Haus

I just moved into a vegetarian co-op on campus and it's a strange and beautiful journey already. There are a number of factors pulling and tearing at the way I frame it. This is how most people respond when I mention the co-op :

"Oh where's that again "
"I've never actually been INSIDE ..."
"What?"
"Aren't you guys all like vegans or something? Do you run around naked?"

It's this strange place so ridiculously CENTRAL on-campus but so socially removed that no one dares venture inside.

It is a square building of many bikes, of rags, of hairy bathrooms, of let-it-mellow yellow, of baked goods, of Haus Decisions, of theoretical, of cheap and good food made with love, of creation, of tension of growth, of stickers of hall posters, of beans, of lentils, of Crimethinc signs, of dirty things in clean places, of smiles and 3 am kitchen porn, of song-singing and couch-lounging, of very little academic work and so much interaction, of re-usable yoghurt containers, of eggs and things of disgust, of vegan idealism, of camaraderie, of apple scones in the morning with your name on it, of hall parties, of tensions, of growth, of change, of many things... in the last 4 days.

I'm so thrilled to be a part of it, and so thrilled to watch myself grow in it..

MTRBlows

Radical Mountain Top Removal Action:

http://www.climategroundzero.org/

Beautiful and simple, tree-sitting is a non-violent form of protest which aims to fight the systematic destruction of natural resources for energy and profit. Awesome.

Vegan Conversion Machine

Veg*ns and activists of all sorts and varieties can get so riled up, after all, and want to change the world that they lose sight of the very beauty of their own relationships... We're not vegan conversion machines.

That said, I'm not going to stop handing out flyers and tabling and getting shit done. Shifting to a plant-based diet is helpful to our society in so many ways. Not to mention that it allows us to see the connections behind all the products we have been so blindly led to consume... But to side with certain PETA-activists who argue that every possible interaction should be one that shows veganism in a certain light can be crippling. After all, aren't vegans and vegetarians animals, too? Shouldn't we provide ourselves with some due 'animal justice' in a hustling, bustling world of alienation?

Just a reminder to bring some balance into our lives. Personal revolutions are equally important.