Birthday Wishes

Some may or may not know that my birthday is this Monday.  I'm requesting that everyone get me a present.  That's right you heard me.  You will get me a present and you will like it!

Even if its just $1 please donate to one of my 5 charity projects at Crowdrise.   

They're all worthwhile causes so feel free to pick the one that speaks to you.

Thank you :)

Run for the Ridley

This past weekend was the annual Run for the Ridley, one of the major fundraisers for the Riverhead Foundation.  I volunteered to help with the race, was the least I could do after shaking down 2 sponsors and passing out applications everywhere I could think of.

I've spent the past month or so in the office making phone calls to random strangers.  First batches were to potential sponsors.  You would be surprised how many business do not actually answer their phones during business hours.  I have no real idea if any of them ever called back, I hope a few did.

The runner calls were far more fun.  Most of them did not answer but the ones that did were super nice and very enthusiastic.  Everyone loves the "turtle race"!

Day of the race we're to get there at 6am.  That's right 6am.  You know what I usually do at 6am?  Sleep.  I give myself extra time to get ready and of course the dogs refuse to cooperate.  Sophie goes outside and will just not climb back up the stairs to get in.  I had to go outside and practically carry her in the house.  She weighs 70 friggin pounds that's so not something I like doing at 5:15am.

Dog crisis averted and I'm off to Riverhead.  Its dark and its cold and I'm on the LIE with no other cars so I cannot speed.  That sucks on so many levels I can't even explain.  I arrived in the general vicinity of on time and they had many things ready for us to do.  Set up tables, put big sticks with signs in big pots with dirt and rocks.   For a break around 7ish I went around with Lauren to see if any of the local businesses could give us change for our merchandise table.  The guys at the stationary store near the Aquarium were really excited about the race.  If you're in Riverhead and need a lotto ticket they're the guys to see!

We were more than ready when the runners arrived.  I admit it was a little hard to hand out the numbers when my fingers were so cold.  Yes I had gloves but I left them in the car and yes they kept the car nice and warm.  I'll remember them next year.  So many people and all of them in such high spirits.  You don't often see that many happy New Yorkers in one spot.  Unless its say a Grateful Dead concert and then the happy really is just high.

I wasn't at the starting line but the other volunteers said that it really was an impressive site.  When the race started all of Main Street was flooded with runners, all there to help raise money for the Foundation. 

While we flipped over registration for raffle/awards I snuck over to refreshments and snagged an apple.  *Note to self find vegan food sponsor for next year*.  Jerry and the Mermaid arrived with their crowd pleasing chowder.  If I'm really honest that chowder may be half the reason most of the people run.

Clean up went quickly and I snuck out to my car before I made eye contact with Lauren or Ali and got recruited to unload the truck. The final count numbers came in.  431!  Yeah baby, 431 runners blows past all the other races.  Hopefully a few of those came from my phone calls!

Enjoy the silence?

It's nice to be able to sit here and whine about how my feet hurt from working a fair in bad shoes or my inability to pick a fridge so I can redo my kitchen.  Its nice to just yap about the generally happy moments in my life.  I'm not the most interesting writer, nor the most persuasive.  I tend to keep my political opinions to myself, I'm not much in the mood to argue with anyone about what I believe. But now, on this matter, silence is no longer an option for me.
 

In the past three weeks Five gay teens, from very different parts of the country, have killed themselves.  On September 9, Billy Lucas, a 15-year old from Greensburg, Indiana, hanged himself after constant bullying at school. Two weeks later, Asher Brown, 13, shot himself after coming out in his Houston suburb. On September 28, Seth Walsh hanged himself in his backyard after suffering relentless taunting and abuse at school. That same day, Tyler Clementi jumped to his death in a highly publicized suicide.  The very next day, Raymond Chase, an openly gay 19-year-old at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, hanged himself in his dorm room.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued this statement: "This week, we sadly lost two young men who took their own lives for one unacceptable reason: they were being bullied and harassed because they were openly gay or believed to be gay. These unnecessary tragedies come on the heels of at least three other young people taking their own lives because the trauma of being bullied and harassed for their actual or perceived sexual orientation was too much to bear. This is a moment where every one of us - parents, teachers, students, elected officials, and all people of conscience - needs to stand up and speak out against intolerance in all its forms. Whether it's students harassing other students because of ethnicity, disability or religion; or an adult, public official harassing the President of the University of Michigan student body because he is gay, it is time we as a country said enough. No more. This must stop."

We all feel sympathy (at least those of us who are actually human) but that's just not enough anymore.  These little bully monsters didn't just hatch, they have parents.  Parents who let their kids use the word gay as an adjective for all the icky moments of their life.  Parents who don't take the time to teach their children the difference between entertainment and torment.  Parents who don't love and respect their children enough to teach them how to love and respect others.

I think that the parents of these bullies should be forced to sit in a room with the parents of these dead teens.  They should be forced to look into their eyes and see the pain that can only come from losing a child.  Perhaps then they can realize that something has gone horribly wrong in their parenting plan.

We can't blame all of this on the bullies and their parents, no matter how self satisfying it is to do so.  If you keep refusing a minority basic rights, kids will grow up under the impression that members of said minority are somehow worth less than “normal” people, that it is ok to look down on them, to bully them.  

President Obama has lead the gay community down a road to nowhere.  During his campaign he promised to repeal the Defense of Marriage act, its still there.  He promised to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, it hasn't gone away.  He said he would push for employment non-discrimination laws and expanded hate crimes laws, there is nothing.  Its time to hold him and the rest of our elected officials accountable.

Its not okay to be silent on the matter anymore.  Do you really intend to look the other way while these acts of hate and torment are perpetrated on our family, on our friends, on our neighbors...on our children?

Dachshunds and Seals and Sea Turtles, Oh My!

Last week Gimli somehow managed to hurt his back.  A trip to the vet and three days of pills later he was still screaming in pain whenever he moved.   With a little help from Mom's taxi service I took him to the 24 hour emergency vet.  Of course once he's at the vet he's refusing to show any signs of injury or pain.  More pills and instructions of strict rest and at 4am its back to sleep.   Something in that batch of pills must have worked because he's almost back to his old self.

I didn't get to go to the foundation this week because of that little middle of the night vet run.   I hate missing time I signed up to do.  Before I really got involved with them I imagined them working in a state of the art facility with top notch equipment and the best of everything.  I was a bit off.

At volunteer orientation we got  tour of the hospital and they mentioned that whatever they have or need is done through donations or volunteers.  The insane heat probably made me a little oblivious to the weight of that statement.  My first volunteer experience knocked the oblivious right out of me. 

I met one of the staff down at the Strawberry Fields in Mattituck for the Greenfest.  I go to assemble the first tent and wow.  I don't think MacGyver could have gotten this tent to stand up on its own.

Evil, mean, bad tent

You thought I was kidding didn't you?

There are other functional tents just so that's clear :)

I've also worked at the office.  Its on a house boat right behind the aquarium and the rescue center.  How cool right?   The computer monitor scared me, I didn't think you could actually see an old CRT in the workplace anymore.  I'm bringing them one of my old ones provided I can find cables to test if it works.  Everything they have and most everything they do is provided by or fueled by volunteers. 

I talk about seal and sea turtle rescues at fairs, inside an aquarium and at releases.  I fold flyers, send out adoption kits and make phone calls.  I don't do anything flashy or exciting but I love what I do and I know that what I do makes a tangible difference.  At the end of the day I know that I did my part to make sure Amelia gets the medications she needs and that Rudy has his lunch.

I get the joy of seeing the end result of all my efforts.  Not many people get to say "hey I helped make this happen"

Sasha's Release

Home Improvements

This week I'm having some work done on the house. Nothing drastic, couple of new windows, new front door and some odds and ends in the back yard to make it more functional.

Today was front door day so that means all the dogs have to get set up in rooms in the back of the house. They have to be placed based on who gets along best with who and for how long. Then they had to be rotated because halfway through we don't seem to like each other as much.

I spent part of the day learning how to negotiate Crowdrise. I'd like to set up some charity projects up there and see how they do. It took me a while to get it figured out, but I had an amazing assistant.

So we managed to get a project up for a turtle fundraiser, I'll add others later.  Seems like a nice place to fundraise, some people are pulling in really large dollars.

The link to my Crowdrise page is on the right.  Check it out!

Zzzz

I have had nothing very interesting to say lately. I'm fixing the links for my photo albums so that people can actually view them. I can think of nothing all that interesting going on for me.

My current real issue is figuring out appliances for my kitchen redo. I'm not all that excited to stare at web pages trying to find a fridge that works. Pity I'm not independently wealthy and can just pay someone to do it for me.

If anyone reading this (if anyone is reading this) is or around Long Island, this Saturday the Riverhead Foundation is releasing 2 sea turtles.

Have festival tent will travel

I volunteered for two festivals this weekend, generic Syosset craft fair on Saturday and the Polish Festival on Sunday.

The weekend started off badly. On my way into the festival I got a call from the foundation office asking if I had the tent and bins for the fair. Well no I didn't, and neither did the other volunteer who was already there staring at an empty space. So I had to turn around and shove a tent, table and two large totes into my very small car. Sort of a big oops fixed. We set up late but that turned out not to matter, no one came by. It seems the only people who go to small craft fairs are people's grandmothers and they are less than interested in saving sea mammals. We still tried but it really was a lost cause.

There was one saving grace, the live music. I was a bit oblivious to it at first, but slowly the music began to creep into my consciousness. Were they playing "Beat It"? Is it me or does that lead singer sound off. Yes that's right it was a band of little kids. It was a music school right down the road and they were performing at the fair. Interesting choices, Green Day, Weezer, Coldplay, Kiss (proving once and for all anyone can play a Kiss song). They were so sweet up there rocking out.  They had quite a fan gathering going on.

But its all fun and games till someone loses an eye or gives children Devo hats.

I'm pretty sure I don't need to say anything more here.


Sunday was the Polish Festival in Riverhead.  This is always a great festival, always a good time.  We set up the tent and it turned out we got a pretty good spot, 2 tents down from the Mr Softee truck.  Two hours in we'd gotten into a teamwork flow of catching people in the crowd and drawing them in. Then the rains came so fast that we barely got the flyers off the table in time.  It turned out to be fun, people came to hang in our tent.  Problem was our tent had no sides and the roof is slightly unstable.   We had to keep dumping out the water gathering on the roof of the tent.  By the time the rain ended I was soaked through to my shoes.  The good news is I didn't spend the rest of the day whining how it was hot out.

When my shift was over I wandered around the fair to see if there was anything new and exciting this year.  I got a few things and enjoyed a few polkas.  

We raised about $2 on Saturday and we had nearly $50 when I left the table on Sunday.  I think this proves once and for all drunk Poles > people who go to craft fairs.

Bright light! Bright light!

On Mondays I volunteer at the Riverhead Foundation. I'll either help out in the office or at the resource center over in the aquarium. Today was resource center day and I usually have a great time. I get to hang with the animals and the kids are all so excited to see all the stuff. They're usually quite sweet and genuinely interested in the turtles and the seals.

Blizzard and Kyra show off for the kids in their tanks.  One little girl saw the turtle rescue picture collage and picked Blizzard's picture right out.  She was all of 6 and adopted him about a month ago.  Her mother said she'd memorized every pixel of his pictures.  She ran right over to his tank and spent about 10 minutes telling him every thought in her head.

The whole area is usually full of tiny child squeals and giggles.  The kids are cute and fluffy and you are so very happy to have their sweet faces around.

Sure, they're cute.  Of course you can keep them.  But heed these three warnings: Don't ever get them wet.  Keep them away from bright light.  And the most important thing, the one thing you must never forget: no matter how much they cry, no matter how much they beg . . . never, never feed them after midnight.

Bus after bus full of kids from camps showed up.  Evil, nasty, spawn of satan, Gremlin children.   They showed up 20 at a time, all in matching T-shirts of their camp.   I would say they were raised by wolves but wolf pups have better manners and are probably less destructive.  

First off none of them walked.  They ran everywhere and it didn't matter if you were in their path.  Then they touched everything.  Everything there is designed to be touched by the kids.  But the whale vertebrae wasn't designed to be picked up and dropped.  The Green Turtle shell wasn't designed to be worn by 10 year olds.  The fishing net wasn't meant to be tied around their heads (although this one would have solved many problems had I let them all choke each other).

They banged on the glass of the animal tanks.  Thankfully the tanks have really thick glass but I'm pretty sure neither turtle really appreciated all sudden movements.   I had to clean the glass every half hour because you couldn't see Amelia the seal in the big tank.  One of the little angels jammed up the kiosk.   I was constantly picking up the fact sheets and cards.  All the adoption forms were taken and most of the pens.  I had to call maintenance about 6 times to replace and fix things and I was only there 4 hours.

There are a few different coin donation drops.  They are these fun centrifugal force banks that take in a pretty decent amount of donations.  I caught John Dillinger with his arm in the hole trying to get at the change.  Really?  You're going to steal from sick animals in public?  I'm sure when he grows up he will be quite the upstanding citizen.

All through this I heard a little sound in the back of my head.  My mother's laughter.  So wrong, so very very wrong. 

Next Monday I'll be in the office.  I may hide there till summer is over and the Future Teenage Delinquents of New York are back in school.

Starting Over

Once upon a time I had a blog and it felt weird.  I mean who the heck was interested in what I was doing.  I wasn't doing all that much really and the things I was doing didn't feel like me.  Neither did the blog.

Now I'm starting over with a new mindset.  Much has changed since my last blog attempt and I am more comfortable with the concept and the idea of it all.  Now I am more okay with me and the things I am doing.  So the blog should be more genuine and hopefully more interesting.

Most people reading this probably know that I am the least outgoing of my family.  I am far shyer and less prone to sharing in a group situation.   I am doing things that fascinate and inspire me and a blog is a far easier place for me to share.
 I think my life is interesting, its just not flashy. 

"We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody sees in them.

The Hobbit: "An Unexpected Party"