vegan chai

what is my problem?

i was just looking at msnbc.com and noticed that they had a video story (presumably from tonight's nbc national news) about the wildebeest migration. it was something about global warming--excuse me, "climate change"--affecting animals as well as humans. i was actually pretty impressed that the national news would devote time to such a story, and i love good animal footage, so i clicked the link.

of course, as usual, this was a mistake.

the story was quite good, but in the process i was treated to footage of a sweet baby wildebeest who broke his leg crossing a river. it totally broke my heart, and the news people took a liking to him and tried to follow him all day. eventually the herd met up with lions, and there was some drama watching the injured baby. my stomach started to hurt. i kept watching anyway, like an idiot, thinking, "they won't show that on the news." he escaped harm the first time, surrounded by his mother and other adult wildebeests. but of course, they met up with lions again, and eventually i had to see him being killed by lions.

there was also brief footage of another wildebeest being killed by lions, and another being killed by a crocodile.

i probably should just never ever ever EVER click on news stories about animals. i'm far too optimistic, and often disappointed.

it's turkey time again!

if you're a long-time reader, you'll know that this is my third time promoting farm sanctuary's adopt-a-turkey project. the first year, i adopted pumpkin, and last year, i adopted sunflower and blossom. well, farm sanctuary recently sent out their adoption call, and last week i adopted juniper. lookit the sun shining through her wattle! isn't that the best?

please consider sponsoring a turkey this year! your $20 donation goes a long way toward helping feed and house the turkeys that live at farm sanctuary. i met the california turkeys last year, and they are both adorable and hilarious. if you're a vegan surrounded by omnis (like me), you could even take the picture of your adopted turkey to your family thanksgiving and talk sweetly to it all through dinner. hee.

and if you're anywhere near new york or california, you should definitely go to the celebration for the turkeys, and pet a turkey for me.

the landfill kitten

yesterday i had just finished my cat-socializing shift and just started my dog-walking shift at the humane society when a very interesting thing happened.[/run-on; awkward]

let me start over.

yesterday at the humane society, i spent two hours playing with kitties. i do this every monday, and then i spend another two hours walking pups. it is often the highlight of my week. the cats i snuggled yesterday had some sad stories... one of them was abandoned by his person when his person moved to china(!) but luckily the person's landlord took the kitty in. unfortunately, the landlord's dog wasn't fond of the cat, and she felt he deserved better than being pestered by a dog constantly, so she surrendered him to us. he was a total sweetie and i spent a really long time cuddling him. another one of yesterday's kitties had been surrendered a month ago because his first person developed allergies, and then was re-surrendered after living in his new home for a month because of "roommate conflict." he was also a total sweetie, and i spent some good quality time with him. anyhow, eventually it became time to switch to the dogs.

i did my walk-through and marked down all the dogs who could go for a walk, and then i got ready to take the first one out. he was a sassy little puppy who was completely adorable, but on the negative side, he thought it was his job to eat my shoes, my shoelaces, and my jeans rather than go for a walk. it was a challenge, to say the least, to get him down the hallway and out the door. i found myself actually trying to figure out how to grow my arm longer so that i would be able to do a better job holding him away from my feet and legs.

almost as soon as we got outside the building and around the corner from the door, someone honked. this actually happens a lot; people see us out walking the dogs and they honk so that we'll stop and give them a good look at the pup. i've become a little desensitized to the honking, i'll admit. so when this happened yesterday, i briefly turned around, noticed a ginormous truck, and then continued trying to wrestle my puppy down the block. about 10 seconds later, they honked again. that doesn't usually happen, so i paid better attention this time. the ginormous truck pulled up alongside me, and i noticed that it was a waste management truck--the biggest one i've ever seen, seriously. and in it was a huge guy--linebacker huge--who rolled down the passenger window and yelled to me, "i've got a present for you!"

i was a little confused at this point and so i said what any intelligent person would say, "huh?"

at that moment, this massive guy in the massive truck held aloft the sweetest smallest kitten you ever did see. he was probably about 8 weeks old (i'm guessing here), mostly black with a little white (but dirty) blaze on his nose, and white toes. the guy said, "i work at the landfill and he was just wandering around out there! i wanted to bring him here so he would be safe." at that moment, of course, i melted and i waved him over.

he climbed down out of his truck and walked over with the kitten. he explained that he takes these huuuge trailer thingies to the landfill and dumps them, and just as he was about to dump one, this little kitten wandered over behind his back wheels. he said, "i love animals SO much, and i was just really afraid something bad might happen to him. he was all alone. i think he's hungry." i totally wanted to give the guy a hug, and i probably thanked him a billion times. in the meantime, my crazy puppy was totally distracted by the New Person and the Giant Truck so he had actually started to behave. heh.

the man handed the kitten to me, and he was super social and sweet. he was purring when i got him and he never stopped the entire time i was holding him. what a peanut! i assured the guy that i would do whatever i could to get him taken care of, i thanked him one more time, and then i headed back inside with my precious contraband. amazingly i was able to get the puppy back into his kennel without ever alerting him to the kitten's presence, and then i went about my business figuring out how to "surrender" the kitten so he wouldn't be marked as a stray and sent to animal control.

i've probably already said too much, so let's just leave it at that. adorable landfill kitten is safe!!

UPDATE: and now up for adoption! hee.

three years

today is my third vegan anniversary. hooray! and if i remember correctly, i share this day of third-veganversary-ness with ryan of vegblog. how cool is that?

each year i think i want to do something really fantastic and amazing to commemorate this day, and then each year i hang around and do pretty much whatever i would have normally done on that day. maybe i'll have to do a better job of planning in advance. anyhow, this morning i celebrated by walking in the farm sanctuary walk for farm animals (and i raised $775! i'm astounded, and so grateful!), and then for lunch the hubby and i went out to one of my favorite restaurants. i'm considering making cupcakes for myself this evening. hee.

farm sanctuary walk (2007)

wow, am i ever late to the game in promoting this. on sunday, i'll be walking for the third time in farm sanctuary's walk for farm animals. i think most cities have already completed their walk, but we're special so we're not doing it until october 13th. heh.

each year that i've walked, a different person/organization has been "in charge," which keeps things interesting. this year, like last year, i've approached several businesses about posting notices about the walk, and had a pretty good response to that. i love being out and about and seeing one of the posters! i have my fundraising page all set up, and i sent out my emails, but it looks like i was a bit too ambitious with my monetary goal this year. hee! oh well, whatever pledges i can get will be helpful, so it's all good.

during last year's walk i was riding high on my recent visit to the CA farm sanctuary, which was awesome. it gave me such a sense of purpose! i know that sounds kind of corny, but it's true. this year, i will be walking on my vegan anniversary (it will be 3 years on saturday), which is equally awesome. i can't think of many better ways to commemorate such an important day.