George's Green Thumb

Pinktastic Earrings

I listed these "pinktastic earrings" today on my jewelry shop. They are sterling silver with crazy lace agate drops (dyed ruby colored). I rarely make jewelry I wouldn't want to wear myself, and this is my favorite style--sleek, simple, but eye-catching.

List of Labour Treasury for EFA!

RainbowMom, one of the Etsy for Animals folks, made a great treasury featuring EFA members. I'm in the version pictured below, but will be rotated out so that other great EFAers can be included.



You can view this online through Sunday.

Jesse Martin Must Hate Me

Tonight is Jesse Martin's last appearance on Law and Order. He's been on the law side for almost 8 years and 200 episodes as Detective Ed Green. From what I've read about his finale, it's heartbreaking.

Yummy New Cereal

I just tried a new cereal from Kashi, Cinnamon Harvest, part of their Organic Promise line. The cereal is very yummy: sweet, but not overpowering like Frosted Mini Wheats. I ate it dry as a snack, and I know it would be equally good with soy milk.

When I saw it in the store, I wasn't sure it would be vegan--Kashi isn't a vegan company--so I turned to the ingredient list. (I've seen t-shirts that say Vegan: Ingredient Reader Extraordinaire.) Usually, ingredient lists have about a million items, and most of them are incomprehensible and scary chemicals. Imagine my surprise when the list for this cereal was only FOUR items long, all real, recognizable food items. It was amazing!

Put this cereal on your shopping list! You will like it!

No Smoking!

For people that is. The government doesn't care if newborn and pregnant animals smoke. In fact, in the past five years, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have given over $16 million to fund animal experiments involving nicotine.

As part of this year's World Week for Animals in Laboratories, In Defense of Animals is sponsoring a call-in campaign to the NIH asking them to stop funding these unnecessary and cruel experiments.

Please help these innocent victims by making a call or sending an email.

Details here.

Pennsylvania Primary

I'm not happy about the outcome, and I will say no more!

Favorite SVU Line

In the episode "Signature," Erica Christensen guest stars as an FBI agent who partners with Olivia to find a serial killer who rapes, tortures, and kills women. Despite the heavy subject matter, there is a snippet of dialogue so funny, I often think of it.

Benson and Cooper go to a gentleman's club looking for Lavender, a potential suspect. They ask a rather rotund, dapper African-American proprietor if he is Lavender. So wounded, the man pipes back, "It's LE-vander, LE-vander."

Beautiful Daydreamer Treasury

Silvercrystaljewelry was kind enough to include me in a great treasury that features several EFA members. Most of us donate a portion of our sales to animal charities!

Available online until April 24, 2008.

Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day--please be mindful of your choices today and every day and remember to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Of course, going vegan is a great way to help the environment, and EarthSave has a lot of information about the link between plant-based diets and environmentalistm.

If you must buy, visit the VeganEtsy shops offering Earth Day promotions! See the list here.

We're So Honored!

After seeing my avatar on Etsy (the picture on the left), InaBit created a fabulous collage based on the photograph. It's for sale on her etsy shop, so go buy one!

For more on Inabit's work, revisit this blog entry I did regarding her absolutely adorable "Shelter Dogs" pendant.

Harvey and I feel very honored to have set off the creative spark, and we love the collage!

World Week for Animals in Laboratories

Today begins World Week for Animals in Laboratories. Millions and millions of animals die each year in labs. This is a tragedy, and we should do our part to end this practice. You may be thinking...but the deaths of those animals help the lives of humans or other animals. This is a false rationalization. Given current advances in technology, other methods are available that are more accurate, more flexible, and, of course, cruelty-free. In addition, animal biology does not perfectly mimic human biology, so the reactions in animals may not be the reactions in humans. Furthermore, animals are used in tests that are totally outrageous and unnecessary. If you have a dog or cat, you know how they look at you with complete love and trust. Can you imagine the betrayal of this trust for lab animals who are cut open, poked, bled, and otherwise tortured? If this is not convincing to you, visit the online resources provided by WWAL. Look at some of the photographs of animals in the experiments and see if you can live with it, knowing that there are peaceful alternatives that do not involve the suffering of innocent victims.

Sick Sloane Sunday Update

Sloane came home from the animal hospital Saturday. George has set up a convalescence area in the back for her to recuperate. She seems to be doing better. She purrs like crazy when I go into the room, and George says she is eating. I'm very relieved, but will be happy when she is back to normal. She looks a little ragged. Her tummy is shaved from the ultrasound, and she still has a catheter in her leg in case George needs to give her fluids. He's been a great caretaker for her.

Ninja, hi-yah!

Why are ninjas so funny? These are some great ninja goodies on sale at Etsy. My favorite is ninja pig!