My list of local bloggers needs much revision, as new ones are popping up all the time. In the meantime, enjoy a few of the newest finds:

Icklenet blog


Avaleeland

Today I officially became a volunteer for the Edmonton Humane Society (Edmonton SPCA).

I'm pretty excited about it, as it was a childhood dream of mine to volunteer at the SPCA. All the volunteers start out doing the dog "Walk n' Groom", and eventually I'd like to be able to work with the behaviourist there and try to help the shelter dogs find their forever homes.

I managed to persuade Forever North to join me, and we went to go figure out which dog to walk. We were originally going to walk Alex, since he's just such a handsome fellow and secretly he whispers to FN what a delightful companion he'd make. It turned out, though, that certain dogs were flagged for walking ahead of Alex. I scanned the flagged dogs names . . . Harley. One of the Harleys (there are two) can usually be seen leaping 6 feet into the air and barking his head off trying to persuade someone to walk him. I was pretty sure that he would be too much dog for us to handle.

I scanned the names for another one I might recognize . . . "Kiwi". I thought I remembered a Kiwi in the kennels being a fairly mellow dog. So the staff brought out Kiwi.

Out trotted the roundest, pudgiest golden labrador retriever I've ever seen. She waddled over and sat in front of us. FN and I stood there, gaping at the dog as if we had never seen one before. We couldn't understand how this mellow creature sitting in front of us could possibly be a dog.

During the time we spent with her, we came across many people, dogs, and children, and not once did she bark or leap on anyone. She was totally silent. And not only was she silent, but she offerred lovely sits along the way in exchange for pieces of dog biscuit. By the end of our hour with her, she was pressing herself up against us and grinning from ear to ear.

Well that certainly wasn't what I was expecting.

After only an hour, the first dog we had ever walked had stolen our hearts and trotted away with them. In the 4 hours since then, FN and I have been trying to keep ourselves from imagining taking her for rides, going to the dog park, going for runs, going to the lake, what we'll name her . . .

And that's working so well, let me tell you. So well, that we only think about her and talk about her every 10 minutes or so. We are totally and completely hopeless.

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On the off chance that any of you are looking for a dog to share your life with, please consider Caden.

Caden is 12 months old, and she has lived in the shelter since she was 5 months old. Being without a family is starting to take its toll on her, and she's becoming depressed. She's a beautfiul Great Pyranees mix, and she'd make a lovely companion. Help get this big girl her forever home!

I could comment on the war that started last night, but I don't really see the point. You know it's there, I know it's there, not much else to say.

Something I would like to comment on, however, is the affect that Canadian-American relations has on business. Canadians who are doing business in the United States are finding that they're better off concealing their citizenship. One person I know of found that Americans react in a strongly negative manner towards him upon discovering that he is Canadian. Needless to say, this makes doing business between the two countries a monumental challenge.

It seems, though, that this has less to do with the stance on this war by our government, and more to do with people in Ottawa who seem to suffer from a version of Tourette's Syndrome. Everytime someone puts a camera in their face, they seem to be unable to keep themselves from blurting out, "Bush is a moron" and "Goddamn Americans, I hate those bastards".

Whether or not any of us agree with those statements doesn't lessen the fact that these knee-jerk statements are going to have a real impact on Canadian business. I don't recall relations between our countries being more strained than they are right now, and I believe it won't be long before I see the effect of that in my job.

Despite what we might think of our neighbours, I think we as Canadians ought to think carefully before opening our mouths to ridicule them. Having amiable relations with the United States has afforded us a comfortable lifestyle. That certainly doesn't mean that we're not entitled to think Bush is a moron and not participate in U.S.-backed military action, but we ought to be more judicious about when, where and to whom we say these things.

In this instance, we don't get to pick our neighbours.

There's a guy from Edmonton named Don Pirot who takes really fabulous pictures. Unfortunately, there's no way to contact him.

Okay, I take that back. In trying to find his email address, I've managed to find out everything but. I really don't think it's polite for me to pick up the phone and call him out of the blue, so I'm struggling to find other ways to contact him.

If you're reading this, and you're Don Pirot, would you mind dropping me an email so I can get a hold of you? I would appreciate it.

As I wouldn't want one of the members of my linky-harem to feel neglected, go and give much hot-lovin' to The Don.

Did I mention he's single? Don would like all you single ladies out there to know about his massive . . . earning potential.

Read, Rinse, Repeat:

Cubicle Dweller - love him because he majored in theatre

Scaryduck - love him because he worked in tech support

No 'freedom fries' in the French Quarter.

Damn those Frenchy decendents and their anti-American fast food ways.

Found via Scaryduck, who said:

"Seeing that Captain Jean-Luc Picard is French, should the freedom-loving people of the oil-burning capitalist wolrd be pushing for a boycott of Star Trek: The Next Generation? Given half the chance, he�d have been the first to surrender to the Borg. Thank you and goodnight."

According to CNN, apparently being a peace activist now makes one anti-American. I guess that makes me super anti-American, since I was involved in peace activities way back in September of 2001.

Maybe I'm �ber anti-American? Too bad. I think my American relatives would be disappointed to hear that.

Tonight's pressing late-night question is:

Does Lynne Cheney really like to eat at the Y?

Links that make me laugh like a maniac deep into the night:

Betty Bowers - so close to Jesus, He validates her parking

The Best Page In The Universe


(not including this and this)

Whitehouse.org


THE source for Whitehouse misinformation, daily.

Of particular note, Maddox's military expenditure recommendations and Irate Vice President Cheney Issues A Punctilious, Legally Precise "Oh, wise guy, eh? Why I oughta!" Letter to Nefarious "Whitehouse.org" Terror Portal! will likely offer hours of milk-out-the-nose-enjoyment.

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And in case there is something crammed up your anus that renders you incapable of enjoying the above, this should help expel the object.

Limegirl's Street Report

Nothing out of the ordinary yet . . . hardly any cars, really. A few minutes ago there was what appeared to be a very shiney, lime-green Challenger being rolled off of a trailer and into someone's garage, but that's the most interesting thing thus far.

No people, though. And this is usually the perfect vantage spot for watching odd behaviour. I guess it's too cold.

I've seen several snow-angels in the making, a dance routine, and what appeared to be a mob of university students chasing and pelting each other with snowballs. During the battle, several girls were also nearly tossed into the snow. But today, nothing.

Nothing would be a lot more interesting if I had a streaming video webcam with which to share it with you. But I don't.

Dear Down-Arrow-Key,

I realized that I spilled water on the keyboard yesterday, which was a bonehead thing to do. However, I gave you 24 hours to dry out quite nicely and you still don't work.

I don't think you realize how much you are screwing up my day. You'd better watch yourself.

Type-error-ingly Yours,


Limegirl.

Happy Mardi Gras, everyone!

Here at the office, we're keeping beads on hand in case anyone women happen by and decide to flash their boobs from the sidewalk. We're also keeping the hospital on speed dial to ensure that the flashed boobies can be quickly reattached after freezing and falling off of their owner.

Did I mention it's -30 degrees Celcius today?

Lord of the Peeps

Right now, Peter Jackson is curled up in the fetal position, sobbing his head off because he realized that Lord of the Peeps was even better than his movie.

Thanks to Dave.

Terry Jones of Monty Python on George Bush's war on Iraq

I always knew Monty Python was also edumacational!

Thanks to Halcyon for the link.