I love meat

But I'm a vegetarian. Why, you ask, am I a vegetarian since I love meat so much?

Because I love animals more.

My choice. Deal with it. It's been 13 years so I'm pretty sure nothing you're thinking about saying is going to change my mind.

But I get asked the question ALL of the time, what do I eat.

I also get asked all of the time what brands of fake meat I like since I love meat so much.

So here we go. A handy-dandy guide to Shasta's favorite fake meat so I never, ever have to type this all again.


Chicken:
Anything chicken related, go for Quorn.
http://www.quorn.us/


Beef:
Quorn as well for meatballs.

Best meatball subs ever.

Morningstar Farms makes a good back up option but they just aren't as meat-like.
https://www.morningstarfarms.com/


Morningstar does make the best crumbles, though.


For hamburgers, though, go with Boca.
http://www.bocaburger.com/

All American Flame Grilled are my favorite.


Pork:
Morningstar all the way here. I eat so much Morningstar they should thank me for keeping them in business. (Quorn, too.)

Bacon, sausage, and anything hot dog. I'm not going to post all of the pictures here. But they discontinued the hot dogs for a few years and I was seriously devastated. I also eat BLT's with their bacon about a million times a week.



Deli slices:
This has been the hardest thing for me but I have finally found some good options.

Yves Salami is delicious.
http://www.yvesveggie.com/

They also have a fantastic pepperoni.

And of course, Tofurky. One of the originals and still one of the best. I personally like the peppered.
http://www.tofurky.com/



Etc.:
I have recently tried this new brand, Gardein.
http://www.gardein.com/index.php

I've only had the burger but it was very good.



So that's it. That's what I live on. If I find more or think of more I will keep you updated. Enjoy. And let the little critters live while being healthier at the same time!

To Prius or not to Prius? That is the question.

So, on Tuesday I got in my first car accident. It sucked. I won't get into it here because I've told the story eight million times and I don't want to anymore. But here is my car:

You can't really see it but the whole framework is smashed against my tires. (Sorry folks. I had to crop out the rest so you couldn't see my license plate number and stalk me. Come on. You know you would.)

This was not my fault. Some idiot kid hit me. Ruined my car and gave me whiplash. Awesome.

So I'm waiting to see if my car will be considered totaled or if they are going to fix it. I am trying to prepare for anything.

And I've wanted a Prius forever. There's one problem, though. I HATE Prius drivers. They are some of the worst, most reckless, rude drivers out there. (And before you think, "Well, I drive a Prius and I don't suck," just shut the comment off in your head. I know there are exceptions to every rule.)

So I talked myself into getting a Hyundai Sonata hybrid. Then the whole thing with Hyundai lying about their gas mileage came out. Check that off my list.

I thought about an electric car. Then I thought of all the ways I could get myself in trouble with that. Check that off my list.

Then I get into an accident and it's decided - if I have to get a car I'm getting a Prius.

Then Casey and her boyfriend Brandon come over last night because they want to take care of me and they're awesome. I tell them I'm getting a Prius.

I get a look. And comments about how all Prius drivers suck.

AHHHH!!! I'm back to square one. 

Do I want to be a sucky Prius driver? I'm pretty convinced that I am good driver as I've lived over half my life without an accident and the one I did have was someone else's fault. I don't think suddenly driving a Prius will make me a bad driver.

But Brandon came up with a good point - people buy a Prius because of the status.

Well, here are my reasons:
- I like the Earth and I want to keep it.
- I live VERY far away from work and gas is expensive.
- I live in LA and would be very happy if I could use the carpool lane.

None of those have to do with status. But do I want to be clumped in with a bunch of status-obsessed awful drivers?

Oy. What's a girl to do? 

And who knows if I even have to make this decision!

Accidents are too much stress. 

UPDATE: My car is getting fixed. The question can be shelved indefinitely.

What's with the asteroids??

So, today there was a huge asteroid that flew past the Indian Ocean.

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/15/16966984-it-aint-over-yet-watch-asteroid-2012-da14-fade-out-via-streaming-video?lite

And even earlier today a meteor came through the atmosphere in Russia.

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/15/16969092-nuclear-like-in-its-intensity-russia-meteor-blast-is-largest-since-1908?lite

Could you imagine seeing something like this? It's crazy!

I wonder if this is going to get the doomsday prophesies started again!

Read it.

I know I just posted about Stephen King.

But if you're interested in some (mostly) rhetoric free commentary on guns, you should read this.

http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Kindle-Single-ebook/dp/B00B53IW9W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359415290&sr=8-1&keywords=guns+stephen+king

The culture of Stephen King

I love Stephen King. I have for the majority of my life. So, I've always noticed Stephen King everywhere - Family Guy, the movie Twixt, books, NBC's Revolution. These are just to name a few that popped into my head.

But this weekend it seemed to get a little ridiculous. Here's what happened.

Saturday - I was getting ready to go camping and my neighbor came over to get cat feeding instructions. She said, "Did you hear Cujo bit some dude on his face?" Cujo is her nickname for Britney, the awful rescue dog we have in our complex through our animal hoarding neighbor. She's called Britney Cujo for some time now so I thought nothing of it.

But then....

Sunday - I'm camping and in my tent getting ready for a hike. I hear a boy talking to someone else. It's muffled at first because he's riding his bike past my tent. "....yeah, I've read his entire Dark Tower series, and the Shinning, and......" He rode away. But I think, dang, that's the second time in two days.

And then.....

Monday - I get home from camping and my two neighbors are in the garage, talking. One has some old, red car that's falling apart that he loves. Her name is Sophia. I mention I did not know that she had a name. Other neighbor says, "He should call her Christine."

So that's that. Three in three days.

But then I start to think, how crazy would it be to be SO famous and influential that you and your work become the verbiage of the culture? I was wracking my brains trying to think of someone else who has had this type of influence, who has become a part of the lexicon, of the fabric of society. I mean, yes, you sometimes hear someone call a whale Moby Dick. Or a dolphin Flipper, or a horse Black Beauty. 

But who else is not only has work that is re-used and adapted but his own name as well?

Could you even imagine? I couldn't. No way.

Why does driving in traffic make me so tired?!?

So, it's 4pm. I get to go home soon. Yay!

But all I can think about is how tired I'm going to be when I get home.

Am I tired now? Nope. How do I know I'll be tired when I get home?

Because I'm ALWAYS tired when I get home.

Sitting in traffic sucks.

So, I begin to question - why does driving make me so tired?

I Google it. Ah, Google. What did I do before you?

(As my friend Casey knows, the second I have a question I immediately Google it. Anything. I hate not knowing.)

Some theories:

- You are completely concentrating and that can tire you out

- There's not fresh air in the car

- You are working all kinds of muscles, not just sitting

These seem like plausible theories to me. So I'm going to go with all three as my answer.

And now you can too.

Seneca Guns

So recently my husband went hiking in North Carolina. They were in the woods when they heard a large boom and the ground vibrated and the woods went silent. Apparently, this is very common on the East Coast and is called a Seneca Gun.



http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/booms.php

Well, these sounds have never been explained. And they are apparently very creepy.

Looks like they're now here in LA.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/01/09/mystery-surrounds-very-loud-explosion-reported-in-noho-area/

Not only that, but they have been heard this week around the country in alarming frequency.

http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/they%E2%80%99re-back-unexplained-%E2%80%98booming-noises%E2%80%99-reported-south-carolina-california

Maybe our reading of the Mayan calendar was a little off......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7Xn6gQmmcY