Good lord, Homecoming Friday is a bore. Nothing is open, everyone is just laying about being lazy, and there aren't even any events until Gator Growl at 8pm!

Not that I really mind laying around all day... TR went home this morning, so I have the room to myself. That also means that me and KC have it to ourselves when he comes over tomorrow, yesss. We won't have to worry about anyone walking in on us, or banging on the door, or turning us in for sleeping together ("cohabitation" according to the retarded dorm rules).

Yesterday when we talked, he was SO INCREDIBLY MOPEY. I can't stand it when he's like that! I do not want to listen to him whine on and on about nothing, it makes me feel like I'm not making him happy anymore. He says that that isn't it, and I know it's not, but then why does he tell me about his woes when I can't do anything to help him? I mean, I certainly can't do anything about his grades not being good and his bands not getting gigs, which was what he was talking about.

He really just needs to get out of Tallahassee. His mom is being a terrible bitch to him, his bands are irritating him, and his friends are being wierd. I know how he feels, if course: senior year was odd for me, too.

I just hope hope hope that he gets in here.

I went to Krishna Lunch this morning, and they do have vegan food! It was such an incredibly delicious full vegan meal, without me having to schlep to the natural foods market for ingredients, borrow my roomates pots and pans, etc. They served eggless spaghetti, tomato sauce with tofu (a creamy vegetarian version and a regular vegan version), salad with almond dressing, fried pita chips, gingerbread cake with almond glaze, and mint lemonade, all for a $3 donation. It was SO GOOD. I want to buy gallons and gallons of that vegan almond dressing, it was incredible. It would make even the most boring salad mouth-wateringly tasty. The almonds are almost pureed into the dressing base.

I will definitely be going back to the Plaza for that once a week or so. I paid the poor people almost completely in dimes, and they were really nice- didn't do the whole counting it out thing, just trusted that it was all there, which of course it was.

Won't believe what else happened this morning: I got ticketed on my bike. Unbelievable. You can always count on the cops to be there to bust you for retarded crap like wearing headphones while biking in the central campus where cars aren't even allowed to drive, but for some reason they're never around when some idiot running a redlight almost flattens you on your energy efficient, non-polluting personal transportation device.

I'm afraid that my dislike for policemen grows by the minute these days. I got ticketed over the summer for having an expired tag sticker (the tag office randomly stopped mailing them, and me and my parents forgot to go tell them), and then my boyfriend KC gets a speeding ticket here in Gainesville, when he doesn't even live here and was lost.

So now I have to waste my time going to "bike school" so that I don't have to pay the $77.75 fine. That's right, over $75 for listening to Bob Dylan on my way to Krishna Lunch. It made me so angry.

Tonight I am going to the closest dining hall with CT, JW, and SV for dinner. They have a vegan tomato pasta dish tonight that shouldn't be bad, but I know it won't hold a candle to the Krishna's spaghetti. Now that I've gone vegan, I wish that my paents hadn't bought me a mealplan. I mean, luckily it's only 10 meals per week, so I can use up almost all of it just going for my soymilk, cereal, and fruit in the morning, but when you buy a mealplan one semester, you're required to get one the next semester as well. Stupid, I know. I think I'll just do declining balance or something next semester, and then stop campus eating altogether next year. The natural foods store isn't all that expensive, anyway. I got about a month's worth of groceries (although I will need more bread and soymilk) for $40.

I might just start stealing the vegan soymilk from the dining halls, actually. That wouldn't be hard: just take it to my table with my cereal, and then slip it into my backpack when none of the staff are looking. Students do stuff like that all the time, none of them would rat me out. I could do it with the bread too. Haha, what a sweet way to beat the super-overpriced campus meal system.

Sitting in the lovely new Library West, contemplating which reading I ought to be doing at the moment. It's definitely the Conrad, as I am just a little bit behind in that class.

This library is amazing, though. It's one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever been in, and you can tell that it's built to last, so it will probably be just as impressive twenty years from now. Annnd, some guy just gave me a dirty look for typing, so I think I'll finish this later.

------------------------------------------------

Ok, back again several hours later.

This morning at 11:30, I saw all of these people lining up for Krishna Lunch! I had completely forgotten about it. I read up on it before I moved here. but I haven't gone to it yet. The campus Hare Krishna association puts on a big lunch every weekday at 11:30am, where you can get a whole plate of food with entree, salad, dessert, and drink for $3. And it's vegetarian! Too bad it isn't vegan, though... I might have to skip their dessrt. There is a vegan Krishna restaurant in Tallahassee, where me and my parents go sometimes, and I wish they had one here. I am going to eat the Krishna food tomorrow for lunch. People start lining up early, so I'll get there about 11:10 or 11:15am.

I am skipping International Relations today, as I do every Tuesday. It's a pointless class- you only need to get the notes off the online WebVista and show up for the iClicker quizzes every Thursday. Cory has asked me over to watch Gilmore Girls tonight... I will probably go just for some company while I eat, because I do not like that show much. I watch Law & Order: SVU and Most Extreme Challenge, haha.

Had a good veggieburger at lunch, with some rice and fried zuchinni strips. Cocoa puffs without milk for dessert. A vegan is more than a little bit limited when it comes to on-campus eats, because you are stuck with whatever the "Vegan Corner" in the cafeteria is serving on any given day. I have gotten into the habit of looking ahead at the menus online and planning when and where I want to eat so that I don't get stuck paying for a meal and then hating it.

Alright, time to get some work done.

Ah, I finally made it to the natural foods store on NW 23rd Avenue this morning. It's the same one that my parents went to when my dad was in law school here, Norman's. At first, it just seemed like a regular little shop, with fresh meats and a lot of veggies. But then when I went around a corner, there was almost a whole second store, all organic foods. I got $38 worth of food, so I should be fine for a while now. I found this amazing olive tapenade, and I used the sandwich press mom got me to make a toasted tapenade sandwich.... mmm, it was amazing.

I also found non-dairy chocolate nut icecream bars, bulk organic honey-sweetened corn flakes, canned lentils, basmati rice, and a lot more. Eating non-meat and non-dairy is more expensive than living off of Kraft Dinner and hotdogs, but it is definitely worth it for the peace of mind and the tasty food. I mean, it feels great to know that I'm not putting anything in my body that is going to cause cancer or heart problems.

I need to read my Joseph Conrad for class this afternoon at 4pm, although what I really want is a nap. TR and I didn't get to sleep until about 2am last night because of the Law & Oder: SVU marathon; it is both of our favorite shows.

Alright, reading/sleeping time.

Vegan Brownie recipe:
* 1 and 1/3 cups granulated sweetener
* 3/4 cup applesauce (preferably organic)
* 2 tablespoons water
* 2 teaspoons flax powder
* 1/2 cup water
* 2 teaspoons vanilla
* 1 and 1/3 cups unbleached white flour
* 3/4 cup cocoa
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* ¼ teaspoon salt

MAKES ABOUT 9 SERVINGS
PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes
BAKING TIME: 45-50 minutes
FREEZES WELL

*Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat an 8 x 8 inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray
*Stir together granulated sweetener, applesauce, and 2 tablespoons water in a medium-size bowl. In a small cup, mix flax powder with ½ cup water. Add to applesauce mixture and stir to combine. Add vanilla to this mixture.
*In another small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add applesauce mixture to flour mixture. Stir just to combine and pour into prepared pan.
*Bake for 45 minutes for chewy brownies, 50 minutes for cake-like brownies.
*Allow to cool before serving.

Per serving: 280 calories, 2g fat (<1g saturated), 66g carbohydrate, 4g dietary fiber, 4g protein, 0mg cholesterol, 37mg sodium, 178mg potassium. Calories from fat: 6 percent.

(from Mimi Torres on Facebook vegan group)