The Glorious Plodding Onwards

For the Zeblam!

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:59:36 GMT

...and anyone else who finds proofs of god's existence in philosophical debate kind of amusing.

Proofs of God's Existence summarised, at Godless Geeks

My favourite:

ARGUMENT FROM INCOMPLETE DEVASTATION
(1) A plane crashed killing 143 passengers and crew.
(2) But one child survived with only third-degree burns.
(3) Therefore, God exists.

This made my incredibly crappy day a brilliant one.

Derby widow

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:32:28 GMT

Derby Widow - n. The partner of a Rollergirl. Purpose is to hold bags, drinks, administer first aid, attend bouts, buy their Rollergirl ice packs and skating accessories and sit on organising bodies as a social member.

John has been complimented by many of the girls since the weekend as making a "very good Derby widow". They said he's so good that he needs to start giving training to the other widows.

To this end, he will be getting this shirt for Christmas:

The Lulz.

Ps. I am clever

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:02:45 GMT

I called my article about twitter and facebook 'Tweet@BraveNewWorld'.

Whether they'll publish that title is a whole other story. But I had a mild self-congratulatory moment for cuteness.

ok, moment over, back to work.

I like this meme.

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:31:53 GMT

I like this meme. It is quite sweet.

Please do it! Reading your responses will give me something other than cleaning to do today while I languish at home with asthma. :)

*cuddles you all*

This is an old one, we can do them again, yay!

***Here is a meme, STOLEN from penguin_bot. Thankyou :)

Fill it out and post it under comments, then put it in your own journal to see what sorts of letters other people write about you.

Dear ______,

I _____ you. You have a nice______. You make me _______. You should _______. Someday I will ______. You + me =________. If I saw you now I'd __________. I would build a _______ just for you. If I could sing you any song it would be _________. We could __________ under the stars.

Love,
_____________

(P.S. ______________.)

Trash culture

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:16:33 GMT

I think we all have a secret trash fetish. Sometimes, amidst the writing about plastic giraffe installations and giant saunas being built in the middle of civic park and interpretive feminist wail theatre, I cue up Lady Gaga. Because it has a pop hook, gives me the horn, and is obvious. Very occasionally my brain gets tired of the deliberately opaque and craves moronic poseur.

TNG irritations.

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:41:31 GMT

1. Tasha Yar 2. Overwhelming anthropomorphic arrogance - humans are so special, yay! Let's lecture Q on this topic again! Pfft. 3. Odd interpersonal interaction usually involving too much affection or humour 4. Tasha Yar 5. Stupid big haired betazoids.

Ok...no.

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:31:05 GMT

True Blood seems to have devolved into a mish-mash of poorly thought out, gushy hetero sexfests and gratuitous violence. I'm rapidly losing interest. The story arc isn't really engaging me either. Hmm. Bring me back BSG, sob.

True Blood

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 04:23:49 GMT

Has it struck anyone else that this show is less about vampirism than it is about sex? If I took a drink for every sex scene in the first season I'd be in Betty Ford. Still. Anna Paquin in short shorts - never a bad thing. Oh and I lied about not phone posting...Oops.

Home again

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:59:14 GMT

Back from Melbourne. Sitting on the couch playing guitar hero with the lads. Wearing...skates! Start Derby on friday. First skate tomorrow...tonight I've just been skating around the kitchen, trying not to kill myself on sharp objects. Today was nice, met and chatted with bitspike and invaded Jason's logical reasoning tutorial. Intellectually crushed on Prof Judith Richters and her bookshelf. Dreamed extensively about C and got home to a clean house (best husband ever) and hugged the crap out of him and the kitties. Missed my fam.

Coming to you live from...wagga?

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:19:03 GMT

Hey kids, on the road with Jason and currently in a service station in Wagga. Many snacks and Rocky Horror Picture Show are being consumed. We should get into Melbourne sometime this arvo. We stayed in an ABBEY last night. For reals! We part ways this arvo though we meet back up on and off over the weekend. Should be meeting up with some of the Melbourne vegans tomorrow. Meeting up with zinester friend Candace this afternoon and going to Sticky institute. Whee! Then dinner and drinks with Laura and Mick tonight and Candace. Jason was coming but is now off to a piano recital. Cultured shmo. X x

A very angry letter to PETA

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:16:32 GMT

x-posted to veganpeople , sorry if you get this twice

Dear PETA,

Thank you for proving, once again, just why you suck.

http://www.feministing.com/archives/017289.html

What the hell is this? Are you trying to make every woman in the world turn against the animal rights movement? It isn't funny to pick on the fat kid. Its just mean. It isn't even halfway to being enlightened, although you must think you are, in our woman-hating thin-obsessed culture. With shows like the Biggest Loser and magazines everywhere screaming at women to despise their bodies, you fit right in.

But as animal rights activists, aren't we supposed to be caring for all animals? For their right to a life free from pain and heartache?

Also, don't peddle lies. Anyone who is vegan KNOWS that it is possible to be a fat vegan/vegetarian. Just ask the buckets of soy ice-cream in my freezer and the epic amounts of olive oil on my shelves.

Maybe you pick on women and have titles like "save the whales" because you are really too gutless to write "Fuck HLS" over a highway. You know if you pick on fat women, lots of people will agree with you - because god, being fat is such a travesty and sin, AMIRITE?!?. But oh, if you write something about animal rights that actually gets in people's faces, you might actually piss some people off. We don't want that now.

So, PETA, you can kiss my fat ass. You aren't animal rights advocates. You're women hating, dominant culture collaborating assholes.

Now get the hell outta my face.

Love,

Sarah.

...

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:48:14 GMT

My friend Julie, who was due on the same day as me, just had her baby early by caesar section today. Amalia Grace, precious and tiny at 2.6kg. I should be happy and cheerful. But it hurts it hurts it hurts and I can't stop crying. Where's my healthy happy baby? Where? Fuck this.

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:02:39 GMT

A very nice thing about today, though, is that I found out that my good friend zebrallama and his friend vegetus are coming for a visit in August. Woop!

May there be fire and booze and beach hilarity!

It'll give me a chance to show off my mad curry skillz. And half-arsed fire spinning ability.

Also, new favourite bands/singers:

The Gossip
The Paper Scissors
La Roux
The Middle East
CSS
Lady Gaga

All of those are respectable except for Gaga.

Oh, and I got the TINA gig! Woooooop! Meeting with festival director and national media co-ordinator in a week or so, then I'm basically in charge of Newcastle media for the festival (EFF. 0_0) Should be good and a steeeep learning curve.

Life is good, despite aforementioned sadness. Now I better use the last of my time to find out what the heck I'm doing at this conference today. eep!

mwah! xx

EEK.

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:49:16 GMT

Crap, I really need to stress that "pro-life" in my last entry was a MISTYPE.

I am not pro-life. At all. I am very, very strongly pro-CHOICE. I was just rushed for time on a public computer and my brain got fuddled.

So...don't defriend me! Heh. I've gone back and edited the entry so it reads correctly now.

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:39:49 GMT

UGH.

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:47:02 GMT

Requiem for Barry Baker

The Feminist Vegan - an article I wrote today

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:14:39 GMT

I wrote this article today for Lunacy, a womyn's zine my uni puts out. Enjoy! Feedback is always appreciated.

The Feminist Vegan

I am a feminist. I am a vegan. I am a feminist vegan, because I believe the struggles are philosophically interwoven – and inseparably so. I’ll put it out there – I believe a true feminist will fight for animals just as much as she fights for womyn.

Womyn share a special connection with animals, and feminists share an even deeper one with animal rights activists. Why? Let’s tackle that question in two parts.

We know that throughout history, womyn have been immersed in a world that abuses, exploits and objectifies them. Our experience of oppression has run the full gamut from subtle paternalism that marginalizes our autonomy to outright violence – often systematic and entrenched in the societies we live.

Maybe your experience of oppression has been men telling you what to do in your own house while deferring to the “authority” of your male partner (this is mine). Maybe it has been having your body touched or ogled without your consent (also a recent experience of mine). Or maybe you are one of our sisters who is a survivor of sexual or physical violence, in childhood or womynhood. Whatever your experience, you know what it is to be made an object, not a subject – you know what it feels like to walk around with “use me” stamped in powerful invisible ink on your forehead.

The startling truth is that we share this experience not just with other oppressed groups in human society. We have a deep bond with non-human animals as well – they are living the nightmare alongside us.

It isn’t too wild to say that non-human animals are the most exploited group of beings on earth. The horrors that they face in their daily lives are innumerable, but before I recount some to you, there’s something important you should know. Animals feel. Yes, that’s right – they feel. By ‘feel’, I mean that they suffer – physically, and in most cases, emotionally. Animals, like us, have been proven to be cognizant of their own suffering, and a basic test of this is that they avoid pain and will attempt to protect themselves if threatened.

Just like the womyn who scratches the skin of her rapist, who knees him in the groin and calls for help, animals bite and run and bleat and scream. I don’t see too many cows walking willingly into abattoirs – and in fact they’ve had to institute measures to keep them unaware of the smells and sounds and sights of the slaughterhouse until they reach the killing chamber because they react with fear and try to bolt. Surely we have to ask ourselves: if a being shows a desire to avoid suffering, upon what do we base our assumption that we may ignore that desire? If you want to know more about the emotional life of animals, pick up a copy of “When Elephants Weep” by Susan McCarthy and Jeffrey Masson.

But I digress – let’s talk about the experience of animals. Here’s a sampler. Most animals have no reproductive rights, just like many womyn. Cows, for instance, are kept constantly impregnated so that they lactate to produce milk for human consumption. Female calves are then taken away from their mother soon after birth and fed back into the system for impregnation and milking, while male babies are kept in cramped dark crates for twelve weeks and fed an iron deficient diet so their flesh will be pale when they are slaughtered as ‘veal’. Hit up youtube – there are many videos that show how mother cows cry for their babies after separation. One such clip I have seen shows a calf being dragged away from the mother still steaming and slick with blood from the womb, the mother cow pursuing the farmer and calling after her child.

Female pigs – who have the intelligence and awareness of three-year-old human children – are also kept impregnated against their will, and put into ‘gestation crates’ (what an ugly term!) that are so cramped that they can not turn around. Their teats stick out of the cages so their babies can feed. The reason gestation crates were invented is because sows actually build a warm nest for their children. They sit on the nest with the babies tucked up underneath and around them, and the spaces in the nest allow the babies to slip through rather than being crushed. When pigs began to be kept in concrete and steel stalls, piglets began to die because the sow’s impulse to snuggle was fatal without the natural mechanism of the nest.

I could go on and on. I could tell you about how our animal sisters have their lifespan cut by 75% because of their exploitation (cows can live for twenty years. Because of how we treat them, they only live five.) I could tell you how they are tortured, deliberately infected with diseases, beaten, put on show, bred, kept in cages, raped, have their ova taken for food, tested on with chemical cleaners, killed en masse, made into clothes, deprived of medical treatment, ground up for coloring and separated from their families. I could tell you stories that would give you nightmares. If you need that to be convinced that animals need – nay, deserve – our solidarity, watch a documentary called ‘Earthlings’ (you can find it on youtube – be warned that it contains graphic and disturbing content). Instead, it all comes down to this one simple thread of logic.

We, as intelligent and feeling womyn, comprehend that animals suffer. We comprehend that they appreciate the preservation of their own life. We can see that they have an emotional – and cultural - world that is complex and significant. We understand that they suffer violence and exploitation, just like us. We can perhaps begin to see that they are subject, not object – just like us.

The question then becomes this: what do we, as feminists, as women with an empowered voice, want to do about it? Do we want to be the oppressor or the defender of the oppressed? Do we want to buy in to the speciesist myth and reduce our fish or chicken or cow sister to “just an animal” – in the same way that we used to be “only womyn” (or ‘only Jews’, ‘gays’ or ‘blacks’)? Do we want to be a voice for the voiceless, or are we too immersed in our own struggle to care?

Or is it just possible that we as a community can open our hearts and minds to the possibility that this is the same struggle? I contend that veganism and animal rights, like feminism, is one node of an expansive progressive agenda that seeks justice and equality for all beings. We, as feminists, may be the best friends of the animals, because we’ve walked a mile in their shoes – and we have the strength to speak for them. Let’s not make the mistake of being silent when we could be shouting.

Why vegans are not fundamentalists

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:46:58 GMT

I finished reading The God Delusion today, and I would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Dawkins, in answer to the proposition that atheists were fundamentalists (or scientists, etc) in the same way that religious fundamentalists are, said something I found to be pertinent to the vegan/AR worldview.

In a nutshell, he said that atheism (insert veganism here) is based on an appreciative review of the evidence at hand, upon rational facts, and its fail-safe test is that if an atheist were provided with convincing, overwhelming, rational data to prove the existence of God/Allah/Gods/etc, they would immediately change their viewpoint.

If extrapolated to veganism, the parallel is clear: veganism is a worldview based on a review of the facts - a review of the real, tangible, observable suffering of others. It is no different in principle from observing the suffering of an oppressed human minority, and acting in their defence. If it were proved that animals felt no pain, and did not suffer, and that meat and dairy and eggs and other animal products were also ridiculously good for your health, there would be no vegans. Increasingly and for some time, independent science and naturalist philosophy have been whispering through the dark of omnivorous society that veganism is a clearly rational choice.

We are not vegans because someone appeared in a vision and told us to be. We are not vegans because an ancient holy book of indistinct origin and authorship tells us to be. We are not even vegans because it makes us feel nice and warm and fuzzy and gives us a sense of mission and place in our world.

We are vegan because our brains are switched to "on" and we think for ourselves. We are vegans because the facts are inescapable, and the cool eye of rationalism lives and breathes in us all.

This is why we are not fundamentalists, and why accusations of such a thing are quite seriously misguided. The only thing we have remotely in common with fundamentalists is a dedicated, passionate advocacy of our position. There are few, if any, other parallels.

(x-posted to veganpeople)

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:50:54 GMT

So I have been invited to a private viewing of my Goggy's body on Thursday morning before the funeral and wake.

I have never seen a dead (human) body. Let alone a family member. I'm not sure what to think/feel about the prospect. I had just gotten my head around the funeral, and this has thrown me for a loop. Dad said I don't have to attend if I don't wish to. I'm not sure if John will want to come in with me, but on the other hand, I don't know how I'll go without his support.

I used to think so differently about death. I used to think that there was a soul. I thought the whole seeing the body thing was meaningless because the "soul" had left and it was just a shell.

I no longer believe in 'the soul'. I am undecided on whether consciousness, sentience, is any more special than our corporeal form (and how linked those two may or may not be). So now seeing her body has much more resonance because to me, that is still her, just with the lights out. The electrical connections that made her brain fire, and enabled her to speak and walk and talk may have shut down, but her body - that which travelled her through life and bears scars and stretch marks and tan lines and is a tangible memory of her journey - is still there, is still real, is still something I can see and touch. She is still there.

It is as much her as always.

Just as her body was 'her' in life, it still is in death. I'm not conveying my thoughts well. I guess that I mean that her body means a great deal more to me as part of her as a person than it would have had she died ten years ago when I was a Christian and believed in souls and that ridiculous sense of elemental 'rising up' of the spirit to a non-existent place of rest.

What is more real; our consciousness or our body? What is more "us"? And if one leaves, is what's left any less "us"?

I love this quote + family <3

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:43:52 GMT

"Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart."

- Washington Irwing

EDIT: I just need to say here how much I love my family. My brother rang me up two days ago and said "I have some holidays, want me to bring the ute and help you move?" He just sent me a text to say he's on the road and will be here at midday, so get those boxes ready, beyatch! Srsly, my brothers are the best. They always have and always will drop everything just to help me out, and the feeling is totally mutual. That's one thing I love about my messy, nutty, not-always-functional family: our ability to rise above any problems to reach out to each other in times of need. Nobody ever goes unheard or unloved in the Langston clan.

I <3 family. The one I have and the one I make around me.

Sea is Rising...

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:45:16 GMT

And all I know is the sun is shining, yet we fight on through the night
while the burgs are melting and the sea is rising...I don’t know so I ask them why

Yeah, why are they refusing to listen?
why are these troops on a mission?
and why are they shooting these victims over their view on religion?
yeah why do we all search for love like we got cupids addiction?
why with politicians you can’t tell the truth from the fiction?
why do we pollute where we're living?
why are these youth put at risk?
and why is this fool on dominion kept us consumed in this prison?
I won’t jump through the hoops of this system.
Nothing stands between you and the pursuit of your vision.
I grab a loop of this rhythm, it’s puts the juice in my pistons.

So jump back, react, spit in the boots with precision...

I don’t want them to look back when the future was written
and know we killed ourselves with nuclear vision and stupid decisions
Shit I’d rather an asteroid due for collision then know the planet got fucked

by the human condition.

The meat, stupid!

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:09:40 GMT

Physicians Committee of Responsible Medicine say that salmonella outbreak linked to meat

So hold onto your tomatoes, yo. It's the meat that ails you.

Lush bucket! + Your Mommy Kills Animals

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:50:22 GMT

Lalalala! Off to LUSH today!

I think I might take some Go Vegan pamphlets and leave them on the train too.

I have been thinking I might do that as par for the course, actually - just start leaving them in my wake (in toilets, libraries, doctor's surgeries, supermarkets - public spaces where people sit/stand with time to read). Not specifically giving them to people - just leaving them around so people can discover them and read them in their own time and space.

That's how I found out about animal cruelty, anyway. In my own time and space, from stumbling across a page about animal testing. I think in the end this is the best way to get people to think and make their own informed decision - arm them with information, and allow them to process. I will not badger everyday people or force them into a corner - but I'm happy to tell and converse :)

Honestly, I believe in the good in people. It may seem nuts in this world, but I do think that the majority of people have a place deep inside them that speaks and says "this is not right. I can't take part in this." Everyone has a different "aha" trigger - for me, it was animal testing. For someone else it may be factory farming. For another person, it could be the fur 'trade'.

I think the Dalai Lama is right when he says that our instinct for goodness and compassion is just as basic as our instinct to do harm and be selfish - and that in fact our instinct for goodness may be more basic. I sincerely hope so.

Oh yeah - I watched Your Mommy Kills Animals yesterday. A really balanced look at AR activism and the whole scope of it, across different organisations in America. PETA and HSUS are suuuuch fuckheads - I thought it pretty funny that the chick from PETA described HSUS as "En-fucking-ron". Umm, look in the mirror kthx? I really thought the Kitty Liberation Front girls were pretty switched on and nice. I wanted to throttle the guy from the Consumer group. Anyway, a pretty good watch for anyone, even if you're not vegan or involved in any form of activism on any issue. Just fairly interesting - and deals with the SHAC7, which is a lot more of a First Amendment rights issue than anything else.

kitty PDAs

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:47:39 GMT

I wish Kipper's way of showing affection was not to gnaw on me. Ouch, baby. I love you too, but - try licks or nuzzles FFS!

Oh, he just licked my foot.

All is forgiven!

stuff

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:05:00 GMT

Things of interest:

1. John has his first performance review this Wednesday. Can anyone say, BONUS? (we can but hope)

2. I have a new corset. Purple and black, baby. Fits better than the last one, too, and will look right shmick over a black long sleeved body-shirt. I'll have to pull out my inner goth to rock it, though. I haven't been gothy since 2002, so it'll be interesting.

3. WE MOVE ON SATURDAY. I am afraid of the amount of work between now and then. Which may be why I am procrastinating.

4. I like myself. Go me.