A Mindful Carnivore: Same blog, new name

Dear Readers:

Two teachers
Two teachers

You’ve been very tolerant.

For months now—in email subscriptions, in RSS readers, and on my website—I have been subjecting you to the unpalatable blandness of the blog title People. Animals. Nature. Yet there has been nary a peep of protest.

The affront to your good taste is, I hope, at an end.

Next time you visit my site, you’ll see the new title, A Mindful Carnivore. Within a few days, that title will be showing up in the email and RSS feeds, too. I think the transition will be smooth. If you run across any glitches, please do let me know. (If I’m on your blogroll and it doesn’t update when my RSS feed does, I’d sure appreciate it if you could refresh the listing.)

Don’t worry: I won’t be writing only about eating meat.

The new title aims to capture the essence of the odd perspective that I, a vegan-turned-hunter, bring to the topics of…er, well…people, animals, and nature. It comes from the current working title of a writing project I’m working on. It’s in the early stages yet, but will—one of these days—be my first book.

A number of people, including my wonderful wife Catherine and several enthusiastic friends, were of huge help in getting me as far as including “carnivore” in the working title. (Our collective brainstorming generated a few memorable ideas, including From Tofu to Tenderloins and The Vegetarian’s Guide to Successful Deer Hunting. Titles including “omnivore” were contenders, too, but I think a sort-of-famous book used that recently.)

It took the sharp eye of Laurie Abkemeier, the fantastic book agent I’m working with, to pick the word “mindful” out of my early scrawlings and combine it with “carnivore.”

Next up in the blog, thoughts on something I overheard in a restaurant: “My rule is, ‘I’ll only eat it if I could kill it.’ And I could definitely kill one of those.”

© 2010 Tovar Cerulli

9 comments

  1. Arthur says:

    Tovar,

    I love the new blog name. It’s very unique.

    I’m looking forward to the new blog post as well. And, when exactly, is this book going to be coming out? 🙂 🙂

  2. Norseman says:

    I’ve made the required changes to my blogroll. I never realized just how unpalatably bland the old title was until I read the new one. Excellent choice!

  3. Tovar says:

    Arthur, Norseman, Casey: Glad you like the new title, and thanks for the blog roll updates! I’ll let you know when I have book-related news that’s fit to print.

    SBW: If this was going to be a how-to book, that title definitely would have been my first choice!

  4. Tovar says:

    P.S. To see the feed under the new title in Google Reader, I had to unsubscribe and resubscribe. Or I could have edited the title in GR manually.

  5. Bill Koury says:

    Hi Tovar,

    Gee, I was writing you a very long complaint about the blandness of your blog title, and now you make the change before I can send it! 🙂 I was thinking something like “A Vegetarian’s Handbook to Hunting, Shooting and Eating Venison and Other Tasty Animals”.

    Anyway, I’m sure you’ll continue to blog about a wide variety of your outdoor experiences and I’ll continue to enjoy them.

    But does the title imply that you will view and write about the activities of the natural world from the perspective of a (mindful) carnivore? (I hope chipmunks will not start looking like food!) 🙂

  6. Damn It Tovar,
    Why do other people think of all the good titles? Seriously, though, the title does seem to epitomise all that I’ve come to expect from your writings in the short time that I’ve been involved in this ‘outdoors blogosphere’. I’m looking forward, very much, to future developments.
    Best regards,
    John

  7. Tovar says:

    Bill: Glad I beat you to it! I don’t think my perspective will be any more carnivorous than before. More thoughts on chipmunks and other potential edibles coming soon.

    John: Looking around at great titles that have already been used, I often feel the same way. Thanks for your continued interest and encouragement!

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