All animals all the time

Two hours ago sitara and I went out for a late night grocery run. There was a black cat slinking around our complex parking lot when we left - she talked to us but wouldn't come close. She was still there when we got back and must have decided we were easy marks or something, because she came right up to us and demanded petting. Loudly. We brought her food and sat with her a while and she continued being friendly and loud (friendly enough I could easily check her sex. And rub her belly.). We eventually decided we couldn't leave her in the parking lot unless she really wanted to stay. She didn't really like being picked up, but she followed us all the way to our door, so. She's currently set up in sitara's bathroom.

She's skinny and doesn't appear to be fixed (I suspect she's either in heat or part Siamese), but her coat's good, her ears are clean, and I didn't spot any fleas (I'm sure they're there, but not a lot).

I'm hoping to bribe my sister into picking her up and taking her to my mom's clinic tomorrow, we'll see how that goes.

Current number of cats in the apartment: 4. They officially outnumber us.

Internet Readalong

* dark_agenda's got plans to host Kaleidoscope, a 'multimedia fanwork exchange for rare chromatic source fandoms', with nominations to start in July. It sounds fantastic!

* scifi_fest is currently open for prompt claims! We've got a ton of great prompts in a variety of fandoms (and very low requirements for fanwork), you should come check them out.

* kink_bingo is open for sign ups!

* I'm reccing Puella Magi Madoka Magica fanart on fanart_recs this month.

Now, with the Community news outta the way:

* Racialicious: How you can help the victims of the Joplin and Alabama disasters

* Daily Kos: White Privilege Diary Series #1 - White Feminist Privilege in Organizations

* via cofax7, I'm pretty sure: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Ebook Piracy. So, you may not be convinced, but I am. Giving stuff away helps. Having it for easy sale also helps. In fact, despite all our “new media” chatter about publicity in the digital age, about blog tours and Twitter contests and Facebook pages, these two things seem to be the only two things that actually make a measurable impact on sales. Give stuff away to increase your customer base, and then have it for easy sale to sift money out of those who are eager to pay. That’s it.

* NYTimes: A City Prepares for a Warm Long-Term Forecast. Climate scientists have told city planners that based on current trends, Chicago will feel more like Baton Rouge than a Northern metropolis before the end of this century.

* In case you missed it: DC UNIVERSE Reboots in September

* On ColorLines: Where is Our Culture’s Racial Subconscious? In Comic Books

* NYTimes again: Fine Print Blurs Who’s in Control of Online Photos. World Entertainment News Network, a news and photo agency, announced this month that it had become the “exclusive photo agency partner” of Twitpic, a service with over 20 million registered users that allows people to upload images and link to them on Twitter. The deal allows the agency to sell images posted on Twitpic for publication, and to pursue legal action against those who use such images commercially without its permission, according to the agency.

* BoingBoing has a roundup of Terms & Conditions from various hosting services.

* via bossymarmalade: Their Islam and Ours. Always, it was so. Their Islam was always the Other for the West; whatever they imagined themselves to be, we must logically be the opposite. Read 19th century Orientalists on Islam; it is decried for being a sensual religion, Muslims are attacked for being lax on homosexuals, Muslims are too feminine … because 19th century westerners viewed themselves as being virtuous and a lack of virtue meant tolerance of homosexuality, sensuality and so on. Now, the West prides itself for being anti-sexist and gay friendly; so we must be the opposite. Always, it was so.

* This is the response Grand Rapids, MI, had to being named one of America's "dying cities."

I wasn't born in Michigan and I've never lived there, but Grand Rapids is where my parents are from and where most of my family's lived (and continues to live) for several generations. We go up there every couple of years for Thanksgiving, my grandma's always sending me stuff about new art exhibits and festivals and public transportation (it's like she's trying to tell me something). Which is the long way of saying this video made me cry like a baby.

* ( Lastly, some pretty )

In personal news, my sister was successfully bribed into picking up the cat (currently named Felicia) and taking her to the clinic. If everything checks out I might even have a home for her, so fingers crossed!

Even More Animals All The Time

LOL, I'm terrible at correctly determining kitty!sex. Felicia is an older (6-7 years) neutered male with a clean bill of health and recovering from a bracing round of vaccines and fluids. I was right about him being part Siamese, at least (Mom was all 'you had doubt?').

I might rename him Felix. Or Murphy, which was my first thought and nicely gender-neutral. Or keep it as Felicia, because why not?

I'm trying to pawn him off on our incoming roommate, but she wants a younger cat. I might keep him anyway? If Susie doesn't kill both of us in our sleep?

Anyway. ( Have MOAR PUPPIES )

Any chance one of y'all is 1) in North Texas and 2) willing to foster 2 or 3 puppies?