I remember when Katrina hit in New Orleans and all the rescue efforts that went into saving the pets that were left behind.  I know that people come first, but as a big pet loer and owner of a bunch of furry critters, I bawled my eyes out watching people leave their pets behind and then later trying to find them.

Hopefully now with Gustav on the way, agencies and owners can be more prepared.  Here are some sites that help with just that:

Pet and Animal World:  http://www.petsandanimals.org/pet_disaster_tips.asp

The HUMANE SOCIETY Disaster Center: http://www.hsus.org/hsus_field/hsus_disaster_center/

FEMA: Animals and Emergencies – http://www.fema.gov/individual/animals.shtm

Pet Friendly Hotels – http://www.petswelcome.com/

A tiger does not proclaim its tigritude- it pounces

–Taban Lo Liyong

Geeks in Love

I just can’t stop looking at this picture.  These two probably are clueless about the love and affection that is oozing off of them and how much it is affecting those that are watching.  This scene actually brought tears to my eyes because I imagined in their close proximity that they are texting each other to not infect the moment with audio.  Its almost like they are communicating using sign language.  Silence is a virtue when you are in love.

Funston has a Dogbook account on Facebook and other pooches and felines have Twitter accounts, so I figured, why not?  I was planning on documenting the pet side of San Francisco and this way I can really try and do it from the dog’s perspective – especially a teeny tiny one like Funny.

@funston

If it weren’t for my amazing chihuahua, Funston, I’m not sure what state of mind I would be in today.  I thank every day for this wonderful, happy, cute as heck, bundle of fun.  Thank you Funston, I <3 you!

I got into work this morning and saw an IM chat window open from my brother Mike.  I didn’t close down IM before l was last at my computer so my presence was probably set to “available.”  Here is what I read.  This definitely made my day!!

I’ve been writing about things that annoy me so I’m taking a moment to plunk down some things that made me smile this past weekend…

• It was a sunny day at Gasworks Park in Wallingford, Seattle last weekend and a bunch of people were enjoying the beautiful day…I saw people flying kites, riding bikes, throwing frisbees, running, walking, playing fetch with their dog, lounging, hugging, kissing, cuddling, holding hands, canoeing, rowing, sailing, and my favorite – rolling down the hill.
• I had the very fun privilege of hanging with 4 other Canadians at ComiCon and wandering downtown Seattle. It was great to talk in my native tongue and my company knowing exactly what I was saying
• I received texts from 3 different friends along the lines of “I’m drunk and don’t know what I’m saying…” and wondering how many times I’ve done that.

Lastly, I didn’t have one drink all weekend. Does that mean that I’m going to lose my party girl title? Fine by me!

I was working out at the gym yesterday and glanced up at the TVs on the wall and saw some tigers. Well of course I had watch the show. Two large adult tigers were being transported in crates and were very upset. I thought at first that the the big cats were being abused, but then realized they were being rescued by IFAW.

“International Fund for Animal Welfare” or IFAW.org works to improve animal welfare, prevent animal cruelty and abuse, protect wildlife and provide animal rescue around the world. From stopping the elephant ivory trade, to ending the Canadian seal hunt and saving the whales from extinction, IFAW works to create solutions that benefit both animals and people.

I hadn’t heard of IFAW before…I am more familiar with World Wildlife Fund or the The Humane Society of the United States.

The show focused around how tigers are being kept in captivity in the US and then getting too big and wild for the handlers - in some cases, getting loose and killing people.  The IFAW workers rescued some of these tigers from a life of abuse and transported them to a tiger sanctuary.  Kudos to IFAW thumbs down to anyone that thinks its a good idea to keep a tiger captive in their house.

If you need a tiger <3 fix, check out the following:

>>WWF has a neat tiger camera trap where you can see tigers wondering around in various wildlife sanctuaries.

>>BigCatRescue has some feel good stories with some goovy tunes to boot.

“All Good Things (Come To An End)

“Honestly what will become of me
don’t like reality
It’s way too clear to me
But really life is dandy
We are what we don’t see
Missed everything daydreaming [Chorus:]
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to end?
come to an end come to an
Why do all good things come to an end?

I’m wondering if we are living too long now to be with one person.  I say this because a friend reminded me the other day that humans use to only live until their 30s and it was no big deal to be with someone for 10-20 years because that was your lifetime.  Now we are living until our 80s, 90s  and that means if we are married sometime in our 20s or 30s then we would theoretically be with one person for more than 50 years!  That’s a helluva long time to be with one person.  On top of that, genetically speaking humans really aren’t meant to be monogamous.

We all go through phases as we age and our needs change.  What I wanted when I was a teenager was different in my 20s and is again changing in my 30s.

So what I’m asking here is along with the two, three or more phases in our lives, multiple career changes, should we have a different partner for each phase? 

Something to listen to while you ponder this – Goodbye my Lover by James Blunt.