Of course, there’s also Natalie Portman who reintroduced dairy and eggs into her diet during her pregnancy, but who may well be back on the diet and indeed purported to be planning a vegan documentary based on the excellent book, Eating Animals.

Anyway, I don’t mean to get down on any of these celebs, it’s just we celebrate each new big name due to their being in the public eye and their ability to spread the word, so there’s a tinge of sadness when they leave the fold.

Besides, we still have Mike Tyson and Bill Clinton, who recently endorsed The Blood Sugar Solution, the children’s book Eddie Shapes Up, and Think and Grow Thin.

And now, the good news — especially for her own health — that Venus Williams has gone vegan, and her sister, Serena has followed suit to support her. The reason? Health…

It turns out Venus has Sjörgren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease of the tear and saliva glands, often accompanied by rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, which has left her drained and in pain. Her switch to veganism seeks to leverage its well-known inflammation-fighting prowess. This women’s tennis fan wishes her all the best in 2012!

It’s great he’s so focused on health now, between quitting smoking and drugs and exercising religiously every morning for the last ten years, and now working on improving his diet after watching Forks Over Knives.

Celebrity stories like these are important as fame has made them “larger than life” figures in the public psyche and, by talking about health matters such as veganism and prostate check-ups, they help bring these issues into people’s awareness and conversations.

Is he right?

Front and side approaches

I had the VEGAN CLUB:

The description, “Baked tofu and smokey tempeh bacon with lettuce, tomato, red onion, stone ground mustard and vegan aioli” was definitely accurate, as it was a very smokey sandwich.

My Dad had the BLACK BEAN HEMP-NUT BURGER, “served with avocado, goat cheese, mustard, basil, aioli and sprouts.”

OK, so that one’s not vegan, with the goat cheese, but at least I’m not showing you my sister’s choice, the pasta primavera (hello cheese!).

The chocolate cake, however, was vegan (and the ice cream too).

The latter, that small scoop of ice cream, was a separate dessert dish on its own, and, to put it mildly, something of a disappointment in its size to price ratio. Other than that, a good and filling meal.

Alas, the alarm I’d set upon making the decision to “rest my eyes” for a bit, failed to go off. Or, perhaps, it did go off for a while, and I processed it as an air raid siren or a video game? Who knows? But, next thing I did know was the clock read 1:14 AM (or some such).

So, I “celebrated” on Mountain time this year, which just meant watching replays of the already toasted public gatherings and fireworks and ball droppings. Speaking of which, anyone know if they reached the anticipated million people mark in New York’s Times Square?

As for New Year’s Day itself, I was much more prepared, if still a little tired, as I set out for Mom’s. Inspired by the Kashi-black bean mix of Christmas, I opted for a more loaf like consistency by swapping in split peas instead of beans. The peas melted into a smooth, cohesive and flavorful filling for the gaps between the chewy grains, and it all firmed up beautifully in the fridge.

We spent a relaxing and carefree day, chatting, putting together a bit of assemble-it-yourself furniture, and playing pool with my step-dad. Lunch was skipped and dinner pushed up to 3:30′ish.

While the main course of the day’s traditional German meal is off limits, Mom kept some sauerkraut and potatoes out of the crockpot for me, and, naturally, the peas — representing wealth in the coming year — were never destined for the slow cooker. (Add to them, all the split peas in my loaf, and it should be a good year, right? )

Was quitting smoking one of your New Year’s resolutions? Have you tried hypnosis?