So just my thoughts out loud on this topic. And some general questions on the issue, on some things that I don’t understand. If there is anyone who actually reads this blog, and who wants to share their views and opinions, please do. I guess my questions are philosophical, not technical. I know every person has their own reasons for doing it.
I know there are several types of vegetarianism, some being more “strict” (if that’s even the right word) than others on what animal products are consumed. I’m not favorable to any certain type.
A common reason I hear from vegetarians around me to eat the way they do is for animal rights. Another one is because they don’t want hormones, etc. in the foods they eat. Another is for diet/nutrition/health reasons.
While I completely agree with not wanting to consume “god knows what” in your chicken and beef from whatever farming practices this country has become accustomed to, there are some ways around this one. Why not buy local organic? I guess the price issue comes up here, and many people don’t care about meat enough to pay the price of organic meats so they just don’t eat it. Justifiable. I also agree that most farming practices have negative impacts on the environmental as well, and really wish as a country we could change our ways in that respect.
The animal rights thing, yes, I agree we should farm differently in this country and provide animals a more humane life/environment, etc. If America adopted more humane ways of farming, like most of the rest of the world, would you still not eat meat? Is it simply executing the animal for your food what bothers you? If that’s the case, do you not agree with how much of the world acquires its food sources? I know that we live in a privileged environment in which we do not have to go find our own food in the wild. So maybe this is the reason many people don’t agree with it—why kill something if it isn’t necessary, and we can eat other things just as easily.
The diet/nutrition/health reason one probably irks the most questions out of me though. For some reason there is a stigma on meat as being “unhealthy”, solely from a nutritional standpoint. Hormones and whatever additives aside, there are cuts of meat that are very healthy. Some of the best sources of lean protein and iron are from certain types of meat. I know meat is not a required food group, but proteins, iron, and minerals are. So what do you eat in place of it to fill in your nutritional needs? I know there’s beans of all types, whole grains that contain protein, nuts, flax, etc.
And I guess this is an extension of the above—WHYYYY do so many vegetarians eat the pre-packaged, frozen foods from grocery store freezers? The most baffling thing to me is that most of these foods MIMIC meat. The fake chicken, sausage, etc. Tofurkey? Really? If you are vegetarian, why do you want your food to mimic the thing you feel strongly enough about to avoid otherwise? I know lots of recipes call for meat and its nice to have a substitute. Why not substitute with, for example, eggplant? Or brussel sprouts? Or lentils? Or anything else non-meat like or related? If you are eating a certain way for health reasons, there must be a better alternative than these frozen, instant foods. And not to mention the packaging for this stuff is pretty wasteful. I know they are probably convenient, but if you are eating this way for any of the above reasons, wouldn’t you feel compelled to acquire foods in their natural, singular state?
Veganism—I’m curious as to what vegans eat to fill their nutritional needs. We live in a modern world and have access to dietary supplements, but something there just doesn’t sit right with me. You shouldn’t have to rely on human-gathered/concentrated pills to achieve a healthy eating lifestyle. So without supplementing your diet with these things, what do you eat instead? I’m interested not only to know what foods contain the same vitamins, minerals, carbs, fats, and proteins as animal food products, but to maybe look for something different at the grocery store cause we tend to get the same general food types every week or so.
Vegetarians that don’t eat meat, but eat fish. What is your individual reasoning? You are still killing an animal to eat it. To me, the greatest issue to not eat fish is the contaminants and/or mercury levels that can be toxic in large quantities, and probably more importantly, overfishing and damage to the environment of catching certain species. But I eat fish, and I know which types to avoid and which types to eat in moderation. I know which species to avoid that are farm-raised. Fish, naturally, are food. I really think God put them on this earth to be eaten. They are a great source of nutrition. Yep.
Vegetarians who do not eat meat but eat animal products such as eggs and dairy. What is the reasoning here? You really can’t be avoiding meat for ethical reasons and eat these things too. They are a product of the same humane/inhumane farming practices that produce the meat (unless you are buying specifically free range, organic sources, etc). They come from the same farms that may or may not be harmful to the environment. Eggs and dairy are high in nutrients. So nutritionally speaking, they are a good choice, so that is reason enough to eat them. But why are you not eating meat as well then?
And lastly, do people who eat in a vegetarian style raise their children to eat this way? Or do they let their children decide the way that they want to eat after they are informed about everything from the ethical, environmental, and nutritional standpoints? I know there’s no set answer to that, just would like some personal opinions maybe.
Not trying to stir anything up here, just legitimate thinkings I have done since there seems to be a growing number of people around me that have taken up this eating lifestyle.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
um...say again?
While mindlessly browsing the internet a few days ago, I came across this gem of an article:
http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/17/backlash-over-angelina-jolie-as-cleopatra/
Read it. It's short. And please don't read the comments to it, you may rot your brain.
First, before I say anything about this article, I will say that I am in no way, shape, or form intolerant of other races or anything along those lines. I think that the 20th century movies depicting colored lead-woman roles with white women painted to be dark-skinned is a past absurdity that shouldn't be repeated. And I really hope that we as a nation have moved past the entire aura surrounding the "need" to do such a ridiculous thing.
Back to the article. There are two things to address here. First of all, the author of the article is an idiot. Second, the general public "outraged" by the selection of Jolie as Cleopatra are idiots.
We are now reaping the benefits of a society playing spades during middle and high school basic history.
This is an article hosted by CNN.
It seems the author and the general public, and most of the "intelligent" persons who commented on the article opened their mouths before they even did a lick of research (a common thing nowadays). What boggles my mind is why would a reporter/journalist publish something that they apparently know nothing about? Oh right, this is American media.
So the knee jerk reaction is to jump on the PC bandwagon and accuse everyone of being racist. Please people, don't always rush to conclusions and assume that this is the case. When will we move past this?
Just to clarify here...Cleopatra was a Ptolemy, of European decent. More specifically, Macedonian. She was not African. She didn't even speak Egyptian. Her culture was more centered on Greek ideology than the centuries of solely Egyptian before her dynasty. Greece and Egypt were side by side, intertwined culturally all through this time. Therefore it does not require a huge amount of thinking to come to the conclusion that Cleopatra was not black. Or African. Or even truly Egyption for that matter.
And therefore, Angelina Jolie is not an ethnically absurd choice for the role of this pharaoh. Actually, I think she fits the role quite well. If I knew nothing about her and had to guess her heritage, I would honestly probably say Greek, based on looks alone. She seems as though she can pull off a Mediterranean "look" quite well for the movie. I dunno though, I might be racist for saying such a thing.
http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/17/backlash-over-angelina-jolie-as-cleopatra/
Read it. It's short. And please don't read the comments to it, you may rot your brain.
First, before I say anything about this article, I will say that I am in no way, shape, or form intolerant of other races or anything along those lines. I think that the 20th century movies depicting colored lead-woman roles with white women painted to be dark-skinned is a past absurdity that shouldn't be repeated. And I really hope that we as a nation have moved past the entire aura surrounding the "need" to do such a ridiculous thing.
Back to the article. There are two things to address here. First of all, the author of the article is an idiot. Second, the general public "outraged" by the selection of Jolie as Cleopatra are idiots.
We are now reaping the benefits of a society playing spades during middle and high school basic history.
This is an article hosted by CNN.
It seems the author and the general public, and most of the "intelligent" persons who commented on the article opened their mouths before they even did a lick of research (a common thing nowadays). What boggles my mind is why would a reporter/journalist publish something that they apparently know nothing about? Oh right, this is American media.
So the knee jerk reaction is to jump on the PC bandwagon and accuse everyone of being racist. Please people, don't always rush to conclusions and assume that this is the case. When will we move past this?
Just to clarify here...Cleopatra was a Ptolemy, of European decent. More specifically, Macedonian. She was not African. She didn't even speak Egyptian. Her culture was more centered on Greek ideology than the centuries of solely Egyptian before her dynasty. Greece and Egypt were side by side, intertwined culturally all through this time. Therefore it does not require a huge amount of thinking to come to the conclusion that Cleopatra was not black. Or African. Or even truly Egyption for that matter.
And therefore, Angelina Jolie is not an ethnically absurd choice for the role of this pharaoh. Actually, I think she fits the role quite well. If I knew nothing about her and had to guess her heritage, I would honestly probably say Greek, based on looks alone. She seems as though she can pull off a Mediterranean "look" quite well for the movie. I dunno though, I might be racist for saying such a thing.
Monday, June 28, 2010
"It takes a village to raise a child"
This should be engraved in a golden placard and placed upon our wall. I don't know what I would do without the help from our families over the past year or so. I really wish Americans lived more socially. We are too independent. Life would be infinitely easier if you had an immediate network of people to help you out with just day to day stuff. Regular stuff.
Simple things like cleaning the bathroom and blow drying your hair in the morning. Cooking dinner and doing anything not related to getting stuff ready for the following day before 9pm. Stuff that's normally routine are all epic feats as of late.
But I absolutely adore my daughter. She is the cutest, most amazing little human being. It's amazing how much love you can have for someone else. The quote "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body" is an understatement. There is nothing in the world that can ever compare to having her. And yes there will be an infinitely large numbers of posts and more pictures of her. I just need to hire a photographer and journalist to get that done =/
It's kind of weird though, I feel like we've distanced ourselves from a lot of people lately, other than people we see on a daily basis. And this is totally not on purpose. It just happened. My life has changed so much over the last year and a half or so, I barely have anything in common with who I was before that. And that is another topic of discussion, entirely.
The thing is, people tell you, "oh, your life is going to change so much when you have kids", and you think you know that and understand that statement beforehand. But really, you don't know until it happens to you. It never ceases to amaze me that everyone on earth that has raised a child has gone through the "craziness" that we have. It's like you join a new "club", and can only relate to others that have gone through it too. What I mean by this is, people don't understand why you seemingly "disappeared", or became hard to contact, or don't go out and party, etc.
It's a full time job on top of having a full time job.
Simple things like cleaning the bathroom and blow drying your hair in the morning. Cooking dinner and doing anything not related to getting stuff ready for the following day before 9pm. Stuff that's normally routine are all epic feats as of late.
But I absolutely adore my daughter. She is the cutest, most amazing little human being. It's amazing how much love you can have for someone else. The quote "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body" is an understatement. There is nothing in the world that can ever compare to having her. And yes there will be an infinitely large numbers of posts and more pictures of her. I just need to hire a photographer and journalist to get that done =/
It's kind of weird though, I feel like we've distanced ourselves from a lot of people lately, other than people we see on a daily basis. And this is totally not on purpose. It just happened. My life has changed so much over the last year and a half or so, I barely have anything in common with who I was before that. And that is another topic of discussion, entirely.
The thing is, people tell you, "oh, your life is going to change so much when you have kids", and you think you know that and understand that statement beforehand. But really, you don't know until it happens to you. It never ceases to amaze me that everyone on earth that has raised a child has gone through the "craziness" that we have. It's like you join a new "club", and can only relate to others that have gone through it too. What I mean by this is, people don't understand why you seemingly "disappeared", or became hard to contact, or don't go out and party, etc.
It's a full time job on top of having a full time job.
"where is everybody"
Julie's top ten mysteries of right now:
10. How it takes only a few weeks to completely undo months worth of shaping up.
9. That people can make gigantic leaps in science, medicine, and discoveries, but that doesn't make the news headlines. A celebrity who tweeted what they ate last night does.
8. Why people spend so much money on huge screen TV's, Insanely HD and Way More Channels than You'll Ever Watch cable, Iphones and their monthly bills, IPads, I-this, and I-that, etc.
7. That a shot girl/bartender can make more money in one night than a new teacher can make in a month.
6. Our society's obsession with emaciated-looking women with bad cheek and facial plastic surgery. Such as: Megan Fox. Yes, she went to my highschool. And looked nothing like she does now.
5. Why so many people are afraid to move out of their comfort zone bubble. Branch out. Life is too short.
4. How anyone "makes it" making less than we do. Don't get me wrong...we are fortunate. But we are as average as average can get. What the heck do you have to do in life to not count every penny and struggle to stay afloat?
3. My next place of residence/next phase in life.
2. That anyone with more than one child gets anything done at all.
1. That women have not evolved to have three arms. Seriously. How else would you do anything for the first year or two with a baby if you don't have a "carrier" or a "sling"???
10. How it takes only a few weeks to completely undo months worth of shaping up.
9. That people can make gigantic leaps in science, medicine, and discoveries, but that doesn't make the news headlines. A celebrity who tweeted what they ate last night does.
8. Why people spend so much money on huge screen TV's, Insanely HD and Way More Channels than You'll Ever Watch cable, Iphones and their monthly bills, IPads, I-this, and I-that, etc.
7. That a shot girl/bartender can make more money in one night than a new teacher can make in a month.
6. Our society's obsession with emaciated-looking women with bad cheek and facial plastic surgery. Such as: Megan Fox. Yes, she went to my highschool. And looked nothing like she does now.
5. Why so many people are afraid to move out of their comfort zone bubble. Branch out. Life is too short.
4. How anyone "makes it" making less than we do. Don't get me wrong...we are fortunate. But we are as average as average can get. What the heck do you have to do in life to not count every penny and struggle to stay afloat?
3. My next place of residence/next phase in life.
2. That anyone with more than one child gets anything done at all.
1. That women have not evolved to have three arms. Seriously. How else would you do anything for the first year or two with a baby if you don't have a "carrier" or a "sling"???
I knew this would happen...
...that "see you tomorrow" would turn into "see you next week, or maybe the week after that". Eh, whatever.
So after (yet another) survival of a plague that went through our house over the weekend, which victimized Aubrey and I, and Jake now, to a lesser extent...I am back to work this week, as always, and working on working somewhere else. Seriously.
My down time as of late is work. With programs ending, funding falling into black holes, and the word cancelled equating with cancer, leaves me with not much going on. Except job interviews, which have been steadily coming in.
Today's prediction of where the newest McDonald family will live next: NoVa. Last week it was Marietta, GA. Next week it will be __________.
And I shall end this abruptly with a random thought:
There is no amount of paper towels capable of handling a toddler's mess.
So after (yet another) survival of a plague that went through our house over the weekend, which victimized Aubrey and I, and Jake now, to a lesser extent...I am back to work this week, as always, and working on working somewhere else. Seriously.
My down time as of late is work. With programs ending, funding falling into black holes, and the word cancelled equating with cancer, leaves me with not much going on. Except job interviews, which have been steadily coming in.
Today's prediction of where the newest McDonald family will live next: NoVa. Last week it was Marietta, GA. Next week it will be __________.
And I shall end this abruptly with a random thought:
There is no amount of paper towels capable of handling a toddler's mess.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Who am I?
That's been the million dollar question for me lately. If there's such thing as a mid-twenties identity crisis, oh, I'm there. And that will probably be its own post entirely one day when I feel like typing about it.
I can tell you what I am, though.
What I am:
-Blonde, but not so much anymore since my daughter "stole" my hair color. It now naturally grows in this odd light brownish red color.
-A grad student, slow and steady wins the race...maybe 2011 will be the special year that I finish. I almost died last semester. Silly me, thinking that I was some kind of superhero who can work and be a mom at the same time, AND take two graduate aerospace engineering science courses.
-Quiet and usually in mid-thought, and I don't mean to convey the snoody or spacey presence that I am usually defaulted to at any given moment.
-Married, and have been for three years now (whoa whoa), and have my own little mini-me as a result, whom I love to death (and requires countless of her own posts).
-Female, human, etc.
-A space systems engineer for a really big aerospace company, contracted by a used-to-be-something-people-were-proud-of government agency that is in self-destruct mode right now. Our government is on to bigger and better things, new ideas, you know, like...helping Americans buy expensive TVs and home theater systems, and making sure everyone's SUVs are filled with...lots of gasoline.
-Bitter. About the agency self-destruction bullet.
-A nine-to-five-r (actually 8-to-4:30-r), and would really like to know WHO thought THAT was a great idea to make the norm.
-A veteran teacher (for one whole school teacher). Fellow teachers, you are my heroes. You, and any woman who has more than one child, and can do anything else at all besides housework.
-A runner, but that's on the back burner these days.
-Jealous of people who have more than an hour per day of free time!
-A busy person. Must end this post now to do lots of stuff and will revisit this (maybe) tonight.
Until then...
edit:
Ok back from lots of stuff. Now I gotta go lots more stuff, so see ya tomorrow!
I can tell you what I am, though.
What I am:
-Blonde, but not so much anymore since my daughter "stole" my hair color. It now naturally grows in this odd light brownish red color.
-A grad student, slow and steady wins the race...maybe 2011 will be the special year that I finish. I almost died last semester. Silly me, thinking that I was some kind of superhero who can work and be a mom at the same time, AND take two graduate aerospace engineering science courses.
-Quiet and usually in mid-thought, and I don't mean to convey the snoody or spacey presence that I am usually defaulted to at any given moment.
-Married, and have been for three years now (whoa whoa), and have my own little mini-me as a result, whom I love to death (and requires countless of her own posts).
-Female, human, etc.
-A space systems engineer for a really big aerospace company, contracted by a used-to-be-something-people-were-proud-of government agency that is in self-destruct mode right now. Our government is on to bigger and better things, new ideas, you know, like...helping Americans buy expensive TVs and home theater systems, and making sure everyone's SUVs are filled with...lots of gasoline.
-Bitter. About the agency self-destruction bullet.
-A nine-to-five-r (actually 8-to-4:30-r), and would really like to know WHO thought THAT was a great idea to make the norm.
-A veteran teacher (for one whole school teacher). Fellow teachers, you are my heroes. You, and any woman who has more than one child, and can do anything else at all besides housework.
-A runner, but that's on the back burner these days.
-Jealous of people who have more than an hour per day of free time!
-A busy person. Must end this post now to do lots of stuff and will revisit this (maybe) tonight.
Until then...
edit:
Ok back from lots of stuff. Now I gotta go lots more stuff, so see ya tomorrow!
Woop woop...
I'm making my first blog post! Hooray for me!
I guess this blog serves as the new and improved LJ blog I had a long time ago? It might be a vent space? It might turn into something else entirely? It will most certainly involve me.
This will be a place of random posts, thoughts, and thinkings out loud, for sure. I might even throw in a picture or two from time to time! You can read it, I can't promise anything super exciting however. Life is so busy, it will be nice to archive some things.
Where to begin? There won't be an order...I'll just start jumping into this and posting what's going on and what's on my mind.
I guess this blog serves as the new and improved LJ blog I had a long time ago? It might be a vent space? It might turn into something else entirely? It will most certainly involve me.
This will be a place of random posts, thoughts, and thinkings out loud, for sure. I might even throw in a picture or two from time to time! You can read it, I can't promise anything super exciting however. Life is so busy, it will be nice to archive some things.
Where to begin? There won't be an order...I'll just start jumping into this and posting what's going on and what's on my mind.
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