For a long time, I've wanted to be a vegetarian. Wanted it very badly, in fact. The problem was that everytime I began my journey on the road to meatlessness, I started craving a big, juicy t-bone. This isn't meant to be insensitive or amuse...just the truth. Whenever I told myself to abstain, I started to crave the very thing I was abstaining from, and as a result, I failed time and time again. So months later and I'm here again, trying to eat healthier. Several weeks go by and I start noticing that I haven't eaten red meat in a while...then I can't remember when the last time I ate pork was...and chicken hasn't touched my plate in days. I'd gone without mammal and bird flesh for two straight weeks and hadn't felt like running to a steak the entire time. Who would have thunk it? My one concession to meat was the consumption of fish and seafood. Not a lot, mind you...I've never eaten loads of meat anyways, but a can of tuna in some soups or stews, a few clams in an omlete or two, or a shrimp added to a vegetable stirfry now and then...these are the things I enjoy. I'm also lucky in that our town has a local fish monger who gets them straight from a small boat fisherman on the coast...very fresh! I don't eat them in excess: a pound of shrimp, two cans of tuna, a small bag of croakers or mackerel will tide me over the course of a month or so and many, many meals. Mostly my diet consists of vegetables, fruit, eggs, seaweed, rice, and soy products. And I've been doing this for a long, long time now. So imagine my surprise when I find that there's a name for it. Pescatarianism. Who knew? Now, I know I'm not a vegetarian; I never claimed to be. I don't have the will for it...yet, but one day I'd like to get there. I've even fallen off the pescatarian wagon a time or two (chicken broth and beef dashima being the culprits as I'm still looking for a comparative soup base that can replace these. The traditional vegetable broth that you can in stores is a bit too carrot and tomatoe tasting for my purposes.) But hopefully this will set me on the path.