PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian!

Heya followers! I'm in the running (coming in at very close to last, I'm sure) for PETA's 2012 Sexiest Vegetarian Next Door contest. I think it would be a fun thing to win and I think my passion for veganism and animal rights would make me an excellent candidate... so vote for me pretty please! <3

PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian Next Door 2012 | Contestant | PETA.org



& here are a couple recent self portraits, so I can balance out the vegan  and  ographer of this blog :)

Adult Bullies

In the recent months or years or somewhere in between (I suck at remembering time), the internet (and probably TV too, but I don't have one so I wouldn't know) has been filled with people, videos and messages asking to make bullying stop and to encourage kids who get bullied that one day it'll get better.  I think this is a wonderful thing, obviously, but an experience recently got me thinking about how often childhood bullies never grow out of their hate.

The other day I went out to dinner with my husband and our friends Tyler and Travis.

Here we are!

Tyler

Yours Truly

Travis

Macy, my awesome husband

As we were walking toward the restaurant on a pretty busy intersection right next to us a truck full of men screamed "You fucking emo f*ggots, go kill yourself."   I think I flipped them off, but more or less I was just amused because I had no idea people really did that.  Macy has had his fair share of people picking at him because he's pretty feminine. He wears tight jeans, used to wear eyeshadow, always has wild clothes on... but I've never really experienced that to myself or anyone around me.  We all laughed it off. First, we all love life, so the whole emo thing is ridiculous. But we didn't dwell on it. We enjoyed our dinner and then moved on.  

Well, yesterday it popped back into my head again.  And I got to thinking... What the hell would happen if each of us weren't a strong, happy person?  Just a few years ago, I was not in a good place.  And coming out honestly about my past (although hard) I think really needs to happen in order to make this blog matter-- I have tried to kill myself in the past. I used to be a cutter.  And even though I'm happy and I don't cut now, how incredibly awful is it that someone would suggest to ANYONE ever that they should kill themselves? Especially someone you don't even know?  Getting past the pain I held onto was difficult and in that time in my life if someone had expressed that much hatred toward me on top of the hatred I already had toward myself, I know for a fact I would have cut myself over it. I'm stronger now, but not everyone is.  

I started to get angry about this, but not because it had hurt me... but because it COULD HAVE hurt someone else.  I don't know how old those guys were, but they were adults.  They should have known better and yet they literally HATED the way my group of friends looked enough to yell at them that it would be better for them to end their life.  SERIOUSLY?   

Simply saying people need to learn to think before they act is an understatement.  As children we're insecure. We have pressure from society and friends to think and behave a certain way.  We act out based off situations happening around us. We're more easily influenced by other people, television shows, video games, etc. These are absolutely NOT excuses for children to become bullies, these are things we eventually should grow out of.  So why do adult bullies exist? Why would a grown man think it's okay to yell at someone he doesn't know to kill themselves? Why do adults commit hate crimes? What can we do to not just encourage bullied children that it will get better, but to encourage behavioral changes to those who choose to bully so they will grow out of it?  What can we do to teach young people love, acceptance and to just shut their mouths if they absolutely can't accept/love someone?

On that note, I want to leave you with a film that a facebook friend of mine created.  It's not about adult bullies, but is about anti-gay bullying in schools and definitely worth a watch.  Grab some tissues though, because I cried a little (I cry at everything though, so you might not need them).

 

Raw Foods & Brooke Shaden

It's FINALLY warm outside!!! I've been craving summer throughout the entire winter.  The strange part about this winter, however, was that it was pretty mild. Not a lot of snow and not even that cold.  I think the reasoning behind my disdain for this winter is that it was ugly and just cold enough for it to be completely uninspiring.  Now everything is turning green again and I am spending the nights with my windows open-- totally overyjoyed!   For the past few days I've been eating primarily raw foods, an apetite that I've noticed also tends to come with warm weather.  Here are a few pictures of my some of my recent meals:

Triple Berry Smoothie

(Blueberry, Raspberry & Blackberries + water)

Avocado & Banana Purée

(3 bananas + 3 avocados)

Chia Seed Pudding 

(chia seeds + almond milk + mango juice)

Aside from eating those delicious meals, I made some VERY exciting plans for this weekend. On Saturday night I'm heading out to Chicago with Macy and our friends Travis and Tyler so I can go to a workshop by the incredibly talented Brook Shaden. It was sort of a spontaneous decision, but not really because I've been wanting to go to one of her workshops for ages, but they were never close enough.  The guys are going to explore the city while I am learning at the workshop... can't wait to tell you about how amazing I know it'll be!

March Awesome Vegan of the Month!

• Everyone! Meet Linh La! 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She's a self proclaimed full-blown optimist and truly believes that we can change this world for the better. She's my awesome Vegan of the Month for March-- 
  who happens to be the creative director for all the Loving Hut's in the USA... which I am so excited about, because Loving Hut is one of my favorite places :) She also owns Linh La Design and Consultation (www.linhla.com) and a vegan clothing store line-- which you can find by clicking here.
  
  
  Her mom met Supreme Master Ching Hai when she was 7. Her mother followed her and taught about the Quan Yin Method, meditation, and a Veg Diet. Without her mom's pressure, but more of her inspiring Linh, she decided to follow in her mom's foot steps. She said the weirdest thing was, right before she made her decision, she had the worst pain in her life inside my stomach. She had to go to the hospital for several days and they could not find out what it was. After that, she could not eat meat anymore. 
  
  

   She has been a vegetarian since she was 7. Then about at the age of 26, she realized the horrible truths of the dairy industry and I became Vegan. 

  
  

  When being asked why she has remained vegan, she responded, "It is something so natural like saying my hair is black. I am Asian. It is one of the most natural things for me. Mostly, it is all about compassion."

  
  
  "Every day, I wake up and I can make some sort of impact to help Mother Earth, my fellow species, and ALL BEINGS that reside with me on this planet. As long as each day, I can lay down a perfect brick, I will build the most beautiful structure to help everyone," she added.
  
  
  Linh lists her top achievements in life as, being vegan, forgiving herself, being part of Loving Hut, her vegan clothing line and finding enlightenment.  In addition to her passions of being vegan, she also enjoys listening to TedTalks, laughing & creating smile wrinkles as well as seeking enlightenment, love and knowledge.
  
  
  Her favorite animal rights quote is:
  “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” - Edward Everett Hale
  
  She says that if she won the lottery, she would spend the money on creating more Loving Hut restaurants as well as providing really awesome education for everyone. She said she believes that the correct guidance can build strong and might foundations that will sustain all of us.
  
  
  
  
  

February's Awesome Vegan of the Month!

So, I'm slacking on my 365 pictures of Macy (slacking at posting... not slacking at taking them. They've just been too uninteresting lately to want to share. Ugh!)... sorry about that. I'm currently working on my senior exhibition which is both exciting and terrifying, because I want everything to be 10x more amazing than anything else I've ever done. We'll see how that all works out for me.  But! Enough about that-- I have another awesome vegan to share with you! 

Her name is Amy Ferguson and she hails out of Los Angeles, California.  She's an actress, model, writer and musician.... and is amazing at all of those things... and she's gorgeous and the sweetest person ever. I'm kind of jealous. :)  She's been vegan for 5 years in March... so a very happy early vegan birthday Amy! She learned about veganism from her sister Anna, who is a yoga teacher.  Anna taught her about "Ahimsa" (which means non-harming). She really connected with a lot of the information that Anna gave her, especially the aspect of the domination of the feminine in animal agriculture, specifically how the female dairy animal is treated and how incredibly horrific it is. She said she thought about herself as a woman, and how she would feel if she were raped, her child stolen and killed, and her milk taken from her with no regard to the pain she was suffering... all to have it continually repeated. 
"This aspect of veganism has allowed me to look deeper into the relationships I have with females, and has made me more loving and accepting of them as well as myself, and less competitive and judgmental," Amy said. "There are just so many reasons to be vegan, besides how I feel about the animals, and compassion, it’s just healthier.  I never get sick, I have tons of energy,  the major impact I was having on the environment is drastically reduced. When I was eating animals and animal products, it took 4,000 gallons of water a day to get my food to my plate. As a vegan, it takes 300 gallons. Animal agriculture creates more greenhouse gases than all of transportation combined! These are huge reasons for me to be committed to a vegan lifestyle." 
When Amy isn't playing music, acting or modeling, she enjoys being out in nature. She likes to hike, take road trips in and around L.A. as well as doing yoga.  
She really enjoys cooking and trying new vegan dishes. 
"My favorite milk is cashew milk. Blend organic raw cashews with water. Start with them being just covered with water and blend,  thicker for creamy alfredo sauces, thinner for milk in coffee or cereal. 
If you want to make the alfredo sauce, just simply blend the cashews to the consistency you want the sauce, and heat it in a pan with earth balance or other vegan butter, garlic, onion, salt, black pepper, and other spices to flavor, if you wish."  (I'm going to have to try this version of alfredo sauce... it sounds amazing).
Amy's also a huge fan of daily green smoothies because they keep her charged.
"I like to blend kale, cilantro, parsley, lemon, jalapeno (or cayenne) and 1/3 cup raw organic hemp seeds with coconut water. If you don’t have hemp seeds, avocado is nice to make it creamy.. add just a little coconut water at a time to if you want to keep it thicker."

Her favorite animal right's quote:
“all beings tremble before violence. all fear death. all love life. see yourself in others. then whom can you hurt? what harm can you do?” -buddah


You can check out Amy's music by clicking here. Amy goes by the name "Grandma Dirt" for her music, because of the nickname her mom gave her as a young child because she walked slow and refused to bathe...... awesome!




And, here is a music video I filmed & directed for her in December. LGBT equality is something I am so strongly passionate about (as is Amy), even though the video is simple, it's one of my favorite things I've done in quite awhile.  Enjoy!

(Click to view HD version)

Mace.365 Jan 12-17

January 12.

January 13.

January 14.

January 15.

January 16.

January 17.

Mace.365 Jan 6-11

January 6.

January 7.

January 8.

January 9.

January 10.

January 11.

Awesome Vegan of the Month- January

Okay... so I'm a little late, but I've been a busy gal.  I started my last semester of undergrad and have been researching the heck out of what will become my senior show... so, I didn't get this up as soon as I wanted. This will be a new component to the blog and figured when better to start than in January?  I was discussing with a few friends yesterday about how lots of beginnings in my life start in January.  A couple days ago I celebrated (actually, I didn't really celebrate... I kind of forgot about it until yesterday haha) three years of being vegan... and on January 1st, 2 years of having dreads :]  Anyways... onto the important part of this post!

My first Awesome Vegan is Jetta Vegas, a writer based out of Seattle, WA. One of the awesome things about Jetta is her zine/blog, The Radical Uprise.  The Radical Uprise was was born from a negative period in her life. She used social media to lash out and express her depression and angst, and woke up the next day feeling sad and embarrassed. She said she vowed to never feel that way again, and if she did, not to project that negativity out onto the www. She always enjoyed writing, and wanted to write positive and uplifting motivational words for people who felt like she did. She said she aspired to be the kind of mentor she could have used as a teenager. 
"I joke that one day, I just decided to start being awesome, and that's what I did!" Said Jetta.  "I began reading about the Law of Attraction and began applying it into my daily life. I've since expanded to making podcasts, which are available on iTunes, and creating tangible feel-good merch, such as zines (self-published magazines) and buttons! The Radical Uprise is a great outlet for me. I'm able to show people just how great a positive outlook on life can be while promoting a happy, healthy existence though my veganism and drug-free lifestyle. I've gotten letters from people who were contemplating suicide and they said stumbled across my website literally save their life. Realizing I have that sort of impact on people blows my mind. Being about to change people's outlooks and perspectives on life for the better brings me so much joy."
Jetta became vegan one day when she was surfing the net and she stumbled upon PETA'S "Meet your Meat" video. 
"I was appalled and took a vow that I would never contribute to such a horrific and unethical industry ever again. It stemmed from not wanting to inflict harm on another being. As I ventured down my vegan path, I began noticing improved health and learned about the environmental aspects. Being vegan just seemed like the right thing to do, and there's no better feeling." said Jetta, who has now been vegan for about four years. "After being exposed to what went on behind closed doors, how could I NOT become vegan? There was no question.I wasn't even vegetarian. I was a steak and potatoes kinda person prior to the vegan lifestyle. Milk shakes for days and cheese until the end of time - until I got a rude awakening. I never imagined the horror that takes place to turn a living, breathing, sentient being into a piece of meat."
Jetta stays vegan as a mix of moral, ethics and values. 
"I'm not comfortable supporting or contributing to an industry that exploits, tortures and kills innocent living creatures for the sake of human greed." she said.  




Favorite Animal Rights related Quote: "If you don't like my opinions leave. But just remember, the animals can’t leave the cages that hold them. They are captive and suffering. As you cozy into your bed tonight, try to imagine the pain and the suffering that they endure day after day and night after night. Next time you get some soap in your eyes, try to imagine that pain for 3 or 4 days at a time. Next time you have a stomach ache, try to imagine liquid plumber being poured down your throat till you puke so much blood that you bleed to death. Next time you bump your head, try to imagine being a monkey and getting a steel plate smashed into your skull at 50 miles per hour. Then, only then should you feel compelled to tell me that I’m wrong about my opinions. For all these things have happened in the name of science. They continue in abundance till this day." - Rikki Rockett

Check out Jetta's blog, etsy shop & facebook!!

Mace.365 Jan 3-5.

January 3.

 January 4.

January 5.

Mace.365-- Day 1 & 2

As I mentioned in my New Years Goals post, I want to complete a 365 portrait project.  My husband Macy is the love of my life and is always behind the camera doing hair & make-up for me... so, I'm going to make him the subject of my portraits.  Here is January 1st.  We've been sick, so we're drinking lots of herbal tea... which is the basic story behind this.  <3

And 1-2-12: