this do exist, they're not economically feasible in the face of this country's meat obsession - they can't keep up! That's how we got in the factory farming mess in the first place! And not even these farms can slaughter their own cows - at the end of their organic, grass finished life, they are still sent to a factory slaughterhouse. Thank you, USDA! Besides, I can't help but be faced with the nagging thought: even if the Polyface farm ideology sweeps the nation, what is it exactly that justifies killing an animal because I want a hamburger? "It tastes really good." I know. I KNOW! And that used to be enough for me too, but something changed in me and, well, that isn't good enough anymore. I mean, I'm sure human babies taste exquisite, with their fat little legs lightly marinated and delicately twirling on the spit (I really think Thomas Swift was on to something) but I'm not sure that's a good enough reason to eat them. Ok, I'm kidding. I'm not going to eat anyone's baby. Anyone's. So I guess cows and pigs and fish and lobster are out for me, then. I get it: if it had a mother or came from a mother, I think it belongs to that mother and not in my mouth.

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