Join Mary and Peter Max, Ally Sheedy and Kristen Johnson for a special screening of the film, "Blinders" to benefit the League of Humane Voters of New York City on September 22. After the screening, the filmmaker, Donny Moss, will be on hand for a panel discussion, along with LOHV-NYC's executive director, Council Member Tony Avella and NYC Council candidate Yetta Kurland.

"Blinders" is an award-winning documentary about the cruelty of the carriage horse industry. Tickets start at just $10, which is less than you'd pay to see a movie in New York City anyway, and all proceeds will go to LOHV-NYC.

My new necklace.
Photo by Doris Lin

Sunday morning brought the only major disappointment at the Animal Rights National Conference - the ATM at the hotel ran out of money. The hotel staff told us that there was an ATM across the street, but the "street" was a six-lane highway. To their credit, the conference organizers arranged for the hotel to cash checks, and the conference was willing to give people cash off their credit cards.

The lunch buffet was also a disappointment. The hotel charged $15 for a soup & salad buffet, and $8 for a hummus and veggie wrap sandwich that contained an undetectable amount of hummus. This was in stark contrast to the very excellent dinner buffet for the banquet the night before, with vegan "chicken" donated by Match Meats, complete with wild rice and cranberry stuffing.

I still ended up having a great time at lunch, chatting with friends and talking with new people. I found out that the guy sitting across the table from me was a friend of a friend. And a woman sitting at my table was a trilingual representative from the Surya Cosmetics booth from Brazil.

Despite my lack of access to cash, I visited the exhibitor hall again and spent my last dollars on a necklace from For the Animals Sanctuary (which happens to be run by a friend of mine) and a T-shirt from Motive Company. I was also able to buy an Arbonne lipstick and lip liner by charging them on my credit card, and picked up literature from Public Lands Without Livestock and Vegan Outreach.

Hummus-less veggie wrap sandwich: $8
Attending a fantastic conference, and spending the weekend with inspiring, compassionate activists from around the world: Priceless