What's in a Name?

So far this has been mostly a food blog – capturing what’s been going on in the kitchen from day to day. I haven’t discussed anything regarding the “transition to a vegan diet” component. Part of me always wants to do things perfectly. I want to wake up fully-formed into a fresh, vegan me. The reality is there’s still a ton of stuff in my pantry, fridge, and freezer with hidden and not-so-hidden dairy and egg ingredients. Well maybe not a ton, but enough. I can’t see myself pitching everything just because it has “organic honey” listed as the second to last ingredient. What about that stash of burgers with trace amounts of egg whites. And why oh why do manufactures insist on making so much soy cheese with casin? Is avoiding refined sugar a deal-breaker? All this stuff is in my possession from days when I wasn’t concerned about avoiding dairy and egg ingredients. Throwing it out would be wasteful and part of my goal here is to be less wasteful and more environmentally conscious. Also (dare I say it) my prime motivator in becoming vegan is a healthier diet. I’m just not obsessed with throwing out my wool and exorcising all leather from the house. My shampoo probably contains some kind of animal ingredient. I can’t stress about that now. Call me a selfish vegan, but this is about my health. I’m trying to pull off this “lifestyle” change living with a very tolerant and open-minded occasional-omnivore housemate. He likes cheese and crackers, indulgent traditional baked-goods and a steak now-and-then. That’s fine with me. I’m not out to change anyone here but me. Also, I’ve tried to go vegan before and got exhausted along the way, burned out and gave up. As I’ve learned in other areas of my life this exhaustion is probably due to trying to be perfect and accepting no failure. So can I pull it off this time by being more tolerant of my inconsistencies? Why does “vegan” have to have clothing rules? Can’t a person eat a vegan diet and live in peace? Do I have to be a vegan warrior or nothing at all? Can someone call themselves vegan and still think PETA is insane?