by | October 21, 2011 · 3:14 pm

The Killing Fields and My Brush with Death in Texas

This morning on the news I heard about a movie called, “The Killing Fields.” It is based on a string of unsolved murders around Interstate 45 southeast of Houston Texas. The killer and possible killers target young women and girls however, after a bit of research there is suspected 12 different serial killers in the entire Houston vicinity, not just I-45. In fact, there have been 200 unsolved murders of girls in the area since 1971. I don’t usually write about this kind of thing, but when I was in college I went on a road trip with my boyfriend. It started out fun and then things got really scary one night when we stopped in a campground a few hours west of Houston off of I-10. Below is an excerpt from the journal I kept during the trip:

Texas, Hayley Rose 2008

 

The Devil’s Triangle

Road Trip Day 13, 14, 15

June 15, 2008

I don’t understand why I have this strange hobby of walking around cities drunk. Maybe I’m immature, maybe I have a drinking problem, or maybe it’s a little bit of both.

New Orleans was really the most welcoming place for this type of behavior, but I tend to do it anywhere. Towards midnight, the stench of vomit wafted through the air infrequently as we walked block to block. It was pretty disgusting, but on Rue Bourbon we quickly realized that it’s legal to walk around and drink alcoholic beverages, so I guess it must also be legal to vomit on the sidewalk.

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by | October 19, 2011 · 12:30 pm

What’s New This Week on The Veggie Stand?

Meet Kya our first Rescue Animal of the Week – An inspirational short story detailing how one little yorkie went from puppy mill to pent house

Enter your pet to be our next Rescue Animal of the Week– Did you or one of your friends rescue an animal? Enter your animal here and maybe you will see him featured soon on The Veggie Stand

Does Eating Soy Cause Breast Cancer? There’s been lots of controversy on this topic lately. I did some research and dug deep- take a look at what I found.

Recipe Wednesday: Buffalofu! This week on Recipe Wednesday, we’re featuring one of my favorites, Buffalofu, my meet-free take on boneless buffalo wings- YUM!

 
 


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by | · 3:58 am

When is it Verbal Abuse?

When one is on the receiving end of continuous verbal and emotional assaults, it becomes difficult to tell metaphorically “where one side ends and the other begins.” That’s because when we’re in the midst of an abusive relationship, it’s easy to lose track of what is abuse and what isn’t. That is often because the person who gets to decide what is verbal abuse and what isn’t is the abuser.

I received a copy of “Victory Over Verbal Abuse,” by Patricia Evans. From the moment I opened it, the words made perfect sense and brought me to a new cognitive level of viewing the social interactions around me. A letter inside the book poses the question, “When is a cutting remark abusive and when is it merely callous?” Continue reading →

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by | October 18, 2011 · 8:11 am

The Road Not Taken

 

Photo by Hayley Rose, 2011

I went running in the woods on the 2.5 mile loop that I love. I was hoping to reach the very sedative yet meditative state that one reaches after prolonged physical activity, but my brain was thinking overtime par usual. I decided to run the loop twice and by my fourth mile I was getting a bit fatigued as I began my battle against the steepest hill of the trail. As I began my ascent up the monster of an incline, I noticed a very inviting bench off to the side. Maybe I should sit down for just a minute…

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by | October 17, 2011 · 1:44 pm

Meet Kya! Our First Rescue Animal of the Week on The Veggie Stand

Meet Kya, an 8-year-old Yorkshire Terrier from Hawaii. Kya was born in a puppy mill in Hawaii. She was purchased by a tourist who brought her back to Washington to use her for breeding. After years of breeding, Kya’s owner gave her away to a new owner who also planned to continue breeding her.

Finish reading after the jump…

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by | · 12:43 pm

Are You Hiding From Life Inside an Abusive Relationship?

Sometimes when we don’t trust ourselves, we feel very insecure about stepping out into the world to live life. I know I was afraid to go out and be my own person because of the abuse and rape I experienced at a young age. I feared that I, again, wouldn’t be able to protect myself if put in a compromising situation. As a result, I entered into an abusive relationship and subsequently continued this pattern for years. I was attracted to these types of relationships because on a subconscious level the aspect of control imposed limits that made me feel “protected” when everything around me felt very out of control. Alone, I felt vulnerable; like I could become a victim again at any time.

Like a text book abusive relationship, the imposed limitations ended up including a list of things he didn’t want me to do, people he didn’t want me see, and places he didn’t want me to go.  Somewhere in my psyche I knew this and permitted it to happen because I felt more insecure out of the relationship than I did in it. Ironically, I ended up existing in this cocoon for several years instead of navigating the world on my own.

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by | October 14, 2011 · 2:06 pm

Rescue Animal of the Week on The Veggie Stand

At The Veggie Stand, we’re creating a new weekly feature “Rescue Animal of the Week.” If you (or any of your friends) would like your pet to be our next Rescue Animal of the Week, please provide us with the following information by emailing it to me at HRH@TheVeggieStand.com

A picture of your pet

Your pet’s name

Your name, city and state

Where did your pet come from?

How did you come to adopt/ rescue your animal?

And anything else you would like us to include about your animal.

Come back on Monday to meet our first Rescue Animal of the Week, Kya, a Yorkshire terrier from Vancouver, Washington!

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by | October 13, 2011 · 10:00 am

New on The Veggie Stand

Help the Humane Society ban puppy mill imports by signing their petition.

According to the Humane Society, “For decades, unscrupulous pet dealers have imported thousands of young, often unweaned and unvaccinated puppies from foreign puppy mills for resale in the U.S. These puppies often suffer harsh, long-distance transport, exposed to extreme temperatures and infectious diseases along the way. Many of them die.”

Help extend the European Union’s ban on animal tested cosmetics

The EU may not be extending their ban on animal tested products. The deadline is coming up and if they do not extend the ban animals will be subjected to this type of cruel testing- and it’s not just make up that they will be testing on them, but drugs and chemicals too.

Vegan Pizza Recipe

Coincidentally as I was writing this posting this recipe, I heard Dr. Oz on TV speaking about three foods that work wonders for improving your memory- three foods that all happen to be in this delicious recipe!

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by | October 12, 2011 · 2:49 pm

The Evocative Artist

A bit redundant, evocative artist. What is the artists job if not to produce emotions that captivate? I was doing a great job with the completion of my book when I ran into a huge writer’s block. Since I never believed in writer’s block, dealing with it was like a non-believer living in a haunted house. No matter what I did, accept it or deny it, it would not go away. For days I stressed. Why was this happening to me?

After speaking with a friend, I slowly began to dig my way out of my writer’s block. First I told him the suspected culprit of my writer’s block. That it was possibly related to a subject I was having doubts about putting in the book. The book is a work of creative non-fiction and although I have already spattered my soul across the Blogosphere there were still things I was afraid to write about. Mainly, I worried about people being judgmental.

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by | October 11, 2011 · 1:12 pm

“Renaissance in the City: My First Trip to the City Solo” on The Huffington Post

Hi Everyone,
Please check out my new article on HuffPost “Renaissance in the City: My First Trip to the City Solo” if you haven’t already read it.
Have a great day!

Hayley

A week ago, I took the train into Grand Central Terminal. I’ve done it many times before but this was the first time I did it alone and I was a bit nervous — well, terrified really. Not much was different from all the other times I’d arrived at the station. I walked up the stairs past the dingy basement that withheld the tracks and ascended into the terminal. It stood like a shrine that brought together the history and life of Manhattan’s past and present creating a timeless existence encased entirely in large bricks of white marble. I stood in awe for a moment as I always did upon arrival, but this time I stood there mainly because I was unsure of where to go next. All I knew was that somehow I had to find the subway. Somehow. As I pondered, I looked up at the ceiling eternally painted midnight blue and adorned with stars and constellations. They looked down at me as if they were the answer to all my navigational questions; the star map that would lead me to the subway and all subsequent stops on my journey.

Read the rest of the article after the jump.

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