More Tattoos

Yes, mom is obsessed with tattoos. Now that Carole got her tattoo, mom's turtle buddy Jack is asking when mom is going to get one. Mom's reply (of course) was to ask Jack when he is going to get one. Now they are scheming to get tattoos when they are in Savannah next year. Oh boy, here we go again.

So mom found another tattoo blog that she asked me to share with you. This one is called TattooBlog, but there isn't any information on who owns the blog. It looks like several bloggers post pictures of tattoos they come across. They also provide some text about the tattoo, but they really don't say who the tattoos belong to. This site is interesting, if for nothing else, to see what and where tattoo people tattoo their bodies. Check out www.tattooblog.org to get ideas for your next tattoo.

Wednesday Wag Out!

Floating Jack-O'-Lanterns
How cool are these? These will look great hanging off trees in your front yard. Just carve two basketball-sized pumpkins, place the tealights inside, and hang on the hangers. The pumpkins will look like they are floating in the trees. The set of two kit comes with the hardware, hangers, and tealights. You supply the pumpkins and viola! You could even use these again in the spring or summer with flowerpots. This set of two costs less than $7.00, so get more than one at www.gardeners.com.

Metal Cat Pumpkin Buddy

Even if you don't like cats (which I of course do) you will still love this little guy. This would look great on a foyer table, on a front porch, or even in the kitchen. Whether you carve the pumpkin or not, this pumpkin buddy is sure to turn the heads of cats everywhere. Get yours while they last at http://www.pier1.com/.

Pumpkin Man

Mom always tells me that she could use another man around the house, but I'm sure she didn't have this guy in mind. Yet another great way to turn an ordinary pumpkin into a real head turner, this set includes the metal arms and legs. Add your own accessories to complete the look and then put him to work on your front porch greeting all the little gobblins on Halloween. Get your own pumpkin man or two at http://www.terrysvillage.com/.

Carole's New Tattoo

Mom's sea turtle buddy Carole got a tattoo today. Now I don't know Carole personally (though I feel like I do because mom tells me all about her), but she doesn't look like the tattoo type.

Mom met Carole on Wassaw Island in 2006 and they have been buddies ever since. Carole got hooked on sea turtles after working with a sea turtle at the aquarium near her house where she volunteered. The sea turtle's name was Lefty and Carole wears a sea turtle hat with Lefty's name on it when she is on Wassaw. Carole even has an iconel tag on her hat that Mike the biologist gave her.

Carole got the tattoo idea when mom mentioned that Kris, the director of the Caretta Research Project, wanted hatchling tracks tattooed across her foot. Carole thought mom meant hatchlings across her foot and has been obsessed with the idea ever since. Darnice, another sea turtler, has hatchlings tattooed on her foot and Carole got a picture of Darnice's foot and viola, now Carole has her tattoo. As far as mom knows, Kris is still tattoo-less.

I like Carole's tattoo. I have never personally seen a hatchling, but after looking at Carole's tattoo, I would like to meet one. If I ever get to Wassaw Island, I hope I can see some hatchlings. I wonder if they like cute little dogs.

All this talk has mom thinking about getting a sea turtle tattoo. Dad tells me that mom has been talking about getting a tattoo for over 20 years. Mom just cannot make a decision. Maybe she will get a picture of me tattooed on her body.

Charity Guide

People are always asking mom about volunteering. They want to know how and where they can volunteer. Mom usually gives people names of websites that have volunteer opportunites, but some people cannot commit to an ongoing committment. Most people want to make a difference, so when mom found this great website, she knew that this would be the key to helping people find volunteer opportunities that can fit any lifestyle.

Charity Guide is a portal of volunteer opportunities that makes it possible for anyone to make a difference at anytime, from anywhere. There are volunteer projects in animal welfare, children's issues, community development, environmental protection, healthcare, and overcoming poverty. The great thing about the opportunities is that most have flexible schedules and can be completed in 15 minutes, in a few hours, or during volunteer vacations.

According to their website, Charity Guide is dedicated to promoting flexible volunteerism, by inspiring and facilitating acts of kindness. Their approach is called Volunteer on Demand and tends to attract self-directed individuals who believe in their power to act individually to make the world a better place. Everyone can make a difference.

Many of the volunteer opportunities are self-directed, like Do-It-Yourself Ways to Reduce Global Warming. Every project includes step-by-step "How to Make a Difference" instructions. When you are ready to volunteer, you can accomplish your goal as quickly as possible.

Head on over to http://www.charityguide.org/ and find a project that fits your needs. You owe it to yourself to make the world a better place, so please do your part.

Bath Time!

Mom wasn't feeling good this morning so she didn't go to the zoo. After sleeping in (with me), she started to feel better and then she had a very bad idea. She decided that I should go to the dog wash express and get a bath. What? A bath? I just had a bath 5 months ago. I don't really need another one this year. I tried to get out of it, but before I knew it, dad put me in the turtler and away we went.

I don't like being wet. There is just something about water that I don't like. I mean I like to drink water, but I don't like water on me. I hate the rain. I run from hoses. I can't even walk on the same side of the street as a sprinkler. I think all of this stems from an episode I had when I was a baby and mom and dad thought it would be a good idea to give me a bath in the front yard. They took the hose out and sprayed me down. Bad idea. I just haven't been the same since that fateful day.

But I digress. I was so excited to get out of the house today. I love riding in the car with the window down and my cute little button ears blowing in the wind. I even had my whole head out of the car window - I was feeling great. When mom parked the car, I thought we were at one of my favorite restaurants. Then I jumped out of the car and realized that we were at the dog wash express. There was nothing I could do at this point (I cannot drive), so I walked in and took my bath like a pug.

I had no idea that dad would be taking pictures of me during my bath (thanks mom) or I would have run out of the place. Dad took out his phone and started taking pictures as soon as I was wet.

I had just been hosed down in this picture. Notice that I am standing as far from the hose as possible


All soaped up and no where to go. Don't I look terrified? I was just counting the minutes until the torture would be over.

This picture is pure humiliation! Look what mom did to me! I am all soapy and she tried to spike the hair on my head. I may look like I'm smiling, but I am really trying not to lunge at mom's throat.

I can't just walk out of the dog wash all wet, so lucky me, I get to be blow dried. That's mom with the dryer in her hand. I am almost dry at this point - don't I look nice and clean?

For all the pain and suffering they put me through, mom and dad drove me through the McDonald's drive thru so that I could get a happy meal. I am so nice and clean now that my coat almost looks like a different color. I smell just wonderful. I am so glad that I won't have to get another bath until 2009!

Birders' Exchange

Mom love birds and she wishes that more people would take the time to learn about them. She is always telling me that birds are the key to the whole world. The world would end if we didn't have birds. Mom does not want a real silent spring to ever happen.

The American Birding Association is not only spreading the word about birds but they are also providing equipment for people to use who are involved in birding. The Birders' Exchange is a program from the American Birding Association. Their motto is sharing tools, saving birds.

According to their website, to successfully address Neotropical migratory bird issues, good science and public awareness are essential. Many researchers. conservationists, and educators in the Neotropics do not have the very basic equipment they need to do their work. Through the Birders' Exchange, people can donate new and used birding equipment and educational tools to these people in need.

So, how can you help? By donating binoculars, digital cameras, spotting scopes, tripods, field guides, and/or backpacks. Don't have any of these items to donate? You can organize an equipment drive in your area. Traveling to Latin American or the Caribbean? You can serve as a courier for the equipment. There are so many ways for everyone to help.

Birds are the most wild animal that people see on a daily basis. Just walk out of your house and you will see many different species of birds. The birds need our help so they can continue to prosper. Please check out http://www.americanbirding.org/ to learn more about the Birders' Exchange. The birds depend on us, so please don't let them down.

World Vegetarian Day

Disclaimer: Hey it's Wednesday. Where is the Wednesday Wag Out? Mom hijacked the computer so that she could get the vegetarian message out to the world (or to whoever is reading this). I am not a vegetarian. I love meat. I love to eat meat. I love the smell of meat. I love looking at meat. I am a carnivore! So please forgive mom - she means well.

Today marks World Vegetarian Day, the annual kick-off of Vegetarian Awareness Month. Now I know that October is a big month for awareness causes, but because this cause does not get as much attention as the others, I decided to share it with you.

Vegetarians and even non-vegetarians can join in on the fun. The idea behind World Vegetarian Day is to raise awareness of the vegetarian lifestyle. Vegetarians can use this month to spread the message by hosting a vegetarian potluck, wearing a vegetarian t-shirt, give an educational presentation, etc. Non-vegetarians can show their support and raise their awareness by going meat free for a day or even an entire month.

There are so many benefits to going meatless that most people are not even aware of. According to the World Vegetarian Day website some of the many benefits are:

•reducing the risk of major killers like heart disease, stroke and cancers while cutting exposure to food borne pathogens;
•offering a viable answer to feeding the world's hungry, through more efficient use of grains and other crops;
•saving animals from suffering in factory farm conditions and from painful slaughter;
•conserving vital, but limited freshwater, fertile topsoil and other precious resources;
•preserving irreplaceable ecosystems, such as rainforests and other wildlife habitats;
•mitigating the ever-expanding environmental pollution of animal agriculture;

Livestock account for 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions (measured in CO2 equivalents). This is greater than all the vehicles on the road! If you care about the environment at all, this statistic should make you rethink your meat eating habits.

So join in on the vegetarian lifestyle today and throughout the month as we celebrate a meat free diet. Check out http://www.worldvegetarianday.org/ for additional information.

Flow - For Love of Water

I don't go to the movies, but mom does and she is super excited about this movie. Flow - For Love of Water is a documentary investigation into the world water crisis. You heard me right - the world water crisis. Most of us take fresh water for granted but most of the world does not have access to this most basic need.

Americans spend $9 billion on bottled water each year, much of it merely treated tap water, while people in developing nations are at the mercy of corporations that hold clean water hostage. These people have to buy water or risk health issues by taking water from streams and rivers that are heavily polluted by industrial and agricultural waste.

The movie builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply by focusing on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emerging water cartel. By interviewing scientists and activists, filmmaker Irena Salina reveals this growing crisis, at both the global and human scale. The movie introduces the people in power behind the power struggle with water and asks the question "Can anyone really own water?" The movie also introduces people and institutions trying to solve this crisis by developing new techologies.

This is a serious issue that needs to be exposed and fixed while there is still time. Please get informed by seeing the movie which opens October 3, in Columbus, Atlanta, Portland, and Providence. Mom will be seeing the movie when it comes to Chicago on October 10. Check out the film, learn about the filmmakers, see the trailer, and learn what you can do to help at http://www.flowthefilm.com/

Vote The Environment

There has never been a better time to get involved with your voice than right now. You've heard it before - stand up and let your voice be heard by casting your vote. There are countless reasons to vote this year with issues ranging from the war, to the economy, gas prices, health care, immigration, abortion, etc. The list just goes on and on.

With so many issues going on in the world, it's easy to overlook the one issue that might seem less important, but which everything rests upon - the health of our environment. All the other issues will not matter if there is no world left for us to live in.

I know what you are thinking. The environment? More important than the economy? I have to put food on the table and gas in my car to get to work, I don't have time to worrry about the environment. You will have nothing to worry about if the environmental destruction underway continues at its current pace. This is our most pressing issue because the future (ours and all future generations) depend on us to fix the wrongs that have been done.

By scrutinizing and dissecting the voting records of public officials, we can make informed choices when we get to the voting booth. So before you pick your candidate of choice, take a moment and research his or her commitment to the environment.

Visit Patagonia's website at http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/patagonia.go?assetid=1865 for more information about their Vote the Environment campaign. While you are there, put your zip code in the LCV's national enviromental scorecard box to see if your elected officials vote for the environment.

Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, Independent, Green or anything in between, help create the change you want to see. Register to vote, get informed, vote the environment!

Put Your Change To Good Use

Do you have lots of change just laying around the house? My dad has containers of change in his office and I don't know why he doesn't just cash them in. Maybe after I tell him about this new project he will change his mind (pun intended).

Coinstar, the coin counting people, launched change for our Earch, which raises awareness for how the simple activity of refusing coin can help the environment. Coinstar estimates that there is $10 billion in idle change in the U.S. If we put back just 10% of this amount back into circulation, we could reduce the number of new coins that need to be created, thus lowering our environmental impact and preserving natural resources. According to Coinstar, 78% of Americans say they would make more of an effort to reuse their change if they knew it could help the environment. By reusing change or cashing it in, this new form of recycling can really make a difference.

So how can you help? Cash you coins in at your local Coinstar Center from September 15 through October 15, 2008. The city with the highest percentage volume increase per machine compared to the same time period a year ago will be named 'Coinstar's Greenest City' and the organization affiliated with the selected project will receive a $10,000 grant. The competing cities are Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Milwaukee, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Seattle. Even if you don't live in one of these cities, you are now aware of the change you can make by using and/or cashing in your change.


Since I live in the Chicago area, I have to give a shout out to Chicago's project, Chicago Gateway Green http://www.gatewaygreen.org/.

Chicago Gateway Green, through its program, TREEcago, is partnering with the City of Chicago to launch Mayor Daley's "Tree Farm Initiative" with a volunteer planting day. The site of the planting is set for 120th and Peoria, in Chicago’s southside West Pullman neighborhood. Abandoned lots dot Chicago's landscape; the Tree Farm Initiative will transform these desolate tracts into green spaces with
the ultimate goal of moving the adult trees to places of need around the city.

Through the local Alderman's office, the City, and Chicago Gateway Green's network of supporters, they are working to bring together a diverse and committed group of volunteers to plant the trees. After the initial planting, Chicago Gateway Green will be responsible for maintaining the trees through its TREEcago program.

Rows of native, hardwood saplings will be planted, totaling roughly 135 trees. Native species are used to minimize watering needs and to maximize survivability. These trees will provide innumerable benefits to their urban surroundings. They will remove carbon dioxide and harmful particulates from the air, and produce oxygen. Their canopies will provide shade as well as habitat for birds and small mammals, and will reduce potentially damaging stormwater run-off. Beyond their environmental contributions, trees improve quality of life as well; they reduce noise pollution and increase property values.

TripAdvisor Is Giving Away One Million Dollars!

Mom is a travel junkie and one of her favorite travel websites is TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor provides recommendations for hotels, vacations, travel packages, and everything else related to travel. It is truly one stop shopping for everything you need to know about every destination you can imagine.

Let's say that you are planning a trip to Hawaii and you don't know which hotel to select. TripAdvisor's members post reviews of hotels complete with pictures and videos. Each hotel is rated based on the members stay, from everything to check-in, to room size, to hotel location. There is also a great forum section where members can ask questions about a location, like where is the best mexican restaurant on the island of Hawaii (Killer Taco of course!). This website is truly invaluable when planning a vacation or even a staycation.

TripAdvisor has a new promotion called "More than Footprints". This initiative will donate $1 million to five travel-related charities and you the TripAdvisor user will vote on how the money will be divided. The money will be divided amongst the following nonprofits:

Conservation International - Eco-tourism
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) - Emergency relief
National Geographic Society - Exploring and sustaining authentic places
The Nature Conservancy - Environmental protection
Save the Children - Aiding children around the world

So head on over to http://www.tripadvisor.com/ right now and cast your vote. Voting closes on November 9, at which time the $1 million will be divided according to the percentage of votes each cause receives. As an added bonus, each nonprofit will receive at least $50K just for participating. Kudos to TripAdvisor!

Yeah For Chicago!

Last week Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley unveiled the most aggessive plan of any major American city to reduce heat-trapping gases. This is great news, not just for those of us in Chicago, but for the entire nation as Chicago sets the bar high for other cities to follow.

The plan calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to three-fourths of 1990 levels by 2020 through more energy-efficient buildings, using clean and renewable energy sources, improving transportation and reducing industrial pollution. According to Mayor Daley "We can't solve the world's climate change problem in Chicago, but we can do our part. We have a shared responsibility to protect our planet."

According to Suzanne Malec-McKenna, Chicago's environmental commissioner, Chicago is the first major city to identify specific pollution sources and outline how it would achieve the reductions in a measurable way. Chicago will use a combination of incentives and mandates to achieve its goals, beginning with updating the city's building codes to require better insulation, heating and cooling systems and windows in all buildings. Additionally, the city also has an agreement with two coal-fired power plants to reduce emissions or shut down by 2015 and 2017, respectively.

Chicago's city hall already has a green rooftop and the new plans call for increasing the number of buildings with green rooftops, increasing recycling and carpooling and promoting alternative fuels.
The plan also calls for expanding the number of green rooftops, increasing recycling and car-pooling and promoting alternative fuels.

Officials say Chicago emits 34.6 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year; including the six surrounding counties, that climbs to 103 million metric tons per year. That's a lot of greenhouse gases! If climate change is not addressed, summer heat indexes in Chicago could climb as high as 105 degrees by the end of the century and there would be more frequent heavy rains and floods, according to researchers from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and the University of Illinois who were commissioned by the city to study climate change. It is already too hot for me in the summer, so I may have to move somewhere cooler - where I don't know. Just since 1980, Chicago's average temperature has risen approximately 2.6 degrees, 4 degrees in the winter.

You can check out all the details of the plan and find out what you can do at http://www.chicagoclimateaction.org/. I am so proud of the steps Chicago is making to do the right thing. Today, more than ever before, I am proud to be a Chicagoan.

Measure Your Eco-Footprint

I know what you're thinking - not another tool to measure my carbon footprint. I know everyone has completed one of these quizzes before, but even if you have, please take this quiz. In addition to measuring your impact, you can pick up tips on ways to reduce your impact. Let me give you an example to get you interested.

Question 4 asks you what you do when you shop. You make think that you only have two choices: bring my own bags to the store - check yes or no. Oh no, no, no. There are, hold onto your Sigg bottle, 15 items you can check. I bet no one can guess what these 15 are, which is why you should take the quiz. It will open your eyes to new ways to reduce your carbon footprint. There is room for improvement in all of us, so get started on the quiz at http://www.conservation.org/act/live_green/Pages/ecofootprint.aspx.

The Grateful Thread

In the mid 19th century, women of the coal mining towns of Northeastern Pennsylvania would weave and sew to help support their families. Today, women at The Grateful Thread weave and sew to support victims of domestic violence.

The Grateful Thread is a business initiative of Schuylkill Women in Crisis which serves Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Purchasing one of these fine products not only provides funds to support services, but also provides job training opportunities to victims of domestic violence and others re-entering the work force.

The Grateful Thread also supports the environment by offering many products made from 100% recycled materials. Donated fabrics and other materials are woven, knit and crocheted into colorful textiles which are then incorporated into everyday products such as totes, handbags, aprons, placemats, rugs, and more. Check out their great products at http://www.gratefulthread.org/.