A note to Mom.

When I was accepted for a summer internship in LA, my mom 

was kind enough and crazy enough to agree to drive across the country with me. 

We laughed; we cried (really). 

We left in one car 

and arrived in another.  (As seen in the reflection.)

We made friends with a firefighter (and secretly snapped a photo).  

We spent five hours in Mason City, Iowa. 

We played 20 questions quite unsuccessfully by mixing up East and West relative to the Mississippi. (Good thing we were relying on the GPS for the actual trip.) 

We drove around Omaha. 

We searched for Ogalalla.

 

We took pictures of our feet.

We celebrated in a complementary upgraded suite in Vegas after a 15 hour day of driving. 

We gambled, rather, she gambled.  

We ate vegan donuts.  

We made friends at WB.  

We had a much needed drink in LA.  

Despite tow trucks, rampant rain, and little sleep we had a good time.  And it wouldn't have been such a good time with anyone but you, Mom.  Thank you.

A short food rant.

I abandoned ship... 6 months ago.  But last night I had a post-worthy experience.  So I'm back on board.

(And Chipotle is hosting free screenings across the country.)

Food Inc.  Such a powerful movie.  It's amazing to me how many people are content with being ignorant about where their food comes from.  Like most vegans, I'm often asked WHY?  "WHY would you give up meat and dairy?"  As soon as I begin to talk about where these products come from and the treatment of animals, I often hear "NO!  Don't tell me!  I don't want to know."  Everyone seems to have a sense of the cruelty of slaughter, but the neatly cut and cleaned, plastic wrapped animal meat at the grocery store hides these realities.

As soon as we left the theatre, B said, "But they didn't say what you SHOULD eat."  And I think that was the point.  The movie won't tell you to be an omnivore, a vegetarian, or a vegan.  It simply tells you to know where your food comes from.  Be accountable.  Don't be complacent.  We make important choices about our health, the well being of animals, and the well being of the planet three times a day.  Eat veggies.  Eat animals.  Eat whatever you want.  But eat wisely rather than ignorantly.

Oh happy day.

Today I "om"-ed for Obama. After watching the live stream of the inauguration address in a coffee shop on campus, I went to yoga. During most classes, there's a point when everyone closes their eyes and thinks of a selfless dedication. Today our dedication was guided by the instructor:

"Whether you're a democrat or a republican, today let's send some love to Obama. Let's set an intention of change and hope."

And with that the room vibrated with three oms that sounded like one big smile.

It's been a while.

I'm blogging from a local coffee shop where I just overheard the owner comment: "Above zero temperatures sure do great things for business."

In the past week temperatures here in MN have dipped far below zero, and today the "feels like 11 degrees" reported by weather.com feels downright tropical. Instead of stepping outside and feeling the insides of my nostrils instantly freeze upon inhalation, the air today felt comfortable, livable, even enjoyable. Ah, the frozen tundra.

The cold is no excuse for my lack of blogging, especially since it has spanned much longer than a week. Thanksgiving to Chanukah/Christmas is a blur in my mind. During winter break I was lucky enough to escape the cold and vacation in Las Vegas and Palm Springs with my family. One of the highlights of the trip was a cheap, but uncommon thrill: vegan donuts.

On our way to the Hoover Dam, we made our way to the outskirts of Las Vegas to Ron's Donuts. The small white building was unimpressive from the outside, but the rows of freshly baked vegan donuts more than made up for the appearance.



The raised glazed, raised chocolate, long john, and bear claw are all vegan. (About 2/3 of their donuts were vegan.) My favorite, though, was the donut holes. Those were gone long before we made it to the dam.


After a long car ride and a $100 game of 20 questions (thanks again Z for sharing your winnings; no thanks to W for almost losing our shares), we finally made it to the magnificent Hoover Dam.


(Mom and Sha: I hope this made you happy!)