Quote of the Day

"One crisis at a time." ~Dwight K. Schrute

Desert Garden

On my last trip to the Huntington, I snapped close to 100 great shots of all the gardens, including the desert garden which was celebrating its 100th anniversary. Unfortunately disaster struck a few months later and I lost almost all of the pictures I took.

BUT! . . . . I did manage to save a small handful, and this is one of my favorites!

Huntington Library Lincoln Exhibit

Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibit

Incase you've never been to the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens before, here's a great opportunity to visit for the first time.

Now through April 27th they'll be showing this collection of Lincoln memorabilia in honor of the bicentennial. I'll probably head over there mid-April, and will definitely snap some pics of the grounds since I haven't been there in quite a while!

LA Times Road Trips

108 Road Trips from Los Angeles

I thought this was a great feature online in the LA Times today, particularly given that our Golden State's current picture ain't so "golden," or "rosy" or any other soothing color right now.

They've put together info on great road trips and have included the mileage and cost of gas from downtown LA.

Yuki Johnson

I know that LBJ was protested until the cows came home over that incident where he lifted one of his beagles by the ears for a photograph (I probably would've been right there on the White House lawn protesting too), but this pic and story about Yuki, the abandoned-at-the-gas-station mutt, and his singing companion, President LBJ, is easy fodder for a dog lover. When you see a guy throwing his head back and howling in unison with a dog, it's hard to not instinctively know that he's an animal lover.(U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, David Bruce, in the background.)

Speaking of which, I really wish the Obama's would pick a rescue pitbull mix (www.badrap.org has pics of a pit Katrina survivor sitting proudly among a class of autistic children that her new owner teaches). Those dogs are the sweetest, most photogenic group on the planet.

And . . . I'm sure Sarah Palin could really use the positive PR right now. :)

Happy Valentine's Day 2009

I've been very few places in this world, but I can say that I've snorkeled along the Great Barrier Reef before and have flown over Heart Reef, pictured here, in a helicopter. It's stunning.

(And maybe one day when I get all of my old photos scanned, I can actually post my own picture of it!)

Tattle Tails' Pet Pic of the Day

I almost can't stand it this guy is so cute. Not even Meryl Streep can pull off a signature stare like this! If I lived in New Jersey, I'd go grab him from the shelter he's in right now!

Picture compliments of Joseph Frazz Photo Stream. Worth checking out. Killer four-legged friend photos.

My Kind'a Shoe

These shoes were part of the Bread & Butter Fashion Show in Barecelona last month. I would buy them in a second, if only they weren't high-tops!

Quality Action for Animals

This piece by Carrie Pollare, For the Love of Doggies, helped calm my nerves and lower my blood pressure a bit after reading a story about an animal cruelty case the other day.

I also immediately went to her site, I'm Tired of Animal Cruelty, and ordered a handful of the charity bracelets. I'm by no means a jewelry-wearing gal. I prefer tattoos or nothing at all. But I must say, the simplicity of the recycled tires and metal, coupled with the donation made for each one sold, had me at hello!
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Update: Finally got my charity bracelets in the mail last week. Interestingly, they also make good cat toys if you leave the tag on!

Creature Comforts

It just occurred to me recently that I never blog about the one subject that I am perhaps most passionate about--animals, particularly dogs. And I'm sure that this is largely because writing responsibly and intelligently about issues that stir our emotions is incredibly difficult to do. (Another reason for continued cultivation and celebration of those who justifiably assume the title of "writer".)

But I've also noticed that the more opportunities I have to read articles and commentaries by fellow animal aficionados, the more comforted I feel, despite living in a world in which animal cruelty is so much the norm. Most days I feel helpless and tormented by stories of abandoned or neglected pets and tales of blatant brutality. Earlier this week I found myself reading a very detailed anecdote buried in a news story that involved a man beating a dog over the phone as a way to threaten his girlfriend and it literally brought me to my knees it was so upsetting.

I've heard that there are two types of real unconditional love: a mother for her child, and a dog for its owner. Unlike people, dogs are not spiteful. They are not manipulative, selfish, or cruel. They implicitly trust people (often even after years of it being beaten out of them) and there is always a very specific, clear reason for all of their actions (i.e. If your dog is feeling neglected, he might very well misbehave simply because he is trying to get your attention).

And so for me, working towards the protection of our fuzzy friends and the education of humans struggling to respect and understand them seems a pretty important task. So until I find my own active niche in this area, I'll settle for writing as much as I can about it, rather than wallowing in my usual paralysis.

Happy Birthday Charles and Abe!

In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed. ~Charles Darwin

I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least moreunusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot. ~Abraham Lincoln

Today's Google Theme--Darwin's 200th Birthday

Love it!

Another good Suleman piece

Tim Rutten's got a great article in the LA Times today: The excesses of Nadya Suleman

The last couple paragraphs are worth reproducing in their entirety:

When the Nadya Sulemans of the world say, as she has in interviews, that they undergo these extreme, invasive, unpleasant, uncertain and expensive medical procedures because they "want children," that isn't really the case. If what people want is children -- and the incomparable experience of parenthood -- there are tens of thousands of children in our country and perhaps millions more abroad waiting for adoption. Thousands of others in our country are waiting for foster care.

The impulse that has made fertility medicine such a large and lucrative specialty in American medicine is about something other than children; it's about the narcissistic assumption that one is "entitled" to "the experience" of childbearing and, more to the point, the notion that, somehow, if your particular strands of DNA don't live on into another generation, the species will be poorer for it.

That sense of entitlement and its enabling delusion are about a lot of things -- but none of them really involve children.

Morality and Babies

The Morality of Eight Babies or, Sometimes, Even One

This post by Valerie Tarico is an excellent piece that offers some sincere balance to Holstein's post on the subject of 14-baby lady.

Unlike Tarico, I was not raised fundamentalist, or with any religion for that matter. But I have always felt a very deep sense of faith and spirituality, and I believe that ethics and morality have been central to my identity and actions throughout my life. I agree wholeheartedly with her that progressive minded people too often cower in the shadow of fundamentalist morality rather than championing their own, and that it's high time we stopped forgetting that morality happens to be at the center of our beliefs and actions too.

Where's Jonathan Swift when you need him?

I've been waiting for a good comedic slamming of Miss 14-Baby Bellflower for a few days now, and finally I've found one! I'm sure there will be many more to come, but this is a nice start.

SHUT THAT VAGINA DOWN

Emphasis on "High Definition"

The following is a brief blurb from the Associated Press about a cable debacle during yesterday's Superbowl:

Cable provider apologizes for Super Bowl porn
by Arthur H. Rotstein

TUCSON, Ariz (AP)-- A cable television provider has apologized to Tucson-area customers over a 30-second porn interruption during the Super Bowl. Philadelphia-based Comcast issued a brief statement Monday saying the company is "mortified" and is conducting a thorough investigation.

Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer Khoury says the initial investigation suggests that the interruption was an "isolated, malicious act."

The company says only customers in the Tucson area receiving the standard definition feed--not high definition--were affected.

Tucson media outlets reported that they received calls from irate viewers about the porn, which aired just after the Arizona Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald scored on a long touchdown reception during the game's final minutes.

What got my attention is the sentence explaining that only customers "receiving standard definition feed--not high definition" had the problem. I don't know if the purpose of that sentence was a marketing push for viewers to start using high def, or to re-emphasize that at least those who were exposed to the porn didn't have to see it in high definition, but either way it gave me a good chuckle.

Dr. Jill

LA Times article on Dr. Biden's new teaching job


Given my own community college roots, and the fact that I also hope to teach at a community college someday after earning my PhD in education, I was quite happy to see that Jill Biden has found a new teaching position at Northern Virginia Community College.

Other than the incredibly annoying and patronizing comment so typical of Amy Sullivan included in the article, this is actually a nice discussion of Biden's work and the ongoing debate over the use of the term "Dr."---which, by the way, is very standard within academic circles and not at all uncommon (however pompous it might seem in other contexts).