This is Loca, but I call her Bowie because of her mismatched eyes. And her trend setting ways.

I’m at Eastern Shore Sanctuary for the week, watching Pattrice Jones completely demolish oppression while I cruise the internet and take photographs, with the occasional cooking and dish washing thrown in. I can’t imagine what kind of world we would live in if everyone worked as hard as Pattrice does. Probably a world with lots of happy chickens.

It’s amazing to watch these birds interact, and to hear Pattrice tell their stories. Michael and Christopher drove up to Brooklyn to pick me up along with four hens and a rooster. The hens are already acclimating to sanctuary life. Here they are on their first day. Well, one of them, and the feet of the others.

It’s a myth that you can’t have more than one rooster around hens. There are maybe 40 or so here. And they all have their own personalities, you’d have to be working really hard not see it.

The fighting roosters learn to get along with one another. The “broiler” hens learn to trust. Dogs lick cat’s faces. Ducks talk to humans. When they say that they’re just stupid animals they are lying. Unless they’re talking about humans.

Just up the street 40,000 chickens are crammed into a shed. Watching one chicken here at the sanctuary living her life, pecking at her food and nuzzling her friend or even having a little tiff, it is mind boggling to imagine the cruelty that humans are capable of. I could never hurt these little guys and of course I can’t see killing one. I guess most people just don’t know, or don’t want to know. Of course some don’t even care.

The thing is, if you open yourself up to it there is suddenly beauty everywhere. And if beauty isn’t your thing, how about freedom?

Here’s just a few links to lose your lunch over.

Mystery Meat MacroPhotography

If the words “fat sculpture” and “salami terrain” don’t appeal to you, don’t click this link! Unless you eat salami, then you might want to.

E coli Meat Recall - Topps Hamburger Closes Down

I hope that the newly unemployed workers all start vegan cafes.

An Amputated Leg In a BBQ Smoker

I don’t know, it just kind of makes you think. We have legs. Cows have legs. No one wants their legs in a BBQ smoker.

And because everything here is gross, here’s a pretty picture of amaranth that I took at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.

In anticipation of all the new vegans the NY Times article featuring me and Terry is going to spawn, instead of actually wasting my time thinking, I am going to direct you to some awesome vegan information resources.

Vegan Outreach has a great section entitled “Why Vegan?” Guess what? It’s about why you should go vegan! They also have a great vegan starter kit. Get a bunch and annoy your family and co-workers with them.

For something a little more timely, Kathy Freston’s recent article on the Huffington Post discusses environmental reasons to boycott the animal agriculture industry. For instance, did you know that you want your children to have a planet to live on? Read Vegetarian is the New Prius.

Compassion Over Killing is a great outfit that runs lots of great campaigns, including trying to get egg cartons to stop displaying misleading labels.

Last but not least, Ed Begley Junior is vegan. Don’t you want to be a little more like Ed Begley Junior?

Happy veganism, everyone! And I apologize that my kitchen is such a mess, I should have cleaned for you.

*conservative estimates indicate that the article will make half the US population vegan, not including all the people that will die in that time period (because only the dead are truly vegan, but we can still keep them in our statistics)