Great Healthy Vegan Snack "The Hummus Sandwich"

So i make these all the time. They are very quick and simple and they taste sooo good. The ingredients that i usually put into it are:

Any Bread Toasted
Roasted Tomato Hummus (or Spinich and Artichoke)
Lettuce
Tomato
Red Onions
Avocados

Now this is an easy sandwich to change up. I sometimes will use both hummuses and put them on opposite sides. I'll even grill a flat piece of tofu or tempeh with soy sauce and add that to the sandwich. If you are feeling really crazy...put it on an everything bagel. Anyways, this is a quick and easy snack for all vegans.

November 20 2010

1

a glass half full
is optimism
a glass half empty
is pessimism
yours should be over-
flowing
for what i do for you
mine was kicked over
by your selfishness
my liquid displayed all
over the ground
free to be stepped on
by everyone
it will resort to the
cracks with in the
earth
to soak in
and disappear


2

worlds hands tight at
my throat
unwilling to let go
grasping the air within
paintbrush and bottle are
the only things that
can loosen this hold
to give me sometime to
recieve the oxygen that
was promised at birth
the problem i see
is my brush will run out
of paint
and the bottle doesn't do
much for my body
so i hestiate to just
let the world
suffocate
me


3

when the eyes go fuzzed
and the world starts to
spin
im left to think of how
tomorrow will begin
but all that matters is
what goes on tonight
in this lonely bar
in this dim ass light
turning to the waitress
she never says a word
but i see in her eyes
that she is concerned
yet she brings the drinks
the 6 to 7
and become alone in the bar
just me and the drinks
fuck im so alone
i cant even think
by the time i get to the door
my legs buckle under me
and im laying there staring
at the traffic above
those hearts that are broken
and some that are loved
how they just want the
same liquid
the sign promises outside
im picked up by a man
and thrown out into the night
where im left to stumble
home

November 18 2010

1

beggars cant be
choosers
i beg and get what i
want
and dont want it anymore
for i'm left alone
on my couch

just drinking
by myself
but that's what i begged
for all along
and it's gone on every
night
over and over
again
me left typing
with a drink in hand

words come out wrong
sometimes
saying what you don't
want said
what i really want
is my own bed
with your head on my chest


2

your memories
crush me from the inside
grabbing and squeezing
trying to hold on
by the thin wire wrapped
around my rib cage

the rain from those
two years
flooded my lungs
drowning me in sorrow
for time wasted on nothing

clouds for that time
stir and blur
my vision
so i'll never see
clear again

green paper
burned for heat
left us trying to
regain any sort of
feelings

all these things will
be left there
as scars
on my sleeve
just to hold our peace


3

the beauty in your eyes
stuffs my throat
so my true feelings for you
can't be set free

you leave me here to
suffocate
on the smoke from the fire
burning inside of me

lips tied tight
with a thin thread
that has pierced and sewn
my mouth shut

maybe you're afraid
the same has happened to you
and that there won't be a
doctor
surgeon
or tailor
around to help you

November 16 2010

1

how i wish time would
freeze
for at least a year
or two
when im cuddled on the
couch
just laying with
you

your head lies on my
chest
i keep telling myself
to breathe
for the last thing
i want
is to disturb your
peace

our bodies are
intertwined
for comfort
and heat
i stare at the clock
not wanting the time
for you
to leave


2
words are meaningless
unless
an action follows
or is before

you can say all you
want
but all i'll believe
is what you do

for they're louder than your words

you tell me you like
me
you want me,
im a perfect fit

but all you show
me
is how you are
completely over us

how am i supposed to feel for this

my heart comes through
my throat
even through what i
do

i just wish
everything
was as simple
as i make it for you

is that so much to ask


3

i wish that sun
would go away
its always fucking out

it's a change to move
south
south to north
than back again

all this climate change
has got my body confused

i never thought those feelings
were there anymore
just a glance of those eyes
and i'm straight to the bottle
again

to try and blur them
from your vision
or feelings
to stomp them out
on the ground
for i never thought i would
be down here

im sitting here
praying for rain
with my whiskey bottle
dried to my lips
so i can remember
the pain

but all that comes back
is the couch

those rained in days
spent wasted laying about
hoping for the sun

what justice did that ever do
but grow us apart

maybe it was the rain
that made the warmth within
us

Tater Tot Burritos

Tonight I made some tater tot burritos for my girlfriend and step-mom, and might I say they were delicious. I was missing a few ingredients that would have made them super bomb, but life goes on. It is a very quick and easy recipe. The longest part is the tater tots, or you can use fries.
Here is the list on ingredients I used:

10" Tortillas
Refried Beans (or black)
Spanish Rice
Tomatos
Guacamole
Salsa
Tater tots (alternative fries)

What I wish I would have added would be:

Lettuce
Onions
Some sort of enchilada sauce

All together the dish is amazing.

November 15 2010

how do you want to be
remembered
some have a wasted life
on work
or a trapped life by
a mini self imagine
even others brain-washed
by a thought
taught over
and over again

if you focus too hard
and strain on one thing
that's all you'll leave
behind
for those are things
i will only remember
for some

i just want everyone
to know
my heart has one beat
and its to only be
happy

from the things
i do
to the people
i meet
to the places
i go
it's only to be happy

November 13 2010

your fingertips
and nails
shift through my skin
cells
putting my hair on
edge
and a lightening bolt
down my spine
till it shoots down
and out
my toes

my mind still pounds
on the wall of my
skull
pressing and pushing
and holding
my words behind my
tongue
while my heart jumps
and thumps
against its small
boney cage

if it continues to
leap
it could break free
or just drop to the
bottom
with only a faint beat
to move on

just continue to run
those nails down my spine
for that's what makes me
feel alive right now

November 12 2010 Poetry

1

The whiskey and coke
has tainted my breathe
and blurred my vision
Has it blurred my feelings
too?

Laying with you
The pain creeping in my gut
Dying for those three words
to come from the vocals
of your heart

For those same words
are clawing at my cords
Dying to be let free
Only another drink
will calm them down


2

Calm and dark
Outside alone and drunk
No sounds to be heard but
a lonely barking dog
and a distant freeway

My body is numb
to the chill of the night
Every bloodcell flowing quickly,
racing around
to keep my body warm

Free as a mind can be
I feel nothing


3

Home sweet home
home is where the heart lies
shattered on the living room
couch

Told to feel welcome
That my company is much wanted
Yet your actions prove
otherwise

Your lies flow smoothly through
your teeth
Somehow throwing in what
you want me to do

I know I've failed you
But don't rub your second chance
in my face
Home sweet home


4

A shot down my throat
Breathe through my nose

How can you still feel that way
Are you really that lost
and insecure
I've destroyed you
without thought or action
Not even trying to

Maybe I should have given
that last shot to you


5

A leech on my heart
is like your eyes into me
Sucking me dry of all my
feelings

I wanna scream them out
But that leech holds tight
to my words

I feel silenced
Hands tight around my neck
My true feeling unable
to be heard

Maybe it's good
for they could frighten you
away
but someday
that leech will be full
and let go
Hopefully you
won't follow

Vegan "Fronch" Toast

So i cooked some "vegan" french toast and hashbrowns for my girlriend, jen, and i. It surprisingly lived up to what the recipe told me. I cooked this meal last night for her and I. It tasted exactly what I remember french toast tasting. I told my friend about this recipe. All he had to say is french toast taste like crap to begin with unless you add syrup, Haha. Either way I was satistied and so was my darling. Here is the recipe for you to try:

Loaf of Italian or French Bread (baguette shaped)
1/2 cup of soy creamer
1/2 cup of rice milk
2 tblspns of cornstarch
1/4 cup of chickpea flour

This is cooked exactly like traditonal french toast. Excluding the bread, mix everything in a large mixing bowl until liquid (come chunks are ok.) Once done mixing, soak an inch think piece of sliced bread in mixture and cook on skillet with a thin layer of vegetable oil for non-stick. Cook each side for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Then enjoy.
Let me know what you think.

November 10 2010

the feeling those eyes
give
those big blue eyes
i only need two seconds
with them
to have my whole world
swept away

i've been raised
to do this
and taught to
know that
but your vision
is wipes it clear
and for a second
i'm a blank slate
and reborn

without those pearls
of blue
im as good as blind
just another
lost cause
for they make me
endless
no beginning to end
no finish for a start

just a current
a circle
a recurring cycle
that can be taken in
and retracted
like a breathe of fresh air
across an ocean blue

Older Poem

The world was a mundane place for me
the last couple of years
I went out in search of something to fill the
emptiness within
I was ignorant and bliss
But consequences come with every decision

I ran away withoutatrace
Told no one where I was to go
Just my car packed with shit
And a lonely CD
My life was an open book
Awaiting the fresh ink of a pen
Waiting to be written in

I made mistakes
Many mistakes
But all have been learned from
For I'll never make them again

I know not what I want from my life
But I know I am home
Where the sun sets on the Pacific Coast
It's been in front of me the whole time

For being in your arms is all I want
Nothing can change my mind

Random Poetry Brought Together

1

I'm not a poet
And I know this
I'm just a
wise-assed
kid

That doesn't give
two shits
what my parents
ever
did

Just a drunk
young lad
with a pen and
paper

Writing how I
wish
the world was
only better


2

The sky turns with dark clouds
and sun rays
Unable to decide its outcome

My lips and teeth are stained
from another lonely night with my wine
It used to be you that stained me

Just holding your body
kissing those lips
Who cares what was on t.v. that night

Days were filled with your words
and of your voice
Now it's empty thoughts in my mind

Don't get me wrong
you still tell me your feelings are there
You just seem undecided now

Much like the weather


3

I'm the stalker
While you're the prey
I don't think I should feel like this

It's as if my feelings scare you away
As if too strong to take
My bad, I'll stop

I just want you happy,
want the world for you
It doesn't matter my feelings

If your soul is warm
And your eyes are bright
I know that i'm actually doing something

No matter how far away I am
No matter how less I see you
I see true happiness in your lips

For I will fill my time with other things
With art and alcohol,
seems to be the poison now

Sometimes I just wish you felt the same
Isn't that what a stalker thinks


4

The curve of your lips
The strain on your cheeks
That smile,
It makes everything alright

The scent of your hair
The smoothness of your skin
That touch,
So gentle, but i'm brought
to my knees

The power in your voice
The meaning in your words
That thought,
It can open anyone's eyes

The feeling in your kiss
The warmth within your soul
That love,
can truely overcome anything

Remix

So I, Taylor Duffus, am changing this blog/magazine into a more personal self reflection of how I view and how I do things. This will be inside the mind and soul of Taylor. Haha. Enjoy.

Zeitgeist Revolution

There are no words to describe these films. They have left me speechless. Two have been released so far and one more at the end of this year. We know that change needs to come soon, and these videos definitely show why. From religion, 9/11, government plans, to our banking system. These videos cover it all that is hidden behind the governments media curtain. So be free to open your eyes.

To watch films click below:

Zeitgeist: The Movie
Zeitgeist: Addendum

Why Vegan? Why Not?

Its 1943 in the country of Germany, and you are walking around a jewish concentration camp, what do you see? Death, torture, and murder sift through the air. You can smell it in your nostrils and feel it through your bones something is not right. Dead bodies are just laying in 8 foot piles from the lack of room that is supplied. The people left alive barely look like humans anymore. Thats what probably made it easy for the Nazis to do what they have done. If something doesn't look human should we care about it?


This brings me to my point, the holocaust is exactly what we do to animals today. My opinion isn't to stop eating animals, it's to stop killing them. The massive growth in population has sent us to kill more and more animals. The eating of creatures used to be about the thrill of the hunt and the capture and then the kill. Now it is served to us anyway we want it. None of us are required to do anything. Because of this we have turned animals into slaves or merely objects. Animals have heart, souls, feelings, and personalities too. We are killing a living breathing creature. These creatures could be our friends.
But what do we do? We shove our friends into tight compartments and harvest them for everything they are worth to us. We pump them full of hormones. When they have reached their end of supplying milk. We slit there throats and dice them into burgers.


People don't realize this but what we do to animals is far worse than the holocaust. Although the holocaust was done to fellow humans, don't other living creatures deserve some respect. It is so hard to get across how bad this has become. To bring it into proportion, what if the Nazis decided we need to eat the Jews. And the Nazis won the war. We would be harvesting and eating them just like we do with animals nowadays. The thought sickens me.


I was a vegetarian for 4 years until I have recently decided to convert to vegan. It was hard for the first few weeks, but it has grown to be a lot easier. And not to mention, but my body feels a lot better. There are many healthy organic alternatives you can find at any grocery store. People have discovered ways to produce fake chicken to fake beef. I do know the costs of these foods are higher. The two reasons for this is the demand isn't that high for the product and not to mention there is a lot more that needs to be done to make a veggie burger than a murder burger. I believe if more people tried or turned vegan the prices could go down. And one day we could walk into a Safeway or Ralphs and find their brand of veggie burgers or their brand of mac and chreese. And this will be significantly cheaper for us.

Maybe even one day people, animals, and nature can live in harmony with no bloodshed or murder. I suggest those who put vegans down, to try it. You can't put someone down till you have been in their shoes. Even better we should all picture ourselves in cow hooves or chickens feet. Maybe then we can really feel what's going on.

For more information to go or try vegan try these websites:
http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/WhyVegan.pdf
http://www.peta2.com

Poem of the Day

termites of the page

the problem that i've found with
most poets that I have known is that
they've never had an 8 hour job
and there is nothing
more in touch
with the realities
than
an 8 hour job.

most of these poets
that I have known
have
seemingly existed on
air alone
but
it hasn't been truly
so;
behind them has been
a family member
usually a wife or mother
supporting these
souls
and
so it's no wonder
they have written so
poorly:
they have been protected
against the actualities
from the
beginning
and they
understand nothing
but the ends of their
fingernails
and
their delicate
hairlines
their lymph
nodes.

their words are
unlived, unfurnished, un-
true, and worse—so
fashionably
dull.

soft and safe
they gather together to
plot, hate,
gossip, most of these
American poets
pushing and hustling their
talents
playing at
greatness.

poet (?):
that word needs re-
defining.

when I hear that
word
I get a rising in the
gut
as if I were about to
puke.
let them have the
stage
so long
as I need not be
in the
audience.

-Charles Bukowski

Derek Noble - Bringing the Grotesque to Traditional Tattoos

Derek Noble is a man that has an eye for the ugly. And I mean that in the best way possible. The way that he combines gore with art is amazing. Derek works out of a shop on Capitol Hill in Seattle, WA. The shops name being Lucky Devil Tattoo off 12th Ave. (206-323-1637) Derek has a unique style of his own and should be renowned for it. The way he brings the disturbance of gore and being torn to shreds into tattoos and art is stunning, from zombies to the demon goat himself.

I, myself, have got one of his works of art on me forever. It isn't as large as many other pieces he has accomplished but it is by far my favorite. I went into Lucky Devil Tattoo on a late weekday afternoon one year ago. As I walk into the shop I notice a bulky man standing tall, bald head, but a long beard. I realize that this is Derek. I approach him with no picture or reference, but just an idea for a tattoo in my mind. All I wanted was a zombie on my wrist with a banner that said "dead", but what he came up with was beyond my expectations. He drew up a zombie holding a bone, dripping with blood, and even included tiny flies flying around him. The finished product was excellent, I didn't even need a touch-up.


Derek is definitely going down in tattooing history. If I had the chance to interview him it would be an honor. I would love to know how he started his art career and where he gets his inspiration. If you would like to find out for yourself, just go down to Lucky Devil in Seattle and you'll find him there.

Derek Noble is our first featured artist in R!OT Magazine. If you would like to check out more of Derek's artwork you can visit:
www.luckydeviltattooparlor.com
www.fatzombie.com
Visit Lucky Devil Tattoo at this address:
1720 12th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122





All art by: Derek Noble

Keeping Up With The Jones

The 40" LCD flat screen TV, the panasonic blueray DVD player,  the 2010 Apple iPad, the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro - do we really need this junk? Average Americans spend millions of dollars every year on the latest technology, from TV's to cars to things that make our lives lazier. What ever happened to the days of playing outside? You know the place beyond the four walls of our houses. I'll always remember one quote my mom said to me after I went off on how I hate all of the latest consumer products that get released one after the other. I would always say "I don't need money to be happy. Money makes you insecure. Money makes you weak. Money, money, money." She told me "You're right you don't need money to be happy, but money does make life a lot more comfortable." I hate to argue so I just agreed, but if we want to evolve into something greater, it needs to be a lot less comfortable to live. When have we ever become stronger by living on the easy side of the tracks? Or when have we ever gotten quicker or faster by sitting on the couch all day? I believe the only way we can become a more united country, or a nicer community, or a stronger individual is to stop focusing on what the Jones' have got in their living room or garage and focus on what we need, not on what we want.

First Post

I'm going to start this magazine with a personal article about a story my father told me. My dad himself is not an activist, but the story that he told me has an activist feel to it. The funny thing about this story is he told it to me after saying that being vegetarian was a pointless choice to save animals. After the end of it I told him the story was more in my favor. He just laughed and said "I know." The story goes like so...

There is a beach in South America that millions of starfish wash up on the beach from the high tide every fall. The tide rolls out so quickly that 90% of the starfish are left out to dry out on the beach. From the heat and lack of water they are left to die. One man goes out onto this beach every day and throws the starfish one by one back out into the sea. He does this every day till the last day of fall. The last day another man walks onto this beach and yells at the man throwing "Why are you doing that?"
The man throwing the starfish into turns and says "What?"
The other says "Look around you. There are thousands maybe millions of starfish wiped out onto this beach. What do you think throwing maybe only a few hundred into the sea makes a difference, when all the others will die?"
The man throwing the starfish picks up one and throws it like a frisbee out into the sea. As he does this, he points out to where it lands, far beyond the strength of any tide and says "Made a difference for that one."
The man picks up another, looks at the other man, and does the same thing to another starfish. "Made a difference for that one."

I'm not sure if you have heard this story. But the point is that it doesn't take that much to make a difference, even if it just a small one.
So I say we all go to this beach and start throwing these starfish back. Because as one we make a small difference, but little by little as more people come to help, we can change the world.

-Taylor Duffus