Saturday morning roundup and rambles

Coke from the tar sands sits in Detroit.

What is now a joke in the former Soviet Union is a reality in 21st-century Venezuela.

When you know how to write, the dictionary is what it should be: a tool, not a boundary.

On the topic of knowing how to write... it's kind of awesome that these uber-misogynists are so illiterate; it says so much about them. I wonder whether addressing the literacy issue will either make them more literate misogynists or also address the misogyny issue.

Yes, it bugs me, too:

Bittman on part-time veganism. It bums me out that vegans give him shit for encouraging people to eat more plants. bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food…
— Vegan (@vegan) May 17, 2013

I don't remember whether I've blogged about the VB6 concept. I'm of two minds about it--and the basis for both is that I'm not qualified to be anyone's nutritionist and I'm not interested in being anyone's food police. To the extent that people are interested in eating more plants, for any combination of the reasons known to humanity and summarized by Mr. Bittman, VB6 is one way to accomplish that. It is not the way for me--I am quite happy being vegan all the time except when it's not really feasible--and even if I were to be a part-time vegan, I would find the VB6 model frustrating. I'd sooner recommend the vegan-5-days-a-week thing; that way, you give your body more time to adjust to and appreciate not having animal products, and you may be surprised by how well it works for you. If you're just going back to eating anything every day, you may feel deprived during the day.

But I do subscribe to the overall message, which is that it's important to allow "cheating" in some way or another. The surest way to crash and burn with any dietary restriction is to be of the mindframe that you "can't" have something; you'll only crave it. Opt instead for the "I choose not to eat this" mentality, and give yourself the leeway to have a life (travel, etc.) without sweating it. The idea that your head or the planet is going to explode if you have a piece of goat cheese is far more detrimental to your health than anything in any food.

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Hobie and Monk on picky-eater kids. Hint: if you're catering to them, you're part of the problem.

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My roses are blooming up a storm!

That's one shrub of three. I really pruned them back in the fall... and they really came back around.

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Two straight men--not one, but too--correctly identified the dress I wore the other day as zebra print. I wouldn't have ever figured out it was zebra print except I glanced at the receipt, which used that descriptor. And yet, guys--who are not supposed to know teal from lime--spontaneously got it. Is the world getting more metro?