Living Without Meat

The Brat Pack, a family of happy rescue dogs that blog, are hosting a online blogging party on Friday, March 20 (which also happens to be National Meat Out Day) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Best Friends Animal Society.

RSVP for the social event dubbed Pawty for a Purpose to be eligible for some great giveaways and prizes, and to receive a party favor! Then join the party March 20 from 7 to 10 p.m. central time at FiveHappyHounds.com to play along in trivia games, see who wins the different door prizes, socialize with other animal lovers, and learn all about Best Friends.

To be eligible for the big loot of the night, you have to be a Best Friends member. So sign up now for just $25 and be in it to win it!

Were you unable or unwilling to sit around all day while I blogged? Did you have better things to do besides sit by the monitor, anxiously refreshing my site?

No problem! All of today’s blogathon posts can be found together in the blogathon category to the right of your screen.

Anyone who reads some of these may win something! Any one who either a.) comments on 3 different postings, or b.) comments on this post letting other readers and me know which are your favorites will be put into a drawing for a Farm Sanctary tote bag. The winner can pick from the three different totes offered in the Sanctuary’s virtual store.

Thanks for keeping me up and running. Good nigh…zzzzzzzz

Good morning those just waking up! I have been hard at work for the last 23 and a half hours, posting non-stop to bring you vegetarian facts, vegan computer games, animal profiles, celebs who are veg*n, a word association!, links…lots, and so much more in Blogathon 2007. But most of all, I provide information about Farm Sanctuary, the organization for whom I am raising money.

Total so far, LWM has pulled in $135 with donations coming from: Meg; Mom; Dad; Laloofa - a fellow 24-hour blogger; Kaylene - also a blogathoner; and ‘thon blogger Mike because I got an honorable mention in his marble contest!

Overall, the 350+ blogs brought in over $115,000 so far!!

Keep reading (to catch up), sponsoring, and making comments! I worked hard and would love people to read what I wrote (especially those posts that were closer to the morning!).

…and good night to those soon signing off. Great job!

Farm Sanctuary: ah, the reason I was allowed to sit around all day on the computer. Let us not forget why I have been throwing animal rights at you for 22 hours and counting.

Farm Sanctuary was founded in 1986 to combat the abuses of industrialized farming and to encourage a new awareness and understanding about “farm animals.” At Farm Sanctuary, these animals are our friends, not our food.

The Sanctuary believes in Rescue, Education, and Advocacy.

Their other Web sites include:

AdoptATurkey.org
BanCruelFarms.org
FactoryFarming.com
FarmAnimalShelters.org
FarmSanctuaryKids.org
NJFarms.org
NoDowners.org
NoFoieGras.org
NoVeal.org
SentientBeings.org
VegForLife.org
WalkForFarmAnimals.org

They … are the reason I am awake and mindless.

PETA acknowledges that in some cities life as a vegetarian is easier than others. Here’s who made the lists:

America’s Best Vegetarian-Friendly Large Cities

1. Portland, Oregon
2. Seattle, Washington
3. San Francisco, California
4. New York, New York
5. Atlanta, Georgia
6. Washington, D.C.
7. Minneapolis, Minnesota
8. Austin, Texas
9. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10. Chicago, Illinois

America’s Best Vegetarian-Friendly Small Cities

1. Asheville, North Carolina
2. Eugene, Oregon
3. Salt Lake City, Utah
4. Norfolk, Virginia
5. Santa Monica, California
6. Santa Cruz, California
7. Boulder, Colorado
8. Madison, Wisconsin
9. Athens, Georgia
10. Ann Arbor, Michigan

Canada’s Best Vegetarian-Friendly Cities

1. Vancouver, British Columbia
2. Victoria, British Columbia
3. Toronto, Ontario
4. Montréal, Québec
5. Calgary, Alberta
6. Ottawa, Ontario

Visit the feature article for links to each city and town listed.

Have your ever googled yourself? I’m talking about your full first and last name, but some such as “name verb.” It is really fun, you should try it sometime.

So if you google “vegan sally” you will get this:

*Chad Hershler travels to the “tofu and bean sprout forest” where he meets face
to face with “Vegan Sally” and confronts his meat loving diet.

vegetarian + Sally gets you two references to me!!:

*LWM!
*Activist Mommy!

“Sally doesn’t eat”:

*Sally doesn’t eat beef, chicken, or poutry (no typo …this is what it says!)
*Sally doesn’t eat meat: Video Nation short by Sally Bayly
*Sally doesn’t eat leaves and she doesn’t eat flowers,either

Try it for yourself; have some fun. Share!

This is the last one - not post in general, but rather list of celebrity vegetarians.

Kevin Eubanks
Angela Bassett
Billy Baldwin
Chynna Phillips
Chelsea Clinton
Emmylou Harris
Eddie Vedder
Eric Stoltz
Kenny Loggins
Madden brothers of Good Charlotte
Elizabeth Berkley
Orlando Jones
Prodigy
Brigitte Bardot
Joss Stone
Erykah Badu
Joan Jett
Will Estes
Morrissey

It’s 6 a.m. on Sunday July 29. I have blogging for 21 hours. I have made 42 posts. I have raised $125 (…dare I say and counting?). And here is what’s going on around my neck of the woods:

The boys have gone insane - both of these precarious poses were held for a good length of time, and everytime I flinch they run to the bedroom. Apparently, they can’t start bedtime without me.

The normally too-busy-to-cross Henry Ave. is still. The shopping center lights continue on through the evening and early morning.

And to round off my photo scavenger hunt, I’ve found “Awe Inspiring.”

Click on any photo to see it bigger. Click on the blinky banner below to sponsor me!

I try to offer as many worthwhile links as often as I can. But in case I have missed some good ones, here are all the veg-related links that I currently have bookmarked:

Allison’s Gourmet

SWTC, Inc.- The home of natural fibers

VegCooking : Gourmet Crock-Pot Cooking Made Easy!

Persistent Vegetarian State: Simple Vegetarian Recipes

PETA Media Center

The Vegetarian Society

what the hell does a vegan eat anyway?

If you haven’t the funds to adopt your own turkey, never fear! Chances are pretty good that I will adopt one for LWM. However, the more saved turkeys, the merrier; the more sponsors I get for Farm Sanctuary, also the merrier!

Until LWM has it’s own turkey friend though, let’s learn some basic facts about the feathered, funny-looking gobblers.

Turkeys:

*are smaller and less colorful when female

*by far, are the largest bird in the open forests where they live

*naturally live about 10 years

*on farms are slaughtered at about 5 months

*are inquisitive and intelligent

*are smart animals with personality and character

*are social, playful, and enjoy company

*live in sheds at factory farms, packed in so tightly that flapping a wing is impossible

*in the wild spend their time caring for their young, building nests, foraging, taking dustbaths, preening, and roosting high up in the trees

*are genetically modified to gain weight rapidly

*remember a face, and become more comfortable with you the more time they spend learning that they can trust you

*are often beat to death with a pole if they become sick or injured

*were deemed the “bird of courage” by Ben Franklin

I have always been a fan of quotations. These are from well-known people who have not yet been featured in any of my celebrity lists. Enjoy! Feel inspired!

“I think that people who don’t like animals tend to be selfish, but I’m biased.” (Jessica Alba)

“The person I love would never wear fur. Fur just makes me think of shallow women who have no conscience. The fur industry belongs to a time when people were selfish beyond belief. If you were some ancient tribal cheiftain, and there was not a department store nearby 350 years ago, I’d understand. But now, we have synthetic fibers,and it’s not necessary. The elitism of fur makes me wanna puke.” (Gavin Rossdale)

“Many years ago, I was in a Broadway show and I had to wear a fox fur around my shoulders. One day my hand touched one of the fox’s legs. It seemed to be in two pieces. Then it dawned on me…. her leg had probally been snapped in two by the steel trap that had caught it.” (Bea Arthur)

“They’ve been trying to test on animals for the past 50 years. Nobody’s come up with a cure. If you want to test on somebody, test on me.” (Montell Williams)

“Kids nowadays…tend to go overboard on protein — something I believe to be totally unnecsssary…I state in my formula for basic good eating: Eat about one gram of protein for every two pounds of body weight.” (Arnold Schwarzenegger)

“We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could.” (James Cromwell)

“Nothing spoils lunch any quicker than a rogue meatball rampaging through your spaghetti.” (Jim Davis)

“I think if you want to eat more meat you should kill it yourself and eat it raw so that you are not blinded by the hypocrisy of having it processed for you.” (Margi Clark)

Bob Barker was and will continue to be an outstanding voice for the animals. It was a sad day for many when Bob Barker retired, but animal lovers who waited through each episode to hear him remind viewers to spay and neuter their pets were effected even moreso.

Now it has been announced that Drew Carey will take over as the new host. My number one question: Although he doesn’t want to copy Bob, can he at least remind us to spay and neuter our pets?

I was preparing to create a list of famous historical vegetarians. Such as Einstein, Da Vinci, and Thoreau. But then, in my quest for great names to share, I found something that no list could hold a flame to. Words cannot begin to explain the joy it brought to my life.

It’s an e-greeting card, made by PETA, for the holiday of Vegetarian History Month. It’s called Vegetarian Theatre; and I am fairly convinced it will have you laughing out loud … even if you haven’t been up all night!

Why were the last two posts a little lacking, you ask? Well I have been running around my apartment like a woman who has been blogging non-stop for the past 18 hours, drinking caffeine, and …oh wait. That’s me exactly!

You may have noticed that I do not post a lot of personal posts, but I actually am very open, sharing kind of person. So here is a Photo Scavenger Hunt that I participated in just now. We were given a list of words or phrases, and that’s all. I took photos that represented that phrase or word to me. The title of each picture is what I was on a hunt for; some needed no explanation, others have a brief detail underneath.

So here they are, My Pictures.

And if you notice that one is missing, good eye! That one is coming in a few hours …

If you live in California or New York, or nearby one of the two, you have the opportunity to visit the actual sanctuaries that Farm Sanctuary runs. Can you imagine what a life changing experience it would be?

You can rub a pigs belly, feed a cow, and meet dozens of rescued animals. “At Farm Sanctuary, people see farm animals as living, feeling beings who are just as capable of suffering from isolation, fear and neglect as a dog or cat, or you and I.” The shelters offer tours, overnight accommodations, retreats, and conferences.

What more could an animal lover ask for in a vacation?