Tag Archives: animals

Feel Good Friday

TGI Friday, right?  Start your morning off right and take a look at these articles.

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A Texas police officer responded to a call about an “aggressive” pit bull, and instead of jumping to conclusions, he saw that the dog was friendly, and got it to a shelter, where it was then reunited with its owner.  The story isn’t over.  That same police officer was called again about the same dog.  This time though, the owner didn’t want him back, so the officer decided that he was meant to adopt the dog, and he did.

 Green graffiti.  This is a how to tutorial (and has some cool pictures) about how to graffiti up your home or fence using moss.

Inspirational stories of forgiveness.  These are 10 very brief stories (1 paragraph each) about people who chose to forgive in the worst of situations.

Pittsburgh police detective adopts boys after getting them out of an abusive foster home.  This is a nice video, about 2 minutes long telling the story of how he met and adopted the boys.

A teenager invents a device to help injured vets.  The device assists physical therapists with exercising the vets and speeding their recovery.

Go forth and be kind today.

Feel Good Friday

It’s Friday.  Take a few minutes and focus on all the wonderful things in this world.  Here’s a sampling of good news to start your day.

Video compilation of rescues from all over the world.  This is seriously the best 4 minutes you can spend today.

46 Mommas shave their heads to support cancer research.

A homeless man gives away half of his winnings.

Shelter dogs get a second chance as police dogs.

“Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response.”
— Mildred Barthel.

Zoo- A Review

imagesZoo, by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge was another pick of my book club.  James Patterson novels have been recommended to me over and over, and I’ve just never been motivated to read one.  This one had an interesting premise, but mixed reviews on Amazon… it seems people either loved it or hated it.

Honestly, I both loved it and hated it.  I couldn’t put it down.  It was a compelling story with characters I really enjoyed and wanted to succeed.  Jackson Oz is an underdog, a scientist who dropped out on his way to a Ph.D. to spread the word on his theory about HAC, Human-Animal Conflict.  He noticed a pattern, that there were more animal attacks in the last 4 years than the previous 50.  Animal behavior is changing, but he can’t explain why, and at first, no one believes him.

I don’t enjoy books where animals are harmed.  I know it’s fiction, but it doesn’t feel like fiction to me, and there are times I will stop reading something because of this.  I didn’t do that with this book because I wanted to see what happened.  But if you’re squeamish about this the way I am, this may not be a good book for you.

It’s a modern day apocalypse novel, but this one is definitely different from all the other zombie/ climate change stuff you read.  I liked the premise and I liked the way it’s carried out in the book.  Some of the reviewers on Amazon complain that the science isn’t sound.  I don’t know about that, but it sounded good to me, and for fiction, that’s all I ask.  It made sense in the world presented to me, so it worked.

It’s a good book and worth reading.  As I said, I couldn’t put it down, and it’s rather disturbing.  I’ll be returning it to the library and won’t be buying it, but it will definitely stick in my mind, and does make me want to read other Patterson books.

Best Friends Forever

Reader’s Digest recently posted a preview of a new book: Unlikely Friendships.  It’s a photo collection of animals who are not typical friends, like the lion and the baby antelope.  Reader’s Digest gives little taste of the book with seven adorable pictures.  I find them amazing.  I have two dogs who can’t seem to get along for any amount of time.  Though the cross species relations in this house are much more amiable than the same species ones.

In any case, if you love animals and need a little more cuteness in your life, the book is worth a look-see.

http://www.rd.com/slideshows/remarkable-animal-friendships/?trkid=ERDI22938