Sally, what a great idea! I love the idea of "Who DESERVES to Win a Million Dollars." Lottery - it actually should interest LOTS of people in a similar way how the TV series "Rosanne" was so popular - if you know what I mean - Just have to figure out the way to solicit!
We just visited Oreo - poor Oreo, he was so drugged up - he did not want to eat the treat (smoked Turkey) that we brought for him (it is one of his favorite)- he is very scared there, I think - the doc said that he is doing fine - but I know he is not feeling well from such a major surgery. I hope we can bring him back home tomorrow! -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2005 1:44 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Feral cat book...to the Lottery Dear Hideyo: I hear you loud and clear. If I ever had any "extra" dollars to spend, it sure would be nice to do more than just dream about winning the lottery. When I think about all the good things I could do to help improve the lot of critters in this world...Oh, wouldn't it be loverly? And then when you read about what most people who win do with all the money and it makes you sick. Buying cars and boats and vacations and expensive homes and the like. Not so different than what far too many people/celebrities who accumulate great wealth do with their bounty...conspicuous over-consumption. Which is why I am always very impressed with those who do use some of their wealth to support worthy causes. But I've found it often isn't the wealthiest who are the most generous (comparitively) but those who have little to give, yet still give of themselves and their limited $-resources with all the generosity a caring heart can manage. It is one of the things that makes me question if we do have a creator up there who is looking out for us and pulling the strings. If that IS the case, I don't have a lot of respect for the way He/She is managing things down here. If it were up to me, I would make sure that the "lucky" ones to win those lotteries were people who would do the most good with it, and I sure wouldn't allow innocent children and critters to suffer the way they so often do. So, I am more inclined to see life as a big crap shoot in which "Shit Happens!" and you just have to deal with whatever comes your way and try to keep smiling, somehow. Being a good and kind and loving person (or the opposite) really doesn't have much to do with the cards you are dealt. The only real choice we have is how we choose to play whatever cards we get dealt. We can cry about it and complain or we can make the best of it that we are able. I'd like to see a game show "Who DESERVES to Win a Million Dollars." Maybe people could write in and tell what they would do if they were able to win a million dollars and those who had the most noble causes or worthy ideas would be given a chance to play and win. Fat chance though, when you consider that so many in our society are more interested in what happens to the glamorous celebrities and the death of someone like Princess Diana (not that Diana didn't attempt to do some good in the world) gains more attention than Mother Theresa, who died about the same time. Movie and sports stars make huge salaries for entertaining us, yet those who make far more important contributions to our society, like teachers, put in far more hours for salaries that are a pittance, by comparison. And then there are those stupid reality shows where people compete to win a million dollars and are rewarded for being conniving and ruthless instead of for the real skills that make survival in a REAL situation most meaningful...ingenuity, cooperation and a willingness to help others, not just yourself. You, Hideyo, are definitely of those who DESERVES to win a million dollars. Maybe what rescue groups need to do is start a lottery "pool" to shorten the odds some. Though I understand one has a better chance of beting struck by lightening than of winning a lottery. Anyhow...Dream on, and keep loving those feral cats and doing for them what no one else seems inclined to do. Even if we can't help them in big ways with a million dollars, we can help and save them, one deserving kitty soul at a time. By the way, are you aware that Newman's Own Organics (run by actor Paul Newman's youngest daughter, Nell) has come out with a line of healthy organic pet foods and all the profits, after taxes, are donated to animal welfare causes? Her father started Newman's Own some years ago to market salad dressing and pasta sauce (to start with) from his own private family recipes and all the profits are donated to education. He is only one of two celebrities I've ever met in person (the other is Bo Derek who breeds Andalusian horses and is also devoted to animal welfare causes). In 1964, when I was still in high school, I went to the U.S. Pony Club National Rally (though I could not afford to take my own horse and compete) which was hosted by the club of my pen pal and held in Westport, CT. My pen pal, Star, sometimes babysat for a family that lived across the road from the Newmans, who live in Greenwich which is next to Westport. Nell Newman was about 4-5 years old then and would sometimes play with the little girl my pen pal babysat. We ended up taking Nell and the other little girl with us to the New York World's Fair while I was visiting and when we took her home, I go to meet her father, who was barbecuing in the back yard -- yes, his eyes are really that blue! That she would grow up to spin off an organic pet food company from her father's charitable food business puts she and her father among the wealthy celebs that I do admire. Love those ferals! Sally in San Jose
