Vegan Victuals: The Blog |

1) I’ve started a ton of blog drafts for my literacies and technology class at Teachers College. But with the semester half over, I know they’ll have to root here in summary form.

• Research and resources for new literacies studies are sprouting up everywhere. The Institute for the Future of the Book is one such organization tracking the evolution of discourse from the page to the computer screen. Most interesting is their own blog and its heated running commentary from readers. What on earth has the Kindle kindled? And what will do to our libraries? Conspiracy theorists want to know!
• The space of information and that space’s implications on linguistic, social and education conventions is also quite the hot topic. As progressive education moves to embrace this transition, what will be the new role of the educator; the student; the machine?
• There are movements to increase accessibility to knowledge, to free it from proprietary paths of movement (degree programs, in-person classrooms, etc.) O.E.R. Commons (Open Educational Resource) is an organization working to “free-up” both K-12 and higher education curriculum materials to educators. This follows the trend of many prestigious universities making scholarly lectures available free to all online, like Academic Earth.

2) I’ve been meaning to post about Jergens® Naturals, a line of moisturizers from Jergens I discovered recently. I bought their “Hydrate” daily moisturizer, gleeful that their label reads: No Animal By-Products. It is so rare to find a nationally-known and corner-drug-store-accessible product that is vegan as the majority of all big name cosmetic and skin care use animal products in their formulas. I am not praising Jergens too loudly, however, as my purchasing power and support is best spent on companies fully committed to vegan values.

3) Preserve, most known for its recycled toothbrushes, has implemented a wonderful recycling program! They take your #5 plastics, yourBrita® filters and your Preserve® products at “Gimmie 5” stations at your local Whole Foods. Yay! The bags of #5 containers I collected with good intentions to reuse in some massive organizational project can be emptied from my storage closet. And Brita, who never stepped up to the plate to offer a viable recycling program for its consumers on this side of the pond, saves some face.

4) On the Spring fever front: After scanning a zine I did in 2000 with its centerfold devoted to the archival of my stormy relationship with relationships, I have attempted to define my view of “love”, as if within the methodology of an academic thesis. I’ve been thinking that, after falling in love with people through their blogs, through the roving strum of their happy guitar between 6th and 7th avenue subway tunnel, on stages, in their mariachi hats and with their ornate concertinas, through text messages and in the space between email responses: I say “love” is a loose generalization of one billion things. Loose as it should be. As loose and unwieldy as it careens carelessly, hides and seeks, hits and runs. Let it all be called love. Ok, that makes things easier.