The random thoughts & events in the life of an animal-loving, peace-loving vegetarian.
I can't promise to write regularly. And I can't promise that it will be interesting when I do.
Some years back Saeed and I went to a concert in Raleigh of the famous Persian musician, Mohammed Reza Shajarian. It was very moving for me to see, in person, a musician of such high caliber. He was sick with a sore throat and fever the night of our concert but came on stage any way, his son (also a very good singer) taking over when his dad couldn't sing any more.
Imagine my surprise when I heard a piece about him yesterday on Morning Edition! Morning Edition is doing a year-long series on "50 Great Voices" across the world. As probably the most famous singer in Iran right now, Shajarian has taken a political stance to support the freedom and rights of the people in Iran. Since the voting debacle and violence of June 2009, he has forbidden the Iranian radio to play his songs in protest. I admire him so much. Here is the link to the NPR story.
Recently Shajarian was touring in Australia and gave a great interview (here, scroll down to the video) that I can't embed. I learned much more about his political views and was impressed with his answers regarding the status of women. Here is a shorter version that I could get off YouTube but I encourage you to watch the other one.
Below the video is a petition that will be sent to the President, the House, and Congress. It's bullet points are these:
1. Review the scientific research on livestock and factory farming of animals
2. Acknowledge and accept that 18% of global warming is due to livestock and factory farming of animals
3. Acknowledge and accept that 13% of all global greenhouse emissions are produced by the transport of livestock and factory farmed animals (from the start to the finish of the agricultural process)
4. Pledge to educate Americans and other concerned citizens of the world of this hidden yet serious global threat
5. Work on legislation which would make the meat and dairy industries more financially accountable for the harm which they have done to animals, our environment, and the consumer.
The title of this video is a take off on the Meet Your Meat movie narrated by Alec Baldwin. It illustrates the above points and clarifies the reason for the petition:
This post is for my three kids: Anahita (who loves to get creative in the kitchen), Shirin (who loves cooking shows and competitions), and Gabriel (who loves to eat cupcakes)! The interest for me? The winner was Chloe Coscarelli, the vegan cupcake maker :-) Here's her website and here's the TV episode (abbreviated version) of her winning the cupcake war:
Here you see Cyrus with his Baba eating plums while watching Obi. Cyrus would have been happy eating plums for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. "Hey Cyrus - watcha want for breakfast?" "Plums." "Watcha want for lunch?" "Plums." "How about dinner?" "Plums." No wonder he has no problem going to the bathroom.
Late in the afternoon Cyrus took a bike ride.
Cyrus had ridden the tricycle down our sidewalk and wiped out, so as you see him hopping up the sidewalk he stops to talk about falling down and points to the accident site. Fortunately he didn't get hurt.
It's hard to throw leaves down a hill :-) "N'other one...c'mon Nama!"
It looks like he found a treasure rock.
Shoveling leaves is only slightly easier than throwing them down big hills.
Eventually it got too dark outside so we came inside. This video is so funny to me. Both Cyrus and Saeed are trying to imitate what Manuel the Hispanic screwdriver is saying:
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.
"Hey Nama!"
The next day Cyrus spent some time practicing going up and down the stairs by himself:
This day was established in 1981 by the United Nations and celebrated for the first time September 21, 1982. Specifically it is dedicated to the absence of war and has been used to initiate a temporary cease fire in combat zones.
In times past I probably would have happily celebrated this day as if it were something to celebrate. Unfortunately as I've aged I've seen too much violence (not personally) persist regardless of the good intentions of a few who rise above the contentious issues. It's not so much pessimism as an understanding that humans are very capable of hurting others, have done so since the beginning of time, and will continue to do so.
In the Bahá'í Faith there is a belief in 'lesser peace' and 'great peace'. Lesser peace is what the UN refers to: absence of war. Great peace refers to something else altogether, an literal peaceful coexistence based on a unified purposeful existence amongst the people on the planet. This of course necessitates getting rid of the old patterns of thinking and behaving and evolving to one common concern for the whole world.
Flaws in the current world order are glaring as we see the inability of the sovereign states that make up the United Nations to eliminate war, prevent the collapse of the international economic order, prevent the spread of anarchy and terrorism, and address the intense suffering which these and other problems are causing to increasing millions of people. So much have aggression and conflict come to characterize our social, economic and religious systems, that many of us have given in to the view that such behavior is intrinsic to human nature and therefore ineradicable.
And yet most people proclaim their readiness and longing for peace and harmony. This means I need to reassess the assumption that people cannot evolve a new moral path and that they can, in fact, set in motion constructive social forces which are consistent with the more positive aspects of human nature, and will encourage harmony and co-operation instead of war and conflict. The Bahá'í Faith sees the current world condition in human affairs as a natural phase in an organic process leading ultimately to the unification of the human race in a single social order whose boundaries are those of the planet.
Hm. I'm glad I wrote about this this morning. It does give me hope. I'll go find my peace button and wear it today.
For some reason I have bumped into all these recent articles about health on the vegan diet (yet more mainstreaming perhaps?) It seems that athletes are now pursuing a vegan diet to bulk up (yes, incredible isn't it?) and 'run cleaner' as one runner said.
Say hello to the beefy vegan! Hugh Jackman, seen here in his role as Wolverine in X-Men, said he used to use lots of animal protein and protein powders to bulk up but knew that that wasn't sustainable, "... that at some point my body (and probably my heart) would rebel. Not to mention that I often felt extremely lethargic eating so many hard-to-digest calories.” On a vegan diet "Not only was it possible – it was easier and healthier.”
Brendan Brazier is an Ultramarathoner and Ironman competitor. He explains that being vegan doesn't magically make you a better athlete, but that it makes you healthier which allows you to work harder. Besides avoiding the risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes associated with meat and dairy, a vegan diet is alkalizing, he says, which minimizes muscle inflammation and lactic acid build-up. Vegan athletes are thus able to reduce their recovery time.
If you favor meat over vegetarian fare, you might want to reconsider your menu. According to a study published this week in the British Journal of Cancer, vegetarians are less likely than meat eaters to develop cancer. The most striking difference was in cancers of the blood – leukemia, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
It seems that the notion of a vegetarian diet being better for you does, in fact, have strong scientific backing. This isn't the first time research has suggested a meatless diet as an effective measure for fighting a myriad of diseases and health conditions. Previous studies have linked vegetarian diets with lower blood cholesterol and blood pressure, lower body weights and a reduced risk of cancer.
The current study comes days after the American Dietetic Association published an evidence-based review showing a vegetarian diet is associated with numerous health advantages, including a lower risk of dying from heart disease. In the report, the association concluded that well-planned vegetarian diets – including the totally vegetarian vegan diet –are healthful not only for adults, but also for infants, children, teenagers, athletes and pregnant women.
In one of his talks Thich Nhat Hanh says to only eat what you need to nourish your body. Whenever I feel like I may weaken in my selection of a food item I think of this. That's all it takes.
HA! Even people who've eaten steaks, burgers and fries all their lives CAN make the switch!
In a recent interview Bill Clinton stated that he is now eating a vegan diet for health reasons.
“I’m trying to be one of those experimenters,” said Clinton. “Since 1986, several hundred people who have tried essentially a plant-based diet, not ingesting any cholesterol from any source, has seen their bodies start to heal themselves — break up the arterial blockage, break up the calcium deposits around the heart. 82 percent of the people who have done this have had this result, so I want to see if I can be one of them.”
Just as going green has become more mainstream I'm seeing more attention being paid to nutrition in standard American discourse. For the first time people in the lunch room in the Fort Mill office discuss what's best to eat. A girl in the peds office on our floor has gone vegetarian for her health and that of her children. My coworker, Patricia, has been able to discontinue all her diabetic meds by going vegan; she's also loosing weight. I am so encouraged by these changes. Think of all the other benefits resulting from these changes, from the environment to the animals that are not suffering in the process of becoming food. Step by step, little by little, like all difficult transitions, things are changing.
I found out that the author of Zeitoun, Dave Eggers, has won the TED Prize - wow! This prize is awarded annually to an exceptional individual who receives $100,000 and 'one wish to change the world." Eggers established a monthly grant for exceptional Bay area teachers. His wish: “I wish that you — you personally and every creative individual and organization you know — will find a way to directly engage with a public school in your area, and that you’ll then tell the story of how you got involved, so that within a year we have 1,000 examples of innovative public-private partnerships.”
It's admirable that all the proceeds from Zeitoun go to various organizations to advance education or in some other way benefit the advancement of social causes.
Tonight we're discussing "Zeitoun" by David Eggers. When we voted on our books for September (it's Julie's month) we chose from three options and "Virgin Suicides" won. But Julie, some months later, asked that we scrub that vote and read this instead. No problem; our book club is a decidedly agreeable group.
I thought this would be a fictional account of a Middle Eastern man living in New Orleans after Katrina. It's actually a true story. I've cut and paste the following summary from "Baby Got Books", a blog consisting of a group of people who like to talk in a serious way about books and literature. Their blog subtitle is, "Your head will collapse if there's nothing in it." :-)
Abdulrahman Zeitoun is a New Orleanian by way of his native Syria. He came to the U.S. largely by chance, and stayed to create a better life for himself. He is a husband and family man, a religious Muslim, and a successful and respected building contractor. His Katrina story begins almost exactly the same as everyone else’s, with a decision: should I stay or should I go? As you might surmise from the cover, Zeitoun chose to stay.
With his family safely out of town, Zeitoun finds himself in one piece after the storm. He sets off in his canoe to explore the city and look after his interests around town (job sites, rental properties, business office, etc). Zeitoun saves the lives of several people after the storm and looks after the abandoned pets of neighbors. He meets up with a few acquaintances, and they work together to survive and help out where they can.
Zeitoun is overcome with a sense of purpose, and he comes to believe that God has placed him in New Orleans to this end: to help others in need. The rude awakening, and the book’s gripping second half, comes when Zeitoun is arrested while standing in the hallway of a house that he owns for what amounts to “being suspicious”. What follows is a Dante-esque descent into hell that has to be read to be believed.
I'm not a fan of stories about Katrina. No offense to the folks who lived through that awful experience, it just doesn't interest me that much. Even so, or maybe because I haven't read much on that topic, I enjoyed this book very much.Eggers does a great job developing the story due to an extensive amount of research and a very third person "detached" delivery, almost as if it were fiction. I agree with the blogger's statement that the book really comes alive in the second half as he describes what Abdulrahman goes through when he is arrested. I'm always shocked at these accounts. To think that the nice Billy Bob who helped us get our car out of the ditch with his pick up some years ago is also very capable (and perhaps would enjoy?) of performing acts of terrorism on kind people like Zeitoun, or heaven forbid like my husband, is unfathomable. What is it about some people that they can switch to Gestapo mode?
Now that Cyrus talks pretty well our activities have a running narrative: What's that? Climb another one. Want some. Boy throw nut up! Cyrus do it. What's that? Obis Obis where is? Cyrus go up the stairs by self. Oooh! Blue sky! What doin' Nama? Cyrus do it. See hippo - bite me. What's that? Snates [snakes] - how bootiful they are! Smell it Nama, smell it. What's that? Cyrus go pee pee in potty. Cyrus do it. What's that? Chappu, so sweet. Touch her! What doin' Nama? Cyrus go up, watch Nama. What's that? Kitty eating, kitty food. Look up there, there it is, blue car, I found it! Frow it! Cyrus do it. Sometimes I think I should just set up the video camera and let it run because by the time I turn the camera on the moment has passed.
This weekend Cyrus' parents took Kai with them to D.C. for a gathering in honor of Saskia's impending marriage to Soheil. Cyrus and I dropped them off at the airport Friday morning and have been hanging out since. After a good lunch and nap we headed back to Cherry Park. "Where we going?" To the park. "Where?" Cherry Park. "Where Cherry Park is?" I found myself giving him specific driving directions like, "You go straight on Ebinport and then turn right on Cherry Road and the park is on your left."
Cyrus is on his way to Cherry Park.
There's that hippo again. "Bad hippo. Hippo bite me." No honey, the hippo won't bit you.
Finally, detente! Still, he's avoiding those teeth.
Here he goes from rock to rock, then asks "What's [who] that man?", then runs into me and knocks me out of my flip flops and says, "Sorry Nama."
I just follow him around; it's much more interesting that way. "Hey hippo, what doing?"
In this video you see Cyrus running around a sand pit. This is probably boring for you but for us it's significant. One of the books I read to him every time he goes to bed is about Winnie the Pooh and Piglet being lost in the woods and how they accidentally keep going around the same sand pit instead of finding their way out of the woods. You can also hear the ice cream truck playing music in the background. Smart guy parking in front of a playground.
Lest you think we set a platter of nothing but rice in front of our grandson let me tell you the back story. Saeed has been working on his Ghormeh Sabzi recipe and once again made a delicious (his mama's recipe) version of it. Gormeh Sabzi is a bit sour and made with lots of greens which we find scumptious, but Cyrus.. ahhhh... well... not so much. The saffron rice that is served with Ghormeh Sabzi? YES! Don't worry mommy, we made sure he ate a well-balanced meal, and not just a serving-platter-sized portion of rice.
As I say in the video, he must be Persian:
Hey Cyrus - make a funny face!
Saturday morning Cyrus and I headed to the Farmer's Market in Matthews. This time I drove.
"Look Nama! Plant, bootiful plant!"
Sorry Cha cha.
Going in.
Running free.
I put this picture in so you could see the long line at the egg/grass-fed beef farmer's table. I think many people's way of thinking has changed regarding these items. I was worried that with the recent egg recall the demand for these locally grown eggs would be so high that it would result in no eggs for those of us who didn't get to the market really early, but happily he had lots of eggs. (Who's that cute little guy in the lower right-hand corner?)
I'm sure people did buy his beef but I only saw people buying eggs. The last time we were at Earth Fare Saeed and I were behind a lady in the checkout line who bought 2.79 lbs of filet mignon for $55, so there's no telling how much his grass-fed beef costs. He was a very nice guy; I'll forgive him his Jesus fish.
I liked it better when he called them "fuffins" :-)
Usually the local talent which plays the background music at the market is more along the line of Bluegrass music, or at least fiddles and guitars and such. Today we were soothed by the flowing sounds of harp music. With the weather being a beautiful 82 degrees and breezy it was one of those 'meditation memory' type moments.
I'm always so tempted to buy flowers but it's hard to justify spending money on that when our own yard is full.
"Cyrus push it"
After enjoying this wonderful picture of handsome little Cyrus notice the leaf imprints on the cement steps. What a clever idea and beautiful result.
Downtown Matthews is very cute and Cyrus made good use of the sidewalks.
Cyrus had to stop at every plant pot and admire the flowers.
On the other side of that brick cross walk was a train station and railroad tracks. One day maybe Cyrus and I can go there to watch trains.
I caught the tail end of this game. A boy on the market side of the fence and Cyrus, on the downtown side of the fence, threw a big nut back and forth through the slats in the fence. I guess that's what they mean when older people say, "When I was a kid I didn't have any toys. All you need is another kid and a nut!"
Havin' a good time!!
" 'Cmon Nama, less go!"
Back home someone (me) was fixing lunch while the serious artist worked at his craft...
...making 'snates' (snakes.) "Snates Nama, see how bootiful they are!"
Eventually Cyrus 'helped' me fix lunch by sitting on the counter eating a banana.
What's so funny? Oh yeah, we were listening to Lady Gaga and I was dancing really silly. I hope when Cyrus is 21 years old he doesn't remember my dancing.
If the camera is wobbly that because I was doing my silly dance. Sorry.
It's been almost three weeks since Calvin got sick - that's when Cyrus was here with us during Sarah and Barney's wedding. I took good care of Cyrus but he didn't get any of the usual extra activities because we were preoccupied with Calvin's illness, three vet visits, and administering medications to a cat who didn't want them. I did manage to take Cyrus to Cherry Park one time that weekend, so these pictures are from that. I didn't take any other pictures.
This weekend is a different story; Cyrus and I have been doing all kinds of things and we're not done yet! I'm glad he hasn't asked where Calvin is. We talked about Calvin so much last time that I was worried he'd want to see him.
Cyrus still loves the small slide but he can easily also do...
... the big one.
He's also mastered the steep stairs.
This piece of climbing equipment is another story; I still have to lend a hand. The ground isn't what I worry about so much - it's a very spongy type material. Perhaps you could get the wind knocked out of you if you fell, but I worry about a slip that results in teeth being knocked out.
?
"HI NAMA!"
Cyrus loves this hippo but is concerned it might bite him. I love this picture.
S
