The person who was interested in adopting Gina has decided not to. So, loyal readers who came to our aid with the MS Bike Ride fundraising, find a little bit of love in your hearts, and adopt Gina! She hisses at our male cat, and rolls over and looks all lovey dovey when our female cat hisses at her. She also seems to be in heat.

posted by Kate Lyons 7:48 PM

Friday, June 27, 2003

This is the little cat we found at the West Farms Library. We've named her Gina, and have found a potential home for her. Knock on wood-- cross your fingers-- maybe her luck is looking up. At her checkup at the vet tonight, he said she looks like a completely different cat (you're looking at the after picture). Her fur is soft, though she's shaved in a few spots where the vet found fungus. For the next 2-3 weeks she gets a nightly toe, neck and back fungus medicine massage. We rub it between her toes, on her paw pads-- what a recovering street cat spa our apartment has become!

posted by Kate Lyons 10:20 PM

Hot Wheels collectively raised over $1700 for The National MS Society, thanks to all your support! The first day of the ride was beautiful. We started in Quincy, MA and arrived in Sandwich, MA. The second day we woke up in our tents at 5am, to the sound of rain against the tent walls. The ground was muddy, but we donned our plastic rain ponchos and hit the road. We rode through puddles so deep they soaked our cleats, and raindrops that found their way through the slats in our helmets.

But regardless of the weather, team Hot Wheels does this ride every year. As we go through towns we spread the word of The National MS Society. People driving along next to us ask us what we're doing, and then learn about the devestating affects of MS, and the work of The National MS Society. Some of the participants on the ride have MS, yet they bike alongside us. We raise visibility as well as funds.

And everyone out there who supported us, THANKS AGAIN! Your donation supports this incredible organization-- you've dona a wonderful thing towards making the world a better place, and we hope that you will continue to support our fundraising efforts in the future.

posted by Kate Lyons 10:00 PM

Thursday, June 19, 2003

Cross your fingers for the little cat Jenny and I found in front of the West Farms Branch Library last night. Turns out she's about 2 years old, and maybe last night on our futon was the softest bed she's ever slept on. She's spending the night at the vet, where she'll be flea-dipped, bathed in anti-fungal ointment, tested for cat diseases, and given antibiotics (for a high fever). She kneads everything she touches and rubs against people like love flows more freely than water (probably true in the south Bronx), and the vet thinks it's because she's in heat. He also thinks she probably didn't manage more than a day or two on the streets, in heat without getting knocked up. We'll see. Cross your fingers that the little puss is chaste.

posted by Kate Lyons 11:24 PM

Friday, June 13, 2003

MediaRights.org's 2003 Media That Matters (www.mediathatmattersfest.org) Film Festival has an installation at Lincoln Center this weekend. Visit them.

posted by Kate Lyons 9:55 PM

Our beloved sockmonkey is a star! Check him out on NYPL's Summer Reading Website.

posted by Kate Lyons 4:07 PM

Thursday, June 12, 2003

About two months ago I lost my iPod. I know. Don't even go there. I managed to not lose the black case, firewire cable or charger for the iPod, just the iPod (10 gig). The weird thing is, today, in the mail, along with a check for a donation to the MS Ride a friend of mine sent back my iPod headphones. Jenny thinks its ransom money.

posted by Kate Lyons 8:56 PM

". . . those polled were asked what they would preserve of certain city services that were threatened earlier this year. Thirty percent said they would protect firehouses first. In second place were classroom aides in public schools; a police anti-drug program came in third. Only 9 percent said their first priority would be to put off reducing garbage pickup, and only seven percent called for preserving library hours."

From "New Yorkers Have Growing Pessimism About the City" in today's New York Times

In 2002, NYPL had 13.2 million users (door count). There were 6.5 million reference queries and 15 million items circulated.


posted by Kate Lyons 6:52 PM

Saturday, June 07, 2003

We should add a "What I'm Reading Now" section to iPalimpsest. I'm reading "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein. Waiting for fullness is. I'm also really into this Student Doctor Network forum. I heard that Elyse from UPN's Top Model show is a member, which is why I checked it out, but I think I really miss student life, which is why I've been reading it all day. I want to go back to school next year.

posted by Jenny Baum 10:28 PM

It wasn't the right shape for a city-- no domes, no minarets-- and it took them a minute to process the tall geometric forms. Mist curled off the bay. A million pink windowpanes glittered. Closer, crowned with her own sunrays and dressed like a classical Greek, the Statue of Liberty welcomed them.

"How do you like that?" Captain Kontoulis asked.
"I've seen enough torches to last the rest of my life," said Lefty.
But Desdemona, for once, was more optimistic. "At least it's a woman," she said. "Maybe people here won't be killing each other every single day."

-- From Jeffrey Eugenides's Middlesex

NYPL has a great resource for genealogy resources-- Ancestry Plus. You can only access it when you're in the library, but if you're at home you can try www.ancestry.com.

posted by Kate Lyons 4:28 PM