Current Mood: determined

This is Cooper, Shiba Rescue of Ocean County rescued him from the Union NJ Shelter where he was going to be put to sleep because they where just too crowded. He is a super sweet Shepherd mix who really needs to get into a loving forever home. He's active, loving, neutered, utd on shots and micro-chipped. This is him on Petfinder: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/25626954  -  He is currently in Toms River NJ, but help with transportation may be available if you're elsewhere.  Please, SROC is full up, they can't save any more dogs if they don't find homes for the ones they have - so pass the word, even if you can't help, someone you know might know someone who can!  Contact: inurescue@gmail.com

It occurred to me that some of my friends over here aren't on Facebook - and might not know about what's going on with a fellow SCAdian, Auslander (MKA: Katie Morton).  If you don't know Katie, she's a wonderfully sweet woman and was until recently, East Kingdom Chancellor Minor. 

Aproximately two months ago, just over three weeks before her due date with her 2nd child, Katie began experiencing unexplained symptoms and her husband, Jeff,  took her to the hospital where she was scheduled to give birth.  She was monitored overnight, and in the morning, her doctors diagnosed her with advanced preeclampsia and an immediate Caesarean section with general anesthesia was performed.  Following the delivery of their baby boy, however, she would not wake up and was transferred to the MICU of a major hospital.  Here, she was quickly diagnosed with renal failure, liver failure, and heart failure.  After nearly 7 weeks in a medically induced coma, and a series of miricals, Katie was finally stable enough to have been moved on 8/15 from ICU to a recoverly room.

The whole story, pictures, regular updates on her recovery and an opportunity to help the Morton family can all be found here:

Help Katie

My apologies for spamming your friends' list with yet another post about this, but it's something I believe in very passionately and we're SO close!

The Georgia Billboard Project I'm involved in needs a little more than 100 additional people to find $1.00 in the couch cushions and these kids get $5,000 worth of support from the "More of Me to Love" Match donation - come on folks, large billboards, small billboards, bus shelter signs and tons of media to support helping kids grow up with a healthy attitude about their own bodies. - If you haven't donated there is still time to stand up for bullied kids and be part of this. If you have donated then thank you and could you please ask a friend to donate? Information on the project can be found here: http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/enough-is-enough-the-big-fat-money-bomb/ along with the donation links, or you can go directly to the solidarity dollar site at http://tinyurl.com/solidaritydollar to donate just $1 and be counted towards getting that Match Donation.

Thank you!

A week ago I posted a STANDard of myself done by the oh so awesome Marlyn Wann as part of a statement against the Georgia billboards shaming fat kids - well,  another great lady, Ragen Chastain, decided that putting up billboards in some of the same places that say body-positive things would be an awesome idea.... and she got a whole bunch of folks involved and the fundraising has begun!!!

You can check out the whole project and make a donation (as little as $5 if you'd like) to help see this happen by going here:
http://www.gofundme.com/dp16w

A woman named Marlyn Wann started a campaign of posters in response to the Georgia billboards that shame fat children called Stand4Kids.  She's named these posters STANDards and this is mine:


(the full scope of the STANDards can be seen here: www.stand4kids.tumblr.com)

I really love that if you scroll through them there are folks of all shapes, sizes, ages, race and backgrounds standing up and submitting their pictures and their statements to her to make these posters.  This isn't a "fat persons issue" this is an issue of bullying and bigotry.  It's not OK to purposefully make someone feel badly about themselves, even if you think your motive is "in their best interest"... especially when that person is an impressionable youngster who's already got a ton of social issues to struggle with.

I was recently involved in a video project that was put together by a woman named Ragen Chastain, who I happen to think is pretty awesome. (If you're interested, you can read all about her here: http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com/)

I think the message in this video is a really important one:  Your self esteem, your ability to be loved, productive and worthwhile is not dependent on the numbers that show up on a scale.  Don't judge yourself or your life based on whether you've lost 20, 10 or even 5 pounds.

You can view the video here:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Num0h2a1c54&feature=player_embedded




Thank you for taking the time to watch it... feel free to pass the message, and the video on.

make with the clicky to see about Anka Kusu T-Shirts and Tank Tops!

...and while you're over there, sign up to get the posts from the Director's Blog.

As some of my friends are aware, our dog Sela is epileptic.  In order to control her seizures she needs two medications.  One of which must be compounded just for her.  Any time a medication is needed in a specialized dose (for a child or an elderly person, for someone with resistance to that drug, or like in our case, for a smaller dog....) it must be custom blended or compounded rather than simply pouring from a premixed bottle or counting premade pills.  The number of pharmacies around the country that do this sort of work is getting very small as larger chains take over the pharmacy industry.  I drive an hour to a special pharmacy for Sela's medication, and I'm OK with that - it means she can get a medication that helps her.

Here's where I'm asking for a few moments of your time.
Now, access to these types of medications is facing another huge threat. 

Big drug companies have been lobbying federal regulators and a small but powerful group of senators is on the verge of introducing legislation that would severely restrict and possibly deny access to critical medications that many patients rely on, such as women prescribed bioidentical hormones, hospice care patients and children.  

Please go to: www.savemymedicine.org
click on the big yellow and black square and take a few moments to fill out the form that will send a letter to your government representatives, telling them that making it illegal to obtain compounded medicines is NOT ok.


I thank you, and Sela thanks you - infact next time you come to visit she will eagerly display her thanks by sniffing you and then running away.

 

The following statement has been going around LJ, and while I do feel slightly different about the portion that says that sexual partners should have no say over whether I choose to bear a child*, I am a rather strong supporter of keeping abortion legal, and so I shall post it.


The circumstances under which I would, might, have, or might have chosen to have an abortion are nobody's business but mine and those I choose to tell. They are not the business of any government. I do not accept the proposition that either the state or my sexual partner(s) should have any say over when and if I choose to bear a child. I do not accept any sovereignty over my body and my reproductive organs but my own. If faced with the situation, I will do everything feasible to help other women and girls I know exercise their rights to safely terminate a pregnancy if they so choose. When a state treats women and girls as chattel, it is they that commit a crime.

If you agree, please place the preceding paragraph in your journal. Then use the following link to send a message to South Dakota's governor:

http://www.saveroe.com/blogs/2006/03/03/stand-up-for-south-dakota-women

And thanks.

* I recognize that my issues with this statement are moral rather than legal, and the morality issue is personal not legal.... I personally think that relationship to the sexual partner must be taken into account... is it your husband? long time boyfriend? or some guy you had casual one night sex with and never even swapped phone numbers? By protecting a woman's legal right not to have to hunt down the one night stand and get his permission to have an abortion, you are legally also protecting the right of a woman to sneek out behind her husbands back and have an abortion. Morally I am emphatic that committed couples need to make this sort of decision together, but I recognize that not everyone will agree with me in their own lives, and there for this portion needs to be left to the individual and not left up to the law to define.