» About Me Don’t Eat Off The Sidewalk!

About Me

All About Me

Hi!  My name is Katie and this is my site.  I was born in 19080 in central Illinois.  I lived in Tennessee for a few years, and now I live in a small town in the midwest.

I’ve been married to a pretty awesome dude, who shares most of my interests and who can tolerate me more than most people, for ten years. I am currently funemployed/a jobless asshole, however you prefer to look at it.

I enjoy taking my dogs to the park, playing video games where I get to shoot zombies in the head, half-assed gardening, vacuuming because it makes all of the animals go into a panic,  bike riding,  hula hooping, cheering people up, buying presents, eating chocolate, talking about my bowel movements, making fun of my husband, and you!  Well, I might enjoy you.  If you’re not a dick.

I am also an unashamed tv lover, if you would like to discuss Rupaul’s Drag Race, exchange Veronica Mars quotes, or debate exactly how much of a waste of time watching Lost really is, i’m you’re girl.  My very favorite winter activity is me, a blanket, a dog, and streaming t.v.

While I started this site as a food blog, it’s kind of evolved into a more personal site.  I still blog about food, but since I repeatedly eat the same things over and over, even if I only posted about fun things i’ve eaten, I would update even less than I do now!  I also post about music occasionally, since I spend about 90% of my waking hours listen to it, or singing to my animals, or wishing people would stop talking to me because they’re interrupting the song in my head.

FAQs That No One Actually Ever Asks

Answers to a few things you may or may not wonder while reading my site.

Where did you get the name for your site?

It’s from a Cramps song, ‘Don’t Eat Stuff Off the Sidewalk’.  Yes, I am uncreative, but I like it!  And it was shorter than thecreaturefromtheblackpleatherlagoon.com.

Why vegan?

I’ve been a vegetarian since I was thirteen, and a vegan since July of 2006.  Believe it or not, my vegetarianism came about because my mother said I wouldn’t be able to not eat meat.  Can I get an ‘in your face’?  If you’re wondering why it took me so long to make the change to vegan,  I don’t really have a good answer other than, I never considered it.  I had already cut down a lot on my dairy intake to help keep my eczema in check, and never bought eggs because I knew I wouldn’t eat them all.  So I started looking into vegan baking, which led me to the PPK.  I was a member there for about a week before deciding to go vegan.  To  make a long story short, it just makes sense to me.  If you are interested in any of the many number of reasons one should go vegan, go here.  Being vegan is a lot easier than most people realize.  If I did it in a little army town in the south, anyone can do it!

I should also note that while i’m very passionate about being vegan and animal welfare issues, I am also probably the most non-confrontational person you will ever meet.  I am just here to post about my life and i’m not interested in debate or hearing about how you’re gonna eat three animals for every one I don’t eat.  If you are interested in veganism and have any questions about the lifestyle, what the best vegan cheese is, etc., then i’m here for you.

Is your husband vegan?

Not yet!  No, but he did finally go vegetarian.  I never wanted to try and force him into agreeing with my ethics because that would probably just result in pissing him off, or him not sticking to it.  Very few things would make me happier than for him to be vegan, but that’s his journey if he decides to make it.

Before he was even a vegetarian, we agreed on a mostly vegan house and it worked for both of us.  There was no meat (not even deli slices or frozen items), and since he rarely eats eggs or drinks milk and they would just go bad, there was none of that either.  Also, if he wants to buy something like crackers that are non-vegan, I try to find a similar item in the natural food products that is vegan so we can share as much as possible.

Are your pets vegan?

The short answer is no, because veganism is a choice that my pets can’t make.  The long answer is:  the cats are carnivores, so they eat the best meat-based kibble I can afford to give them, and I even occasionally give them wet wood that is either just chicken chunks or pieces of sea food.  I know there are vegan cat foods available, but cats are meat-eaters (okay, Gozer eats a lot of cooked vegetables and grains but i’m pretty sure he’s a big exception)  and if I didn’t want to feed them meat, I just wouldn’t have cats.

Harley and Fawkes eats a vegan diet, however, because dogs are omnivores and I was able to find a decent vegan kibble and wet food that doesn’t cost too much.   I do give them medications and/or supplements that aren’t vegan if they need them.  I also don’t care if people give them dog cookies that aren’t vegan, but if someone was trying to slip my dog meat on the regular I would be pretty pissed.

You never mention your parents or anything.

You’re right, I don’t!

Are you straight-edge?

I don’t drink or smoke (or do drugs) but I wouldn’t classify myself as straight-edge, though.  Sometimes I use cooking wine or beer in my food.

What kind of camera did you use?

I’ve been rocking the same Canon Rebel XT for over five years, and it’s served me well.  I tend to break electronics a lot, so the fact that my camera has survived this long is a pretty good endorsement in itself.  If it breaks, I might save up for a fancier model, but I don’t plan on replacing it otherwise.  I mostly use this lens, which is one of the most affordable Canon lenses you can find, and it is an excellent lens for the price (and if you’re patient you can sometimes find it for as low as $80).

I use minimal Photoshop to edit my images, and everything I know about taking pictures I learned from trial and error and gentle guidance from my friend Andria, a professional photographer.  I don’t think i’m a good photographer, but I think I do okay and sometimes I get lucky and get some really good shots.