12 February 2011
Posted in Blog - 2011

You undoubtedly knew before I did, but :

Life Unexpected star Britt Robertson is returning to the CW as the lead of drama pilot Secret Circle. Written by Andrew Miller and Kevin Williamson based on the book series from The Vampire Diaries author L.J. Smith, Secret Circle tells the story of a young woman (Robertson) who moves to a new town and discovers that not only is she a witch and part of a secret coven, but she’s also the key that will unlock a centuries-old battle of good versus evil. Robertson, repped by Innovative and Levine Okwu Erickson, is about to start shooting the feature The First Time.

Brit is a very pretty girl and I think she'll make a fine Cassie.  She's blond, and I'm not sure how they''re going to distinguish her from Diana (but maybe Diana has already been cut from the story).  I'd be rather sad about that.  I'm very eager to see the script.  In any case, things are getting interesting.

But let's not forget the latest cause.  For anybody who hasn't seen it, Natalie Gould's is the Administrator for Paws 4 a Cause, which supports St Tammany's no-kill animal shelter and Ian Somerhalder's Humane Society, and she says:

“We successfully raised $11,100 for the 2010 birthday project and we were able to present Ian with the donation at a fundraising event for the shelter in November. Shortly after that event, I began working hard at the 2011 campaign.

“The stakes (pardon the pun ;)) are higher and we have a huge goal to reach this time around. We are aiming for $30,000 and are hoping to give St Tammany Humane Society 85% of the donations, while the remaining 15% goes to Ian Somerhalder Foundation.”

“Ian himself is fully aware of our efforts. He currently follows us on Twitter and for the month of February, we are a featured change campaign on his foundation's website.”

There is very little I hate more than to see an animal hurt or killed.  And since the St Tammany Humane Society is devoted to the goals of true humanity—you can’t be a human and enjoy knowing how many laughing, panting dogs, and purring Jellicle cats get put to death just because nobody wants them, I hightailed it over to http://paws-4-a-cause.org, the Paws 4 a Cause website.  They’re doing good work, necessary work.

And right now they’ve collected $8,200 for this year, “But,” as Natalie says, “as our goals [for 2011] are high, we have a long way to go before we reach it. . .   .  Ian’s birthday is on December 8th and we will be presenting his donation at Unleashed: Bash on the Bayou on November 12th in Covington, Louisiana."

I don't know about you, but I went for my pocketbook right away.  You can send donations to: 

St. Tammany Humane Society
Attn: Ian’s Birthday Project
20384 Harrison Ave.
Covington, LA 70433
United States

And you can include a short note to say that this is for Ian Somerhalder’s Birthday Project so they can advise her of receipt and she can add the amount to her current totals. 

I have begun autographing booksets for Paws 4 a Cause, the proceeds of which go to St. Tammany’s and Ian’s Humane Society, and will put together some special “goodie baskets” with all sorts of autographed and hard-to-find merchandise.  I’d also like to make my readers aware of this cause, which has a certain crazy yin/yang harmony about it: TV show/book series; Damon/protecting furry animals.

It sort of reminds me of a line in the first draft of Shadow Souls, when Stefan is ill from starvation, which had Damon surreptitiously hunting for his younger brother and being seen “heading for Stefan’s attic in the wee hours, with a bunny under each arm, his expression daring anyone to ask him about it.”

In any case, I invite all my dearest readers to visit http://paws-4-a-cause.org  and maybe render some help to those who don’t have human voices to ask for it.  This is really a matter of life or death for them.