Full To Bursting!

My starred file is full to bursting. It must be shared.

1. Foster Dogs in NYC posted a link to a Salon column which is, in part, about why it's so important to adopt animals right now. There are a lot more heartbreaking reasons that people are giving up pets than you may realize. Despite the fact that I'm pretty sure I'd live on the street before dumping my pets in a shelter I say that because I'm also pretty sure that I wouldn't have to do that because of the sort of people I surround myself with. There but for the grace of god, as they say, so I feel a lot of sympathy for anyone whose entire support system falls victim to disaster and has to make these kinds of horrible decisions. [Insert my spay and neuter chant here.]

2. You've heard me talk up Tony Comstock many times. He's embarking on a new quest. It's not especially complicated (the MPAA ratings are a marketing scheme, basically) but he explains it better. The short version is that his movies of real people having real sex and being interviewed about their relationships are generally unrated. For his upcoming release, Brett & Melanie: Boi Meets Girl, he's going to go through the MPAA ratings process and document it on his (for now) safe for work blog. Please follow that blog or his Twitter feed and support and aid him in his efforts to safeguard free speech and hold censorship at bay. (To say nothing of combating the acceptability of violence over love in our media.)

3. My Blogher Partner-in-Crime (misdemeanors of dignity, only), Cindy, is raising money for a cause close to her heart, the Oklahoma City AIDS Walk. Please head over and give her some words of encouragement and a couple of bucks if you can spare it. Thanks!

4. Because we've probably already spent too much energy focusing on the usual suspects (GBex, SPal, WB Baptist, Burner Boy, etc.) let's look at one more outrageous thing. It's not the first ad to try and make money off the destruction of the Twin Towers but it is the first one to victim blame the builders/city of NY.

5. A friend of mine is one of the organizers for the German-American Steuben Parade of NY. He had a great day last week playing chauffeur to their powerhouse parade marshal, Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

6. I have recently become kind of fascinated by Freeganism. I've known for years that it existed but it must be experiencing a surge of interest because it's getting a lot of media attention the past few months. In a doctor's office I wound up watching Lisa Ling do a slot on Oprah about it and I'll be damned if the things these people were finding in dumpsters (knowing the right dumpster is often a big part of the battle) weren't better than a lot of the old crap I wade through in my own refrigerator. And it's free! There are some Freegans in my borough working to set up a co-op. I don't know, but I'm still interested!

7. And since it's 9/9, the 9th anniversary of the day we interred my grandmother, ate lobster and Pony Express and I sped down the byways back to our beloved NYC with the dog grinning in the back seat, let's raise a salute to our then-mayor R. Guliani. He is back in memorable form. According to Gothamist, when asked a question about his baseball preferences he still managed to insert a mention of 9/11. Don't let me tell you guys how to vote but, if the opportunity arises, I strongly urge you to think twice before you vote for that guy.

8. While we're on my favorite topics let's take a look at some of Virginia's ingenious new anti-choice measures. Politicians in the state that is for lovers (as long as they're of opposite genders, married and not the makers of unwanted or dangerous pregnancies) are working to impose additional regulations on clinics that provide abortion services in an effort to make them "safer" for patients. No mention is made of a. how abortion is currently unsafe and b. how the particular regulations being proposed would in fact increase safety for patients. Got to give them points for knocking on every door on this one. Every door but the one where they actually quit regulating a woman's right to choose.

9. My Open Wallet posted this list of the highest paid authors. In her conversation about it she pointed out that James Patterson doesn't even write his books anymore. Seriously? These are things I didn't want to know. Like when I found out that Nancy Drew mysteries were written by rooms full of aspiring female novelists. La la la I can't hear you!

10. Check out this awesome then and now shot of one of the blocks in my neighborhood. If you've walked my dog(s) with me it's likely you've walked this block. Totally different and yet exactly the same, right?