Hi, and welcome to Peculiar Girl. If you’re new here, this is a good place to get a feel for what this blog is all about.
The overall theme of Peculiar Girl is finding happiness by challenging the status quo. I recommend reading some posts in the main categories.
Body Image
Five tips to create a positive body image
Keep your trends off my body: Part 1
Keep your trends off my body: Part 2
Happiness
How I went from bad performance review to dream job in two months
Sustainability
It’s time for spring sustainability-ing
A year of making room (greater happiness and a cleaner closet)
A few of my favorite (secondhand) things
Women’s Issues
Why girls are the answer: 2011 Girl Effect blogging campaign
Empower women and save the world
Summer’s peeve: A rant against feminine cleansing products
Vegan Lifestyle
My small, cheap, nonconformist vegan wedding
Don’t hate me ’cause I’m vegan
Compassion
Finding respite at Heartland Farm Sanctuary
Bravery and the pursuit of compassion
Eight simple ways to help animals
I also do a lot of writing outside of Peculiar Girl. If you’re interested in reading more of my work, you can find it here:
Articles
- Hang time: Give your walls a makeover with thrifted art, Isthmus
- Whoopie cookies and more among Madison’s vegan sweets, Isthmus
- A Better Reflection: One woman’s personal journey to gain a positive self-image in a world obsessed with beauty and weight, BRAVA magazine
- Eating vegan in Madison: Five must-try dishes for everyone, Isthmus
- Personal essay on choosing to not have children, BRAVA magazine
- Helping pets heal with traditional Chinese Medicine, Nature’s Pathways magazine
Guest posts
- I can’t believe it’s not leather: cute vegan shoes for everyone, written for Jaunty Dame
- Lessons from the World’s Weirdest Grandma, written for Be Irreplaceable
- Favorite Things | Kitchen Tools, written for Simple Black Coffee
- Seven Days of Vegan Eating (video), for Low Impact Betty
- Five Simple Ways to Live More Mindfully, written for The Simpler Life
- Did You Hear the One About the Vegan?, written for Lisa’s Foods on the Move
I had to comment on last Sunday’s blogroll.
I have to get that book, Sabbath. I have seldom ever taken a day off. Always something to do, somewhere to be — some of it is just anxious, self-imposed busyness. I mean, I HAVE to do SOMETHING! I can’t just sit here, like a sloth, when there’s so much to do! The closest I ever got to that do-nothing bliss was my week at The Clearing in Ellison Bay. The only thing they had for electronics was a corded phone in the lodge and a computer not connected to the net. At night, we’d watch the sun set over Green Bay, sit around the camp fire and talk or sing, or go lie on our backs in the dark field and look at the stars. It was so quiet and peaceful and unconnected.
I also love the Mirror Test. I stayed at someone else’s house and they had a big mirror leaning against the bedroom wall. My dog Charlie noticed himself in it, or maybe he just saw me behind him. He got the biggest smile and wagged his tale while looking in that mirror. He was quite taken with it all. What a guy — I miss him.
I’m not convinced humans are the smartest of all animals.