Furball Friday: Kitten thankful for paper balls!

Too much cute! Happy thanksgiving!

Furball Friday: Two-for-One

Two gems for you this week...First, a story that strikes near and dear to my heart, the UF Dazzlers rescued a puppy from a sewer during their 6 a.m. workouts.

You can see pictures of the little guy here and here. Proud of the Gator girls for doing a completely wonderful deed! (Thanks to my friends at Our Two Bits for the heads up on this one.)

And if that isn't enough cuteness, courtesy of my friends at Emergency Puppy, there's puppies to go around...

Happy Friday everyone!

Class and Morals...or Lack Thereof

Waiting for my shuttle in to work today, a young lady on campus walked by wearing spandex leggings with boots and a sweatshirt that barely met her waistband, much less covered her extremely exposed bottom half. (Can't say I'm surprised she also carried a tri-delt sorority bag. Sorry, girls.)

This prompted me to later tweet: "Ladies, leggings or tights aren't substitutes for pants unless you're going to the gym/yoga."

Surprisingly, two men replied that they agreed with me and were glad someone of my gender had the guts to say it. One said he liked to leave something to the imagination.

But overwhelmingly, men responded they disagreed, and that any man who said otherwise was lying to me. (Ladies stayed out of the discussion almost entirely, except for one follower who chimed in that pajama pants should also stay at home.)

I realize men are visual, and perhaps their nature is to look or lust after girls who dress that way. But what's important to me is that a man be respectful. Yes, women have partial responsibility in carrying themselves with class and dignity, but men can do the same.

I'm looking for good, respectful men who, instead of leering after a girl dressed that way, will turn their heads.

It reminds me of a time I got on the RTS bus at UF on my way to class one afternoon. I was sitting in the front seats that line the walls of the bus, facing each other. A young lady got on and sat down across from me with a miniskirt so short that even with her legs clamped closed, I could still see her underwear.

A young man got on the bus and sat in the first row of seats facing forward, and then blatantly began to stare at the girl.

There's a lack of class on both sides here. Girls, it IS in fact possible to meet a good man without exposing most or all of your body to the world.

And men, just because a woman shoves her body in your face doesn't mean you have to respond; unless, of course, you're no better than a dog in heat on the street, and I will treat you accordingly.

I suppose I'm stuck in the 1950s, as far as my expectations go. But as for me, and any son or daughter I may have, they will learn better.

Furball Friday: Dog and deer are best friends

I am always amazed at stories of unlikely animal friends. This deer was abandoned as a baby and grew up with a Great Dane. The two now seem to share a loving friendship!



I'm also excited to learn about this show on PBS, "Animal Odd Couples." Right up my alley! Happy Friday!

Rules for Life

I got this email from my dad today, and it claimed that Bill Gates shared these rules for life in a speech to high school students.

Obviously (or not so obviously to some), he did NOT say or write these words. They were actually written by education reformer Charles J. Sykes, but I still think they are absolutely true. So here they are:

• Rule 1: Life is not fair -- get used to it!
• Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
• Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
• Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
• Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping -- they called it opportunity.
• Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
• Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
• Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
• Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
• Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
• Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Furball Friday: Incredible animal rescue photos from Hurricane Sandy

This is more amazing and heart-warming than cute this week, but I feel such a sense of gratitude for the first responders, emergency personnel and regular citizens who went above and beyond during Hurricane Sandy.

There were many lives at stake, but I am so thankful that the humans didn't overlook the animals. Such great photos from the Huffington Post that were shared on Twitter by Julie Scardina.

Photos from the Huffington Post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/31/hurricane-sandy-animal-re_n_2050294.html?utm_hp_ref=tw#slide=1706593