They Need You

Some of the beautiful dogs I met this week:



This beautiful puppy has a treatable skin condition that makes him look like he was recently shaved - army haircut style. I just wanted to hug and cuddle him. He was acting like most puppies - curious about everything, very playful and full of energy.



Big and strong! Was barking at other dogs - not sure if he was acting protective or just saying hi to them. I thought I would have trouble getting him back in his kennel but he was very obedient.



This guy gave me a workout of the day. Getting him in and out of the kennel was a challenge. The second he was out he became totally calm. He is a recent arrival so is probably totally freaked out about staying there. He has the softest fur with wrinkles, like shar pei and a cute underbite, like a bull dog (can't see it on this photo). I love his brindle color. He is very compact.



This girl has very cute ears! She was vocal at first and kept jumping on me. Turned out she was craving touch - we sat with her front paws on my knees for some time as I was petting her. She looks older than her age but still acts like a puppy a bit.

I will miss them a lot but hope that they will be out of the shelter and with loving owners soon.

******PLEASE ADOPT************

Black Friday

I did end up buying stuff on Black Friday but only because I had a day off and just needed to get some things and get it over with. One impulse purchase was these shoes from Payless.



Ever since I stopped buying real leather, most of my shoes come from Payless and the ones I buy for my Mom also. I tried these on and they were very comfortable and looked great on. I've been meaning to get open toe pair also so my big toes can breathe! Can't wear them till spring but really looking forward to it.

Uxorious

My aspiration is to learn a word a day times three (one word in English, one in French and one in Spanish).

Too tired to start with French/Spanish thing today, but have one word that I was curious about in English: uxorious.

Context: "self assured, ..., non-drinker, and, once he had married Goldwyn Girl Gloria Delson, in 1945, steadfastly uxorious."

Definition: "Excessively submissive or devoted to one's wife." (I like this word!)

Can not find a one word translation of "uxorious" into Russian. Just getting: "чрезмерно любящий свою жену".

I noticed the word in "Movies Rock" supplement magazine. It was in the article about songwriter Van Heusen (pal of Sinatra). I was shocked to read about how objectified women were in America at that time - it made me want to throw up. Seriously, I had no idea it was that bad. Van Heusen and Sinatra were womanizer pigs.

The other article I liked was on "Saturday Night Fever". Disco music and fashion turn me off so much - I never watched the movie, but now I am curious to see it. I also never knew that 22 year old Travolta had a 40 year old girlfriend who died of cancer in his arms.

Volkswagen's Cruel Experiments on Birds

"Volkswagen Foundation is paying experimenters at German and U.S. universities to capture and use songbirds in worthless experiments that terrify the birds before they are ruthlessly killed for curiosity's sake. Although the use of any animal for experimentation is objectionable, the thought of birds--who are universal symbols of joy and freedom--captured, caged, terrorized, and vivisected, is particularly heinous. Birds are indeed so fragile that they often die of fright from the capture or transportation process.

These atrocious acts are taking place at the University of Oldenburg in Germany and Duke University in North Carolina. Songbirds captured from the wild and captive canaries and finches are exposed to different light cycles or are fitted with eye caps glued tightly to their heads to block out all light. Researchers then cut the birds' heads off to slice their retinas out of their eyes, and dissect and study their brains for clues to the secret of migration."

Please Take Action and send a polite message to Stefan Jacoby, VW President and CEO asking him to use his influence to earmark funds for research that does not entail the use of animals.

Japan and Whaling

Japanese store MUJI opened in NYC last week. Although I wanted to wait before I go there, I was in the neighborhood over the weekend and decided to stop by. I love many of their products and actually need some of the things that they sell, but I've decided to not support Japanese companies because of the country's decision to hunt whales and dolphins.

Same goes for UNIQLO - I've been buying a lot of stuff there, particularly, jeans for my mom. I also shopped at Takashimaya and could not wait to check out new Kinokuniya book store and cafe.

I would also really love to visit Japan but this trip would have to wait. If one day soon, Japan will put a stop to these senseless killings, I will be overjoyed and will book my trip asap.

Please tell the US government to do all it can to put pressure on Japan to stop whaling and save the whales.

"Japan's annual Southern Ocean whale hunt is conducted under the guise of science but has been condemned internationally. This season, Japan aims to kill more than 1,000 whales, including 50 endangered fin whales and, for the first time in 40 years, 50 threatened humpback whales will also be harpooned." (greenpeace.com)

Marketing Mystery

I was looking at amazon bestseller list today and this was at #1 spot:



Who is Supreme Master Ching Hai? How did this book published in June get to #1 spot? Verrry interesting....