Eddie Vedder + Puppies = Guilt = $

Let Eddie Vedder make you feel all mushy inside...

And then donate to the front street animal shelter!

Yay! Social media usage at it's finest (aka grassroots fundraising campaigns)

Sacramento Shelter

http://www.groupon.com/deals/front-street-animal-shelter-city-of-sacramento

Random puppy thanks you.

Pickled

 So it's 1:15, my blog is due by 3:15, and I have about 20 or so minutes before I need to head back to work. My lunch includes a pickle. Most of my lunches include a pickle. So I was thinking about this, and I remember when my aunt went to New York for a week, and her carry on bag was one of those little soft pack refrigerated cubes. It was empty when she left, filled with pickles when she returned. A LOT of pickles.

So what's the deal with Jews and pickles? I honestly think we are pre-programmed genetically to sniff out a good kosher dill (Claussen is pretty good BTW). My grandfather used to take us to Sam's Kosher Style Deli in Citrus Heights, and I remember that he would eat his Reuben and save his pickle for the end. He is really into his pickles. He would look at us staring at the untouched pickle, and he would say "for dessert."

According to the Pickle Guys website, Jews have been eating (and loving) pickles since ancient Mesopotamia. Thousands of years before Jesus was even around, we have been pickling stuff. And Jesus most likely ate pickles. Just putting it out there.

The website also mentions that the Israelites that left Egypt mourned the loss of cucumbers when they were wandering in the desert because they had no pickles. Knowing my family, the claim seems perfectly valid.

For your interest, July is National Pickle Month. And November 14th is National Pickle day. Just in case you needed validation that pickles are in fact important. They are.

Sources:
https://pickleguys.com/historyofpickles.php
http://www.freewebs.com/pickleday/
http://webclipart.about.com/od/special/ss/National-Pickle-Month.htm

And in case you didn't want a pickle, here are some photos to ensure that you do.

 

And if you are looking for some fun management Ideas, apparently pickles make a great reward/incentive (this was developed by someone who was clearly talking to my family about motivational tools):

 

And because this one is super cute....

 

What I want to be when I grow up....

I really don't have a ton of interest in general current events. When I buy a newspaper, it is to FIND things, not necessarily to learn things. That may make me seem blase about what is going on in the world, but ultimately, I am interested more in what is going on in my world.

When I was 16, I started buying and selling vintage jewelry and clothing on Ebay. I dig it. In the past year (partially due to my buying a house most likely), I have been getting more interested in furniture from the 40's, 50's & 60's. If I were to start a blog for myself, it would have to do with transformations and restoration (of which we do quite a lot).

A couple weeks ago, after a dismal hunting day utilizing Craigslist and Sacbee (see, I use media!), we were about to throw in the towel in defeat. I picked up some old jewelry that I could turn over quickly on Ebay, but really nothing AMAZING.

We were driving through my husband's old neighborhood, and we saw a family packing up to move out of the house. My husband craned his neck out the window and told me to stop the car. The following is what we can do with a ten dollar porch glider and some spray paint...

The old Bunting & Co porch glider was sitting off to the side of the house. It was lovely. So, for ten bucks, I stumbled over myself trying to pick this up (bear in mind these things can be completely rusted out and fairly expensive still). This style is the 1941. Not necessarily manufactured in 1941--this is a GEM.

What did we do?

While I was working overtime this past Saturday, my husband (whose name happens to be Mike, FYI) went to TOWN on this thing. Completely sanded it down, manufactured new supports for the glider function out of sheet metal, and here it is. Thank you, random-drive-by-luck....

Anyway, I just got into Sac State, and the plan is that I will graduate, quit my job, and go hunting full-time. Because when I grow up--I want to do what I want to do, and stop doing what I have to do.

Check out some ::Media:: photos of this glider--compliments of vintageglider.com :

Learning to Debate... Poorly.

In addition to taking a class on mass media and communications, I am also taking a debate course and an intercultural communications course this semester. One of the really interesting things about doing this is that there is a common thread weaving between them:

Mass Media wants us to look at media topics.
Intercultural communications wants us to come up with culturally relevant or debatable topics in the news or media.
Debate wants us to fight it out about them (completely civilly, and with an emphasis on actual knowledge, of course).

Last night, when I was in class until 9 : ( , we had our first practice debates. Now, not only do I have a better understanding of the debates I have watched (such as the presidential debates a few months ago), but I am also forced to address key issues that are being covered in the media today. I had written a paper on immigration reform, and to my own eyes, my arguments were weak and not as informed as they could be. The format of the debate (for which I was the opposition) helped me to critically assess the issues I have been reading about in the news.

Last year, President Obama came up with a plan for amnesty for certain illegal residents. This, I think, can be a good thing. But there are many other aspects of immigration reform that are still in the works. I can only imagine that it was addressed in the State of the Union Address (which I recorded, but have yet to watch). This is very current news, and the aspect of it changes depending on which news outlet you choose--such as CNN vs. FoxNews. I have been spending the better part of the last two weeks reading up on this issue and I have come to a conclusion about this issue: people are fighting for the sake of fighting.

Whenever one comes up with an idea or plan for more widespread reform, the other basically wags their finger and comes up with some infinitesimal detail on which to harp on. I am not really sure whether there is any point to it, aside from both sides of the debate being able to save face but not actually copping to a concession. As I was on the opposition side of the debate, I saw how easy it was to come up with excuses to halt change. It really isn't about what is best for everyone (us personally, the country, the state -- whatever), it's sort of just about being right. And not actually right right, but instead perceived as right. Because change is hard, and it's uncomfortable, and maybe it's easier not to deal with.

Anyway--that was a rant, and perhaps not providing you with as much information as you would need to form your own opinion about what is going on, but a really interesting issue that is churning around these days.