In 2007, PETA euthanized 1815 or 1896 animals it took in (taken from the virginia.gov website). That is a euthanasia rate of over 95%. In the whole of Virginia, where PETA is headquartered, the euthanasia rate for non-PETA shelters was around 35%. This includes no-kill shelters but also open-admission shelters where animals are routinely euthanized. What is going on?
Can someone explain to me why their kill rates are so high? Do they even try to adopt out animals? They adopted out 17 of 1896 animals. SEVENTEEN. What? Are we being duped? Or can this be explained?
Last night, I applied to five or six different dog walking companies. Hopefully, I'll get hired by one of them since I need a part time day time job that doesn't involve dressing up in any way. And the perks of being outside everyday and with a dog pretty much rocks. :)
I was supposed to hang out with Steve tonight but due to a bad phone, I missed a bunch of texts and just called it a night on my own. I accidentally dropped my phone into a glass of water (thank goodness it was just water) on Friday morning and it's been a bit dodgy since then. Certain buttons don't work in certain menus, blah, blah, blah. I took the battery out when it happened and Jacob put it in a bowl of uncooked rice to draw out the moisture but I think it took until tonight to fully dry out.
I have plans on turning every available sill of my apartment and porch into a mini jungle this spring and summer. I need to start planning now since alot of the stuff I want to plant I grow from seed and I have to start two months or longer before the Zone 5 last frost date. I always have high hopes but my plants usually turn out a bit stunted but it's kind of cool and empowering being able to harvest stubby little peppers to slice up and put in your ramen. :P
The decorating of my apartment is turning into an absolute bust. I think I'm going to opt for a traditional Korean apartment which means no couch and opting for floor seating. Even IKEA couldn't satisfy my need for cheap, European designed, Chinese produced furniwares. :(
When I moved into my apartment, I started seriously thinking about getting a dog. I miss having one and helping take care of Pixie really makes me miss taking care of one. I've been looking at dogs on Petfinder and I found one I liked. I had to put an app in to even meet the dog so I'm hoping they contact me once the holiday is over. The dog's name is Merlin and he's an Australian Cattle Dog and Corgi mix. I love herding dogs and with my schedule, I'm home alot to take care of the needs of a slightly higher energy dog. He was adorable and his profile made him seem like a very well adjusted dog.
In the meantime, while I was in Milwaukee to see Jacob, we went to the Mke Humane Society and I met a great dog named Charlie. He was an Australian Cattle dog mix and about 9 months old. He was about 30 lbs-ish so he might get a little bigger. We got to play with him and I absolutely fell in love. He was attentive, energetic, food treat and toy motivated and in about two minutes, Jacob and I had taught him to lay down. (He already knew sit.) He was playful and didn't mind being stroked on the head, alongside the back and down the butt and tail. He seemed eager to please and not shy but not exuberantly boisterous and had indeed been tagged an "orange" personality which means he can be high energy but also laid back and calm.
He really was perfect.
I got denied his adoption, however, because I have a cat. I was and am pretty sad about it. The adoption counselor insisted that Charlie was mouthy (which is true for herding breeds) and that having a cat was not a good idea.
I absolutely agree that they need to send dogs to homes with all the right ingredients so they are set up to succeed and not fail. However, because Charlie was only 9 months old, I really feel like introducing him into a home with a cat would take a bit of time with separation and gradual introduction but that it's absolutely doable. He's more easily trainable due to the young age and being a herding dog and the other variable is that my cat is used to being with dogs because Pixie (miniature pinscher) is around a lot. Besides, I used to have an Aussie and have experience with herding dogs and the kind of mental stimulation they need plus energy needs. I talked to a few people and they suggested I plead my case to the humane society.
I checked the website and Charlie's picture was gone meaning he had been adopted already. I was really happy for him but also really bummed. Oh well, good for him. :) Maybe Merlin is still available and my having a cat won't be an issue.
One of the joys of being back in the city is the ability to do things at night like watching the late showing of Let the Right One In. I mean, forget about trying to see it in Gurnee, IL.
I had it in my mind that I would try to use public transportation as much as possible since I was back and I live in reasonable(?) distance from the Logan Square Blue Line stop but the late hour and the fact that the Diversey bus pretty much stops at midnight had me driving. It was a straight shot down Diversey to Landmark and I actually found parking right in front of the B&N! Really?!
As it turns out, no one but Jason could make it to such a late showing. The movie was good. I enjoyed it a lot and was reasonably able to watch all the suspense parts of the film without making too much noise. I did have my hands to my face a few times in anticipation.
The movie had a different take on some familiar vampire traditions which I appreciated and after watching the film I realized that I am so.not.ready.for.winter.
Made it into the paper again! Yay! And a metromix photographer came in last nigh to take some pics of my screen printing class for a "girls night out" story so we should be showing up soon again! Yay free publicity!
It's really weird being referred to by my last name. : )
My divorce is official as of Friday, February 29th, 2008. That's right, Leap Day. I now only have to think about it every four years. : )
(And, oddly enough, my papers were filed on February 14th, Valentines Day. What are the fucking odds of that?)
with my family. Specifically, my cousins in TN whom I'm visiting this weekend. In about fourteen hours I'll be back at home in Chicago, back where I don't have to eat bacon or any sort of meat product and back where there are plenty of Asians and other minorities but I will really miss them.
If, one day, I get remarried to someone I want to have children with and I actually have said children, I can only aspire to be as good a mother as my cousin Jeanette.
(sigh)
I'm in love with my family.
Is that a word? I don't think so but guess what, everybody? My divorce is imminent! In three days, the required six month separation period will be over and a divorce will be forthcoming. What a lovely thought! :)
(quite.)
http://users.livejournal.com/kimya_dawso
Read it. I defy you not to feel something. But if you don't, that's okay, too. It's just that I appreciate people who have struggled and have had heartache in their lives. I really do.
Besides, Kimya Dawson named her daughter Panda Delilah, and everyone knows I'll love anything named Panda. : )
Diablo Cody is a great writer and although I know no 16 yr old that talks like this, the dialogue is fantastic, fun, and unsettlingly truthful at times.
I won't go into details of the film since anyone can get that anywhere and probably more eloquently than I can articulate so I'll just say that Ellen Page is wonderful. Michael Cera plays the awkward teenager like nobody's business and I only wish I had parents like Juno's. I highly recommend this movie and have an open invitation out to everyone (sorry, people I actually know or have emailed with. and live in the chicagoland area. and are normal.): if you don't have anyone to see this with and that's what's stopping you from watching it, I'll go with you. : )
"It is not inertia alone that is responsible for human relationships repeating themselves from case to case, indescribably monotonous and unrenewed. It is shyness before any sort of new and unforseeable experience with which one does not think oneself able to cope, but only someone who is ready for everything, who excludes nothing, not even the most enigmatical, will live the relation to another as something alive."---Rainer Maria Rilke
As anniversaries go, yesterday's was pretty bad. Last night I attended a dinner in memory of my aunt who killed herself in 2002. Five years later, the dinner was a smaller, family affair with lots of kids running around. I went because I love my aunt but it was kind of harsh.
I also got hit with the "when are you going to have a baby?" question. I just LOVE that.
I'm getting my hair cut tonight and I'm creeping myself out. What if they mess it up and I look like a freak? Argh. Wish me luck.
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