Happy Thanksgiving! (Yes, that's right, I don't eat meat.)

Although I'm never the one to bring it up, Thanksgiving is usually my busiest day for explaining to others why I'm a vegan. Best case scenario: my veganism is a good conversation starter. Worst case scenario: I have to defend my choice, because for some reason I can't understand, some people are deeply offended by my decision

to reach for the tofurky.

This year, I'm going to prepare for the "yes, that's right, I'm a vegan" conversation by compiling some resources to will help other people understand my food choices. And what better vehicle for compiling my reasons than my little blog?

First, a cool new site that proves a vegan diet can be fun and yummy! I found A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise a few weeks ago and the recipes look great! No, I haven't tried making any of the desserts yet, but I swear I'm going to! Or if don't, I know I can count Mr. Boyfriend to make them! (subtle, eh?)

As to why I'm a vegan, ugh, it's a long conversation...and while my views on compassion and the importance of reducing suffering in the world are totally private and self-focused, they seem to offend so many people, which is insanely frustrating to me. Surprisingly, some of the people most offended are those who share my compassion for the world--my theory is that Dudley Do-Right types can't stand to be outdone in their efforts to do good. I'll admit I don't have much sympathy for vegan-haters who are secretly wracked with guilt, because really, there's any easy solution to their problem.

Anywho, Agnes L., over at A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise (in the comments thread of her "Noteworthy?" post) has boiled her reason down to a few sentences and I think her logic is pretty similar to that of other vegans:

Animals raised for food (whether for meat, milk, or eggs) suffer tremendously. We do not need to eat animal products to be healthy. Therefore, this suffering is unnecessary. Causing unnecessary suffering is unethical.

I might add that it doesn't matter if animals are inferior to humans (and I agree that humans are unquestionably superior to animals). It's their capacity to suffer--not their self awareness or their ability to do multi-variable calculus--that makes it wrong to make them hurt for no good reason. And yummy is not a good reason. Finding a cure for cancer, for example, would be a good reason.

"Well, maybe that's what you believe, but what about my right to eat animals," you say? I'd say it's your right. Just like it's your right to practice a different religion and still expect a li'l tolerance.*

Now, on to cuter things, this is also why I'm a vegan: Meet Hildy! She's the turkey up top there. She's cute! And she's happy, and no one's going to eat her tomorrow. Maybe, just maybe, she's also a little bit happy because I adopted her. (I'm really trying, and failing, to resist the urge to anthropomorphize.) Anyway, adopting Hildy is how I will "do turkey" this Thanksgiving, and you can adopt a turkey too!

Happy holidays, kids. Try your best to enjoy your families because nothing lasts forever, have a moment of silence to remember that this is ultimately a holiday celebrating the beginning of our national policy to stick it to Native Americans, and please, be nice to the vegans. After all, we brushed out our dreds, shaved and showered, and fretted about burning gasoline just so we could travel all that way to spend Thanksgiving with you.

*Disclaimer: Not suggesting veganism and religion are them same here folks, just suggesting we already know how to do tolerance for religion, so clearly we can do tolerance for something as simple as tofu.