Something on Twitter took me to an older article about a cafe in Japan where various stuffed “Moomins” can sit with you if you’re dining solo (“nobody has to eat alone”) or if you just want a companion to join you and your family or friends at your table. Of course there was a chorus of, “THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH EATING ALONE!” and “Sure, everybody wants to call attention to their loneliness.” I didn’t read it that way at all, I guess because I have never minded having a solitary meal, seeing a movie alone, etc. I just thought it was a fun and engaging thing, even though I didn’t know what the heck a Moomin was.
So I Googled (of course!) and found out Moomins are “the central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Swedish-speaking Finnish illustrator Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of white, round fairy tale characters with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamuses.”
When I was telling Tim about this, he knew immediately what I was talking about–he knows the books.
I’ve atoned for being the last to know by getting this little guy into my menagerie as soon as I could. Welcome to Houndstooth Hall, Moomin!
My brain’s jumble over the last week included in no particular order: D Day Normandy my father patriotism vs false patriotism veterans and the people who use and misuse them liars bullies Robert F Kennedy Mohammed Ali Martin Luther King Jr. civics the Constitution the Declaration of Independence surviving the madness of monarchs despots and dictators a new generation of doers and dreamers Puerto Rico depression as the thief of who and what we love Colin Kaepernick hurricanes heartbreak hope peacemakers dogs who are tortured and dogs who are saved stealing children from their parents keeping children safe truth-tellers seeing past the moment happy and decent young people and their children planting your feet on the right side of history even when it’s uncomfortable especially when it’s uncomfortable bad things/good people…
This week marked the 50th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination. On my car radio, I heard a story about his speech the day he heard that Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated. He was scheduled to speak at a campaign rally in Indianapolis that night. He was urged not to speak. People were uneasy about the mood of crowds and his safety. Having himself lost his brother to an assassin less than five years earlier, it couldn’t have been easy for him to stand at the microphone that night. He scrapped his prepared remarks and gave what many historians say was one of the greatest speeches of the century. Unlike other cities, Indianapolis did not have riots that night, and many attribute it to Kennedy’s speech. I listened to it in its entirety, and there are too many reasons to count for why it left me sobbing in my car.
“I have bad news for you, for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and killed tonight.
Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort.
In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black–considering the evidence there evidently is that there were white people who were responsible–you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization–black people amongst black, white people amongst white, filled with hatred toward one another.
Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love.
For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times.
My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: ‘In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.’
What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.
So I shall ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, that’s true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love–a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.
We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times; we’ve had difficult times in the past; we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; it is not the end of disorder.
But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings who abide in our land.
Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.
Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.”
If you have some spare change, please contribute to my fundraising page for our organization’s Saving Pets Challenge. Any amount is great, and please don’t feel obligated to pay the fee. All your money will go toward rescuing, rehabilitating, and transporting dogs and cats to new forever homes. THANK YOU if you can!
[address redacted after campaign ended]
If you squint hard at this group of fantastic volunteers, staffers, and fosters, you can see Jeter the husky and Ginya and Gibbs, two chihuahua mixes who were among those traveling this week. You may also see Connor in the blue shirt, who is almost a year hold now, but his mama wouldn’t let us send him to Colorado. =)
My friend Dean James, writing as Miranda James, had a signing at Murder By The Book for Claws for Concern, the ninth book in his Cat in the Stacks cozy mystery series. I was a few behind both with this series and his Southern Lady Mystery series, so I now have plenty to read! (I promise I’m still going to read A Wrinkle in Time before I get started on these.)
In even better news, Dean signed a contract that means there’ll be more in this series. I’m happy for Dean and his many readers who enjoy these mysteries centered around librarian Charlie, his cat Diesel, and the small town of Athena, Mississippi.
Last night Tom got takeout from IHOP for us because I felt like eating breakfast for dinner. I didn’t order pancakes, but for some reason, they were with the rest of my meal. I didn’t eat them because that would have been too much food plus I try to avoid carby-syrupy stuff, so I put them in the refrigerator thinking Tom might warm them up for breakfast.
This morning, I sat down at my computer and first thing I saw was that it’s IHOP’s fundraising National Pancake Day. IT WAS MEANT THAT I SHOULD EAT THESE PANCAKES.
They were delicious, even left over and warmed up. Sorry, Tom.
I have been waiting since my Button Sunday post on November 5 for this. It has left me shaken and so furious on Uma Thurman’s behalf that I haven’t been able to think of anything else this afternoon. I think of my friends who are huge Tarantino fans, particularly of his work with her. I’ve seen very little of this, because in general I don’t watch violent movies. But at least there’s always the thought, “It’s not real violence. It’s just a movie.” Over the past few months, I’ve had to acknowledge that many of the romantic comedies and favorite movies in which I’ve lost myself had a real-life violence behind them that has stolen the pleasure they once gave me.
This is the NYT feature on Uma Thurman. Try to find the full article, including a piece of film from one of Thurman’s films. I know sometimes NYT articles are blocked if you’ve read too many on the site, because they want subscribers. But I’m sure it’ll be posted elsewhere. I’m never going to be able to unsee that film clip. There are many actors who like to do their own stunts and often have to be discouraged for their own safety. But to force someone to do something after she’s clearly stated her fears and reluctance to do it–it’s easy to believe this was a warning or a punishment to a woman who was not playing by rules devised by a truly despicable group of powerful men.
Yes, I’m at it again. I’ve created a team to help with our rescue group’s current fundraising campaign as part of the Newman’s Own challenge. You can help by clicking this link [link has been redacted because the campaign was completed]
Beverly says, “You’re aces!” (Strange, since Beverly does not have a poker face.)
I keep forgetting that Strut Your Mutt, which is usually my favorite fundraiser of the year, is just days away from wrapping up and I even have a fundraising page! Should you be inclined to donate any amount–and NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL [the link has been redacted because the fundraiser has ended].
The weeks since the flood have been some of our busiest ever–our rescue was instrumental in helping clear the local shelters so they’d have room for animals displaced by Harvey. Groups all over the country drove to Houston to take animals we were pulling from BARC, Harris County Animal Shelter, and Houston Pets Alive. It was a nationwide effort to help, and I’m sure the same groups and many others helped areas impacted by Hurricane Irma.
Keeping up with my work and helping manage our situation at home has been a challenge, and you’ll never know how much your words of comfort, your cards, texts, emails, comments here, and messages on Instagram have lifted my spirits. Thank you so much!
Our rescue group is currently part of the Macy’s Shop for a Cause Charity Challenge that I talked about earlier on my blog. This time, I’m not asking you to contribute to my fundraising page.
What? Why not? I’ll explain.
First, I’m telling you that an amazing donor has offered to contribute up to $50,000 to the rescue’s main fundraiser page if that donation will move us into first place at the end of the challenge.
Why is our group so competitive?
Because Macy’s will award a $100,000 grant to the top fundraiser!
Why is our group so greedy?
It’s not greed. It’s the means for dogs like my foster Omar and cats like those you see writing Pet Prose on this blog to be pulled from Houston’s kill shelters and get into traveling shape. It takes a lot of time, energy, and yes, MONEY, to make this happen. Our board members are unpaid. Our paid staff is kept lean and efficient so that donations can go to animal care and transport.
THANK YOU from Omar and me. And by the way, Maddie was adopted. Hermosa was adopted. Every dog I’ve fostered who you met on my blog was adopted into forever homes after they traveled. It’s why I foster even when my heart breaks to say goodbye. It’s why I believe in our rescue group. Thank you for every time you’ve shown support for us and the work Tom and I do. You are magnificent friends to us and to animals.
One evening in Southern California Jim was watching the news when they did a feature on Houston’s Flying Saucer Pie Company. He asked if I’d ever been. When I said no, he told me to put it on the agenda. (I’m supposed to make notes between Jim’s visits of stuff he and I think we’d like to do when we’re together again.) I added it to the list.
Coincidentally, Lynne had bought a couple of pies from there to take to a meeting and what wasn’t eaten she brought here to share with us. We learned that Flying Saucer makes all their pies from scratch without weird additives or preservatives, so they need to be eaten within a couple of days, and some won’t do well refrigerated. After sampling Lynne’s pies, we decided we should taste test a few more–you know, in the interest of science and research.
So this was another venture to a new-to-us place. I think the mural on the wall looks a little like Alien Gandhi, but maybe that’s just me.
Peach pie, apple pie, key lime pie–all thumbs up.
Even though I don’t have Showtime and can’t watch the continuation of Twin Peaks, I can at least enjoy three minutes of damn fine cups of coffee and miracle pie. And so can you.
