The Boy is a vegetarian, but he not only doesn't mind if I eat meat, he has been known to cook bacon for me.

He eats dairy and eggs, as well as shrimp and crawfish (the logic, such as it is, behind those 2 crustaceans is that he's faster than they are [I know, I know, what about clams, etc.? He has no answer for that]). And he'll eat any meat that he's killed or had a hand in killing (venison, etc., from hunting -- he just objects to factory farms).

oh, that's mean. :) I can see how he might have thought that it was innocuous. But, it certainly should have prompted a music discussion.

Hee! Yeah, there's more to it than just the pre-set, but it was the tipping point. I met him using one of the online dating sites, and our first phone call (which, sadly was after we'd already made plans to meet...so I felt like I needed to go through with it) began with him saying, "I can't believe you love the Beatles! I totally love them too! They're rad."

I am still perplexed as to why he thought it a celebratory and rare occasion to come across another person who liked the Beatles. I mean, it's not like they're some obscure Hungarian folk foursome.

Oh! Bringing together the vegan and the junk food topics: the new Doritos flavor is vegan! Sweet Chili flavor, or something like that. I haven't tried it yet. And there's plenty of vegan junk food out there already, but mmm. Doritos.

Aren't all Doritos vegan? I mean, I know a lot are cheese-flavored, but I never dreamed actual cheese was used in their manufacture.

There was a Jewish sustainable food conference about a year ago where one of the speakers asked "How many of you are vegetarian, but would eat meat if you had personally killed the animal?" and "How many of you eat meat, but wouldn't if you had to see the animal die?" and got a pretty decent number of hands raised for both. This was all a lead-in to the announcement that, at the next conference, they would schecht (ritually slaughter) a goat, which led to controversy in the Jewish/progressive/environmental blogsphere for MONTHS.

And he'll eat any meat that he's killed or had a hand in killing (venison, etc., from hunting -- he just objects to factory farms).

Teppy, that's really the key for me, too. My ONLY guiding principle for myself when it comes to my food is: I eat what I'd be willing to kill with my own hands. If I can't stomach that, then I really shouldn't be...um...stomaching that. :P

I am still perplexed as to why he thought it a celebratory and rare occasion to come across another person who liked the Beatles. I mean, it's not like they're some obscure Hungarian folk foursome.

Yeah. If you DIDN'T like the Beatles and found some fellow freak that didn't like the Beatles that might be something.

Aren't all Doritos vegan? I mean, I know a lot are cheese-flavored, but I never dreamed actual cheese was used in their manufacture.

Yep. Doritos and Cheez-Its and most other cheese-flavored snack things do use actual cheese. Well, cheese powder, kind of like the packet in Kraft mac and cheese.

Yeah. If you DIDN'T like the Beatles and found some fellow freak that didn't like the Beatles that might be something.

Eggsactly.

Yay! I just called the movers and got on the schedule.

Check.

I got to meet my future meal of chicken once. I decided to patronize my local fresh chicken store. (I was wrong in my assumption that fresh meat would be tastier. It was really stringy.) I didn't know the shop keeper was going to go in the back, get a live chicken, and hold it up to me to make sure it was acceptable. It wasn't too disturbing except they plucked it, chopped it up and put it in a bag for me and I didn't find out until I got home and was preparing for dinner that they had included the head.