Heidi & Mattie (not unlike Confucius) say:

Everyone have a safe, fun weekend!

Earth day is EVERY day...

...but it was nice to celebrate it "officially" at Balboa Park in San Diego on Sunday. Lots of peeps, myriad environmentalist-run tables offering info on everything from tree planting to vegetable oil-run Mercedez Benz cars...

There was an area where there were Hare Krsnas chanting, a place where there was Mexican wrestling, more peeps, great booths from Last Chance for Animals and Farm Sanctuary (which i "worked" last year!) and some vegan food (not enough!).

There were voter registration booths (including one touting a grass-roots presidential campaign: 'Al Gore in 2008'), a kids' area with lots of hands-on stuff for the younger set, and, did i mention?, a lot of peeps.

"San Diego Earth Fair" - http://www.earthdayweb.org/

This artist wasn't part of the official festivities, but he was not far from the fair, doing great work...


A finished mural from Saturday, done mostly by kids! Beautiful.


Recycled tires make great purses, who knew?!


Peter's half-eaten veggie burger 'n' fries (we shared the fries w/the dogs!)

Peter, a one time hard-core vegan who eats both omni & veggie, totally enjoyed that vegan Boca burger. i had one, too, and it was excellent!


If you click on the photo below, you can see Heidi & Mattie in one of his sunglasses lenses.


There were quite a few vegan choices for food, but this was the place we chose, and so did a lot of others:

They don't get points for spelling (SMOOTIES!) but they were popular! We waited 45 minutes for our burgers! i bought a big bag of kettle corn to get us by till the food was ready.

Their official Web site: http://vegnout.net/

Nice father-daughter team took orders & money:

(i traded them a bunch of $5's and $1's)

Neuter is cuter! Spay is A-OK!

Mattie cozies up to a live recycling bin.

How about those sexy, pouty pink lips & lavender eyeshadow?

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Heidi loves her daddy and you can see that... "down to Earth":

Sign of the thymes

Ah, mmm... That felt kinda good. Wanna try?

http://signgenerator.peta2.com/index.asp

There're a lot of other things i'd really like to say beyond this rather mild opine, but i try hard to keep this blog "Rated G." And i do <3 chickens...

Happy Mail, "Weird Al" & eBay goes vegan

Mattie spies some of the goodies i got in the mail over the last couple of weeks from some super terrific friends of mine, the kind Candi http://candi2400.blogspot.com/ and generous Vicki http://veganvice.blogspot.com/! THANK YOU SO MUCH! It's always a treat to get non-bills/non-junk mail, especially notes from friends, and it's beyond awesome to get goodies like these in the mail. I'll be proverbially "paying it forward" very soon. Stay tooned!


Thanks for the recipe books, Candi! A super cool Chicago Diner (where i've been lucky to dine twice!) Cookbook AND Nava Atlas's soups (and accompaniments). Both very enlightening books.


Thanks for the dog biscuits (one eaten and totally enjoyed by the Matster, but i saved the wrapper) and delectable vegan cookies, Vicki!

And speaking of happy mail, if you have a minute, do check out Wanda Embar's wonderful Web site and its vegan e-cards (for all occasions, and even some "non occasions") that are free & easy to send as e-mail:
http://www.veganpeace.com
or just click here to see the various e-cards that you can send to brighten someone's day:
http://www.thisiscool.org/ecards/

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As seen on eBay, the following (suggested listening... animal-loving, long-time veghead, "Weird Al" Yankovic's "eBay" from his fun CD from a few years back called "Poodle Hat" - lyrics below):

Sung to the Backstreet Boys' "I Want it That Way"

Yeah

A used ... pink bathrobe

A rare ... mint snowglobe

A Smurf ... TV tray

I bought on eBay

My house ... is filled with this crap

Shows up in bubble wrap

Most every day

What I bought on eBay

Tell me why (I need another pet rock)

Tell me why (I got that Alf alarm clock)

Tell me why (I bid on Shatner's old toupee)

They had it on eBay

I'll buy ... your knick-knack

Just check ... my feedback

"A++!" they all say

They love me on eBay

Gonna buy (a slightly-damaged golf bag)

Gonna buy (some Beanie Babies, new with tag)

(From some guy) I've never met in Norway

Found him on eBay

I am the type who is liable to snipe you

With two seconds left to go,

whoa Got Paypal or Visa,

what ever'll please

As long as I've got the dough

I'll buy ... your tchotchkes

Sell me ... your watch, please

I'll buy (I'll buy, I'll buy, I'll buy ...)

I'm highest bidder now

(Junk keeps arriving in the mail)

(From that worldwide garage sale)

(Dukes Of Hazzard ashtray)

(Hey! A Dukes Of Hazzard ashtray)

Oh yeah ... (I bought it on eBay)

Wanna buy (a PacMan Fever lunchbox)

Wanna buy (a case on vintage tube socks)

Wanna buy (a Kleenex used by Dr. Dre, Dr. Dre)

(Found it on eBay)

Wanna buy (that Farrah Fawcett poster)

(Pez dispensers and a toaster)

(Don't know why ... the kind of stuff you'd throw away)

(I'll buy on eBay)

What I bought on eBay-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y

Awesome vegan "Weird Al" & his poodle.

(I've seen WAY in concert once - a blast!)

Dog Day Afternoon

Breezin' ears in the wind, Mattie sports the finished product of her Tuesday grooming when we went to a nearby public park earlier today. She had more tests Wednesday as we try to figure out the source of her urinary tract infection... she's been such a trouper!

I took the freshly shorn Mat & a visiting Heidi for a little outing this afternoon when the sun made a brief apppearance. It was a windy and cool day -- a distant relative of "it was a dark and stormy night," - Snoopy -- Very odd in these parts. (I washed my car and my parents' van earlier, so i figured it would rain for sure. But so far, no precipitation...)

So without further ado, let the race begin!

Suggested listening: "The William Tell Overture."


Heidi holds onto a rare lead in this mini "trail race" of the 12-year-olds.


Yes, toward the end, they're neck-in-neck... Look at those serious faces, the concentration, the determination. They're really in the moment!

The big question in the battle of the blondes: Who will win?
Will it be the sweet Labrador or the deaf Spaniel?

The crowd's going wild, the cheers deafening, the judges prepared for anything... and OK, so it really wasn't a race, the distractions of smells and "restroom" stops were myriad... and of course the finish doesn't matter - they're both winners in my book!

And speaking of winners, did you hear that From this day until Feb. 2, 2008, Tibetans have pledged to "go green," vowing to be vegetarians for a year?!

Animal Place Sanctuary reports:

"According to the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government in exile Samdhong Rinpoche, the yearlong commitment to vegetarianism is aimed at enhancing the 'collective merit' of Tibetans."

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And just an FYI, there's a new place to click at Care2.com - to help reduce global warming.

This goes along with their easy, quick, click-to-donate (free!) for pets (through the Humane Society of the U.S.), the seals of Canada, the oceans & living beings in it, "big cats," primates (through the wondrous Jane Goodall), the precious, dwindling rain forests of the world and more!

i encourage all of you to click daily!
Have i mentioned that it's free?
(and that it just takes a few seconds?)

http://www.care2.com/click2donate/

I have a page there, too, if you want to check it out...
http://my.care2.com/1pisces

Hope you have a terrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrific weekend!
Be safe out there!

Baa Baa Ganoush 4 Ewe

i just found out that my friend Nicki sponsored this adorable guy, whose name is Baa Baa Ganoush, in my name from Best Friends Animal Society - http://www.bestfriends.org/ - a wonderful place in Kanab, Utah! If you have a minute, go check out their Web site. Here's what it says about him there:

"Baa Baa Ganoush feels like a big puffy carpet! He's all powdery tan and very cute. He's not too gregarious, but he likes it when you pet him. Although -- petting him is more like patting a sponge than stroking fur! He's very gentle and nice.

Baa Baa Ganoush was born around 1997. Not much is known about his past, but when he first arrived, he was a very dear friend to another Best Friends sheep who since passed away. He now has new sheep-friends in his life, but he's never quite gotten over losing that one special friend. It'll take time -- and maybe some encouraging letters from his sponsor!"

<---From Pangea http://www.veganstore.com/ !

<<<<-Also from Pangea!

<----Peter showcased his fronds last week at the weekly Farmer's Market in my former digs of Ocean Beach http://oceanbeachsandiego.com/FarmersMarket.shtml .

This is my current fave, above!

Mat caught some shade under Peter's table.

A local organic farm - http://themorningstarranch.org/ - at the Farmer's Market. I tried some of their grapefruit. Really delicious.

Their hippie bus! i loved it!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Happy Pesach/Passover to those who are Matzah-ing it up this week!

(FREEDOM ROCKS!)

Happy Easter on Sunday to those celebrating!