Requesting Vegan Recipes

I'm looking for some tasty vegan recipes. I'd also take vegetarian recipes, although vegan would be better.

Before you misinterpret my request, I have NOT given up on Frozen Yogurt, nor have I turned my back on a beautiful Filet Mignon.

Subsequent to an enlightening conversation with The Mister, I read an article in Reader's Digest. Due to the conversation and the information in the article, I have decided to take on a little experiment. For the past week, I have been eating a vegan diet from breakfast until dinner. At dinner, I am free to eat whatever I choose. I have already lost over 4 pounds! And I find this to be easy--better yet, it makes me feel incredibly healthy.

So, since I'm not very creative, I'm getting tired of the same old thing for lunch. If you have any great ideas or recipes, please share!

I'm Going to Rome

I hear the groans of everyone who shared an opinion about my trip. I know, none of you think Rome should be my destination of choice--but I just can't go to Italy and not see all the famous sites of Rome. I love seeing all the history! I just have to do it...

We just booked our flights for our trip and that was the last detail. We already have hotel and resort accommodations in Greece. For our time in Rome, we're renting a very cute little apartment.

I'm still looking for ideas and suggestions. If you want to share, feel free!

More than Words

I hear the language. The perfected delivery. The cultured voice. Each phrase is measured and controlled. The words create one more facet of a flawless package. But I have to wonder. What hides beneath the glossy exterior?

Give me raw. I want to feel something. I want to see the flaws, the truth, the ugliness. I long for the uncontrolled tumble of jagged, emotion-filled words. Look me in the eye, with damp cheeks, and hand on heart. That makes me believe.

It's not that I can't appreciate a commanding presence. It's not that I don't respond to a dignified stance. I know the value of effective authority. But I want those attributes to be tempered with genuine warmth and compassion. With human emotion. With something I can feel. I don't want arrogant rhetoric. I want thoughtful and intelligent and heartfelt. Is that too much to ask?

Dance Sucks

The dance world is a fickle place in which to live.

Some judges may have their impartiality tainted by the interference of others.

If studio policies exist, they should be shared with those they involve. Those policies should apply equally to everyone, without exception.

No dancer should be given preferential treatment. Not because she is a favorite. Not because her mom complained.

Preferential treatment is not to be confused with earned opportunities.

Dancers should earn special opportunities through dedication and hard work. No single dancer should be "given" an opportunity that she did not earn. Especially at the expense of another dancer who actually did earn the opportunity.

All dancers should be encouraged to compete for any scholarship or opportunity for which they are qualified. Dancers should not be asked to step aside and give up an opportunity for another dancer's sake.

Dance directors and studio owners should never do anything to handicap any of their own dancers to benefit someone else, even if that someone else is another one of their own dancers.

Dancers and parents put their faith and trust in studio directors and owners and expect that their dancers will be promoted and encouraged.

Studio directors and owners should never intimidate their dancers into submission.

Studio directors and owners should never do anything to thwart the advancement or opportunities of one of their dancers.

Studio directors and owners should remember that without tuition-paying parents they would be out of business.

And now I'm done.