I’d venture to say that if there’s one thing that all vegetarians and vegans have in common, whether they’ve been meatless for six days or six years, is the Helpful Ordering Friend (heretofore, HOF). You know, the person who you’ll go out to lunch with and they’ll try to help you find “something you can eat” before they even consider their own food. And it’s not always a friend, sometimes it’s a family member.

What’s difficult about this social situation is that the intentions of the HOF are noble and positive: they want to make sure that you, the vegetarian with an oh-so-limited choice of food, has something to eat at the restaurant of choice. It’s a nice gesture and should be appreciated. The thing is, after the tenth time it’s happened, it gets a little annoying.

How does one politely deflect an HOF’s assistance? I usually opt for the simple, “Thanks… I’m sure I can find something.” If they persist, I’ll ask back, “So, what are you going to have? Find anything good?”

To all potential HOFs: thanks for the concern. We appreciate it. We really do. But let us worry about digging through the menu and asking questions of the waiter. We’ll take care of it. Really and truly.

Just before writing my previous Oops I Pooped entry, I had ordered a couple boxes of the environmentally-friendly doggie poop bags. They arrived late last week (to my house, because I can’t be receiving poop-related items at work, you know), so we’ve gotten a chance to give them a try a few times over the weekend.

The report: they’re well worth the money. As promised, their dark color hides the contents of the bag. For all anyone knows, I’m carrying a small lunch treat with me as I walk the dog. Also as promised, they help keep the smell in. When sealed tightly and tied off, there is almost no odor, even within a few inches of the bag. I was a bit scared to confirm this, but I’m glad I did.

It may be tough to justify in your mind spending money on bags when you probably get plenty from grocery shopping, but trust me: there’s a world of difference. So recycle those plastic bags and pick up some Oops I Pooped for your favorite four-legged friend.

apricot haiku (inspired by these great vegan haikus)

so cute and tiny
i forgot your tastiness
please forgive me, fruit

Knowmore.org - remember the name, as I suspect it’ll be the “MoveOn.org” of 2005.

Knowmore.org is the “corporation watch search engine,” a MediaWiki (think Wikipedia) run by a “grassroots, web-based community dedicated to chronicling and resisting corporate attacks on democracy, worker’s and human rights, fair trade, business ethics and the environment.” According to this MetaFilter thread, it is almost entirely bankrolled by Sage Francis. Good looking out!

Also of note, on the front page, our pals over at Vegan Essentials are listed, and it should be no surprise that they’re very highly rated. Now go enter the contest.

How can you not love a product called Oops I Pooped?

OIP bags are “biodegradable waste bags” for cleaning up after your dog. They completely degrade in a landfill and leave no harmful residue behind, something that can’t be said about those spare plastic bags from the grocery store you’ve been using (and by “you’ve been using” I mean “I’ve been using”). Plus, they’re black, so you won’t have to carry around a nasty see-through plastic bag after your dog’s done her thing.

The nice thing is that these bags are also quite affordable at only $8 for 88 bags. Presumably they don’t need to be double-bagged, so that’s going to come to about $4 a month. Unless your dog poops more than mine does.

I’ve ordered two boxes worth and look forward to trying them out. Hopefully they mask the odor better than regular plastic bags do because man oh man… this morning our trash can was out on the curb and when I walked within ten feet of it I caught a whiff of the nasty scents contained therein.

The Oops I Pooped site’s simple, but fun, and has a cute “infauxmerical” that’s worth checking out.

I don’t eat at chain restaurants often. Once every few months, I’ll get something from Panera. If I’m on the road at 10pm and have no other choices, I’ll suck it up at go to a Subway. But, generally, I’ll stay away from chain food because nine times out of ten it sucks. And I’m not just talking from a vegan perspective, but from an overall perspective. There are those times, though, where it’s unavoidable, usually when eating out with a group, especially since I tend to avoid voicing my opinion too loudly when it comes to such things as deciding where to eat. Such was the case this weekend when I ate at IHOP.

Now, IHOP. It’s the International House of Pancakes. And while pancakes are fine for lacto-ovos, they ain’t kosher for vegans (well, they can be, but you know they’re not at IHOP). Still, though, I figured they’d have a few vegan options, even if I had to opt for a plate of fresh fruit.

Let me warn vegans even thinking for a second about eating there: IHOP does not have any fresh fruit. The closest thing they have is “fruit compote,” essentially “mushy fruit in heavy syrup.”

So, I had to made due with apple juice, fruit compote, and watery-grits-hold-the-butter-please (which they didn’t do the first time around). What a crappy meal.

Dearest IHOP, thanks for nothing, jerks. Would it kill you to have some fresh fruit?

I was just outside reading when a little boy walked by a nearby tree and yanked on a branch. The boy’s grandmother (older aunt?) said to him, “Hey! Be gentle with living things.”

I thought, “Wow. That’s the most reasonable thing I’ve heard all day.”

(Of course, a second later my inner-cynic kicked in and said, “But I bet that philosophy doesn’t extend to her diet.”)

New Veg Blog reader Lindsey sent along a suggestion to check out VegGuide.org, a collaborative restaurant guide that covers vegetarian and vegetarian-friendly restaurants. I remember seeing VegGuide a while back when it was first getting started and being turned off by the interface. It was clunky and difficult to get around, which only hurts the final product no matter how good the content is. However, I’m glad to see they’ve redesigned and the changes are for the better. It’s well-worth checking out, as they have a good number of entries and it’s a much more pleasant experience that before.

Also worth noting is Lindsey’s own Veg Log, a vegan-themed blog she started as part of a class project. She’s examined a lot of the important issues one faces when becoming vegan and has a nice, comfortable writing style. I’m happy to see the proliferation of vegetarian-themed blogs in the last several years, because when I started doing this almost five years ago, there were no other blogs covering vegetarian topics (not that I found, at least).

See the menu up top there? (You people reading the RSS feed won’t, but…) Notice anything different? … Give up?

First, the news feeds are temporarily gone. I have some ideas about how to make it more useful, but need a little time to work on it.

Secondly, there’s now a “Story Tip” link. Use that link to send me links to any stories or links you think Veg Blog-worthy. It goes right into a to-do list (thanks for the idea, Paul!) so I can work through them one-by-one.