Avatar and stew

so i started this day off with a plan to get some work done for my national boards. however that didn't happen. instead i woke up fairly early and took the dogs on a much needed long walk. link was absolutely ecstatic and was runnning all over like crazy. he plowed face first, at about 100 miles an hour, into my legs in one of his crazy sprints. didn't seem to affect him at all, but it sure hurt the hell out of me. my fat girl maci was even in somewhat of a sprinting mood. they definitely needed and deserved that walk.

after that i came in and went on the computer some and then realized that i was suppose to make my stew that i have been dying to make for the past week. so i got to that. cut up potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, zucchini, & squash. threw in some corn, lentels, basil, bay leaves, oregano, salt, & garlic powder. top it off with some water, vegetarian "beef" bouillon cubes, & some tomato paste. mixed it all up and put it in the crock pot. set it for low and let it go! (i feel like that could be a ron popeil pitch) :) however, i was worrying throughout the day that it wasn't going to thicken up, so when we left for the movies, i left a crack in the lid, so that it would get some air and not produce so much condensation. this is really when i set it on low and truly let it go. :P

so that leads me to avatar. i really didn't have a strong desire to see this movie, but mike really wanted to see it. i knew people were raving about it and that it was the biggest selling movie of all time, but still i really didn't have a desire. i wasn't opposed to it at all either and knew i would probably see it at some point. but i knew it was one of those movies you should really see in the theater and it being offered in 3-D also, you can't really pass that up. :) and mike went to see new moon with me on my birthday, so i figured i could repay him with this. well as it turns out, i LOVED it. i mean LOVE, LOVE, LOVED it!!! i am pretty sure i loved it more than mike. it was amazing in so many ways. i mean it really goes without saying, that the digital animation and all the special effects and all that, were incredible. but it was so much more than that. to me the story was so well done and so heart and gut wrenching. to me it just really represented how arrogant and selfish so many humans are. the fact that humans think that they are superior to any other living thing and that they have the right to stake claim on anything they want and then take it without a thought or care of how it will effect others. i truly do believe that as humankind, that is our downfall. we are great and can do great things. however, there are way too many greedy, horrible people in this world that are willing to destroy other life in order to have what they want.

and the same goes for americans. we think we are superior to anyone in this world and think we can take anything we want from anyone. the amount of damage that america has caused in other countries is appalling. we meddle in people's affairs that we have nothing to do with and destroy their countries and kill their people. we just barge in. not a thought about it and we leave without a thought about what we have done. i hate to say "we" because i rather not associate myself with any of that, but i am an american. (and i am very lucky to live in a free country and i understand that, but i do think our goverment is completely corrupt and that we do horrid things to other countries).

with all that being said, avatar was absolutely amazing, visually and narratively. i was moved by the movie and it brought me to tears at times. i strongly recommend seeing it.

as far as my stew, it was definitely thickened when i got home. AND, it was DELICIOUS! so happy. it turned exactly like i wanted!! this was a great day. much needed after my day yesterday. now i am going to relax with mike and a few beers. cheers!!

jack bauer is my hero

yes, i am writing about jack bauer. in case you don't live on this planet or you don't watch what i say is one of, if not the, best shows ever on tv, i am speaking of 24. the man, jack bauer. and he is the most badass m'er f'er around. seriously, i love jack bauer. but if you know me, you know that. a couple years ago i half way completed a shirt that had jack bauer on it, which was going to state, "jack bauer is my hero." as a joke of course, but i did have every intention of wearing it. but i never finished it and that shirt now has a new owner via goodwill or hey, it may still be at the goodwill. because i don't know how in demand a shirt with an unexplained picture of jack bauer on it, is to the general public.

but truthfully, i am not a whackadoodle who is really in love with jack bauer. i do understand that he is not real (just like edward cullen :) ). however jack is my favorite tv character ever. he possesses something that no one else does. and i can really only sum it up as badassness. when you can kill someone by breaking their neck with your legs, you are truly badass. i mean, at times it is very unrealistic (just like every other show). jack has looked death in the face more times than i can count and of course he always gets out alive (he is the star of the show of course!), but he always escapes in such a, excuse me for the redundancy, but in such a badass way.

jack, if you don't know, is played by kiefer sutherland. and to add to jack's greatness, kiefer sutherland possesses one of the most awesome voices ever. this blog has no point, but to say that i love 24 and jack bauer. i have watched since day 1 and have never missed an episode. i highly recommend you rent all past seasons, bunker down for a couple weekends, and enjoy the perfection and badasssness that is 24 and jack bauer.

go vegan

and so starts my quest back into veganism. i was pretty close before. and watching the things below just make me realize that i have to go vegan. it will be a difficult process. not so much giving up the dairy and eggs, but breaking the news to mike and him probably not being completely supportive. and not only mike. everyone in my life. being vegetarian is seems hard enough for people to handle. veganism will really throw them through a loop. but i honestly can't understand how they wouldn't be able to understand after viewing the slideshows and movie preview below. and they are not grusome and horrifying, just factual. of course they made me cry. i dont know how they couldnt make anyone cry. but again, educate yourself. open your mind. learn the TRUTH.

go vegetarian!

i decided for my first blog that i would write about something i feel very passionately about...vegetarianism. go ahead roll your eyes. call me a hippie tree hugger. i am use to it. but at least hear me out. i do not like to preach and to be overbearing and i really do avoid that type of behavior. i understand everyone has their right to do as they please, but it is also helpful to be educated on a topic that effects yourself as well as others.

one of the most common comments made when people want to argue with me about being vegetarian (which i find humorous, because i never preach about being vegetarian, but once people find out i am, they find the need to attack me with their arguments) is that eating meat is part of the food chain and we are meant to eat meat. not true. yes, there was a time when humans had to live on their surroundings because that is all they had. however, today we have alternatives. we are not required to eat meat to get essential protein, vitamins, minerals, nutrients, etc. do not let people, or more importantly doctors, convince you otherwise. in fact doctors, throughout their whole education, receive about 2 weeks of nutrition courses. most doctors are very uneducated about nutrition. yes, animals in the wild follow the food chain because it is instinctual, and they do not have a choice. it is their only means of survival. meat is not our only means of survival. if it was, i would not be alive. :)

most important to me, and the sole reason i am a vegetarian, is the horrifying and appalling cruelty to the animals that are raised for our food. please dont be foolish enough to think that the cow, pig, chicken, or any other animal you eat, is living somewhere happily on a farm. that just doesn't exist anymore. well, i stand corrected. there are places like this, but they are the true EXCEPTION. what goes on in this country is factoring farming. chickens are crammed into cages where they cannot move, are transported in trucks through all types of weather conditions, and they are forced to deficate on themselves and other chickens. they will never in their lifetime be able to do anything that is natural to them. and if you think, "oh it is just a chicken", well then read on: http://goveg.org/factoryFarming_chickens.asp
the same with pigs and cows. both are very intelligent animals and both are very aware of what is happening to them before they are inhumanely slaughtered. and there are many more ghastly and inhumane acts that these animals are subjected to while they are being raised for our consumption. http://goveg.org/factoryFarming_pigs.asp and http://goveg.org/factoryFarming_cows.asp. please go to these links and educate yourself about the cruelty that humans inflict on defenseless animals. i understand it is hard to read and watch, but just because you choose not to acknowledge it, does not mean it isn't happening.

the next reason to be vegetarian is because it is SOOOOO much healthier for you!!! read on and find out the many health benefits of being a vegetarian. http://goveg.org/healthConcerns.asp http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vegetarian_foods.html
http://www.benefitsofvegetarianism.com/vegetarian-health-benefits.html

and we must acknowledge the damage eating meat causes the environment. for all you green minded individuals: http://goveg.org/environment.asp
and here is a tidbit of information from goveg.org: "According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than a half-million cars off U.S. roads."

above all i want everyone to understand the useless and horrid cruelty that these animals must endure. it is the reason i became a vegetarian. i love the taste of meat. LOVE it. it is a battle for me not to eat meat on almost a daily basis, but i could no longer sit around and be a part of something so inhumane. people ask me how i do it. i do it because i have made a conscious decision not to be a part of causing pain and suffering to these animals. i felt the cruelty was thrown in my face continuously. it wasn't until i moved down south that i ever witnessed trucks on the highway transporting chickens who were stuffed in cages so tightly with one another,that you could hardly make out that they were chickens. they just looked like feathers, because they were shoved in so tightly and they weren't able to stand up. and what kills me even more is when i see the trucks that are transporting pigs/piglets and they are struggling to get their snouts out the small openings in order to breathe. and they squeal. they squeal so LOUD that i can hear it as the truck passes me on the highway and my car windows are up. and i have seen both the chickens and pigs transported in the most extreme weather conditions. so hot that you know most of the chickens are dead (and then are cut up and used for your food with disease building up inside their dead bodies) and the pigs are screaming in fear and discomfort (and if i didn't mention it before, pigs are as intelligent as a 3 year old human child).
other people say to me that they want to be a vegetarian because they know how horrible it is to inhumanely kill animals for food, but that they just like meat too much to give it up. well, this is where i will offend people. that thought process, that choice, is a completely selfish and weak choice. you are thinking solely of your satisfaction and happiness.

i just ask you to educate yourself. dive into this a little bit and discover the truths about vegetarianism. if people want to try and disprove the information about the health and environmental benefits, that is fine. but please know this, eating meat is completely INHUMANE and CRUEL to animals. there is no debate on that.

my two main recommendations are to go to: http://goveg.org/index.aspx once your there click the link "free vegetarian starter kit". once you click on it you will see "resources" on your right. then click on "order a print version of the starter kit". they will send it to you for free. it is great information.

my other recommendation is read, Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. It is a MUST read. Very entertaining and very enlightening.

Wow this was a long first blog, but i hope i have at least enlightened you some and made you curious enough to research the topic on your own.

and i apologize for the links not working but i couldnt get them to work, maybe someone could help me with that :)