Freedom of Speech

I just royally pissed off an Iraq War vet. Do I get kicked out of the country for that? New Zealand, here I come!

I don't know enough about politics or war or life to have any major opinions about...anything? Well, that's not fair. I can have opinions about movies and books and men and food and animal rights. But, as far as those major, "zomg healthcare!" "wtf war?!" kinds of issues...nah, I'm not really ready to pick a side. That being said, I would say I lean toward pacifism. I know that's easy to say, and totally expected coming from lala hippie Joni Mitchell vegan hippie skirt Aronson, but I have trouble understanding why anyone needs to die for--anything! I don't believe in the death penalty, I would never get an abortion, and instead of killing a spider, I just lock it in the bathroom and try to hold my pee until I'm somewhere else. I've never been on a battlefield (except for love's battlefield....WE ARE STRONG!). However, in my gentle, peaceful, womanly core, I don't see any reason for anyone to die for oil? religion? territory? whatever the fuck we're fighting for? I believe in having a military for defensive purposes and for...nazi-like situations (so sue me, I'm a Jew). I don't really get what we're doing right now. So there. There's my stance on things. A non-stance. A "hey-you-guys-just-be-nice" stance.

I believe that anyone can be a hero in the right circumstance, but I do not believe all soldiers are heroes. I do not believe in violence. I don't necessarily "support our troops." I roll my eyes when people do the whole soldier-worship routine. I wish I was alive during Woodstock. I digress. Granted, there are some situations when anyone can save lives and be a hero, and I think soldiers have more opportunities to express martyrdom than others.

So here's the sitch (and my stance really has nothing to do with it). There's a fb group/non-profit org called Soldiers Are Not Heroes. It's a group of pacifists who are sick of soldier worship and violence. I can dig it. Then there's another group called "REMOVE THE GROUP SOLDIERS ARE NOT HEROES FROM FACEBOOK IT NEEDS TO BE REMOVED" (the all-caps are very important here). My war vet friend joined this group, I made a comment about freedom of speech, and then we engaged in a war of our own. It doesn't matter how I feel about war and soldiers and puppies and rainbows and flowers in my hair. What matters is that facebook is a public forum where anyone should be able to say anything they like. I hate it when I see a group that degrades animals, or "I love bacon" groups, or "Animals Taste Good" groups, or anything animal-related that I find douche-y. That doesn't mean I think these groups should be removed. 1st Amendment, man. Freeeeeedom. Shouldn't soldiers be all about that? Freeeeeedom? Irony? Maybe? Does anyone really know what qualifies as ironic?

In conclusion: Stop fighting, please. Not all soldiers are heroes, please. Some people are heroes, please. Some non-soldiers are heroes. Some people suck. War sucks. Death sucks. Dead children suck. Hot, sandy places suck. Sometimes America sucks. Freedom of speech = Awesome. My favorite part about America, actually!

Floating

Let me break down my day for you, oh mysterious blog readers.

Woke up at 9:30, showered, got ready to go, went on my porch in the sun and drank Yerba Mate out of a Harry Potter mug while reading Vegetarian News magazine. Ate toast with organic pb and organic bananas.

Kiyoko rounded the corner a bit after 11am with a soy mocha from Linnaea's (my fave). We left for Santa Barbara on a hunt for Daiya cheese, the best vegan cheese (and only one worth eating). An hour and a half later, we arrived in SB, walked around the mission. It was pretty hot. Lots of dogs. Shelby did really well. Grass. Butt-sniffing (her, not us).

Walked around the "main drag" of SB and did some mellow window shopping. Anthropologie. Candle-sniffing (not Shelby). Shelby still doing really well. Sniffing butts. Charming peeps.

Went to Pizza Guru. Ate vegan pizza with Daiya cheese and vegan garlic white sauce. Made sex noises while consuming. Decided to start a vegan blog with Kiyoko. Pondered names of blog for...hours.

Tried to go to the beach. Got lost. Kept getting lost. Got to the beach! Sat on rocks. Talked about being girls. Shelby slept.

Finally made it to Whole Foods, picked up the Daiya for Saturday's pizza dinner party. Drank kombucha. Ate chocolate. Drove home. Gorgeous sunset. Blessed life.

Watched Coraline with Bianca and Jesse. Really liked it. Really like them. I am so lucky.

Life at the Clit Cabin

I'm here!!!!! Here = San Luis Obispo. Clit Cabin = The name of my new house. I don't know why; that's just the way it already is. That's what our internet connection is named. My new roommate Bianca even painted a little "Clit Cabin" welcome plaque over the door.

I couldn't be happier. The weather is incredible, the birds are singing, the bees and buzzing, Shelby is having a ball pooping in her new yard, and I am floating. I feel like I belong here. Today, Bianca took me to the Humane Society, where she volunteers. We hung out with dogs and cats for awhile, which was great. Then we went to New Frontiers, which is a big, natural foods store. Amazing. Fantastic salad bar. Everything I could ever want except for Daiya cheese, which Kiyoko and I are taking a journey to Santa Barbara Whole Foods for tomorrow.

Tonight I'm going to yoga, where I'm going to get a month-long membership. I WILL love yoga. I WILL. I WILL.

My other roommate, Jesse, who is Bianca's husband, has very cool kid taste in movies and music, and I can't wait to listen to/watch everything he owns. They are both involved with DJing at KCPR, which is the Cal Poly radio station.

I need to acquire/learn how to ride a bike. I can already tell that not knowing how will really hold me back here.

My second cousin once removed lives literally around the corner from my house. CRAZY.

I finished Buffy today! As in, the whole series!

My neighborhood and house are so so so cute! I am so happy!