Living For My Xs

Today it's like one of those days that it's the calm after - or before - the storm. I had a pretty long, hard working week, but today I just woke up when I wanted to and did stuff for myself, like drink coffee and write on this blog as well as take care of some other stuff.

Tonight we are also playing a show with MT, and I have a lot of damn energy to play that show. It's not always like that. It's like I am totally focused on my goals (to be a better person, partner, to make ends meet)... and all this creates a bunch of feelings and pent up emotions that I am ready to release through hardcore.

It has been a tough time for me recently. A lot of everyday struggle, a lot of questioning myself and what I'm even doing in this music scene -- a stranger in a strange land. "But while the struggle continues, I'm gonna live my dream!" ... and the vegan straight edge is a beacon.

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p.s. I am listening to the song "Sincerly Yours" by Omega Impure's The First in Line album. It is straight edge hip hop by the guy who used to be in DaBlueCorner and a bunch of other pioneering sXe hip hop acts. It's awesome, chilled out, melancholic hip hop with great lyrics and if you're OK with that you should definitely find this. Shit's rad.

Edge kids: Few and Far Between

Being away on holidays for a few days gave me a chance to reflect on what it is to be straight edge in this world. I was away from my friends who are edge and couldn't spend much time online checking out cool straight edge bands or listen to much straight edge music.

The reality of the matter is that this world is definitely NOT straight edge.. not even straight edge-friendly. We live in a world where the norm is to drink and/or smoke and that's that. And even though I know the aforementioned fact well enough, I always feel it more when I am out of context and away from my familiar surroundings.

Does this mean that I get jaded on being straight edge? Hell no!

What I realize is that people who are vegan and especially straight edge are really few and far between. I am not talking about the straight edge kid who does it for fashion or whatever, but about the true warriors who dedicate their life pledging to and promoting a clean lifestyle. Those who are really living it and are supporting it with passion.

I guess this is the reason why those "few and far between" people tend to create tight friendships no matter the distance or their background. If there is some unspoken brotherhood status to being edge, I am happy to claim it. STRAIGHT EDGE!

* by the way of the post's title I remembered (and listened to a few times) SHUTDOWN's awesome, super old school Few and Far Between album. Straight from the late 90s, real hardcore the way it should be played. If you don't have this classic and consider yourself a hardcore fan, do something to find this album! 

No Holiday Break from the Vegan Edge!

The nicest thing about being Vegan Edge in this mess age is that we take these values with me wherever we go. I feel good to have this support, to have worked on this and to be able and call it a part of myself. It's great to have strong, positive beliefs that see you through the day.... and I'm afraid most people in modern society don't go by this.  However, at the end of the day, it's our values and convictions that help us be strong - nothing else. I just feel bad for all the people who have nothing to count on aside their shallow, materialistic, empty lives, without anything to stand for.

So we might go on holidays, chill, interact with people of all kinds, but the values still remain like a diamond in the rough... Vegan Straight Edge!

Don't End Up Like This

When I go out on Saturday nights, I find that a lot of people end up looking like this. Please don't let it be you!

Rather just go straight edge & keep it fresh and clean... Because it's a fact that alcohol abuse and drugs will make you look butt-ugly!

Animal Liberation Vs Human Cruelty

Whatever happens and no matter how far we take it with animal liberation activism, we should always remember that human species (like every other species on Earth) is still an important part of the whole and also the species to which we belong. Let's not make our sensitivity for non-human animals become only an outlet of our disguised hatred towards humans. I see many people who go down the path of activism neglecting their fellow man and this is not something I could ever support. I know that we humans are the ones to blame for a lot of fucked up stuff on this planet (basically its very destruction), but if we turn against ourselves then we're no different than any other extremist who devalues Life as it is. Our aim is to change things... educate, reinstate, escalate...

In other words, please don't end up like these guys below :)

Ό,τι κι αν κάνουμε και όσο μακριά και αν πάμε με τον ακτιβισμό υπέρ της απελευθέρωσης των ζώων, θα πρέπει πάντα να θυμόμαστε ότι το ανθρώπινο είδος (όπως και κάθε άλλο είδος πάνω στη Γη) είναι ένα σημαντικό μέρος του όλου που χρειάζεται κατανόηση, φροντίδα και υποστήριξη. Ας μην κάνουμε την ευαισθησία μας προς τα μη-ανθρώπινα ζώα απλά μια αλληγορία του μίσους μας προς τους ανθρώπους.  Βλέπω πολλούς που ακολουθούν το μονοπάτι του ακτιβισμού να αγνοούν το διπλανό τους άνθρωπο - και αυτό είναι κάτι που δεν θα μπορούσα να υποστηρίξω με τίποτα. Ξέρω ότι εμείς οι άνθρωποι φταίμε για πολλά από τα άσχημα που συμβαίνουν στον πλανήτη (ουσιαστικά για την καταστροφή του), αλλά αν στραφούμε ενάντια στους εαυτούς μας τότε δεν είμαστε διαφορετικοί από τον οποιονδήποτε εξτρεμιστή που υποτιμά την ίδια την αξία της ζωής.