Ty,
I think you have a gift for inspiration. Maybe you should be an inspirational blogger. OH! Look. You are one. I guess what hooked me about your blog was our shared quest for continuous self improvement. I'm happy you've found a new inspiration. Because it inspires me to be a better person in the same way that a knight on a quest is driven by the company of his peers on the same quest.
Have you tried a truly healthy diet consisting of a balanced portion of meat, vegetables and grains. And THEN testing your Vegan diet? Comparing the unhealthy cruise food (one of the main reasons I'll likely never be found on a mass marketed cruise ship) to healthy Vegan cuisine is probably not the most balanced test of your newfound Veganism.
I don't think it matters if you eat meat or not as long as you have a consistent supply of protein in your diet. We both have relatively fast metabolisms and protein is what we're designed to burn. It burns slow and gives a constant state of energy versus the spikes and troughs of carbs.
Evan and Kelsey,
Ever hear of backwoods rednecks going vegan or veggie? Me either. It's because they see meat as something you *get* to eat when you can afford it. So, urban intellectuals are usually the only people who even consider a vegan or veggie diet on philosophical grounds alone. So, that fact is bound to scew the IQ data on who eats what. The only real way to test IQ based on diet would be to take a sample population of a uniform diet, change the diet of a sample and test that sample population against the control group. That way the independent variable is the diet and is completely controlled.
So, vegetarians as a population are very likely more intelligent that the larger, general meat eating population...yes. But are they more intelligent because of their diet or are they more intelligent because its mostly above average IQs that decide to change their diet based on philosophy or longevity concerns? Who knows... No study on that, yet.
Back to Ty,
I have a friend who is a very talented jewelry designer. I talked with her about your hat desire and she's willing to work with you. She already works with swarovski crystal and precious stones of all kinds. She's excited about the uniqueness of the project. Just let me know if you want an intro.
Joshua