From Vancouver.

As some of you know, I live about an hour and a half east of Vancouver. I moved to Surrey, BC, 40 minutes south of Vancouver at the age of 11. I grew up (pretty much) in the Lower Mainland. As a few of you know, I'm a rampant Canucks fan. While we emigrated to Edmonton, AB in 1982, I've been a Vancouverite for longer than I was ever an Edmontonion. The Oilers are my #2 team, the Canucks #1.

I want to apologize on behalf of Vancouver. What you saw on your news was a group of young adults planning destruction and then dragging others along for the ride. Some people tried to stop the damage. Some people stood around and took pictures and lived vicariously. Some people tried to get out. Some people just had fun smashing [stuff].  There was talk on Skytrain (our elevated light rail transit) before the game about how they were going to riot win or lose. They packed in moltov cocktails, g8 protest signs, and various items of destruction. They thought it would be cool to destroy and run rampant.

That is not the Canadian way. That isn't the Vancouver way. Everyone I know of is appalled by the riot. They're horrified. And they're all for identifying each and every one of those people and having them slapped with a criminal record. Actions have consequences, and these hooligans should be facing their's. 

The true face of the Canucks fan is the ones who were cheering for the Bruins when they were declared the winners. The fans gave Thomas (Bruins' goalie) a standing ovation. It was a hell of a game and the Bruins played better - they deserved their win.. and while we were disappointed we didn't win, you have to salute the team who just wanted it more. The booing you heard was us booing Bettman. I don't think there's many Canadians who like him.. but even still with our extreme dislike of the man and his actions, we didn't even throw things at him.

It was reported that the first car to be torched had been brought downtown for that precise purpose. Who the heck thinks of these things??

Last night was a nightmare. I'm proud of the police, the paramedics and the fire fighters. I'm proud of those who stood between rioters and those already down on the ground. I'm proud of those who yelled "STOP!" and tried to prevent the destruction and looting. Those are the ones I'd like to think of as the typical Canadian. They're certainly the ones we saw during the olympics.

Kisses!

Its still hard to get a picture of the boys - fast shutter speed (because these two NEVER STOP) means flash, which means bad picture.. or I get a ghost.. or no gerbil at all!

In my earlier post I mentioned Petcetera and then never went anywhere with it - I got distracted by something shiny. (Ooo..Shiny) I had then gone to Petsmart. Where once again I got INCREDIBLE service. I mentioned that I'd just been adopted by two gerbils and got asked what size cage do I have, is it multi-level.. etc etc. I then ended up buying a better cage. Now, I know they may have been trying for the upsell, BUT, that wasn't the feeling I got at all. Especially since previous conversations there I've been told (pretending ignorance) that rabbits are like cats and need room to roam and play.  (Yay!)

So, tonight I was taking a break from yelling "OMFG, stop sucking Canucks!!" at my TV to make faces at the boys. Of course, I typically end up wriggling my nose like they're minature little bunnies.. Anyway, had my face plastered against the cage when Fergie came running up and put his nose against mine. I just about melted from the OMG, CUTE!!  Then he gave my nose a lick and disappeared into his tunnel. I got a kiss! Awwwwwww... <3

Now, Mr Mick.. I appreciate that there will be a bunny in my life again one day. But until I can find one as absolutely awesome as you, who will tug at heart strings, boss me around and train me right ('cause, y'know, humans lose their training practically overnight) .. I shall have to make do with two very silly little desert mice. My heart isn't strong enough for a rabbit at this point. (Or in short, one hasn't thumped and told me different)  One day tho, I'm sure.

Very sorry to hear about poor, poor Betsy. Not only dragged into a noisy car for *two* hours, but she had things stuck in her. Sage would have offered several colourful metaphors to employ about vets and their liking to stick cold metal objects in personal places.. But I'm happy to hear that she'll be well, once she finishes peeing on her humans on a daily basis for two weeks.

My new masters.

I've been thinking for weeks what my new master(s) will look like. Another rabbit? A hedgehog? A fish? (Beta fish are so pretty!)? Some mice?

Well, I made the mistake of going into Petcetera the other day and mooching around. If I hadn't already sworn never to buy from them while they sell rabbits as 'low maintenance pets,' the fact they followed me around as if I were a criminal would have done it. There's a difference between the 'I'm desperate to make a sale' stalk and the 'You're going to shove pine shavings down your yoga pants' stalk. I left without even pricing anything, I did look at their empty fish tanks, their sad looking birdies and the bunnies who were in what I'd call an sick-bed cage and wished I could rescue them all.

This morning a lady posted on a local mailing list she has some gerbils to go. She said she can't promise anything about them other than they're all from the same litter and gender. (Male gerbils have similar, ah, characteristics to male rats, rabbits and other very male animals.) I hit delete and continued with email. Then I went back to it and dug it out of my trash folder.. and phoned her.

Long story shorter, I am now enslaved two very cute little male gerbils. ("Did you know gerbils can mate through cage bars?" "I knew rabbits could.." "BUT GERBILS!!")

I was thinking "Ferdie and Freddie" for names, after the mischievous foxes from Rupert Bear. ("Rupert The Bear" if you listen to N. Americans.) But the tan gerbil doesn't seem like a Ferdie. (The grey does seem like a Freddie) So, tentatively they're Marty and Freddie.

Boy, did I think taking pictures of rabbits was "fun" .. at least they stop moving! For creatures that are supposed to sleep during the day (especially during the warmest part!) they haven't stopped exploring since I put them in their new cage.

RIP Chance Bunny. :(

From Sorelle :

RIP Chance. Chance was such a compromised rabbit from the time she got here (she was 1/4 the size of her litter mates, splayed, fat stomach, skeletal body, poopy butt, vacant demeanor, etc), never really expected her to survive, but after six months, she was actually looking like she was going to be okay. She very quickly developed a small swelling on her cheek, she was taken into the vet almost immediately, had surgery the next day, and it was discovered to be a very abnormal abscess with gas and thin, wet pus, which is a sign of a potentially nasty, abnormal bacteria. The vet couldn't keep her overnight so so went home with a caregiver who was going to keep her in a better environment than I could provide -- with carpets for her splay legs -- but it was not to be. Even though she was looking fine post-op, I suspect the bacteria was aggressive and she went septic soon after. We will find out with the necropsy. She was a very sweet bunny. Slow, yes... but very very sweet. Sleep tight little one. :(

From Lorna :

Chance was possibly the nicest, sweetest, most loving bunny I'd ever met. She didn't let her disability slow her down and she was generous to a fault. She got dealt a very rough deal and she wasn't here anywhere near long enough.

Hop painfree, little Chance.

A bit of pirating bunny.

I may have posted this before - if so, my apologies!

Sage was sitting on the dock with the sea wind in her fur. She had her eyes half closed as she watched the antics of a human crew trying to unload their cargo. It was obviously a pirate's booty since it had been badly loaded, rifled through and packed worse when they'd gotten it aboard. She wasn't quite sure why any pirate would steal a piano, of even why one would have been shipped in the first place, but it did provide plenty of amusement.

"Why hello there belle," a smooth lapin greeted her, nose wriggling ear at attention as he came up beside her.

Sage glanced over her shoulder at the black and white Dutch who had a bandana jauntily tied around his neck. No blaze, but plenty of attitude. She replied with a yawn and a stretch and looking back at the antics of the human sailors.

The buck wasn't deterred, if anything the disinterest of the silver and white doe seemed to interest him more. "And why is a beautiful lady like you sitting here alone?"

"Because I choose to." Sage replied with a sniff. He smelt of sea-salt and drowned rat. Probably either off a riff-raff ship that didn't clean its bilges nearly often enough or floated up on some driftwood.

"Waiting for someone, perhaps?" he continued, sneaking just a little closer.

Sage eyed him again over her shoulder and snapped her teeth in warning in case he was about to get any ideas. "No, just watching the humans." She gave a head toss towards the ship that had been entertaining her so.

The buck looked beyond the sleek silver and white dutch doe to the ship beyond and then shook his own ears in amusement, "Humans. They're a bunch of no-brainers."

"But they have the rum." Sage replied, intrigued by the strange accent despite of herself.

"Now, if it's rum the doe wants, it's rum she shall get." He raised his head above her's in the bunny equivalent of a bow, an offer to groom. Sage wasn't sure she was ready to have the brash foreigner groom her, but she'd certainly drink his rum.

The black and white rabbit bounded off down the dock and turned up the other pier, weaving between seamen, dock workers and the occasional lady of trade.

Rabbits, no matter their size or colour, could be very stealthy. Sage agreed that rum would definitely worth the effort of stealth.

It seemed no more than six nose twitches later than the buck had reappeared from the bilge leaking ship with a bottle of rum in his mouth. His gait was altered by half-carrying, half-dragging the bottle the same size as himself but he seemed to have no problem with the weight. Sage was impressed with his strength and his audacity.

Soon he was back beside her nibbling off the wax seal of the bottle. Sage did her part by donating a couple of half shells to use as dishes. With an ease that bespoke practice, the buck poured rum into each shell.

"The humans call me Jonny." He introduced himself.

"I'm Sage." She'd chosen her name, she'd just had to get it through her thick human's skull. "How'd you make it here?" she asked.

The bunny called Jonny seemed more than happy enough to regale her with stories of his adventures on the seas. Sage was sure even one or two of them might have a hint of truth to the fish stories.

The sun was nearing the horizon when she let out a delicate burp, a trick she'd learned from Janice. She leaned forward and gave Jonny a lick on the cheek. "Thanks for the good time, sailor." Sage turned neatly on her hindquarters and hopped back down the dock. There was only a *little* lateral movement to her forward motion.

Jonny sighed as he watched the view. "Hate to see you leave, but love to watch you go, darling." He muttered before turning back to the shells and bottle of rum. The shells were empty and so was the bottle! The girl had milked him and left him to the winds! A broken heart and nothing to show for his troubles. He sniffed, normally the answer would be to drink more rum.

"But why is the rum gone?" he wondered, his first choice of first-aid prevented.

Sage did a binky, almost falling over in her inebriated state, at the end of the docks and hopped off to find her human. She hadn't even had to slap the pirate to keep him off her!

A review!

I got my first review. I'm all a giggly. :)

* * *

I must tell you I enjoyed your story,as it avoids the stereotypic "I would be a happy little cute thing,but my owner kicked me off the house and I died because YOU didn't care!"

Although the story is light hearted,I like the fact that you didn't exclude danger and the difficulties of the domesticated animals to adopt to their natural environment.

And that goes double for dogs,because the poor creatures are genetically evolved to live among human beings and they suffer without human company.
I do not admit that your story made me smile (I am not cute-remember?),or that I laughed when the dog claimed that he trained his human masters (which by my own experience,I tell you that this is accurate-dogs train us almost to the same extend we train them),but I will admit that those were the best 2$ I ever spent.

Verdict:
If you can spent $2 to make you smile,then this story definitely is worth the money.

This is not a sad story,it is a funny story that will entertain you,it will entertain and teach a few things to the kids (it is not a kid story,it's all ages) and most important,you don't have to like bunnies to enjoy it,or feel like you're doing a charity.

This is an honest,well written,feel good short story-the fact that by purchasing it you help actual animals to escape death,is an added bonus to make you fell even better,even if you don't have a cute string inside you!

Just like I don't :-)

I

I decided Miss Plushie Bunny was looking lonely, so I got her a friend. A fairly nice, soft, lop named Bert. As you can tell - she's simply thrilled about the matter.

People keep telling me I should publish my short stories - so okay, here you go!



Its a short story called "Fizzy's Story" and its about a cute little lop who is abandoned by her humans in the woods. Its a story I think most rabbit owners are familiar with. Its cutesy more than anything else.

I have a friend who is working on some illustrations for a real paper edition, but as he has one of those pesky "life" things.. :)