Brrrrrrrr.

It is cold to the point of ridiculousness in my office. In the whole building, as a matter of fact. I'm wearing a wrap around my shoulders, my jacket over my lap, my boss' huge wool (yes, I know, but I'm too cold to be self-righteous) wrap around and on top of everything, and GLOVES. I am typing in gloves. Thin gloves, to be sure, but unless I work in a warehouse, I should not have to wear gloves to keep warm at work.

Maintenance hopes to get the temperature above 68° (Fahrenheit, y'all). I know that may seem positively tropical to some of you, but it's only October and my ladybits are going numb.

I am a warm-weather creature. Always have been. I was born in July, and the languid heat of that month must have soaked into my bones. I am happiest during the balmy days of spring and summer, where the question is, "What else can I take off?" instead of, "Sweet Jesus, do I even own any more clothes to put on?!" I prefer running around in flip-flops and sundresses, not bundling up and doing my best yeti impression.

I must admit defeat: I am officially finished with cute work clothes. Goodbye, sweet little flats and classic button-down shirts. From here until April, it's knee socks, combat boots, and thick fuzzy sweaters. And possibly an illegal space heater as well.

Please, everyone, for the love of me (if no one else), go vegan. Global warming has got our seasons all fucked up, and we have no one but ourselves to thank for it. If you can save me from another winter of agonized shivering, I'll bake you cookies and give you Eskimo kisses.

Quick but awesome roundup.

There will be a Vegan MoFo post later, rest assured. But right now, I want to call your attention to a few things:

• Today is Blog Action Day for Climate Change. Don’t want to drown in a hella storm or explain to your kids why there’s no ozone layer left? Ditch the animal products and go vegan. Then you can think about buying that Prius, because animal agriculture contributes more greenhouse gases than driving. ETA: Read Stephanie's incredibly informative Change.org post here.
• Carol J. Adams rocks my world. I want her to be my vegan feminist godmother. Read Mark Hawthorne’s interview with her here, then get yourself one of her books. The Pornography of Meat is on its way to me via Amazon, and I have been doing the dance of the nerdly all week.
• In less awesome news, Will over at Green is the New Red reports that the terrorism convictions against the SHAC 7 have been upheld. Basically, what this means is that, in his words, “Supporting and facilitating non-violent civil disobedience is not protected speech.” This is a huge loss to activists of all kinds, but animal-rights activists seem to really be feeling the injustice of the current “Let’s just call it terrorism and freak everyone out” mentality. It’s a crazy involved case, but Will breaks it down so non-law types like me can understand it.
• Rescue Ink is coming to Baltimore! Last month, I told you about the grassroots effort to encourage the guys to visit for a massive tattoo party. Well, it worked, and they’ll be here next weekend for a tattoo-in and outreach. The Baltimore Tattoo Museum, my ink parlor of choice, has graciously donated their artistry and services, and the Baltimore Humane Society has been instrumental in making this happen. It’s incredible that this has all come together in just about a month. I’m on a total activist high right now, you better believe it! We don’t have a lot of details yet, but I’ll post again when I know more. Hopefully Lucy sits still so I can make a print of her paw!