Hello, my name is Linda. I'm from the East Coast. Sometimes my friends call me Pillowface. I am a female anarchist in college studying Spanish and Latin American Issues. I recently switched vegetarian to vegan. I translate for my local Girl Scouts council, mostly paperwork for the outreach programs and a little face-to-face interpreting here and there. I also help organize a lot of the local Critical Mass rides and I am a member/organizer of the IWW union. Few people suspect or are even aware of my political tendencies. I'm rather 'white bread' in my appearance, so to speak. My area is very Christian and rather intolerant of political ideals other than conservatism. I suppose that is why I decided to join this forum- to touch base with like-minded individuals. I have not much experience with punk music; I mostly prefer avant-garde and noise bands and also a lot of psychedelic, stoner and doom. For a few months I participated in a local art band project called 'Pigwidgeon'. That is about the extent of my experience with punk music and I enjoyed it very much.
Hey Bear Saw! just wondering what made you decide to go from vegetarian to vegan? i'm not bating you (i'm vegan as well) i'm just genuinely interested in your story. sorry to hear that you are located in a such an intolerant area, that must be disheartening, though it sounds as if it hasn't dissuaded you from being active. GOOD!
Thank you hex. I became a vegan when my sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in July. It was something that I had always wanted to do and that convinced me. So I did it for my health.
sorry to hear about your sister's diagnosis. that is truly a horrible thing. thank you for sharing your personal story. if you should ever need any support during your transition to veganism, feel free to PM me here. i may not have all the answers but i have a ton of resources that might! i know that here in NJ there are local vegan groups from all different backgrounds and musical tastes who often get together for support (and mostly to eat great vegan food!) i also have friends in similar groups in NY, Conn, Mass, PA, DC and MD who have friends...etc. whom i could put you in touch with as well. it might help you to not feel so isolated. just thought i'd throw that out there. seriously, hit me up anytime. in the mean time ...stay strong, fight hard! Hex got yer back!
dear Hex, What does PM mean? I live in MD. In freshman year there was a Veg Club on campus and we had regular vegan potluck dinners. They were always a lot of fun but currently the club is defunct. I have to admit though, that I am a terrible hypocrite because I also have a two-days-a-week apprenticeship at a pastry shop (Cakes By Dave ) and we rarely use vegan recipes. Sometimes when I can't get a tecnique right, for example- piping puff pastry, I go home and practice it... butter and eggs included.
Bear saw, addressing the PM issue. as Rathryn said, PM stands for private message (an inter-site email of sorts) ...if you look under a persons Icon. <----------------.on the left there you'll see a small button the looks like a person with 'PM' next to it. you click on that button and you will be redirected to a page where you can type a private message that will just be displayed to ONLY the person whose PM button you clicked! just like email. when you get a reply (when some one PMs you) you will see (right under the anarcho-punk logo up the top left of the page) that the 'new messages' heading will show 1 new message...click on THAT heading and the message page will be displayed, from there you can read the PM. i hope that isn't as confusing as it sounds. also... you say that you are a terrible hypocrite, but veganism IS NOT about some sort of 'perfection' and it can NEVER be. you said that you are going vegan for health reasons, so that doesn't mean that it has to automatically transfer over into your apprenticeship. in this culture, NO ONE, not even the most 'vegan' vegan, is exempt from contributing to animal suffering. for me and a lot of others, my veganism is born out of a desire to simply 'boycott' the industries, the exploitation, and abject cruelty they force upon animals...not even to mention the impact on the environment and human health. We try our best and remove our financial support from these companies by removing the products from our lives. unfortunately, animal exploitation industry is so huge, that animal products (and the suffering of animals) is linked to ALMOST every product out there. drive in a car? there are animal products in the coolant, and tires. ever take a shower? the dams that likely brought you that water displaced and killed animals. see, the complete 'elimination' of ALL animal products and animal suffering is inescapable for any vegan in this society. so don't bash yourself over it. you are concerned with your health, so abstain from animal products in that capacity. that does NOT make you a hypocrite. also, on the topic of pastries, if you are ever in the Washington DC area, make sure you check out Sticky Fingers over on the NW side....it's an all vegan pastry shop....and the food and treats are beyond amazing! sorry for the huge post, i hope that it is a bit more coherent then i suspect. lol -Hex
