Beer Break With Atticus O'Sullivan

In a completely unanticipated chain of events I recently was invited to sit down and have a beer with our favorite 2100 year old druid. We talked about a variety of subjects and enjoyed some fine drink.. As always it's wonderful to see him..

S: Hey Atticus..Thanks for the invite.

A: Happy to be here. The fish and chips are outstanding, by the way. Ever tried a Snakebite? That's Guinness and cider. The Guinness floats on top.

S- um no...that sounds er...interesting.
So first off how is having an apprentice after all these years without one?

Right now it's easy. Until she learns some languages there's not much else for me to do. Of course I'm nervous as all hell because I have to protect her until she can defend herself properly, so this will be twelve years of extreme paranoia.

S:Do you play a musical instrument? Sing?

I do both, actually. They're fallback positions for me when I'm on the run. If I need to disappear into a city and not use any magic for a while, then one of the best things you can do to blend in right away is join the music scene. It's fairly easy to get a gig at a bar when you know what you're doing. Just give them a name, audition, print up some flyers, and there you go. I'm an accomplished guitarist and I've played rhythm and lead in a few bands. Mostly I like playing small venues where it's just me. If I got into a band that became too popular I'd just have to leave again, so I always keep it local and short term.

S:What is your favorite location in the world? ( on this plane) why?

I will always love places that have been untouched by the industrial revolution. Places of wilderness you have to hike into, where there are no roads, the elementals are strong, and the earth sings of health. It's getting difficult to find those places anymore. There are a few lovely stretches like that in the Australian outback, though, and right now I'd say those are my favorites.

S: If you could sit down to dinner with 5 historical figures, living or dead who would they be.? Why...(and yes they can be ones you knew)

Ben Franklin. His image has been cleaned up by history, but damn, that guy knew how to party. Neil Gaiman, because, you know, I'm kind of a fanboy. Augustus Caesar—I have some pointed questions to ask him about his role in the systemic slaughter of the Druids and whether there were any vampires behind it. Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire, because he was clever and ambitious and therefore extremely dangerous. And then I'd like a ninja. Any ninja. Still haven't laid my eyes on one of them, and I'd like to know where they've been hiding.

S:what are you up to these days?

Getting ready to disappear off the map. Too many people know where to find me now. Granuaile needs a safe place to complete her training.

S:How is Oberon? I have been meaning to ask..how did you acquire him?

Oberon is just dandy. I found him on a rescue ranch in Massachusetts. His previous owners couldn't handle the responsibility that a big hound like him entails. And they didn't "get" him—he needed to go out and hunt, and they never let him do that, so he pretended their tan loveseat was a doe and tore it up, and you can imagine how pleased they were with that. Lots of Irish wolfhounds these days aren't as active as Oberon, and I could see how he'd be trouble if you couldn't talk to him.

S:Well Atticus thanks for inviting me to dinner.. It's been lovely.. I think I will have another whiskey and then toddle off..

~You can purchase Hounded, Hexed, and Hammered at the following~
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

and you can find Kevin here and Atticus here~
twitter- @Kevin Hearne
www.kevinhearne.com

Over the Moon with Jenn Bennett

Hey all-

I’m really excited to welcome debut Jenn Bennett to my Blog. Her debut novel KINDLING THE MOON is the bomb. Not kidding, I got to read this last year and it is a very different twist on Urban Fantasy. Here is a little blurb about it...

Meet Arcadia Bell: bartender, renegade magician, fugitive from the law. . . .

Being the spawn of two infamous occultists (and alleged murderers) isn’t easy, but freewheeling magician Arcadia “Cady” Bell knows how to make the best of a crummy situation. After hiding out for seven years, she’s carved an incognito niche for herself slinging drinks at the demon-friendly Tambuku Tiki Lounge.

But she receives an ultimatum when unexpected surveillance footage of her notorious parents surfaces: either prove their innocence or surrender herself. Unfortunately, the only witness to the crimes was an elusive Æthyric demon, and Cady has no idea how to find it. She teams up with Lon Butler, an enigmatic demonologist with a special talent for sexual spells and an arcane library of priceless stolen grimoires. Their research soon escalates into a storm of conflict involving missing police evidence, the decadent Hellfire Club, a ruthless bounty hunter, and a powerful occult society that operates way outside the law. If Cady can’t clear her family name soon, she’ll be forced to sacrifice her own life . . . and no amount of running will save her this time.

Sounds awesome doesn't it? It is! Go get it now.

Hey Jenn, thanks for coming round, especially since the tables get turned this time. You see I am so lucky to have Jenn as my blog editor. She gets to read all the stories first, and make them readable for you guys. She does a fantastic job, and is a pretty damn awesome person too. So lets just get started shall we?

How did the original idea come about?

JB: First I'd just like to say how cool it is to be interviewed after Bono! But seriously, thank you for having me, and everyone should know how much I adore you and all of your incredible stories. I remember when I first started following you on Twitter, I had no idea about your past lives or your multi-talented nature. I just thought you were
an awesome jewelry maker (and I still wear the badass necklace I bought from you, just for the record). You are probably the coolest bookseller on the planet—you know that, right?

Ok I swear I didn't pay her to say that! Hugs to you, my dear and backatcha...(blushes )

JB: But to answer your question, almost two years ago, I was watching some random TV show about serial killers. I wondered what it would be like to have a serial killer in your family. Talk about the ultimate black sheep, right? So, in KINDLING THE MOON, I decided to place my protagonist, Arcadia Bell, in a similar dicey situation. Arcadia's parents were accused of killing several leaders of rival occult organizations. Even though Arcadia knows that they're innocent, it doesn't matter—the evidence points to them. They've also been the subject of countless true crime shows on TV, and have had books written about them, etc. So in the public's eye, they are killers. Pretty grim stuff, but I think it's a unique premise for a urban fantasy novel.

How many books are you planning on in the series?

JB: I'm contracted for two, with an option for more. I've planned out a total of four to complete a major story arc, and I'd love to write a young adult spin-off from Jupe's point of view, a teenage character in the series (and my personal favorite character).

Ohhh yes... that would be a great perspective.. Do eeeeet!

Tiki Bars? Are you a fan of the Tiki Bar?

JB: Absolutely. Writing a tiki bar into Arcadia's world was definitely a "write what you know" thing for me. Tiki culture, for those who may be unaware, was a phenomenon that bloomed in the US from the 1930s-60s. My husband and I are huge midcentury aficionados, and lovers of all things tiki. We've collected over a hundred tiki mugs, many of them rare or vintage, along with a lot of other miscellaneous things (like a carved Moai from the now-defunct Trader Vic's in Beverly Hills, which was open for 50 years). If it's tiki, we collect it: swizzle sticks, drink menus, puffer fish lamps, sculptures. We used to have a small tiki bar in our house, and have plans to build a bigger one in the basement in the near future.

Do you listen to music when you write? If so what is your playlist like?

JB: I write in complete silence. I'm talking pin-drop quiet—I can't stand to hear a TV in another room. Music is a huge part of my life, don't get me wrong. My tastes are wildly eclectic (I like everything from The Shins to The Damned to Thin Lizzy to jazz and opera). My love for music definitely spills over into my fiction, but only if it works for the character. Arcadia wears an Iron Maiden T-shirt, which is the best metal band in the world, natch. Lon listens to a lot of classic rock, and in Book 2 we find out that he was into Black Sabbath when he was a teenager. His son, Jupe, who is monster-movie fan and a comic book geek, likes 80s music and Funkadelic.

Dogs or Cats?

JB: Cat lovers who read KINDLING THE MOON might be upset to learn that Arcadia has a small issue with cats. But she has her reasons, and there's a humorous showdown between Arcadia, a fat cat, and an imp. She owns a pet pygmy hedgehog named Mr. Piggy, and Lon and Jupe have a black lab named Foxglove. Personally, I've had cats as pets in the past, and my favorite thing about them is that they couldn't care less if you leave them alone in the house for hours. As long as they have food, water, and clean litter, they are totally cool. Independence is a good thing. Dogs, on the other hand, will die inside if you leave them alone for too long. They need companionship. This is a blessing and a curse. My husband and I own two purebred pugs. They are like children, and require constant attention and care. They are also enormous pains in the ass. No joke, I have seriously wept in frustration because I couldn't handle them. WEPT. But at the end of the day, they give you so much unconditional love that it erases all the bad behavior. That's a long-winded way of saying that I'm a dog lover, by the way—a dog lover who appreciates the independent nature of cats!

If you could sit down to dinner with 5 historical figures living or
dead who would they be?

JB: Oh! I like this question. Let's see . . . this doesn't have to be one big dinner party, right? Because I'd love to have an afternoon alone in the 1930s with Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller. (I'm waggling my eyebrows in a lusty manner, just for the record; we could totally skip dinner.) I'd also like an afternoon alone with Franklin D. Roosevelt. I recently visited the FDR museum in Georgia, and my sister-in-law and I were remarking how surprisingly hot he was when he was younger. (I think my classy comment was, "Yeah, I'd hit that.") For my fourth person, I'd choose Ella Fitzgerald, who is a huge, huge idol of mine. I adore many classic jazz vocalists like Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, but no one compares to Ella, in my opinion. Sheer brilliance. I can't even imagine how incredible it would be to hear her sing live, so I'd like that to happen in my time-machine fantasy. And I suppose that leaves me with one more historical figure, so I'll choose Vincent Price. He was an accomplished cook, so I'd definitely like him to cook me dinner. And because I can't keep my head out of the gutter, I'd totally hit that as well.

What's next for Jennifer?

JB: Book 2 in the Arcadia Bell series, SUMMONING THE NIGHT, comes out April 2012. I just finished a young adult paranormal that my agent is reading, and I'm about to begin writing another young adult (a supernatural thriller/horror title). Later this summer, I hope to start writing an adult paranormal romance. I'm ambitiously (read: stupidly) giving myself two years to hit the New York Times bestseller list. So two years from now, you can interview me again and we'll see if I managed that. If I fail, I'll totally buy you dinner . . . we can put up a cardboard standee of Vincent Price at the head of the table.

Thanks for coming by! Love you, love the book!

I am so excited for this book guys! Seriously! It's so different, gritty, funny, and it doesn't go over the top with taking itself too seriously. It moves fast and is one hell of a ride. Get this one NOW!! You can find Jenn at the following places....

http://www.jennbennett.net

http://www.twitter.com/jenn_benn

http://www.facebook.com/jennbennettauthor

http://authors.simonandschuster.net/Jenn-Bennett/77827513/books

The Writing on the wall

So, with U2 recently in Seattle once again, I must admit many stories
came to mind. Bono and I reminisced about some of the stupider things

we have done. Like getting arrested with Greenpeace. (Yes, they were

all fun.)

When I was in Dublin in the 80's, U2 was already pretty big (not like
now mind you, but huge enough) and the wall outside Windmill Lane was
a tourist destination. Many a pilgrim would scrawl, paint or doodle a
message to the lads. They painted over it once a year to make room for
others, but I can assure you that everyone read every year. I am
honestly not sure if it's still there; I forgot to ask when I saw
them.

Anyway back to the story. One day while I was over there we were

watching a bunch of American students taking pictures in front of the

wall, giggling and posing. I thought it would be funny if we just
wandered out. In those days it was easier, and of course Bono was
game, The Edge too.

So we wandered around the corner . . . tapped the American students on

the shoulder and asked what all the fuss was about. It took them a

minute to comprehend, then the the squeeing started. Believe me, it

was the squee heard round the world. Pictures were taken. Then all
parties wandered away giggling.

The next day I returned to the Windmill Lane offices to work only to
find the boys outside surprising fans. It was pretty awesome. They
only did it a couple of times that day, then I think the buzz wore
off. The boys went back into the office, and everything went back to normal.

Still ....you never know who you will meet at the Graffiti wall at Windmill lane.

Are you ready to be Hexed?

Once I read Kevin Hearne's fantastic book Hounded, it reawakened my love for Arizona and all deserts high and low.( I lived in Northern Arizona for a time)When connecting with Kevin on Twitter we compared notes on where to get the best coffee, ale and fish & chips. Now with Hexed out( book 2) Kevin has introduced us to more of the adventures of Atticus O'Sullivan. Luckily for me, as well as YOU, Kevin has introduced me to Atticus hisself, and he has agreed to do a interview with yours truly.
A little back story if you will allow, Atticus is a 2100 yr old Druid living in the body of a 21 year old man..yeah you heard me! He runs a metaphysical bookstore in Mesa, Arizona, and between drinking the occasional ale or shot of whiskey, he fights off just about everyone. Excitement or trouble is his middle name..

So Atticus thanks for stopping by~

It's my pleasure, Synde. Thanks for the beer.

So tell me, over the ages what Musicians have you really favored?

Well, quite recently I've been enamored with Rodrigo y Gabriela. Before that, there was an underground punk band in California in the 90s called Chewbacca's Sister that I used to dig. I was talking backstage with their drummer after one of their shows, his name was Wauuugh! or something like that, and he told me about this crazy cyberpunk band called Hiro Protagonist and the Nam-Shubs. They came on stage wearing swords and when the show was over they'd hack apart their instruments with them. But you're probably wondering about really old acts, right? I have to say Mozart was probably the best ever. He was a true genius and wanted to party all the time and get stupid because that was the only way he could stand to be around other people. They bored the shit out of him otherwise. He was the only guy who ever beat me at memory games. Before him, well, my own bias runs to individual bards, guys that history has forgotten because performers weren't the celebrities then that they are now. I could tell you their names, but what would be the point? They're unpronounceable to modern English tongues and the Internet doesn't accurately represent the fadas over the vowels anyway. But they still live on in me.

Why a metaphysical bookstore? What do you enjoy most about owning/running one?

It's a way for me to hide my own rare books in plain sight. At night, when everyone's gone, I sometimes take 'em out and pull a Gollum, muttering "Yesssss, Precious," and other terms of endearment. Besides that, I sort of feel it's my duty to give people somewhere to go if they're looking for something outside the mainstream. And people who are willing to think independently, well, those are the kinds of people I'd like to meet anyway, so the store gives me a way to do that.

What God/ Tuatha De Dannan is the biggest pain in the butt?

The universal answer to that, no matter who you ask, is probably going to be Thor. He's let that prophecy about Ragnarok go to his head; if he can only die at the fangs of the world serpent, then nothing else can touch him, and he can do whatever he pleases. I think Leif might have a legitimate beef with him.

It seems you are always getting "entangled" with witches, why?

Well, it might seem that way recently, but that hasn't always been the case. During those witch-hunting years, you know, they stayed out of everyone's hair and let the random burnings and dunkings take out their innocent neighbors. The only reason they're so bold now is because this age of science is so skeptical of their existence.

coffee or tea?

I'm a tea kind of fella. There are some interesting compounds in coffee, mind you, but I was a tea guy for seventeen centuries before I had my first cup of coffee.

cider or ale?

Ale, for sure. But there's a great compromise if you can't decide. In Arizona they call it a Snakebite. It's half Guinness and half cider. The Guinness sits on top and it looks like a potion.

So why Kevin, what made you tell your story to him?

Eh. He's an Irish guy who likes baseball and dogs and comic books, so why not? I met him down at Rula Bula and we got to talking, and I found out he knew how to spell and everything. It's not much more complicated than that.

What's next for Atticus and company..what do you have up your sleeves besides tattoos?

Well, I have an apprentice to train, and that's my number one priority. Granuaile is brilliant and I think she'll be a magnificent Druid if I can just make sure we both live that long.

Thanks so much for stopping by..we all really appreciate it..
say hi to Oberon for us..!

I will give him a belly rub on your behalf. I was grateful to receive your invitation, Synde. May harmony find you.




~You can purchase Hounded and Hexed at the following~
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

and you can find Kevin here and Atticus here~
twitter- @Kevin Hearne
www.kevinhearne.com

Ale, Sausage and a visit from Kevin Hearne

Hey all!
I have found another book I must let you all know about, it's both AWESOME and unusual. Here is a little blurb about it-

Atticus O’Sullivan has been running for two thousand years and he’s a bit tired of it. After he stole a magical sword from the Tuatha Dé Danann (those who became the Sidhe or the Fae) in a first century battle, some of them were furious and gave chase, and some were secretly amused that a Druid had the cheek to defy them. As the centuries passed and Atticus remained an annoyingly long-lived fugitive, those who were furious only grew more so, while others began to aid him in secret.

Now he’s living in Tempe, Arizona, the very last of the Druids, far from where the Fae can easily find him. It’s a place where many paranormals have decided to hide from the troubles of the Old World—from an Icelandic vampire holding a grudge against Thor to a coven of Polish witches who ran from the German Blitzkrieg.

Unfortunately, the very angry Celtic god who wants that sword has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power, plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good, old-fashioned luck of the Irish to kick some arse and deliver himself from evil.

Uh huh...yes.. Kevin doesn't mess around with the Tuatha De' Dannan, no shiny fuzzy warm winged creatures are they, rather the strange, twisted, amoral beings that mythology tells us about. I couldn't read this book fast enough! It's the beginning of a trilogy with the second book Hexed coming out on June 7th and the third book Hammered coming out on July 5th. I asked Kevin to stop by for a quick interview, in between signing books and grading tests.( Kevin teaches high school English.)

Well lets just jump into things-

What triggered the original idea?

It started out as a comic book I was going to call American Druid. It was just supposed to be a project to keep me busy while my epic fantasy was out on submission, and I basically wanted a magic user who could talk to his dog since I've always wished I could talk to mine. After finishing six pages of the comic, I realized it would be better suited to an urban fantasy novel and took a step back to reevaluate everything. The story got bigger from there as I got into the background research.

What kind of research did you do for this book?

I read parts of The Annals of the Four Masters and the Fenian Cycle, as well as a Dictionary of Celtic Mythology by James MacKillop and some old accounts by Julius Caesar. Though of course I took some liberties here n' there, I tried to stick to the myth n' history as much as possible, because I'm tired of seeing the original Irish stuff being watered down and corrupted by other traditions.

Do you have a favorite member of the Tuatha De' Dannan?

Oh, heck yes. Brighid is a tall shot of whiskey. Poetry, Fire & the Forge in one package? That's hotness.

Is some of Atticus' "modern lingo" channeled from your students?

Yeah, a bit of it. But I don't think I'm going to have him start calling things "sick." I don't wish to contribute to that confusion. What a bizarre development in modern slang that is. The other term that's popular right now is to call cool things "legit." Atticus might use that one. Apparently, being legit is even better than being sick. When I was in high school, sick things were rad and legit things were balls rad. Slang was so much simpler back then.

Let's talk play-list, what did you listen to when writing this book?

Depends on what I'm writing at the time. I'm a fan of Rodrigo y Gabriela( THIS BAND IS GREAT FOLKS!) and Six Parts Seven for most things—instrumentals, basically. But when Atticus has to throw down, I put on some heavy stuff. Megadeth, DragonForce, Yngwie Malmsteen, that sort of thing. Angry music that makes you all stabbity, you know, like you want to hunt down all the spiders in your house and mount their heads on toothpicks as a warning to all other creatures with exoskeletons that they'd better not disturb THIS guy while he's writing. That's nothing special, though; I'm sure everybody does that.

Since you love the wolfhounds, what kind of pets do you have?

I live in a rather wee place and don't have enough room for a noble hound, so I have a pug and a Boston Terrier. The pug's name is Manley (after the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins) and the Boston's name is Sophie (after the novel Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder). I also have two cats that my wife adopted.

If you could sit down and dine with 5 deities who would they be and why?

1. Manannan Mac Lir, Irish god o' the sea. I want to know what's lurking in his domain that we haven't seen yet and I want to check out his cloak o' mists.

2. Vainamoinen from Finnish tradition, because I have to hear him play something on his kantele. If you've never heard of it, that's an instrument made from the lower jaw of a pike and the hairs of a blond woman. That has to have a rather unique sound, don't you think?

3. Brighid, for reasons mentioned above. I want to hear a ballad or something from her.

4. Coyote from Native American tradition. He's gotta have some great stories to tell.

5. Athena, Greek goddess o' wisdom. I'd like her advice on how to solve a few of the world's problems.

I love a good pint, actually I am predisposed to cider, so what is your favorite beer?

The Bramble Berry Brew at Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff, Arizona. Best beer EVAR. It finishes really clean and has just a hint of raspberry freshness to it. Only "fruit" beer I can stand, actually; all other fruity beers taste artificial or over-sweetened somehow. When I first tried it I wasn't expecting much, so I was astounded by its quality; to my palate it's the most refreshing drink on the planet. But I'm REALLY looking forward to trying this beer called Chocolate Oaked Yeti. It might be crap, but I want to be able to say I tried it.

Yeah I can't wait to try that one either...anything with chocolate and Yeti in it wins in my book..
Thank you so much for stopping by...

you can buy Kevin's book here-
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

You can find Kevin here-
Kevin Hearne website
Twitter

Facebook

Run, Run , Run , Run, Runaway....

This blog post has been a long time coming. Lots of strange goings on in real life, forcing me into a writing distraction.

Anyroad, this tale takes place many (MANY) years ago, when a young Synde was still in high school (19XX, heh heh). There was a club in
Los Angeles (about 30 minutes from my home in Orange County) called Rodney's English Disco. Rodney Bingenheimer was a short gnomish kind
of guy who was completely beloved by the music industry, especially the British Glam musicians. Many of said musicians hung out at
Rodney's club—the holy grail of hangouts. I won't go on about how a
bunch of underage teens could get into a club that had free running
drank, because of course that would be illegal. WE KNOW I don't go in
for that illegal kind of stuff.

So we would dress in our Glam finery and go out to Hollywood to see
who we could see. It is there I met Joan and Cherie. Joan was outgoing
and driven with a very ballsy sense of humor, and Cherie was a quiet
watcher. When I first met them both, they had only just come to know
each other, so often the three of us would hang out and star watch.
Joan had no problems talking to Jimmy Page, but Cherie and I would
just hang back and watch. One night outside of Rodney's they told me
about the band they had been putting together. Joan had met a guy
named Kim Fowley and he had wanted to put an all girl rock band
together. It turns out that had been how Joan met Cherie. All this
time they had been rehearsing and now they were going to play live.
They wanted me to come and see them play at the Whiskey. I was both
excited and jealous. At that age I secretly wanted to be in a band
myself, however my singing voice...um NO! ( I even had a band name:
Sweet Revenge.)

So a week later, I went to the Whiskey to hear Joanie's band. The
audience was full of underage kids. (The fake ID business must have
been booming in LA that week!!) When they took the stage, Joan was
wearing her trademark leathers, and Cherie in her now infamous blue
spandex jumpsuit. The other girls—Sandy, Jackie and Lita—I didn't know
at the time, so I don't remember what they were wearing.

Finally they started playing. Let me tell you, TRAIN WRECK! Missed
chords, slow starts, awful vocals...and yet there was a seed
germinating. A tiny spark that told me something special was
happening. I remember that first time I heard Cherry Bomb, I knew it
was a hit! As bad as it was, the audience was singing along by the
end. No one could get that hook out of their heads. I didn't get to
talk to them after the show. Kim swept them away to talk to the press
and such.

Little by little I lost touch with them. A few years later I was
standing in line to see Blade Runner in San Diego down the street from
a concert venue. I walked to the street to have a cigarette just as a
huge tour bus went by. I heard a voice shout "Hey Synde" and when I
looked up to the window, Joan was hanging out of it flipping me off
(her way of saying "hi"). She pointed down the street and said, "Come
see us." I didn't though...

Cut to 2 years later when I am in college and working at Magic
Mountain. I get my list of acts for the summer and there is Joan Jett
and the Blackhearts. The day came, and Joan was nice, but her manager
(I won't mention his name) was like the worst stage mother ever...
hovering over her like a demented moth. But the show was fantastic.
Her band was tight. And I loved every second.

I haven't seen her since that night, but she continues to inspire. I
wish her all the best.

**I love Rock n Roll
so put another dime
in the jukebox baby******************

Don't think twice it's alright.

This blog post is a bit of a departure. I have stumbled onto a old
issue that has become once again important, so bear with me.

I have been on a "get healthy" journey since the beginning of March. I
have put myself on a 1500 calorie diet and have been exercising A LOT!
Much of my success (20 pounds in 8 weeks) is due to eating very
limited meat. When I do eat meat, it is either chicken or turkey.
Recently I picked up Michael Pollan's OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA and reread
it. Now I am revisiting a moral dilemma I had earlier in my life. I
was a vegetarian once before. I did eat eggs and cheese but nothing
with a face. Honestly, I only quit because of health issues.

OK, some set up: I believe if you can't face the fact that that lovely
steak you are eating was a cow that had to stand in its own waste or
eat a diet that made it sick, then you shouldn't be eating it. When I
was little, if my mom served a roast chicken and I saw the whole
thing, I would, like clockwork, have an upset stomach that night. Was
my mind trying to tell me something?

If you can't kill it, or milk it, or take it's eggs, are we being honest
about where it came from?

I was into FFA (Future Farmers of America) as a youngster, so I have
killed a chicken, milked a cow, harvested eggs, not to mention
castrated a steer and raised a lamb for inevitable slaughter. The day
I watched my lamb get slaughtered (we were made to watch as part of
the class) was the last day I ate lamb. He was an annoying creature
but I just couldn't eat the poor bugger. My family did, insisting it
was the best lamb they ever tasted (a case for happy animals...happy
meat).

Back to the point (I think I have one). I am struggling with our
"humane" forms of slaughter. Some slaughter houses have new "humane"
chutes for the cows that keep them calm. They were designed by Temple
Grandin and she has done some amazing things, but I wonder exactly how
humane *is* "humane" you know?

Sooo . . . I thought I might only buy meat from local farms where the
animals are allowed to move freely and happily through life, eating a
healthy diet of grass and grains --- not their own animal protein. But
they still have to be killed, and in a small farm they certainly don't
have fancy chutes and stun guns. So now what? What was the trade off?

As a side note, in my previous vegetarian incarnation, I loved my
leather shoes because I rationalized that the cows are already dead,
and the hides still had to be used, so I am just helping to fight
against waste . . . Yeah, right Synde. . . denial much? Hey, don't get
me wrong, I still LOVE my leather shoes. Hence the dilemma.

Here is what I have decided to commit to: I will only buy my meat
(still mostly chicken) from local "animal friendly" farms. This will
include cheese as well. I will also have 3 vegetarian days a week,
from breakfast to dinner no animal product at all. For now this is the
best I can do. I am going to check out some of the new meat
substitutes out there like Gardein. We'll see what happens.

I want to make something clear. I have NO ill will towards anyone who
eats meat. I love meat. Man-oh-man, I love me a bacon cheeseburger
once in a while. I just don't know how to have both a yummy-yummy
burger and a shiny happy cow.

So what do you think? I would love to know your thoughts (be nice
please, and no religious discussions --- this is not the right
platform for that).