Made some Vegan Sweet Potato Pie today. My first proper Vegan dish instead of using frozen nut cutlets or bean burgers. It's really yummy :D. But i left out the corn flour so it didn't set as well as it might've.
I have been officially Vegan since Sunday. I've been planning it and saying farewell to my fav foods since the beginning of June this year. The reason i've decided to go Vegan is, simply, because i can. When i'm at university I tend to eat almost Vegan all the time. I already avoid a lot of stuff like MSG and High Fructose Syrup. All i had to get rid of was cheese and even that has yummy, animal-friendly alternatives. Also, my friend who lived a few doors down from me (which we didn't find out until almost the end of the year) is vegan and she insisted on cooking for me and coaxing me over to the 'hippy' side, as she'd call it :).
I am aware, however, that i will feel frustrated if i miss an opportunity to try something new; i'll be going to Germany as part of my course for more than a year and i've always wanted to try Currywurst and such, non-Vegan things.
Therefore i dub myself an 'adventurous Vegan' - I will try a small amount of whatever i like and not make myself feel guilty about the animal who was harmed so that i could taste it. I feel that if i'm not buying the thing i'm trying, then i'm not contributing to the death of any more animals; i'm not confirming to the person selling the product that it is good and that they should buy more, therefore increasing demand for the death of the animal.
These small tastes of clearly non-vegan food i will dub as exceptions. I will make sure that they are a rare occurance but i am aware that some vegans will feel that i am not a 'true vegan' for allowing myself these exceptions.
I haven't done any crochet since my last post a while ago because i've been feeling rather secluded here at my parent's house so i've used the internet and my '360 to keep me company.
I am, however, planning on continuing with it. It's just taking a while.
Also, i've been meaning to complete an amazing Batman/Howl's Moving Castle picture idea i had for quite a long time now - there are quite a few journal posts on my deviantArt saying i'm 'almost there' and things... (Lies.). But I also want to get that done soonish.
I have however started to go through my clothes like i decided i would. I've seperated them into colour and seen whether they suit me and i have a bin liner with a few things i wasn't sure about or despised.
So lots of tiny bits of progress creatively and ethically. I'm not very good at working without deadlines but i don't want to beat myself up about that any more; It's just the way i work. I will keep this blog updated as to progress and i plan on posting my drafts for this Batman/H.M.C. picture up on here so that i can show myself that i am making progress, however long it might be taking me.
Hope you're all well and feeling the flow :).
V.
Tried some Cosplay the other week. A lot of people i know are really into it and i've always admired ManaFromHeaven's House and 10 impersonations. On a sort of Whovian wavelength i decided to try Amy Pond 'cause she has some nice outfits for red-haired people; i would never have thought of wearing a red jumper for fear of it clashing. But it looks really good, and the skirt seems to want to go with everything else i would normally wear.
I'm also planning another cosplay which i may go to the Febuary Midlands MCM Expo in. I've been planning it for a little while but only just recently found the right dress. My plan is to go as Poison Ivy from Batman but rather than feel self conscious in a comic-canon leotard i'm going to do a mixture of film and comic canon - keep the tomato red shoes and long, curly cherry red hair but wear a dress instead... (not gonna wear those hair horns). I'll put some pictures up when i've got my wig and added a few flowers to my dress which is almost /too/ green.
I've been in a mildly creative mood for the last week and decided to at least start to plan something today. I'm not at home at the moment so i'm away from my tablet (which is being a bit moody just now) and my paints but my dad's camera is left on the table for hours on end, unattended so perhaps i could do a collage of the beautiful things in the garden here.
I've also re-found a brilliant and creative blog made by the same person who did Heidi & Seek up until last year. She decided she needed to rethink what she was doing clothes-wise. Her new site is up and beautiful and can be found here. I really adored all her old ideas for clothes and she's continuing to be a really insightful source for the tentatively creative. Her recent blogs on finding your own style and knowing what colours suit you for example have given me the courage to go through every piece of clothing i own and seperate them into Wearable and Chuuuuuuuuuck. I'll make sure to see whether shades of red that i have in my clothes actually clash or if it's just an assumption brought on by society.
One of her other blogs which has been of particular importance to me is her blog on why people feel the need to shop when they're unhappy. My parents and I share the need to fill up our moderately sized house to the rafters with random bits of junk that we don't really need but at the time thought were 'cute' or would 'be useful if [insert unlkely scenario here]'. This has made even my mom consider being couragous about going through all her crap and clearing out.
I want to go to Australia and meet all my friends there. Especially my friend Nighty (who you won't know) who is extremely nerdy and is prompting me to cosplay as much as possible. My other friend who made this brilliant Dragonball Z parody. I met her on dA which i go on occasionally. But it feels a bit cramped for proper creativity just at the moment so i thought i'd make this nice new blog.
Here's my plan for the summer, creative-wise:
- I've started Crochet but so far i've only made a sort of lumpy foot-hat. I'm gonna keep going with it though as it's very satisfying.
- I'm also planning on buying a video camera and possibly another graphics tablet (as mine's having a wobble just now) but i'll need to wait until i'm certain i have enough money for rent and bills this coming year; i'm just starting my 2nd year of university and will be living in a house with some friends.
- I'm going to try editing the clothes i'll have left from my binge which i may not like the style of but like the colour of and create unique pieces of clothing for myself and friends should they want them. This is something i can start straight away as it won't cost me any money - i already have thread, needles and fabric and can find any patterns or templates i might want online.
- I've been planning to teach myself to draw accurately in traditional as well as digital mediums over the summer which i think i'll start quite soon.
That's the current plan.
Hope you're all having a lovely summer.
V.
Comments...
Do you have any creative projects you're planning for the summer? Perhaps you'd like to share them with me in the comments below.
