There is now a "pets for sale" section of EBay. It makes me sad for so many reasons but I also have to laugh the morons who post there:

Gotta love it when the dogs are smarter than their owners:

3/4 shitzu 1/4 bichon freeze i live in B.C. and i have the cuitist male that i am able to bread, he is well temperded and is very smart and quick at learning for more info email me: thanks alot ~Emily~

Wow, nothing like a natural habitat for an exotic animal:

I AM LOOKING FOR A CAGE FOR A YOUNG MONKEY. SHE IS ONLY 2 MONTHS OLD BUT I NEED ONE THAT WILL BE GOOD FOR A FEW MONTHS UNTIL WE BUILD A LARGE ONE. MAYBE A DOG KENNEL OR SIMILAR. IT IS FOR A CAPUCHIN MONKEY, THANK YOU

Hopefully this loser's new dog will be LOYAL:

Hi. My name is xxx. Two years ago I decided I wanted a dog for a pet. My father wasn't receptive to my getting a dog, but said he'd agree to a ferret. I purchased a ferret and, for the past two years, have owned the cutest, most affectionate, brown and white ferret with dark eyes. He's been a delight and gets along with all the other pets in our house, including my mom's dog and my sister's cats and my brother. Now my father has said he would be agreeable to my getting a dog, where it not for my already having a ferret!!?? So now, if I really want the dog I've always wanted, I have to lose the ferret. This is hard, but if I can find a good home for my ferret, I think it's something I can live with. So, if you're interested in purchasing an adorable and loving ferret and his cage and supplies for a very reasonable price I would love to talk to you. You can e-mail me at xxxx.

beautiful calculations

I'm superficial. Super superficial. I like attractive people, and I would rather be around the beautiful than the homely, gnarly, and the unsightful. My boyfriend thinks it's a flaw of mine, I think it's a merely a preference. I don't always hang around good-looking people (because I AM a nice person and don't choose friends/acquaintances based on appearance) but when I am surrounded by attractive men/women it just feels BETTER.

I would never classify myself as one of the beautiful ones...I think I'm more....well, funny-looking. But I like my friends to be pretty. Some women like to hang around uglier girls, thinking it will make them appear hotter. Unfortunately for those misguided ladies, it has the opposite effect. In fact, there is a "complex" formula that determines your attractiveness whilst in a group:

[ X1 + [(Z1-6) + (Z2-6) + (Z3-6) + ... (Zn-6)] /N] = Y

Where, on a scale of 1 to 10:
X1 = your original hotness
Z1 thru Zn = hotness of each other individual in the group
N = equals the number of other people in the group
Y = your perceived attractiveness while standing in that group

Yes, I made that up. It has not undergone rigorous testing thus far, so I welcome you to give it a whirl next time you're socializing. And of course, feedback and personal anecdotes are always appreciated.

shameful

Today at school a social justice lawyer gave a presentation today about some of his work. He said that in the U.S. people who have been incarcerated federally lose their voting rights FOR LIFE. Unbelievable.

we all have our addictions

Ahh public transit. It's not usually interesting seeing as how most of my fellow riders are university students. In the good ol' days I actually came into contact with the scuzzier side of Vancouver--the imbibers, the ranters, the stoners, and the like. Today my most awkward experience on the bus was when I was the only person standing on the bus...another girl got on at the next stop and came to hold on to the same pole as me. Two people on the whole bus were standing, and they were both holding onto the same pole. I don't particularly like being in odd situations, so I let her lay claim to my pole and found another. See what I mean? Not interesting anymore.

I'm sure all of us who ride the 50 foot limo can agree, the smells are the worst. My worst odour experience was when a girl sat beside me on a packed bus, and whipped out her massive meatball dinner. Ok, the noise of her smacking her lips and chewing with her mouth open was horrendous too, and I could only shut/plug a certain number of orifices. So I was forced to smell her nasty garlicy meatball goulash. That experience aside, I find one of the grossest smells to be stale smoke. UGH. What enrages me most (admittedly, my anger is not entirely justified) is the oblivious look on the faces of those stinkers*. I want to tell them that just because they've destroyed their sense of smell, doesn't mean the nasty smell doesn't exist. You know how small children think that if they close their eyes everything is gone? I think smokers have the same belief about the cigarette smoke that clings to their clothes and hair, polluting my peace of mind.

Wow, I went from innocent bus stories to a full on rant...better go take a sedative. If only I had one. : (

*Smokers out there can call me a bitch and blow a lungful in my face, but you blow smoke in my face anyways, and besides, I'm just going to try to take away more of your so-called rights.

I can't get this dog out of my mind. He/she was being held by a shelter in Brooklyn and probably isn't alive anymore. Look at what people did to that poor soul.

Every time I hear someone say they got a dog from a pet store (aka puppy mill), or an ad in the paper (aka back yard breeder) or even a breeder they "researched" (aka backyard breeder with a website) I feel angry. Not so much at the person who just wanted a cute little "purebred" puppy but angry because there are tens of thousands of dogs (and many more cats) being put to sleep across North America every year. Not because they have "issues", not because they've done anything wrong, but because they are valued as products, or things, and not family members. Because there are no restrictions on breeding pets. Spaying and neutering dogs/cats is not required. And because while people are not allowed to carry weapons (in Canada, at least) they are allowed to mistreat their dogs until the dog is just as dangerous as a loaded weapon.

There are many people out there working for the animals who are discarded like garbage. But what about everyone else who stick their heads in the sand? Don't think that animal shelters euthanize dogs anymore? A no-kill shelter means dogs aren't arbitrarily put to death--but when those shelters get too full, animals are "put to sleep". At least most Canadian shelters euthanize by way of injection...American shelters are so full of unwanted dogs and cats that they are gassed. 20-30 dogs at a time, every few days, or every few weeks, depending on the shelter.

What does this mean? We need laws that stand for something. We need people to stop buying dogs out of the paper and start adopting from shelters or rescue groups. We need to stop making excuses. I get so angry...this isn't a soapbox I'm on, it's a feeling so deep inside that I have to express it sometimes.

works like a charm

That's my freezer. I'm a staunch vegetarian. Unfortunately, my dog isn't. She's hungry for attention when I'm trying to study, so I invested in a supply of bones. Is this like getting the tv to babysit your kids? Probably, that's why I'm not ready to have children any time soon.