Proof of Global Warming: Meet My New Dog/Fox

I will soon be living alone due to the Dubai Notice, so I begged/bribed my landlord to let me get a dog. In this economy that extra $500 deposit could pretty much get you just about anything it seems as long as that thing doesn't bark. So I went to the 92nd Street ASPCA and got this teensy little white scrumpy white 6+ year-old mutt whom I named "Poppy McKee." Getting a dog that cannot travel via subway or bus in NYC is kind of not sustainable...

She is a special needs dog with breast cancer who will need surgery(s) and tons of attention. But she genuinely just looks like a cross between a small white terrierish dog and an arctic fox. I guess they're migrating from the poles now too a la global warming...or at least that's what I am telling all the terribly gullible people who are always trying to touch her in public (rude).

I might get less work done now, but it's for a good cause.

Procrastination Via Webcrawl

I am tormenting my brain trying to make it focus to write a paper. However, I have always been a deadline-driven worker, even since childhood. I literally cannot even force myself to do anything substantial until I am within hours of a deadline. When I wrote online, this was great, it was all short bursts and deadlines.... Now, not so much. Regardless, this will be a webcrawl of sustainable science, green topics, technology, Sunday headlines, etc. while I force myself to sit at my computer despite my lack of actual work on my paper. Grrr.

Manhattan churches draw more guns off street with "Cash for guns" program ~ I think this is a brilliant program for 2 main reasons: Not only does it empower people to get rid of their guns in a safe "no questions asked" setting, but it also gives cash to people who in this economic decline very badly need it for basic living expenses. I know that it began in Brooklyn, then moved to Manhattan after the original success, but I think that this should be a program financed for all burroughs at incrementally scheduled times. As a taxpayer I would much rather shell out towards guns coming off the streets for people in need than potentially get mugged for that money. I know this in no way fixes the gun problem or poverty in New York, but it is a good start.

Happy Howloween ~ This is just good. I don't care what anyone says, especially at tough times like these, there should be more animals in costume. It just makes good sense.

Eco-Pioneer Builds Artificial Island, Lives There for 7 Years ~ I love this stuff, when people decide to go off the grid and prove that life outside the norm is totally possible and just fine. This vaguely reminds me of my father's attempt to do this when we were kids out in the middle of rural Ohio. I personally would have relished staying in the northwest suburbs of Philly at the time, but moving out to the middle of nowhere and making a go at it is certainly enticing right about now. However, this was before the interwebs, so I'm not sure how long I could go without that...a few hours? Ouch. I should go read some John McPhee books and chill out.

Crate Expectations: 12 Shipping Container Housing Ideas ~ Now this idea I can get down with, as mentioned before. I really want to find out why more people don't embrace the concept of shipping container homes. Especially considering their possibilities! I know it is the American dream to be in a sprawling spacious McMansion, however, I hope this catches on because it is so much cooler and once you see the prototypes, they are just better than any McMansion I can think of (including my own, geez.). I will be focusing more and more on this concept as I would like to design and build one that I could live in in the next 5 to 10 years. For serious.

Some of the following are my favourites:

And here is a link to a container condo development in Detroit. I travel to play rugby with ladies of the Detroit WRFC on occassion, so I have to say this is a great development for their real estate and will hopefully catch on there.

World's Dirtiest BMW M6 Spotted in Dubai ~ I told them they were on notice! Otherwise, I am not even sure why this is news.... Suspect, indeed.



We Can Solve It.org ~ They seem to have a ton of dollars for advertising which makes me suspicious. However, never suspicious enough to get off the couch and go check it out. It's about time I did that. That way, if it is indeed a meritable thing I can make everyone I know go check it out. So, lesson learned, it is a good thing. Largely it starts as a petition process, but they also organize energy events: all in the spirit of forcing alternative energy notices towards government and sparking awareness in said alternatives. What I did really like as that there was a function allowing you to put in your zip code and get all of the events within miles of you to participate in. So there, it is a good thing, you should all go sign up ASAP. I know it is essentially one of the many offshoots from Al Gore's work, but is that really a bad thing as long as it is making an effort or for that matter, a dent in the problem? I think not.

My professor Carol Crawford (INT 525P) is right, the internet is literally endless.

Dubai, You're on Notice!

My husband, whom I am none too happy with at the moment, screwed up some paperwork on his work visa (he's British) and is now being shipped off to Dubai by his company, where he is an acoustic consultant. While I can certainly rant at him for being a complacent dunce (the British way...grrr!) in this fiasco, I am equally annoyed at the economy in general, the boom and bust nature of the recent construction market in New York City, but I am more just glad that somewhere on the planet there is still a market so rich that they are tossing around cash like peanuts and he can go work there. Trust that being in grad school and people wanting all the nutrition information and diet plans for free is not exactly paying the bills, so someone's got to get that done. So from here on out, I am going to do a little detective work on good old Dubai, see what makes them tick.

Dubai, you're on notice!