Forget the Royal Wedding - Save the Frogs!

Tomorrow, April 29, is Save the Frogs Day.

Like many other species on this planet, frogs are endangered. The blog Frogs Are Green explains why we should care: "Besides being beautiful, fascinating, a source of medicinal substances, and essential for healthy ecosystem function, frogs are canaries in the environmental coal mine. They are sensitive to pollution and climate change. And their numbers are declining at extinction rates."

So, tomorrow, sign the petition, get kids involved, and spread the word.

If you would rather spend tomorrow celebrating the fact that, despite deep economic cuts affecting English citizens, $34 million dollars, including tax payer money, will be spent on a party for an uppity commoner and an inbred, this is not the blog for you.

A Hipster Fad Has Invaded My Home

Behold:

the 1928 limited-edition purple portable Remington typewriter, boyfrog's fantastic Christmas present to me (formerly of an old woman's attic - thank you eBay). Not only does it work, it's purple! I may use it (for most of my life, even though we always had computers, I still used typewriters for personal writing) but I also know it's going to be a bitchin display piece when we move in together.
After the NYTs profiled digital-natives who have a typewriter fetish, my beloved antique clackers have been dubbed a hipster trend, an "annoying retro fad." Maybe so, but to some of us, these will always be works of art.
And if plenty of eye-lined, skinny-jean-clad children soon flood eBay and Craigslist with their passe treasures, but that pleases us die-hards - more for us!

Super Shocker

Walmart will finally get their way and open a super center... in North Smithfield. According to ProJo, this fall a "larger" Walmart will open one town over and the Woonsocket store will close.
While I avoid the mart (but if I must, and have the time, I prefer the Bellingham store) this city will lose one of it's biggest money-makers and workers may lose jobs (5 miles isn't a big deal - unless you walk. And after this winter...).
My one hope is that they continue to allow the Salvation Army bell ringers, benefitting Family Resources Community Action, at Christmas time. The fact that they'll be in a new town is no excuse - Stop & Shop and Brigido's participate every year.

One a side note, Vermette's is finally, slowly being demolished. It's about time - one more eye-sore down. After all these years vacant, can you imagine what kind of vermin and mold has been living in there!

A Sign of the Times

Amen.

Groundhog Day 2011

He saw his shadow. Where - in the thick layer of ice in my driveway?

F*** this furry mother******. 

Middle School love song lyrics

And who do you think you are

Running 'round leaving scars

Collecting your jar of hearts

And tearing love apart

You're gonna catch a cold

From the ice inside your soul

That is so deep. Christina Perry is tapping into the hearts and mind of 12-year-old girls everywhere. Who among us has not seen such poetry scrawled into little locked diaries and on the backs of Trapper-Keepers, hidden in draws and lockers. More major record labels need to sign the voices of broken-hearted tweens. More song writers need to tap into the agony of self-absorbed junior high drama queens. More radio stations need to let their voices be heard!

Chafee Vs. Cool Moose

Have you seen the ad urging you to call Chafee about voting for gay marriage in RI? I have issues with this.
For this post I'm going to side-step my personal feelings about gay marriage (see the Marriage Equality RI widget on the side), and focus on the facts.
This ad was paid for by the conservative National Organization for Marriage Rhode Island chapter. Anytime a biased group has something to gain, facts and statistics will be distorting to suit their needs.
First, the implication that new governor Lincoln Chafee earned less votes than the Cool Moose Party, therefore not the true choice of the majority of voters. A party does not become an elected official, but they were referring to the multi-year votes earned by CPM candidate for lieutenant governor, Robert J. Healey. Misleading statements irritate me. Moving on.
The NOMRI believes that unless RI citizens vote on the issue of gay marriage, they are being silenced. Not so. The majority of RI voters chose Chafee, who openly supported it during his campaign, and made clear his intentions to allow it. So, we voted for him, we voted on the issue.
Next, the poll numbers used in the ad. I really hate polls. I hate it even more when the results are used incorrectly and/or ignore the conflicting results of an equally valid/relevant poll. NOMRI will have us believe that out of the 1 million+ people living in RI, the majority want to vote for or against gay marriage on a ballot. Their majority? 401. Meanwhile, there's an Associated Press poll out there showing that more Rhode Islanders are for gay marriage (43%) than against (32%). A ProJo article also points out that more than 13,000 signed pro-gay-marriage postcards were brought to the statehouse last month.
This state has one of the highest unemployement rates in the country. Our school system is... lacking. There are more homeless men, women, children, elderly, veterans, and mentally ill people than our shelters can hold. I can't speak for my fellow citizens, but I don't want our elected officials wasting their time preventing two grown, consenting, commited adults, of any gender, from marrying.