I have something of a love-hate relationship with mega-chain Starbucks. On the one hand, they consistently offer soy milk in (almost) every store, which I appreciated as a vegan. On the other hand, they are a mega chain, and I prefer to patronize local independent coffeehouses when possible, and they charge $0.40 extra for drinks with soy. On the one hand, they have consistently good wifi, but it requires a T-Mobile Account or expensive “daily pass.”

Or at least they used to. Now, if you buy and register a Starbucks Card (one of those refillable, prepaid cards) you can get what they call “beverage customization” free of charge, including soy milk.

In addition to free soy milk, this also gets you two hours per day of free use of the AT&T Wi-Fi in Starbucks stores.  As someone who travels a lot around the US for work, it is incredibly convenient to work out of the local Starbucks in virtually any US city for an hour or two between meetings, and now to do so essentially free of charge (since I was going to get coffee anyway).

I’ve already tried it out last week in San Deigo, and while the barista first rang up my drink the old way - with the extra charge for soy - when she tried to charge it to the card it gave her some kind of notice and she had to re-ring with a different code, making the soy free.

Small thing, I know, but well worth allowing Starbucks corporate to track my travel and coffee consumption habits. (All that’s required is that you use the card once every 30 days - not a problem for me!). Heck, maybe they could integrate with FireEagle or BrightKite and automatically update my location whenever I use the card in a new store - save me the effort. (In Austin, I’m still going to The Hideout).

Well, it was a vegan night at the Pops for Jo and I anyway - maybe some day they will have an official night.

Started out with dinner at Betty’s Wok and Noodle, followed by Natalie Merchant with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall.

More . . .

So Oprah Winfrey’s joined the list of celebs taking the vegan challenge.

From the PETA files:

Inspired by the book Quantum Wellness, by Kathy Freston, Oprah’s going to be cutting all the meat, dairy, and eggs out of her diet in an effort to live a healthy, cruelty-free lifestyle.

According to Peta (the original quote’s now gone from Oprah.com), she said:

How can you say you’re trying to spiritually evolve, without even a thought about what happens to the animals whose lives are sacrificed in the name of gluttony?

Excellent question. I think it’s great that Oprah will bring visibility to veganism, and it’ll be nice to stop being so frustrated by hearing her talk about health, consciousness raising, and spirituality while serving veal and foie gras.

But I wonder if she’ll fare better than Kevin Rose of Digg, who announced on Twitter he was going vegan for two weeks and then never mentioned it again.

A few weeks later, DiggNation was all about “50 new uses for Bacon.” Ugh.

I’m encouraged that people are open to trying to understand veganism, but I think this whole “challenge” approach is the wrong one. Going vegan isn’t a challenge. It’s a decision. To quote the wise yoda:

Do, or do not. There is no try.

If veganism is something you try on like a new diet, you won’t commit, you won’t take it seriously, and you will likely fail. This isn’t the Pepsi Challenge, it’s an ethical lifestyle based on a fundamental philosophical orientation. I can see easing into it, starting by reducing consumption of animal products over time, but I don’t think it should be seen as a contest.

I am not a religious person, but I think it would be odd to speak of “trying” to be a Christian for 2 weeks, or taking “the Islam challenge.” Or could you ask someone to try “the Atheism challenge” and try to go three weeks without believing in God?

It makes it seem like veganism is about deprivation. People often ask me “so you can’t have cheese?” and I always answer “I choose not to, because I don’t want to sponsor animal cruelty.”

Do you ever think to yourself “I can’t have puppy for dinner?” No, you would be horrified at the thought.

Veganism isn’t about depriving yourself of things you want to eat, it is about celebrating your ability to eat only the things you want to eat, where those things are all free of animal cruelty. I no longer have to try to suppress the knowledge that every time I order I meal I’m paying other people to abuse animals.

That’s something to celebrate, not a be challenged by.

I’m in San Diego (Mission Bay) for a conference this week. Based on the sad state of the menu at lunch (stumped at the notion of someone not eating chicken, they struggled to find an alternative and ended up serving the spaghetti from the kids menu, I think), I ventured down to Ocean Beach and had dinner at Rancho Foods.

Excellent Mexican food, with a clearly labelled menu which not only tells you what is vegetarian (much, but not all of the menu) but what can be easily made vegan (a pretty good percentage of the menu as well).

I had a great Soy Chorizo Tostada and some Taquitos de Papa.

Check out Ranchos Natural Foods or see a video or menu from the Ocean Beach location. Definitely recommended - best Mexican vegan I’ve ever had.

Old news, I know, but I find Garfield Minus Garfield captivating.

It’s sort of existentialist, nihilist, and postmodern all at the same time.