A lot of people have the image of vegetarianism as meaning self-denial and limiting one's choices. I've been finding the opposite, that since I've been trying to eat as vegan as possible (and pretty much totally vegan at home and in anything I prepare), my diet has gotten a lot more varied and colorful.

Dinner tonight — after a round or two of What do you want to do for dinner? I dunno, what do you want to do? Uh... — was brown rice vermicelli (bún — 59 cents at Sun Hop Fat #1 grocery for a package of what would be four servings if you don't let Pirate serve) with homemade peanut sauce; I topped mine with sliced cucumber, mango, carrot, and avocado while Pirate stuck to avocado.

Very tasty, very colorful. My toss-it-together dinners back when I was eating omnivorously were never this interesting. What comes to mind is one of my favorite analogies: If you set out to write a sonnet, you're voluntarily accepting certain constraints and limitations. And yet if you do, some wonderful things can result.