lifeneverboring

A very merry Christmas to all those who celebrate! All my gifts are wrapped, the house is stocked with food, and after I finish this post, I'm going off-line until after New Years.

I hope everyone has a happy, peaceful holiday and see you all in 2010!

So, Edward Gal and Totilas broke the Freestyle score record again at Olympia. I just finished watching the video (which you can see here) and...

Hmm.

Is it me, or does Totilas not look as engaged in the hind as he has been in other tests? And maybe he looks a little tired? I mean, this is still some pretty fabulous stuff, but...

And, does anyone know if Edward Gal uses Rollkur? I know he trained with Anky, so I'm guessing he does, but I haven't seen any mention of it in any of the interviews I've read. Just curious...

It's been rolling around in the back of my mind for a week or two. I already have enough stuff, to the point where some of it has been thrown out, put into storage, or given to Goodwill. And the stuff I'd really love to have isn't exactly inexpensive (has anyone priced an original Gutenberg Bible recently?), or insubstantial (an end to poverty, war, hunger, disease, injustice....), or both. Well, there is also that whole "better health would be nice" thing, and the "anyone want to introduce me to a local woman who's charming, friendly, intelligent, nice, clean, intelligent, witty, nice-looking, intelligent...." thing, but I digress. I'm talking something that can be done, not out-and-out impossibilities.

So, a thought popped into mind an hour or two ago: this being the season of giving and all that, and I could always use an emotional picker-upper, and "ten things I want" could be expanded to "ten groups I want to know about" -

Tell me of a good charity you'd love money be donated to. It can be international, national, regional, or local; it must do good works (for a broad definition of "good"); it must be non-sectarian in what it does (i.e., the Sisters of the Most Holy Church of the Spaghetti Monster, Scientist, would be okay, if donations can go to just the soup kitchen they run for all poor, not just Pastafarians). Food banks, nature-conservation groups, legal-rights groups, botanical gardens (especially the ones that are active in conserving rare and endangered species), zoos (ditto), museums, shelter-builders (e.g., Habitat for Humanity), equal rights groups, children's hospitals, literacy programs, libraries, schools, community-service groups, public radio stations,....

I can't absolutely guarantee I'll give money to it since my funds are not limitless, but I can't give to your charity-of-choice if you don't tell me what it is, either.

Give me groups good enough to give to. Include a URL, if you could. And you're quite welcome to email me privately, if you wish, at (alban at socket dot net).


(Of course, if anyone does know of the ideal woman in the greater mid-Missouri area....)

(With apologies for the commercial bit at the end, but I think the hippo is worth it...)

Right up there with buymeaclue's octopus, I think....