The things I geek out over.

I don’t have a vegan bucket list. If I did, I suppose eating at Millennium would be on it, and I did that when we went to San Francisco. I’d like to get tattooed at Scapegoat in Portland. And recently, I did something else from my not-bucket list: I met Carol J. Adams.

Spoiler alert: I fangirled the fuck out.

On a whim one day, I checked her tour schedule and probably did a little chair dance when I learned she’d be bringing her Sexual Politics of Meat slideshow to my alma mater, Towson University. Discussing vegan feminism on a Thursday night? Don’t mind if I do! I grabbed my copy of The Pornography of Meat, arranged to meet a few pals there, and prepared to get my think on.

Several local activist groups had tables set up, including Red Emma’s. I love my friendly neighborhood anarchist collective, so I bought a copy of The Sexual Politics of Meat (I felt a little bad not having read it already, but Pornography seemed easier. It has more pictures). Carol’s presentation was excellent. I’d venture to say that more than half of the audience was there either as a class assignment or for extra credit, but what the hell. At least they learned something new. Maybe a few seeds were planted. I wonder what I would have felt if I’d seen Carol’s slideshow when I was in college. At that time, I thought I couldn’t be vegetarian because I was frequently anemic. I’m not even sure I knew any vegans, but I knew for sure that Towson’s campus was no place for them to find food that wasn’t french fries. I hope that’s changed.

I took plenty of notes and really felt my own interest in the intersection of oppressions rekindled. Sometimes it’s easy to get complacent because I no longer have to work very hard to be vegan (or feminist), so a refresher is always welcome. I remembered how much I love her concept of the absent referent, the realization that missing from every piece of meat is the death of the animal from which that meat was taken. The absent referent is what allows people to consume animals comfortably; it separates “animal” from “food.” As she said during her talk, it “allows for the moral abandonment of a being.” I wrote that down because it touched me so deeply. Oppression based on species reinforces that based on gender, and where there is oppression, violence inevitably follows. Vegans, she said, “refuse to consume that which exists because of violence.” I’ll carry that with me for the next time someone asks why I’m vegan.

I figured that everyone would swarm her as soon as the Q&A ended, asking questions and wanting autographs, but I needn’t have worried. The best part of college events is that everyone goes for the food, not the speaker, and the room cleared out quickly. She was so friendly and gracious, signing both of my books and chatting with me about veganism and her other lecture stops. I was not a babbling idiot, as I had feared. She has such a welcoming, calm presence. Also, we are both diehard fans of the one and only Vegan Feminist Agitator! Carol even agreed to take a photo with me (plenty of people hate this, which I completely understand), and her son volunteered for camera duty. Both of her sons were there, which I thought was so sweet. Vegan feminism: It’s all in the family!

Trying not to squee. (Also, new favorite shirt!)

One of these days, I look forward to digging into Sexual Politics and continuing my education. If you’re not familiar with her work, check out the slideshow. It was a fantastic experience, and I hope she returns to Baltimore so Red can meet her too.

A little light reading.

The only sandwich book you will ever need.

Greetings, lovers! I know I’m (predictably) late on this, but in case you’re living in some sad, Internet-less place and haven’t heard, Tamasin Noyes and Celine Steen’s long-awaited opus of sandwiches, Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day!, has hit the street! And what a book it is. Red and I were lucky enough to be testers, and we had a blast. I’ve never been a sandwich fiend, but since he’s gone vegan, he really missed chowing down on thick, savory sandwiches on crusty sub rolls. It didn’t take long for me to realize what I’d been missing, and his sandwich itch has been lustily scratched. (Also, there are sandwich cookies.) Tami and Celine are dream authors to test for—not only do they invent amazing, creative recipes, they are also unfailingly gracious and receptive of feedback. For a peek at the fun we had testing, check out my album o’ sandwiches. These sandwiches are so good, we made several of them again while waiting for the book’s publication.

Recently, that happy day arrived! Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day! is ready to rock your kitchen and stuff your face full of sandwiches that are big on flavor and rich in bunly goodness. Here’s me, excitedly peeping out from behind my copy:

Squeeeee!

Here, learn about the origins (apocryphal or no, who cares?) of this noble, versatile food. And then make one!

Books, terrorists, and cupcakes.

Surely you guys are aware that Will Potter, of Green is the New Red fame, has recently published his first (excellent) book? And, duh, you’re going to go out and buy it and politely ask him to sign it when he comes to your town, right? You really should.

Last week, Red and I went to our friendly locally owned bookstore, Atomic, for the Baltimore launch of Green is the New Red and a discussion of that most lighthearted topic, the intimidation and prosecution of environmental and animal-rights activists as terrorists. A slavering threat to the American way of life, we are.* I had read most of the book while I was in Charlotte, so I felt a little like Hermione having done all her reading before even arriving at Hogwarts. Only not at all, because 1) I didn’t get to marry Ron Weasley** and 2) Will talked about plenty of things not in the book, and did it in a really engaging way, so I learned a lot. I am not even going to attempt to break down the Green Scare for you, because he does it so well in the book and over on his blog. It is terrifying to realize that nonviolent activists have been convicted of terrorism and secreted away in illegal prison units, while people who have actually committed murder are excused as “angry” or “misunderstood.” Go educate yourselves!

On hand to make sure that no one’s outrage went down without a spoonful of sugar was Tamara of Brunie’s Bakery, the genius whose desserts Red and I have enjoyed many times. Tamara seems to have made it her mission in life to never show up without baked goods. Therefore, I have decided to always bring Tupperware with me to any event where I think she might be, because she made (nay, forced!) us take extras home with us. I was out of my mind on a wicked sugar high by the time we left.

[Bad blogger note: I didn’t get any pics, but you can see some on Atomic’s photostream. In you’re ever in town, show them some love! John Waters does!]

Then Will signed my book and told me he liked my “What Kind of Asshole Eats a Lamb?” shirt. I always love hearing that, because I only have two AR shirts and that one’s my favorite. I hope he enjoyed his visit to Bmore, and I have no doubt that much radical consciousness was raised during his evening here.


*Actually, yeah, kind of. And that’s a good thing, as Martha might say.
**I’m sorry if that’s a spoiler for anyone, but the book’s been out for nearly four years. Do I need to tell you what happens in The Crying Game, too?

Baltimore Book Festival—now with more vegans!

Recently, I spent an evening at the Baltimore Book Festival. Do they have book festivals where you live? I hope so, because they are wonderful. They are also an excuse to spend money guiltlessly.

I’ve been to the Book Fest before, but I was super-excited this year because there was a vegan authors’ panel! Books and vegans: two of my favorite things. Since I got there early, I headed for the Radical Bookfair Pavilion to indulge my book habit. I purposely didn’t get any extra cash beforehand, because Red and I are trying to avoid bringing home too many stray books before we get additional bookshelves. I’m telling you, it’s a problem.

I picked up a lot of random free literature and A. Breeze Harper’s Sistah Vegan. I haven’t had time to read much of it, but it offers such a valuable and under-represented perspective. I’m happy to have it. At the next table were the friendly local anarchists from Red Emma’s, where they will sell you books and make you vegan lattés for a ridiculously low price. (The coffee, not the books. Books ain’t getting any cheaper, you may have noticed.) I was happy to find Kathy Acker’s Pussycat Fever—I did part of my master’s thesis on her novel Empire of the Senseless, and highly recommend her if you’re into tasty things like nonlinear narratives and the aesthetics of plagiarism. Also, sex.

I also found a copy of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I’ve wanted it for a while, but avoided buying it because what am I gonna do with a houseful of cookies? I said as much to the dude behind the table. “Have a vegan cookie party!” he suggested with glee. That convinced me, and I forked over the rest of my cash as I congratulated him on the score he’d made for capitalism. “Hey, when all you got’s a hammer, every problem looks like a nail,” he reasoned.

Laden with books and relieved of all my money, I wandered over to the tent where the panel was scheduled to take place. I ran into Linnea, who joined me on my transatlantic lunch date, and we settled in for the panel. Here’s an awful photo of the panelists:

L-R: Corrine Bowen, Tracye McQuirter, Ben Shaberman, and Jonathan Balcombe.

It was such fun. Ben Shaberman read a sweet story about his girlfriend’s cat from The Vegan Monologues. Corinne Bowen told us how she went from commenting on crazysexylife.com to being its editor. Tracye McQuirter told wonderful stories and had a beautiful smile. She’s doing something right, because her book had sold out before the panel! Davida Gypsy Breier talked about photographing animals for Ninety-Five at different sanctuaries, including Poplar Spring. Jonathan Balcombe told us how rats like to be tickled and display metacognition—that is, not only do they know things, but they know that they don’t know other things! They think about their own thinking! I wanted to buy his books, but I was out of cash and the shop didn’t take plastic.

After the session was over, I asked Ben if he’d sign my copy of The Vegan Monologues. (I felt very shy, because I hate pestering people for their autographs.) I won it last year in a giveaway on It’s a Vegan Dog’s Life, and Ben seemed amazed that his Maryland/DC-centric book had made it all the way to Wisconsin and back! I told him about IAVDL and Lucy the Vegan Beast, and he was very funny.

And that was that. I’m amazed by how, just a decade or so ago, it would have been laughable for a table of vegans to give a lecture at a public festival. But so many people showed up and were completely engaged! The vibe was overwhelmingly positive. The next time I feel grumpy because the hippie grocery is out of my preferred tofu or cruelty-free lotion, or someone asks me where I get my protein, I’ll remember that even though plenty of things still suck, we’re making progress.

Next time, I’ll tell you about my first experiments with Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar! (Spoiler: They were delicious.)