Is There Such A Thing As Humane Meat?

Very recently, I've become a  veganish vegetarian. 

"Veganish" due to the fact that most vegetarian options in restaurants, usually have cheese, and since I often go out for lunch, this still is the "better option". Still, I am working in becoming a total vegan.

There are three reasons I chose to change my lifestyle: health, animal welfare & the environment. Which comes first, second third? I can't say, as I consider all three of them equally important.

Naturally, alongside this massive lifestyle change, came an intense research about every thing related to the subject. The more books and articles I read, the more research I found, and the more documentaries I watched, the more convinced I was of my choice. 

The click in my mind came as soon as I became conscious of what really happens behind the bacon on the plate, the meat aisle in the supermarket, the milk in the cereal, and even the makeup on our face... yes, sadly animals can suffer an "accidental" horrific and slow death, when scientists test our makeup on them. Beside the monetary cost of what we buy, there's another cost we should  all consider.

Today I'm sharing the video above, in hopes that it will help illustrate part of the way meat producer's try to hide the reality in their products.

Cheers!

Proud of Being A Multitasker? Think Again.

Are you one of those people who are proud of being able to multi-task? Try Singletasking* in every single aspect of your life for one day, and let's see how far your pride goes.

That's right,  if you live in this day and age, even if you were born and raised in a time where every thing was so much simpler, you are likely to have been infected with the constant zapping syndrom (let's call it that, CZS). 

It seems as though, due to lack of time or to the acknowledgement that time is short, we try to make the most out of every minute in the most absurd way.

Let me start with the simplest things we do everyday, and slowly move to more obvious ways we have a tendency to over multi-task. 

The morning routine boils down to a few thing: waking up, breakfast, getting ready.

Or at least, that's as simple as it should be.

Waking up should be about just that: enjoying the moment of waking up, in which I slowly open my eyes, welcome the day in, hold on to my pillow for a while longer, you know, the essential to get to the point when I'm "minimally " awake". 

Instead, the first thing I do is turn to my bedside table. Half sleepingly grab my phone. Turn off the alarm for the 3rd time. Check my emails. Check my instagram. Check the weather. Turn off the alarm for the 4th time. Let's see what news there is today. Go back to instagram, and check what other people have been doing half way across the globe, while I was sound asleep. Check the weather again, to make sure I didn't misread it, and end up dressing too warm or too cool, for the actual weather. WHY IS THE ALARM RINGING AGAIN! AH. GOT to get up! Oh, wait a minute, my friend in London wrote to me?? Emails again. 

Then comes the moment I most love of the day. And to be honest, to this one I do engage in the whole ritual-ism of it.  b r e a k f a s t .  Cutting the fruit, preparing the milk, choosing the superfoods I'm adding that day, puting everything together into the blender, and finally pouring it into a wine glass (don't know why, but it make me feel good to start the day with something that comes out of a wine glass.)

Ah... the joy. But - wait. Wait a minute. 

Unfortunately, I just realized that is not true. As soon as I've finished preparing my morning smoothie, I quickly go to the living room, turn on the news, turn on my laptop, or walk around... See. Can't single task there, either.

Getting ready, obviously is a whole "same same" situation. Brushing my teeth, while I look for the missing shoe kind of situation.

Getting out of the house, off to work. I drive. Am I multi-tasking here? Apparently not either. Listening to music, singing, talking to someone else, talking to myself (!!), doesn't really make my "driving" experience a single-tasking one. Oh, bummer. 

Cooking and skype, somehow also mingle together for me, I don't know why. So does listening to music, while I run. Or playing sudoku, while I watch a light tv show...

The big multi-tasking disaster, though, happens online. Obviously. 
During the day, how many tabs do you have open at the same time, on average? 

Not only do I have several open tabs, but several open windows, with even more tabs as well!

What was that song on the radio? Oh, cool band. What? They're from Germany? Never been. I wonder how Berlin looks like nowadays? Wow. Great restaurant in Berlin. They have another one in London!?!? Wonder what are the best museums in London. Whoa. Pictures of London during WW2. Hmm.. I wonder if there's any good poems I'd like from this era. I'm hungry, what should I prepare for lunch? Ooh! Can't forget to watch that movie! 

Somehow, this is not right.

This CZS is a new modern-day disease that we're all being infected by. 

Why is it so bad? Because, whether or not you realize it, you're going to end up transferring the spoiled habit of being in touch with so much information at once, and in such a short time, to your offline reality. We're becoming more impatient, more unable to listen to people talk until the end, and ultimately, instead of acquiring solid knowledge in a few subjects, and a strong opinion about many others, we end up learning bits and pieces about all sorts of things, unable to sustain our arguments.

We want things done then and there. We want to see major changes in ourselves and our lifes to happen as quick as a button click to a link. We want things that are not working, to be solved as efficiently as a refresh button. We want to be able to have as many experiences as the ones seen on all those tabs we opened. We want to have lunch with that friend we haven't seen in years, but we also have that photo on instagram that needs tweeking. We want to live the most, and we want it all to come as quickly as possible.... which really takes out a lot of what enjoying life really is. Isn't it about enjoying the moment and taking it all in? Aren't we supposed to go through ups and downs in order to achieve professional success? Isn't it? 

Of course, there are brilliant things about the internet, I'm not trying to say the contrary. How else could I learn to cook quinoa, actually be cooking quinoa, and check up on my family on skype, all at once? (I'm sort of joking, on this one.)

What is crucial here is that we become aware of what is happening, reduce the multi-tasking tendency we all have, and to definitely avoid letting that sort of habit enter your non-internet every-day situations. 

* When I started thinking about this topic, I found this video. The guy explains the situation in a funny, inspiring way, and ends the segment with a challenge:

TABLESS THURSDAY!

("Because there already is a Taco Tuesday!")

WOW.

W-O-W.

It's been a loooong time. But for good reasons.

 I've been out and away a lot these past weeks, and I've had lots of things to do. 

Lots of things have happened since my last post. 

TWO major life changes, birthdays, little city escapes, lots of reading and lots of learning. Also, the weather has apparently improved (during most days, let's be honest), and I went to Istanbul for the first time.

Not to shabby, ey?

Monday Mood - 09.06.2014

Trip to Porto (Day ONE. Part TWO)

Another thing about Porto (and another reason I simply adore the city) is how it has not only kept the old habits, the old shops, the old buildings, etc, but it has given a modern twist to them as well. 

For instance, this old bookstore, which has been turned into a coffee/tea shop, still selling books, has kept the facade, the signs inside and outside the store and even some of the objects that belonged to the original bookstore.

 Then we found this huge and beautiful shop called A Vida Portuguesa, which sells really old portuguese brands - from soaps, to notebooks, to liquor, to pencils, to shaving creams, to whatever you can think of - while maintaining the original, beautiful and even naive branding and packaging style.

 Their mission is to "create an inventory of brands that survived the passage of time, to highlight the quality of Portuguese manufacture and to showcase Portugal in a surprising light".

These are "products that have been passed down from generation to generation and are still in our hearts today"!

Trip to Porto (Day ONE. Part ONE)

Another weekend, another chance to be a dorky tourist in a city. This time, we hopped on the 8pm train to Porto (also known as Oporto, don't ask why).

We rented a studio apartment for the weekend. Two friends who decided to buy, re-model and rent out a few apartments for tourists. They were super nice, and one of them gave us a lift from the station to our studio. But first, he was kind enough to show us a bit of the city. Naturally, we forgot almost everything he had said the night before and got lost a couple of times... In spite of the extremely acute sense of orientation we both possess. 

Even though we had been to a Rolling Stones concert the night before and woke up super early the next day to work (please read: we were extremely exhausted), we decided to enjoy the night and use that time to start getting acquainted with the city. 

We headed towards the center and, along the way, we found this little street called Rua do Almada, with tiny little shops and bars and cafés. Oh, it was just adorable. We couldn't resist and just had to hop into one and take a look. For some reason, instead of building more floors above, many of these buildings have underground areas, so most bars are in the ground floor and a sort of basement. The one we entered was so cool. It had this retro feel to it and the walls had pick-up lines written on them, perhaps to help those who, after a long week, go in completely uninspired. 

On Saturday, we headed straight into town. Porto is unbelievably charming during the day. Something about the way the light hits the buildings, how different in colour they are, the people who spend time by their window, watching people walking by...

Then again, the really cute cafés along the way. Like this one, in Rua do Almada:

'I'd rather have wine, than be in bad company.' 

At least two things are a must-try in Porto. 

The famous port wine. And a francesinha, which means "little frenchie". Seeing as I have recently gone vegetarian and that a typical francesinha normally contains a lot of meat, I was sad that I wouldn't be able to try one. 

But, as we walked down the street, this rustic, tavern like restaurant caught my eye. I went to look at the menu and (fireworks!!) - they had a vegetarian francesinha! I have a feeling that I emotionally blackmailed my partner in crime into going inside, but I bet he doesn't regret it one bit. We ended up sharing one and not only was it delicious, but the couple who owned the restaurant were really nice and sweet to us. 

Ah, got to love raw instincts... 

Above: the infamous vegetarian francesinha!

Sunday Shorts: No More Questions!

No More Questions! from StoryCorps on Vimeo.