Drive-Bys

Put-Down of the Day:

That's a thing of beauty, isn't it?
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Now here's a novel idea -- let nature take it's course.
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Greatest letter ever sent on NFL letterhead here.
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Tower of the Hand is having a contest regarding George R.R. Martin's A Dance With Dragons. You can enter if you want to, but I'm convinced ADWD will not be completed until A Game of Thrones runs its course on HBO -- long past 2011 -- so I will not be entering. Until and unless he gets tired of running from set to set and con to con and writing with partners on other series he authors, Martin simply won't have time to complete ADWD. Hmpffff.
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Wonder of wonders, for once I agree with PETA:

Vick is not allowed to own a dog while he is on probation, and PETA wants the restriction extended when he is up for review in 2012. In the same way convicted pedophiles are not allowed to be alone with children, PETA's board says, it believes convicted animal abusers should be denied unsupervised access to pets.

"Children and animals are completely defenseless to an abuser," Lange said.

He may have paid his debt to society, but he'll never pay his debt to all those dogs he already killed and/or abused.
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A different kind of love story:

Frank still urges Anthony to move inside without him. Anthony tells him to be quiet.

"Some people say I'm crazy. Some people say I'm loyal. I just say he's my brother," Anthony says.

"I love him," Frank says.

Go read the whole thing.

Update: One of the Nowotnik brothers is in the hospital and the other has gone missing. The good news?

Meanwhile, Anthony, who is expected to remain in the hospital for several days, has been fielding calls in his room from long-lost relatives who read the story and got in touch after an estrangement of nearly 20 years.

"It's kind of hard to talk to people when they're crying and you're crying," Anthony said Wednesday, lying in a hospital bed, a breathing tube in his nose and an IV in his arm. He said he's looking forward to getting reacquainted with his seven half-siblings and 17 nieces and nephews.

"It took that article to get me back to my family," he said. "A couple of days after Christmas, but I still enjoyed the present."

Update 2:

A 34-year-old businessman moved by a Tribune story about homeless twin brothers is paying for a week's hotel stay for one brother while the other remains hospitalized.

The west suburban businessman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he was looking for an opportunity to help and do something more than put a check in the mail.

"A lot of people talk the talk, including myself," he said. "But walking the walk is another story."

That's a lot of love all the way around.
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Ear Worm of the Day: