Reaching people about veganism: experiences of a 6-month vegan

April 13, 2010 @ 12:37 am

Although I was a vegetarian for three years after college, I went vegan about six months ago. So much has happened since then and I’ve learned so much that it’s impossible to recap it all in a single blog post. In fact, it’s hard to even keep these posts short since I have so much to say. So my strategy is to blog about veganism more in “chunks,” then eventually collate it all into a website.

One of the coolest things about going vegan for me is meeting other like-minded people and having a positive ripple effect on others on the curious. I recently got an email from a vegan that reads my posts and, with her permission, I’ve reprinted her questions here. My responses and thoughts on this follow.

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Pilgrimage to Bigfoot Country

March 25, 2010 @ 11:35 pm

I’ve been kind of obsessed with Bigfoot since I was a kid. I read all the books, checking the same ones out of three different libraries over and over again. I wrote book reports. I drew pictures. When I hiked through the woods alone growing up in rural PA, I thought I’d be lucky enough to see one if I wished hard enough. You’d think it would be something I have outgrown by the time I became an adult, but I never did.

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Will Tuttle lecture (author of "The World Peace Diet")

March 21, 2010 @ 9:30 pm

A few days ago I read a blog entry by one of my favorite animal rights/vegan blog writers, Angel Flinn, enthusing about author/musician and vegan activist Will Tuttle and his new book, The World Peace Diet, which recently hit #1 on Amazon.

I checked out his website, worldpeacediet.com, and lo and behold, he was scheduled to speak a 10-minute drive from my home here in San Francisco at the First Unitarian Universalist Society. It was one of those coincidences I couldn’t ignore.

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My featured article on TalentZoo.com: 'Copywriters Need Feedback, Not Prescriptions'

March 10, 2010 @ 8:27 pm

Edits happen. Where copy tends to get off track, though, is when the client (or manager) rewrites everything without reinforcing in any way their role as the informant and your role as the doer. Read my entire article here.

I made quarterfinals with 2 scripts in Scriptapalooza

February 15, 2010 @ 7:55 pm

Just found out I made quarterfinals in SCRIPTAPALOOZA with not one, but TWO of my “Office” scripts entered in the Sitcom category!

Euro movies do it better, sometimes

February 10, 2010 @ 7:34 pm

European films are more “realist,” static and character-driven than American movies. When the balance is struck between that and the more dynamic–some would say crass and spastic–American style, the results can be exceptional. The film that comes to mind for me is Italian, of course: L’ultimo bacio, a 2001 comedy-drama directed by Gabriele Muccino. “Scrubs” dude Zack Braff subsequently directed an American remake, but I gave up on him after the horribly boring and overrated Garden State.

Europe in general also seems to have much better actors in their films. Hollywood takes anyone, it seems.

No offense to Zack Braff.

Capsule review of "The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron"

January 28, 2010 @ 9:11 pm

I saw the first “Terminator” in 1984 at a sparsely-attended afternoon show at the local mall, before the film became a hit, and I’ve enjoyed every one of James Cameron’s films in the theater ever since. I was surprised to learn that the studio didn’t heavily market T1 because it didn’t think it would do well—one of many tidbits I didn’t know before reading this extremely well written portrait of the most successful writer/director in the history of film. While some biographies can be overly detailed and disorganized—sometimes both at once—Keegan chronicles her subject’s work and unprecedented achievements in a way that’s streamlined, smart and highly accessible. “The Futurist” also has something else that’s often lacking in too many bios: a sharp and objective sense of humor. Even if you’re not a fan of his movies, it’s hard to remain uninspired by Cameron’s extraordinary drive, talent and ingenuity, along with Keegan’s remarkable skill in telling his story.

Does PETA-bashing help animals?

January 22, 2010 @ 6:42 pm

To set context, PETA recently released a racy 2010 “State of the Union Undress,” raising an outcry from various abolitionist vegan quarters. One of my heroes, PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk, responded.

I myself ask if PETA relies too much on sexism, shock and B-list celebrities, and whether or not these aspects of their work detract from the cause. I’m a PETA member, I’ve demonstrated with PETA members, and I’ve attended seminars on why they take the approach that they do.

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Will books become obsolete?

January 4, 2010 @ 9:12 pm

I hope not. The author of this article that explores this question mentions renowned inventor/futurist Ray Kurzweil, who I saw speak at some web 2.0 conference here in SF about 2 years ago. He gave a very interesting presentation on all things “future”—mainly AI, as I recall. Even before he went on, he seemed to emanate some sort of alien-intelligence aura as he sat nearby in the audience.

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A Response to "Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living" by Robert and Brenda Vale

December 22, 2009 @ 9:25 pm

So by now, a few of you may have seen media stories about this book declaring how bad pet ownership is for the environment.

Let’s get right to it: Citing domestic dogs and cats as a significant contributor to our current environmental woes is, in short, patently ridiculous.

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