Stand Up and Be Counted

By now, you should have received your 2010 Census form. I encourage each and every one of you to take a few minutes and fill it out, ensuring you count each and every person in your home. Federal and state funds (of about 300 billion dollars) are divided up depending on the number of people that live in each area. This data is used for the next 10 years of financial disbursements. In order to ensure that the Rochester area gets the money it needs, we need to make sure that every child and adult, male and female, legal or not, and every race gets counted. The money received goes to help with educational and health resources as well as transportation and public safety. The form only takes a few minutes to fill out and consists of 10 questions per person (mostly age, gender, name, etc). It is not only our civic duty, but by law we need to be counted every 10 years (though I do not know what exactly will happen if you do not fill out the form). It is also important for future generations who may want to research their family history. Census data is an invaluable resource for genealogists. For more information, you can visit the census page on the city's website, NY state's census website or the federal census website.

Rochester's Sister Cities

Did you know that Rochester has 11 sister cities according to Sister Cities International. The purpose of sister cities is to "promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, & cooperation — one individual, one community at a time." (Sister Cities International) Here are the 11 cities we are sisters of:
Rennes, France (1958) <---The year we became sister cities
Wurzburg, Germany (1964)
Caltanissetta, Italy (1965)
Rehovot, Israel (1972)
Krakow, Poland (1973)
Bamako, Mali (1975)
Waterford, Ireland (1983)
Novgorod, Russia (1990)
Hamamatsu, Japan (1996)
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic (1997)
Xianyang, China (2008)

I tried to find websites that you could visit to learn more about these cities. Most of the above links are in English and very informative, but some I was unable to locate an English site and I could not locate any site for Caltanissetta, so it is simply a link to view the city on Mapquest. If any of you have first hand knowledge of any of these cities, please post a comment and tell us a little bite about the city.

Crazy Dog T-shirts...a Rochester based business

I want to introduce you to a locally-owned business, Crazy Dog t-shirts. The story behind Crazy Dog is an interesting one, as they began as a result of a college project in the dorms of Ithaca College. The company owner, Bill, started the e-store for an eCommerce class and then forgot to take it down. The orders continued to come in and Bill continued to fill them. He worked out of his mothers basement for 2 years and then began to lease space in the Village Gate. (side note- it is strongly encouraged that you shop online, as they are more of a warehouse setting, than a retail store). They have continued to grow since then and currently have a good-size national following with over 4500 facebook fans and 1200+ Twitter followers.

Now you know their history, how about I tell you what they sell? Crazy Dog t-shirts sells, well, t-shirts, but not your everyday plain Jane t-shirts. They have vintage shirts, funny shirts, offensive shirts, sarcastic shirts, and everything else in between. They also do custom orders for those in the Rochester area, so feel free to contact them if that is something you need. There are also a few doggy outfits and some sets of pajamas. Their designs are a mix of original and some by other companies such as David+Goliath. When I contacted them for permission to use their pictures for this post, I was offered the awesome opportunity to review some of their shirts as well. Here are the two I chose:

The shirts arrived very quickly and are excellent quality. The fabric is soft and the pictures are accurate, both with a vintage look, but not cracked and peeling like some of the shirts you will find. I also love that they offer such a range of t-shirts, including the original 1980's Rainbow Brite. Also, both shirts I chose are ladies styles, so they are not big and boxy, but slightly tapered to better fit the female curves. They carry shirts for men, ladies and kids though I will warn you, it is probably best to view the site without little ones (at least those of a reading age) around, as some of the shirts have naughty words and some are rather sexually explicit in language. Having said that, you can probably find a shirt here for everyone you know. Crazy Dog t-shirts are fun and if you cannot find what you like on that site, you can check out their sister site (also based in Rochester), NachoMama Tees. I promise, you will definitely have a good laugh as you peruse their sites and you will not regret any purchase you make. If you do regret your purchase, all sales are guaranteed to meet your satisfaction, so just let them know what you are unhappy about.

I hope that all of you will take the opportunity to check out Crazy Dog t-shirts and NachoMama Tees. Be sure to fan Crazy Dog on facebook as well to get yourself a 10% off coupon for your first purchase.