Remember my dog? Silas?

You know, the Australian Cattledog? The one I sometimes follow around the house, like he does me, just to make him anxious? The one who was in a big cemetery with me at night once and I told him it was a Pet Semetary?? ¡Ja ja ja! (That's Spanish for "funny.")

He's okay, he just hates the camera.

This guy. -------------------->


He looks kind of anxious here. He's a very anxious dog, really. He didn't seem like that when I first got him, but as time goes on he gets more and more anxious....




So Silas and I were outside this morning, futzing with the recyclables, and he suddenly went wild to the point where I had to go to ground to hang onto him. And when I looked behind me... there was a... SKUNK! A really BIG! SKUNK! In full fire extinguisher mode!

Silas and I ran down the yard and up the steps and across the porch and into the house—bang!  But later I was thinking...

What would I do if Silas really did get skunked? In warmer weather I could handle it. Break out the hydrogen peroxide and Dawn and let's have a party. But in the winter? God.

And then it hit me. I know what I'd do. I'd take Silas to the shelter, maybe even drive there with him on a leash out the window. (That's not illegal, right? If I go slow?) I'd tell the people at the shelter, I just found this dog. Guess he got skunked. After a couple of days I could go back and adopt him. Beautiful, huh?

My Nemesis, Facebook

Remember my post about how I don't want Asa to be on Facebook, or at the very least not until he's 13? Well . . . 

February 15, 2012

Associated Press 

Mass. student Facebook pictures end up on porn site

Wed Feb 15, 2012, 06:31 AM EST AnonymousCHARLTON — State and federal law enforcement authorities are looking into how the pictures of 17 Massachusetts high school students ended up on a pornographic website.

Police in Charlton say it appears the pictures of the fully clothed Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical School students were lifted from their Facebook pages and reproduced on the pornographic website that is based outside the U.S.

The images included town and school signs. [ital mine] 

Police tell the Telegram & Gazette what was most disturbing is that the site had images of child pornography. [ital mine]

Police are urging students to limit access to their Facebook pages.

I'm Alexandria. Fly me.

I can't count the number of times I've read negative news about Facebook privacy and underage safety. To me, it's clear:  Facebook is not for kids. File this under "mindful parenting."

What's the Worst Car You Ever Had?

Aw, never mind, really. Because if we had this contest, I would so hands-down win it that the rest of you would cry foul.

That's because when I got married, straight (ahem) out of high school, my new husband owned (and so then I owned) a... wait for it...

AMC Pacer!

Nice exterior color choice for an ad. Faded rotten plum had wide general appeal.
And... um... was she going surfing in that get-up??

You remember the Pacer, with its ad campaign, It's too wide! It's too wide!, and showgirls falling off the side of the runway as the Pacer came down it. Whew! If you don't remember that, you should look for a video of it. It won't be time wasted.

The Pacer, designed by Richard Teague (remember that name), had its mechanical problems, and body integrity problems, and... well, a lot of bad things. Possibly its worst feature was its window design—and I'm not just talking aesthetics. Imagine you're in a snow dome, in full sun. With completely ineffective air conditioning. You'd parch and die.

 

The Gremlin had an oddly amputated butt....

Now, as bad as the Pacer was, there must be rival "worst" cars. But I think the only one that could come close to my Pacer is if someone had the... 

    AMC Gremlin!

The Gremlin, designed by Richard Teague—no way, that guy again? Yes, our boy Richard designed a virtual phalanx of "worst cars," including the AMC Javelin, Matador, Hornet, and Eagle. Did I mention the Matador? It bears repeating.

Ever wonder why AMC went out of business? No? Well, now you never have to.

So to seal the deal on my win for Worst Car:  TIME Magazine, out of its list of the 50 Worst Cars of All Time voted the Pacer #1.

<Cue crowds roaring.>

Cinderella. Kiss me. I don't care what day it is.