Sigh. Okay, I'm doing this--under duress!--for Mama. In addition to starting to do beadwork to sell on Etsy, she also decided to sell Avon. I don't use the stuff, personally, so I don't see the big deal, but if it helps get goodies in the house for us, I'm all for it! So please check out Mama's Avon store. Help a dog out! There, Mama, I did the plug for you. You owe me livergreat for this one!
Woos,
Thor
I am a dog. I am not a wolf, nor am I, although I look like one, any more closely related to one than your average Chihuahua. That being said, dogs and wolves are related, way back when, and therefore I have quite a few concerns about the fact that timber wolves are now off the endangered list, and can now be killed again with impunity.
Humans say that the wolves kill their livestock, and therefore deprive them of their livelihood. I have something to say about that: every living creature on this planet is driven to procreate for the continuation of their species, not just humanity. Procreation leads to families, which means that every living creature needs a home and food. If humanity takes away the land that provides your home and takes away the ability to feed your young, then you watch them die, and you face extinction.
It is interesting to note that there is not one species of animal that has sanctioned the mass murder of humanity to save themselves. Only humanity holds that distinction. Humanity is a species of excess. You MUST have more land. You MUST have more money. You MUST have a better car, house, television, clothing, child than your neighbor. Why can't you be happy with what you have? Why must there be the deforestation issue that has taken the homes of millions of animals? Why are there trophy hunters? Why must the rainforest be destroyed? Why do you abuse your children and pets? Why would you protect the wolves long enough to bring up their numbers, only to turn around and kill them again as soon as they are no longer endangered? This actually makes sense to you?
"What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected."--Chief Seattle, 1854
This is one of Mama's favorite quotes. Not all humans are as stupid as the ones that have declared war on animals. Mama and her friends are among the smarter ones. This Chief Seattle sounds like someone I would have liked. I don't think he would like the world today. There are so many species of animal that are in danger of extinction. Timber wolves. Bengal tigers. Siberian tigers. Giant pandas. Alligators. Buffalo. Elephants. Pronghorn antelope. Peregrine falcons. Golden eagles. Condors. Blackfooted ferrets. Gorillas. Whales. Cheetahs. Leopards. Jaguars. Polar bears. Arctic wolves. Mexican wolves. Hippos. Seals. Sea otters. I could go on and on, but Mama is helping me with this one, and her eyes are leaking too much for her to see.
You humans need to get your acts together. One day, it will be you facing extinction. And, at the rate your species is going, far too many of you will not be missed by the rest of the species on the planet.
Dad was teasing Mama about the title of my blog here, and it occurred to me that I should explain it a little. The title is my nod to Mama's favorite show, Firefly. It was a really good show that got cancelled a couple of years ago, but Mama owns the DVD set of the series and the movie that came out later, which was called Serenity. Joss Whedon, who produced Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, is the guy who produced Firefly as well. It was a sci-fi series, and it was more grown up than the other two shows. Mama got addicted to the show and used to watch it over and over until Dad got sick of it! In the show, they always referred to the universe as "the 'verse", so that's where I got the title from!
Woos,
Thor
Mama has decided to try and find a way to work at home, so she can add to the household income that provides us with Canidae and cookies, and yet be home where she can be readily available to serve us as needed. Oh, yeah, and so she can be home with the little furless biped too. So she is looking for a job in something called data entry, and also decided to try her hand at crafting stuff for a website called Etsy.com. Dad is trying to figure out how to set up a workspace for her in the living room, Mama's making lists of tools she will need but doesn't yet have, and trying to think of a name for her Etsy store. She wants one that is Siberian-related, of course! Good mama! So , all suggestions from everysibe will be appreciated and considered. She does all kinds of stuff, but mostly beading on the loom and freehand. Look at all the beads she's got!
All of those little boxes and pill bottles are full of beads! She says they're all size 11/0, which means they're pretty small. She told me that the larger the number, the smaller the bead, and she also works with size 14/0 beads for really detailed stuff. Wow! Imagine how small those are! I know she has some of those sitting around the house somewhere, but she won't let me see them. She's afraid that if I stick my nose in there to smell them, I'll inhale them and then we'll have to go to the vet. I'm not pressing the issue, since I have NO desire to visit the vet!
Mama said that she plans to take some of her beading graph paper and make transparencies so she can do some really special stuff. There are two types of graph paper she has. One has tons and tons of ovals in straight rows, all touching each other. That paper is for making designs for the loom, which is that wood thing in the picture. Then there's another paper for something called peyote designs, where the beads won't be in straight lines. Too confusing for me. Anyway, if she makes these transparency things, she can put it over a picture and then photocopy it so that the graph shows up on the picture and she can bead the picture! Cool, huh? She's already promised to do one of ME first!! I can't wait! Some of this stuff is pretty! Here's a picture of one Mama never finished.
Now, what all this means is that everypuppy has to get hold of their biped's plastic card thingies when Mama gets things going, and buy stuff so that she can buy us stuff! Ha roo roo roo! Only kidding! We'll see how well it goes!
Mama's been taking pictures of us again too. I forgot to run when she was doing it, so she finally got some of me and LeeLee together. Oh, well, I suppose she can have those few. I'll be generous.
We had another fight here the other day. I don't know if LeeLee started it or Smoky did, but we all got involved, and Mama and Dad weren't real happy with any of us afterward. We all got timeouts in our crates. The little furless biped wasn't happy about that, since she wanted to play with us, but Mama and Dad said she would have to live with it because we were in trouble.
LeeLee got revenge though. The next night, after we got to play in the yard for awhile, she came in the house and went directly to my crate to go to the bathroom on the carpet right in front of it! Mama and Dad weren't happy about that either, because they had to clean it up. There's something to be said for not having opposable thumbs! But I wasn't happy about it either, because it was right in front of my crate! And LeeLee just laughed at me. I don't know why she did it. I think it was just mean. I never go potty in the house anymore. I'm a big boy. LeeLee is just being bratty. She tries to take over Mama and get all the attention, but I'm not about to let that happen! I don't mind letting Mama pet her sometimes, but her lap and her bed are all mine!
I already have to share with Smoky and Bandit!
Speaking of my Lab sisters, don't they look cute sleeping together on the sofa? Bandit's on the left, and Smoky on the right. It took Mama a long time to get a good shot of them, so it's a good thing they were sound asleep! Mama says it's really hard to get decent pictures of them because they're so dark they usually just look like black blotches in the middle of a picture. Having seen some of Mama's pictures, I'd have to say she's right about that, but I think that's more Mama's fault than my sisters' color! Ha roo!
Anyway, here's one last picture for now, and then it's naptime for me! Avi was showing LeeLee her tiger that she calls "Cat", but LeeLee wasn't hungry just then! Ha roo!
I hope everydoggy remembers Lucas, the Sibe in McMinnville Tennessee whose owner filed 30 of his teeth down to the gumline because he was chewing things. If not, here's a quick update. His owner was seen beating him, and Lucas was taken away, only for his rescuers to see that thirty of his teeth had been filed down to the gums, exposing the pulp and the nerves, because he was chewing things he shouldn't. Can you imagine what it must feel like to have THIRTY teeth all hurting and bleeding at the same time? This is what training is for, humans!
Anyway, his owner, Christopher Barnett, was charged and went to court the other day. Originally he was being charged with a misdemeanor, but lots of people signed petitions and sent letters asking for a stronger penalty, and the charges were upgraded to a felony! Good humans! Pat yourselves on the head and have a treat.
But Lucas still needs help, because the court case has been turned over to a grand jury. So we're starting a new letter-writing campaign. Please send letters to the following address:
Thank you to our presidential candidate, Turbo, for answering my questions so promptly. Definitely a good indication of how well you would handle crises as president! The Wild Hunt pack of Arizona fully pupports your candidacy and will certainly be voting for you! I'm sure that you have plenty of pupporters all over the world!
Woos,
Thor
