Liberator

I finally got around to reading Liberator, and it was fantastic! If you haven't heard about it, it's an animal rights themed comic, centered around two activists working to free animals through direct action. In case you're not familiar with the term "direct action", it's the less legal side of animal rights activism. Anyway, I really love the whole feel of the comic, the characters and the artwork were amazing and the stories were quite compelling. It also managed to cover the issues (briefly) without sounding educational, or straying from the story line.

My favorite thing about it though was the way they indirectly (and sometimes directly) made the connection between activists and superheros. This isn't exactly a new concept, there is the whole "vegan superpower" thing from Scott Pilgrim, then there are the tee shirts that talk about vegans saving the world. But I think this is the first time that the idea has been treated seriously. After I read this, I started to think how much these people really are like superheros; especially my favorite kind, which are the ones who are not so much dependent on special powers as they are on dedication and skill. The only reason the general public doesn't think of activists that way is because they see such a huge (and false) distinction between the lives of humans and the lives of non-human animals. Anyone who did these sorts of things in order to free humans from slavery and torture would, without a doubt, be treated as a hero.

Anyway, you should really, really read this. If you're already into animal rights, you will love it! And if you're not, it will give you some great insight into the mindset of activists while still being entertaining.

Buy volume 1 here.

Change It Back

You know a few days ago when I talked about the word "virago" and how it's definition change from a positive statement of a woman's strength to a negative comment about her attitude? Well, the more I thought about it, the more that bugged me. You see, I love words. I especially love beautiful and unique words. I think this is a particularly beautiful and unique word, and I think it's bullshit that it has taken on this unpleasant connotation. So you know what, I'm changing it back! I made a bunch of different pendants with "virago" written on them the other day, and I fully intend to start wearing one as soon as they are finished. And when people ask me what it means, I'm going to tell them that it means a strong, courageous woman. So if anyone wants to help me change this word back to what it should be, I'll have some jewelry available soon. 

Let's undo this!

Almost There

My dad and I finished my salmon ladder today! Well, it's mostly finished; I still have to wait for the concrete to dry, but then it will be done. I also got my GoPro the other day, so as soon as I can figure out how to work it, I can actually (for real) start my video blog. I'll still have to see how terrible I am at the salmon ladder before I decide whether or not I want to film it yet. In the meantime, does anyone have any requests for videos? I'm not really sure how to start this whole thing off.

Not How I Wanted It

We didn't do anything particularly exciting in class last night. We did a little more footwork, a few kicks, and a few elbows. I haven't had a decent injury in two weeks now, and it's a bit disappointing.

I did, however, kick a door in yesterday, which was kind of interesting. I must say, though, it didn't happen the way I would have wanted it to. You see, I keep my pig food inside my dad's shop, and the key to get in keeps getting all gummed up with pig mud and it makes it really hard to get the door open. Well, yesterday it just wouldn't open at all. I tried it over and over again, I tried scraping the mud off the key and then out of the keyhole as best I could.....nothing. Meanwhile, the pigs are shrieking, and stomping, and demanding to be fed. So finally I was just like "Fuck it!" and kicked the door in. Then I had to go back and nail the door jam back together and screw the plate back on. So yeah, not as badass as I wanted it to be.

Ⓥ Veganniversary

I'm fairly certain I have now officially been vegan for ten years. I don't know for sure because, at the time, I didn't know how hard it was going to be for me to stick to it. I sort of expected it to be a gradual process, so I didn't pay attention to the exact date. I do know that it was sometime in the spring after I turned eighteen, so I think it's close enough. I wish I had paid attention to the date though, because it wasn't a gradual process. From the day I decided I wanted to be vegan, I have not eaten a single non-vegan thing (at least not intentionally. There were a few mistakes, some due to my own ignorance and some due to other people's).

I won't claim that it was never difficult, it was at times. I won't claim that I didn't have to make sacrifices, there were definitely things that were hard to give up at first. What I will say is that it is still the one thing in my life that I am absolutely certain of. Never has there been another decision that I have never once had to question. I have doubted, and still doubt, every other choice I have made in my life, even the most basic ones. Not this one though. I think after ten years, I can say with absolute certainty that I will never feel any less adamantly that leading a vegan lifestyle is the right thing to do.

Every year, there is more and more evidence showing the devastating effects of animal agriculture on the animals themselves, the planet as a whole, and on the health of the people who consume it's products. There are also more and more vegan options becoming widely available, all the time. Not to mention the positive changes that I still continue to see in my self and my body, even now.

Sometimes I think back on how much more difficult things were for vegans back when I first started out, and I'm a little surprised that I made it. There were so many roadblocks I had to face back then that simply aren't an issue anymore, the largest of which being my own lack of information on the subject. It was genuinely hard back then, unlike today when it is simply a matter of changing one's habits. Even so, I'm glad I didn't wait. The challenges that I faced in the beginning made me all the more committed to the cause and, if given the chance, the only thing I would change about my experience would be to do it sooner.

See, I actually didn't make that word up. 

How Did This Happen?

I follow several people on Pinterest who occasionally post obscure words and their definitions. I'm always interested in learning new words, so I tend to enjoy these. One of the words that I found recently was "virago" which was defined as "a strong, brave, or warlike woman; a woman who demonstrates exemplary and heroic qualities." I thought this was a really cool word, so I went to dictionary.com to make sure that it was actually real. (There have actually been instances when I have found words that I really liked only to later learn that they were entirely made up.) Well, it turns out that it is a real word, but it seems that the definition they offered was a bit outdated. The dictionary.com definition was as follows "1- loud-voiced, ill-tempered, scolding woman; shrew. 2- Archaic. A woman of strength or spirit." What the fuck?! How exactly did being a strong woman turn into being a bitch? I don't give a shit! I like this word, and I fully intend to use it with it's "archaic" definition.

Newspeak

I just finished reading 1984. It was one of those books that I had been meaning to read for years, and I just never got around to it. Well, I finally did and, as odd as this sounds, it actually gave me hope for our culture. From what I had heard about this book before I read it, I gathered that it was all about oppressive government monitoring it's citizens and controlling their lives. In some ways, I guess it was. To me though, it seemed that the much more important aspect of the story was the fact that the people accepted the oppression, and the ways in which "The Party" ensured this acceptance.

One of the most important tactics they used was the invention of a  language called "Newspeak" which was basically a trimmed down and simplified form of English. The goal of this new language was to continuously narrow down the options for expressing ideas until it finally reached the point where it would be impossible for anyone to express any thought or feeling which went against what The Party believed. I found this idea quite disturbing; forcing people to behave in a certain way by gradually decreasing their ability express their disapproval. This is why the story actually made me feel better about our current society. Say what you will about our modern culture, but if there is one thing we do not lack, it is the means to express ourselves.

I remember, a while back, when I heard that the word selfie had been added to the dictionary, I was annoyed. I thought that it was ridiculous that we are making these sorts of seemingly meaningless words official, and I thought it reflected badly on our society as a whole. I started thinking about these new, often blatantly silly, words in the context of 1984 though, and realized that maybe they aren't so bad. When you think about it, inventing new words, new forms of old words, and various abbreviations of words, are all just ways of expanding our abilities to communicate more easily.

xkcd recently made a very good point, on a similar subject.