I’m making some progress with the whole practically vegan thing. I’ve rediscovered my groove from my previous vegan days and it hasn’t been as time consuming and difficult to toss something together. It helps that I have a better grasp of what I can and can’t eat right now. I’m seriously getting tired of people’s comments on recipes, though. The same people who whine about cookbooks that aren’t their cup o’ vegan. I’ve read more comments on vegan cookbooks saying that it was horrible simply because the author chose to use white flour and sugar. That they chose veganisim for a more healthy lifestyle, and therefore X Author is SHITE!!! for not being within the realm they wanted. Seriously?? I’ve purchased thousands of cookbooks over the years, many with alot [if not totally made up of] recipes I didn’t care for. I thought I would, but I didn’t. It’s not the author’s fault I didn’t like the recipe. I either trucked them on over to BookNook and got a hefty store credit, or I handed them out to friends who felt they would enjoy it. It’s not that big of a deal. Maybe it’s because I’d never pay $40 for a cookbook I didn’t know if I’d like or not..

In my various adventures of Googling for recipes, meal ideas, and substitutes for ingredients, I’ve come across several hundred vegan websites. Many are really great; very informative, they present their case for veganisim in a very nonpolitical way, and they have some very tasty meals that would even satisfy an omnivore. The forums I’ve come across presented a very nice group of people, those willing to applaud others for atleast trying to be more vegetarian if not outright vegan. I am sad for these particular places simply because it’s the other lot that sticks in your head and come up first on the search engines. Those are the VegaNazis who scream murder at you because you didn’t think to check the organic vegetarian cereal you’ve bought for years for .0001mg of something processed with animal byproduct. The ones who literally bash you for even saying you were thinking about trying veganisim because you currently still eat some animal byproduct.

When the hell did all of this become so black and white? When did this trench in the sand get put in?? Why do I remember these crowds being so much different? Yea, there’s always been the PETA freaks, but they were their own minority, not the public face of what it meant to be vegan. I, and my friends at the time, would never have lynched some perfect stranger because they called themselves vegetarian and yet still ate fish sometimes. Maybe that’s why there’s all the different -etarians now. Vegetarians got pissed off at the lacto/ovotarians and they got pissed at the pescetarians.. So they all subdivided into these weird ass groups. Did the same happen with the vegans? Are there vegans out there who own shoes with a smidge of leather? Are there those who still enjoy a bit of goat cheese now and again? Are there those who wouldn’t refuse to purchase something because it has .000001mg of something processed with an animal byproduct?!! Did they check their favorite cereals for some random byproduct?!!?!!? For fuck’s sake, gimme a break!!

I get the whole lifestyle thing, and I commend them for being adamant about their views. Trashing others, though, is not winning them any points. How are you going to convince someone of your views if you’re calling them blood thirsty murderers? Telling them they’re not good enough because they’re not as hard core as you? Yea, that’ll really win them over! They’ve become the Republicans of Food! They are right, you are wrong, and you’re a big meanie head for disagreeing with them. It’s ridiculous. I will always have more “bad” things to say about people than I do “good,” which is a character flaw I can live with, but to berate people just for being different? Not my cup of tea, thanks. There’s a reason why they’re compared to the Nazis, it’s not just for the shock value of the word.

I’ll continue to call myself vegan, regardless of the fact I consume 2 whole cheeses in almost minute amounts occasionally. If you have a problem with that? Tough tofu.