here are some statistics:

the population of the united states as of sept. 2, 2008 is 305,034,164 (http://www.census.gov/ main/www/popclock.html).  twenty three percent of those (approximately 915,102) are under 18.  that leaves 304,119,062 people.  if one third of one percent of all those people (1,013,730) each sent a dollar to my rescue fund, i would never have to ask for help again.

about me:

my real name is jesse dragonheart*, and in spite of the spelling, i'm a woman.  i am a certified schoolteacher and writing tutor.  i don't want to be either of those things.  what i want is to take care of my animals, which is what i'm doing right now.  i also do some private reading tutoring for the children of friends.

i accidentally collect animals (hence the phrase "accidental doolittle").  and they drive me crazy, but i love them and only want to take good care of them.

this is a lifetime issue.  i remember being in class in the fourth grade when a child from another class came to our room to get me.  his teacher had found a wounded bird, and she knew i could take care of it.  i have no idea who told her.  i took care of the bird, of course, and had the joy of setting it free.  back then, i spent a lot of time in the library, looking up the care and feeding of the assorted critters which crossed my path.  it's easier now--i have the internet!

i currently share my home with two dogs, four cats, four parrots and two iguanas.  i want to take vet tech classes just to know how to care for my own little family.  needless to say, the preferred t.v. channel in our house is animal planet.  i don't want my critters rotting their brains on daytime talk shows.

*there's a story behind that.

welcome!  this page has been created in the effort to support my animals and my search for a way to make a living that i can care about and be excited to do.  ideally, i hope to also build a small community of other "accidental doolittles" where we can share and learn.  toward that end, i've included a forum.

***the book is available on the dogs' page***

but first, i have to do some money-groveling.  i work at wal-mart (which happens to be my favorite store).  i was "officially" a teacher for two years; i managed to teach for one of those—in two different schools.  since may of 2008, when my last school both let out and closed down, i have applied for eighty-five jobs.  maybe twenty of those haven’t been for teaching positions.  i was desperate by the time i got to wal-mart, and now i admit to being a bit disillusioned with the whole teaching thing.  i have a beautiful resume.  i write beautiful cover letters.  i've had people at the texas workforce commission look at both, and they can't make any suggestions.  if i haven't managed to get on as a teacher, maybe i need to look at whether that's really what i'm supposed to be.

 

what i want to be is independently wealthy and unemployed (in that order; i've tried it the other way around; it's very stressful).  i haven't figured out how to make that happen yet.  all i truly want is to care for my animals and write.  i have one children’s book published:  When I Grow Up; it’s available at www.publishamerica.com.  i have another in the works.  it's at the illustrator right now; he previews the illustrations for me at http://icarus.cs.weber.edu/~jramey/kidsbook/.  (his captions and my text aren't even similar, honest!)  it's very exciting.  i received my very first royalty check in february:  $4.79.  i dutifully wrote a check for $2.40 and sent it to my artist.  i write articles for a site called Helium; my page there is http://www.helium.com/users/306546, if you'd like to read some of my stuff.

 

my dream is a big house on four or five fenced acres, where i can be as isolated from the world as i need to be to create well and consistently, and the animals can be safe and there will never be “too many.”

 

so here’s the request:  please send money.  i’m serious.  i owe $30,000 in student loans, which are deferred at the moment because i'm not making enough to pay them.  i owe another nine and half grand to people who believed in me enough to help me relocate to texas.

 

after much thought and prayer, i gave away all my teaching supplies.  i was sure that was why god wanted me in texas, but i've been wrong before.  that act placed me at a crossroads.  if the teacher thing isn't going to happen for me, i still want to do something i care about, something that matters.  so i asked myself: "what do i want to be when i grow up?"  well, the same thing i always wanted to be: anything that involves being with and caring for animals.  it's what i'm good at, what i've always been good at.  and there are all these books out there saying to follow your natural talents.  well, i have two: animals and books.  i was an english major before i became an education major, worked in a library for a time, and still have a deep love of the written word.

 

all that education has to be good for something.  at 48 years of age, i really don't want to spend any more time in a classroom for the sake of changing direction--i believe experience should count for something, also.  the right career for me is out there.  it isn't walmart.  i feel a certain urgency to make something else happen before i get to the end of my life and realize i wasted the whole thing.

 

i have to make a different start, but i have to do it as a grownup.  i have twelve "children" to support; i can't just quit my job and chase my dreams.

 

so, if you can spare a dollar (more than a dollar is also good), please send it to jesse dragonheart, or jdoolittle, at 1606 grizzly trail, glenn heights, tx, 75154.

 

the bible says, "you have not because you ask not," so i'm asking.

 

and the site will grow...