A Great New Way to Find Vegan Shoes and Vegan Bags–My Pinterest Page

Hello!

Yesterday I made a pinterest board for vegan shoes and bags. Wish I had thought of it sooner, it is so easy to use and fun to look at. By clicking on the pics you can be linked to all of (in my opinion) the coolest vegan shoes and bags on the market. It’s exactly why I started this blog to begin with, but pinterest is a much better platform for that. I think from now on, I will just add any cool vegan shoes I see to my pinterest page and that will free up my blog for more interesting things. Also, I’m going to try to integrate the pinterest page into the blog so you can just see what’s available to purchase in case you need some vegan shoes quick.

I have to say, while I was looking for vegan shoes to add to my cool vegan shoes pinterest board I was really struck by how few options there still are for vegan shoes. Some of the websites that are the top search results for vegan shoes are appaling! This probably leads people to believe that it is next to impossible not to buy leather and still be able to look presentable.

On the plus side, there are more than 54 awesome vegan shoes on my page all of which I would love to own. So can’t complain too much.

As I was searching for vegan shoes, I found that slightly contrary to what I say in my article “where to find cool vegan shoes online“,  I found the coolest vegan shoes on the following websites:

The Good Guys

Cri de Coeur

Zara (sort by price, lowest to highest, should under or around $60 may be vegan, but look at the materials)

Asos and Urban Outfitters (ditto what I said about Zara)

mooshoes

Let me know what you think of the page and if you have a pinterest page let me know because I would love to check it out. Thanks to everyone on my Facebook page (mynonleatherlife) who sent me theirs already.

How You Become One of THOSE vegans

It seems I am becoming one of THOSE vegans.

My meaning? One time I saw a profile on OKcupid that said I’m vegan, but trust me I’m not one of THOSE vegans!! You know, the ones everyone hates because they go around preaching about veganism and how you’re evil if you’re not a vegan. The ones everyone is hating on in the comments section of PETA videos on youtube.

Well, here’s how it happens.

First you are raised into a culture where everyone eats meat, dairy, uses animal tested products and what not and it’s totally NORMAL. You hear things like animals aren’t conscious beings. People speculate over whether or not animals feel pain.

You have a dog or a cat. You know your pet feels pain, has a personality, loves you. But you never see any other animals. You hesitantly guess that all animals are probably like your pet.

You decide you want to be vegetarian. Amazingly you manage to break your habit, restrict your diet–now you’re a vegetarian!! You are on a roll. People always ask you about it. Why are you a vegetarian? You don’t really know how to explain it. They ask you “is it for health reasons or animal rights reasons”. You don’t want to seem weird and you don’t really know how to explain yourself, so you say “both”.

You’re a vegetarian for years and you start reading more about it. You hear rumblings about veganism but it seems way too extreme. Plus, what is wrong with milk? They don’t kill the cows.

You hear about egg farms and you make sure to always buy free range eggs and tell all your friends and family to buy the same.

You feel bad for cows and make the connection that you are wearing ANIMAL SKINS on your feet. you decide to stop buying leather and find your fashion choices are vastly reduced.

Then you finally get the courage to delve deeper into what people are saying about dairy farms and egg farms. So free range farmers lie about what free range means? You read all the grisly details. You’re ready.

You become vegan.

You lapse a couple of times. Finally it sticks.

Suddenly it starts making sense. Why would I want to participate in a system of slavery, violence, cruelty, and torture.

You feel really relieved to be out of it. Free of any guilt that you are complicit in it.

Suddenly all around you, things start seeming different.

You pass the meat aisle in the grocery store and see logos with happy cows and sunshine and old fashioned looking farms. It reminds you of something out of a superhero movie, something that the villains would come up with….creepy and sinister. Like The Joker.

You see pictures on tumblr of food which you formerly would have thought looked delicious even though you wouldn’t eat it, and now you just feel kind of sad.

The world looks different. You try to have patience for everyone and realize that it’s really hard to change your diet. If you hadn’t gotten on a path of vegetarianism you might still be eating meat today. You try not to judge anyone.

But once you cross over to the other side, suddenly the simple fact that was there all along, that animals have feelings, suffer, have lives, have families, want to live their lives and deserve to be free becomes like, coldly obvious.

Why was it so hard to see that simple truth for so long?

There was so much brainwashing going on. Through advertisments, through the guise of being scientific and not anthropomorphizing animals, through the fact that we never see or get to know any animals in our modern society (since they’re all hidden away in factory farms), through the fact that people are addicted to meat and cheese (I definitely was).

I am a huge fan of capitalism and the power of entrepreneurs and business to make people’s lives better, but you do understand why capitalism has gotten such a bad rap. People don’t always think about the lives behind their business. Even good people don’t, such as one of my favorite bloggers, the Pioneer Woman, who is a hilarious writer, loving mother, beautiful photographer and lives on a cattle farm. She loves those baby cows but she separates them from their mothers and sends them off to slaughter, thinking she’s given them a good life and that’s the way of things.

It shouldn’t be.

People are making huge progress in overturning this huge wrong in society. I have an awesome interview upcoming with someone whose work and progress is going to amaze you.

But yeah, in conclusion, I guess I am one of THOSE vegans now. I understand them. As soon as you turn vegan, I think most people get free of all the brainwashing and the simple facts become obvious for the first time. The emperor has no clothes.

That’s why there are so many of THOSE vegans.

Vintage Vegan Shoes on Etsy: A Short Post Alerting You to Their Existence

 

(vegan pale pink mary janes on etsy, size 7)

Hello everyone,

 

I have been delving into a new source of vegan shoes. ETSY. I guess that even in the past shoes were being made with “all man made materials” etc. Therefore you can find vintage vegan shoes! Pretty cool.

I have to say, I am mad jealous of people with small size feet. There seem to be a lot of great options for small footed CInderella-esque women. Is it because our ancestors were smaller? I hear we are getting taller every year, and back in the cavemen days we were like 4 ft tall. How interesting.
Type in “vegan shoes” to etsy and see what gems you come up with. I will be adding this tip to my article “where to find cool vegan shoes online” which can be found at the top of the blog.

A Fringed Vegan Non Leather Jacket

I saw this vegan fringed leather jacket on lulus. Very cool.

It reminds me of a scene etched into my mind–The Who from the Woodstock Documentary. Rock god, much?

I think I’ll still wait for a vegan jacket that is fake suede, tan and fringed like Roger Daltrey’s. But this black one is really cool too.

Great New Developments. Where To Find Cool Vegan Shoes–New and Improved Edition

Today is a great day because I updated my two most popular posts on this blog.

1. My Article “Where to Find Cool Vegan Shoes Online“ was totally outdated. I had become one of those articles about where to buy vegan clothing that I despise. You know the ones…the ones that are like, “There are SO many options for fashionable vegan clothing out there!” They give you a list, and when you click on the links, none of them work or they take you to horrible websites with barely any options. It’s so frustrating. It’s the whole reason I started this website to begin with. Anyway, I updated it. I’ve learned so much more about how to search for vegan shoes on the web, and I added rules of thumb, tips and tricks, commentary about “Unintentionally Vegan” shoes and “Intentionally Vegan” companies. It’s much improved.

Let me know what you think by the way. And if you are a vegan company who I forgot about, please comment below and let me know!

2. My About Me page was also totally outdated. So much has changed since I last updated it. For one thing, I’m now a vegan, and totally passionate about animal rights. Whereas before I was posting mostly only shoe and bag options, now I feel like I’m thinking and wanting to write more about what I’m interested in. Things like health ( I’m on a week of Raw Veganism right now!!) and also amazing animal rights heroes–companies, shop owners, organizations, and film makers (Ghosts in Our Machine much?)

I read many blogs, and personally I love to know about the blogger behind it all. So I tried to oblige. There’s a intriguing photo of me in there too hehe. Let me know if you have ideas about stuff I should add.

Happy Tuesday!

Exclusive: Interview with The Ghosts in Our Machine Director Liz Marshall

(photo of Liz Marshall and Sonny the Calf from The Ghosts in Our Machine’s website)

Ok guys, it’s here. YAY! Here is the interview I was talking about in my last post that I did with film director Liz Marshall of the upcoming film The Ghosts in Our Machine. I think you will really enjoy listening to Liz talk about The Ghosts in Our Machine.

Well, this film is going to be something big. If you watched the trailer you know it’s gonna be good. I can’t wait. If you did look into The Ghosts in Our Machine, let me know what you think. Let’s discuss! I am excited. And a final Thank you so much to Liz, not just for doing the interview but for making this film (not to mention the website that has a lot of cool things and upcoming stuff on it, along with vegan coaching) that I think will have a big effect on whoever sees it.

And might I add a thank you to my readers while I am at it (academy awards style)….interaction with you guys and even knowing people were reading this blog made me interested in going deeper into the world of animal rights…I feel more passionate and convinced than ever before that this stuff is important and the next frontier. Thanks guys.

Thanks Liz!

Happy Thanksgiving and A Letter About the Love of a Dog

Hello everyone,

It’s almost Thanksgiving.

Are you excited?

What are you thankful for?

Today I am sharing a letter I found today on this amazing blog I like to read called Letters of Note. They publish a beautiful letter, sometimes from a historical personage and sometimes from some one you’ve never heard of who happens to write a particularly moving, humorous, or beautiful letter.

Letters are amazing. They are personal and honest. They are straight from the heart of a person, only meant for the eyes of one or a few. You can see their handwriting…their blood, sweat and tears…even…if you’re lucky.

A few days ago I was scrolling through this letter “I Will Always Be There With You” and tears began pouring down my face. It was the first time I had cried in a while (for me that was maybe a month). It was a letter a guy in the army who had been killed writing to his wife, his son and unborn child in case of…the  worst. It was a letter I’ll remember forever.

Anyway, today they published this letter by Fiona Apple announcing she was postponing her tour to take care of her elderly dog, Janet.

I think many of us who have truly loved a dog can relate to these sentiments. A dog can love you like you think only you can love.

Without further ado…. the letter.

It’s 6pm on Friday, and I’m writing to a few thousand friends I have not met yet. I’m writing to ask them to change our plans and meet a little while later.

Here’s the thing.

I have a dog, Janet, and she’s been ill for about 2 years now, as a tumor has been idling in her chest, growing ever so slowly. She’s almost 14 years old now. I got her when she was 4 months old. I was 21 then — an adult, officially — and she was my kid.

She is a pitbull, and was found in Echo Park, with a rope around her neck, and bites all over her ears and face.

She was the one the dogfighters use to puff up the confidence of the contenders.

She’s almost 14 and I’ve never seen her start a fight, or bite, or even growl, so I can understand why they chose her for that awful role. She’s a pacifist.

Janet has been the most consistent relationship of my adult life, and that is just a fact. We’ve lived in numerous houses, and joined a few makeshift families, but it’s always really been just the two of us.

She slept in bed with me, her head on the pillow, and she accepted my hysterical, tearful face into her chest, with her paws around me, every time I was heartbroken, or spirit-broken, or just lost, and as years went by, she let me take the role of her child, as I fell asleep, with her chin resting above my head.

She was under the piano when I wrote songs, barked any time I tried to record anything, and she was in the studio with me, all the time we recorded the last album.

The last time I came back from tour, she was spry as ever, and she’s used to me being gone for a few weeks, every 6 or 7 years.

She has Addison’s Disease, which makes it more dangerous for her to travel, since she needs regular injections of Cortisol, because she reacts to stress and excitement without the physiological tools which keep most of us from literally panicking to death.

Despite all this, she’s effortlessly joyful & playful, and only stopped acting like a puppy about 3 years ago. She is my best friend, and my mother, and my daughter, my benefactor, and she’s the one who taught me what love is.

I can’t come to South America. Not now. When I got back from the last leg of the US tour, there was a big, big difference.

She doesn’t even want to go for walks anymore.

I know that she’s not sad about aging or dying. Animals have a survival instinct, but a sense of mortality and vanity, they do not. That’s why they are so much more present than people.

But I know she is coming close to the time where she will stop being a dog, and start instead to be part of everything. She’ll be in the wind, and in the soil, and the snow, and in me, wherever I go.

I just can’t leave her now, please understand. If I go away again, I’m afraid she’ll die and I won’t have the honor of singing her to sleep, of escorting her out.

Sometimes it takes me 20 minutes just to decide what socks to wear to bed.

But this decision is instant.

These are the choices we make, which define us. I will not be the woman who puts her career ahead of love & friendship.

I am the woman who stays home, baking Tilapia for my dearest, oldest friend. And helps her be comfortable & comforted & safe & important.

Many of us these days, we dread the death of a loved one. It is the ugly truth of Life that keeps us feeling terrified & alone. I wish we could also appreciate the time that lies right beside the end of time. I know that I will feel the most overwhelming knowledge of her, and of her life and of my love for her, in the last moments.

I need to do my damnedest, to be there for that.

Because it will be the most beautiful, the most intense, the most enriching experience of life I’ve ever known.

When she dies.

So I am staying home, and I am listening to her snore and wheeze, and I am revelling in the swampiest, most awful breath that ever emanated from an angel. And I’m asking for your blessing.

I’ll be seeing you.

Love,

Fiona

Turkey Talks: My Life as a Turkey (an amazing documentary), Thanksgiving Woes, and Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt a Turkey Program

Hey guys,

One quick thing.

Thanksgiving is coming up. How do I get my family to not eat a turkey.

It’s hopeless. I talked to my mom about it and she said no one would come if we didn’t have a turkey.

Well, of course they would…

In the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, the Whos learn the true meaning of christmas when the Grinch steals everything including their food.

all the who’s down in whoville the tall and the small….that’s all I remember….

well they started holding hands and singing.

Why can’t we do the same??

Hmm…I guess that makes me the Grinch.

Well I guess I can’t control what other people do, I can only control myself.

I know this is going to sounds crazy but I swear to you, the following story is a true story and happened to me…

One Thanksgiving probably around 5 years ago, my family was cooking up a storm at their house in the woods of CT. I decided to clear the head and go out for a walk in the crisp fall air.

I walked up the driveway and veered into the woods. There is this swampy area that is kind of like a clearing in the woods.

On that Thanksgiving I saw

literally hundreds of wild turkeys. In the trees and on the ground. It was like ten flocks had come together for a meeting in this clearing.

On the most important and truly horrific days for Turkeys of the year.

I almost couldn’t believe it was real. After watching for a while, I ran at them to see if it wasnt a mirage or something. They scattered.

Why did I do that. How rude of me.

I imagined those turkeys were having a pow wow. A great meeting with the chiefs of those ten flocks. Or maybe they were mourning.

I will never forget that moment. I went back inside and told everyone. They didn’t even believe me!!! It was too much of a coincidence. But I know what I saw.

Have you seen the PBS documentary My Life as a Turkey. God it’s good!!! I’ve watched it twice now and I’d watch it again today. It is only about an hour long and documents how this guy Joe Hutto raised a bunch of wild turkey eggs into full grown turkeys, and how they taught him so much about the woods and about the inner lives of turkeys. They are incredibly smart with their own rich culture and way of being in the woods. For example they know all about the forest. They know which snakes are poisonous and where every single branch is on the forest floor. They talk to eachother and play with the other forest animals. They live in the moment and are extremely happy all the time. You’ev got to see it!

You can also adopt a turkey from Farm Sanctuary for $50. Which will sponsor them to adopt a turkey.

i guess that’s the best I can do.

Instead of complaining to my family, I should put my money where my mouth is and donate to Farm Sanctuary.

Well, what do you guys think? Does it annoy you when your family has a turkey at Thanksgiving?

After reading all these books I really feel like I can’t be thankful for the carcass of a murdered tortured individual on my table.

: ((((((((

Your thoughts???

A Letter About Compassion from Kurt Vonnegut and an Update from Moi in NYC

(Kurt Vonnegut and his dog)

Hello and Greetings,

From the land of Hurricane Sandy.

I was in NYC when it hit last night and nothing much happened in the area where I was. I was even kind of hoping the power would go out or a branch would fly up and hit the window but nothing. There were amazingly powerful winds that ripped the flag to shreds outside my window. We lost internet for a bit but it was kind of a let down because I had it on my phone. However there were sadly many scary fires which I was kept up to date about through fb, and flooding, but on the bright side, so many thrilling pictures of flooding surfaced on the internet. I hope the rats survived (everyone here seems worried about them even though they hate them) and got to higher ground. I have seen rats climb up the wall in the subways on a pipe so I hope they did that.

Today I took a walk around the brooklyn bridge to lower manhattan and there was no real flooding anymore. The waters have receded. It was really cool seeing everyone milling about and no lights on. All the stores were closed. It reminded me of being in France during the month of August when everyone was on “les vacances”. (vacations).

I am reading a wonderful book right now which reminds me of that My Life in France by Julia Child–it is about her discovering her passion late in life when she moved to France. The only thing which could make this book better is if Julia had somehow been aware or been taught that all the veal and foie gras she was so passionately preparing came from animals who suffer and feel pain. I don’t really understand why some people don’t put two and two together.

Which brings me to this wonderful letter I found on this blog I love called Letters of Note. It reprints beautiful letters from mostly well known people. Today’s was by Kurt Vonnegut, and it was backing his son, a conscious objector to the Vietnam War.

(Kurt Vonnegut with his Lhasa Apso, Pumpkin)

I love what he says in this letter about his distaste for people who find it “easy and reasonable” to kill. Most people feel this way about humans, but forget to extend their compassion to animals. You can tell he was an animal lover.

Without further ado….. (bolding mine, for fun):

November 28, 1967

To Draft Board #1,
Selective Service,
Hyannis, Mass.

Gentlemen:

My son Mark Vonnegut is registered with you. He is now in the process of requesting classification as a conscientious objector. I thoroughly approve of what he is doing. It is in keeping with the way I have raised him. All his life he has learned hatred for killing from me.

I was a volunteer in the Second World War. I was an infantry scout, saw plenty of action, was finally captured and served about six months as a prisoner of war in Germany. I have a Purple Heart. I was honorably discharged. I am entitled, it seems to me, to pass on to my son my opinion of killing. I don’t even hunt or fish any more. I have some guns which I inherited, but they are covered with rust.

This attitude toward killing is a matter between my God and me. I do not participate much in organized religion. I have read the Bible a lot. I preach, after a fashion. I write books which express my disgust for people who find it easy and reasonable to kill.

We say grace at meals, taking turns. Every member of my family has been called upon often to thank God for blessings which have been ours. What Mark is doing now is in the service of God, Whose Son was exceedingly un-warlike.

There isn’t a grain of cowardice in this. Mark is a strong, courageous young man. What he is doing requires more guts than I ever had—and more decency.

My family has been in this country for five generations now. My ancestors came here to escape the militaristic madness and tyranny of Europe, and to gain the freedom to answer the dictates of their own consciences. They and their descendents have been good citizens and proud to be Americans. Mark is proud to be an American, and, in his father’s opinion, he is being an absolutely first-rate citizen now.

He will not hate.
He will not kill.
There’s no hope in that. There’s no hope in war.

Yours truly,

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

From the educational and beauteous blog letters of note.

I Participated in a PETA Event!

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Today I participated in a PETA event.

They unveiled a new ad starring Ru Paul’s Drag Queen race winner Sharon Needles. I responded to a facebook update on PETA asking for volunteers to dress up as zombies and stand in front of a steakhouse in NYC.

I had no idea what to expect. 
Would I get arrested? Would the owners of the steakhouse yell at us?

I was inspired to do this by my own blog post in which I listened to a wonderful interview with the founder of Toronto Pig Save Anita Krajnc talk about activism so beautifully.  
She made herself out to be just a regular person who was not especially fearless or daring. She read about Tolstoy’s activism when he was imprisoned and became interested in giving it a shot. Well through her explanation, I became interested in trying some activism myself.

Another one of my favorite bloggers Ragen Chastain of Danceswithfat.com has also been putting the idea into my head. I love what she stands for. She blogs about Health at Every Size and Fat Acceptance. Reading her blog has totally improved my body image and she has inspired me with her campaigns that she starts and gets going, like one that combatted a terrible ad campaign disguised as a health campaign bullying fat kids on bus stops in Georgia. (the ads said things like “chubby kids may not outlive their parents” -wtf) 
She had fat activists pose proudly in a new set of ads with inspirational slogans, showing kids who are fat that there are some positive happy fat people in the world and telling them about the principles of health at every size. She then raised enough money to put up the ads all over atlanta…and I donated. I was considered a fat kid when I was younger and know what it feels like to be the subject of mean comments and prejudice so it is a cause I really felt was important.

Anyway….I did it!

My thoughts on the event:

Everyone in cars stopped and stared. It was really cool.

The owners of the steak house never once came out to yell at us, though they looked at us weirdly, especially the people in PETA t-shirts.

It’s kind of cool that PETA is so bad-ass. If you see a PETA t-shirt, everyone’s alarm bells start going off. They’ve got a BAAAAAAD reputation…which is kind of cool.

No one on the street passing by said anything rude, except one crazy looking lady who was probably already angry. One person I handed a postcard with Sharon’s ad on it actually told me “NO, I am totally with you! I am all for this”. It was really cool to hear that from passerbys, and almost everyone took a postcard who passed by, smiling at the disturbance caused by zombies.

Contrary to popular belief about PETA events, everyone on the street seemed happy to see a crazy demonstration nearby. Some people in a nearby L’Occitane gave Sharon Needles a gift from their store…so sweet. The people in Le Pain Quotidien all rushed out as well and watched.

The ad said Eating Shouldn’t Cost an Arm and a Leg and had Sharon dressed as a zombie. 
Sharon herself was extremely cool. She made me want to be glamorous and fabulous. I loved her attitude. i should watch some Ru Paul’s drag race.

The demonstration only lasted about 30 minutes, and then that was it. There were tons of press there who took pictures.

Overall, I thought it was really cool. It really seems quite simple. If you want to protest something, you simply go set up on the street and do it. 
No one will arrest you, probably no one will scream at you–especially if it is done in a funny way like this was.

All in all, this was a very enlightening and great experience! 
After reading Free The Animals by Ingrid Newkirk I just have so much respect for what PETA does. They are really blazing a great path for animals…. 
And so are thousands of others helping animals in their own ways…through vegan companies, farm sanctuaries, volunteering at shelters etc, having vegan blogs, vegan clothing stores, taking photographs of animals etc.

A cool day.

(MyNonLeatherLife on Facebook)