Archive for February, 2012

Yes, yes…we KNOW. We said we’d clip Baxter’s little family jewels, but when push came to shove, we just COULDN’T DO IT! A couple of things kept bothering us. First of all, his coat and confirmation are magnificent…a perfect breeder, maybe even a show dog, but his personality also came into play…so incredibly SUBMISSIVE and respectful. He would rather DIE than pee or poo in the house, even goes out into raging rainstorms to do his business…he did that today…and he’s such a HAPPY little dog just the way he is. It wasn’t too big a leap for us to decide we wanted him to stay that way forever.
Angel is a LOT older, but even she seems to like him just the way he is. Of course, when he goes into his OBSTREPAROUS mode, she tends to object…as do we, but then he seems to understand and runs around, gathering up his absolute FAVORITE toys, dragging them to her…and us. He always chooses to bring me his green frog…which he ADORES…a LOUD little sucker generally left for me in the middle of the main area floor when I go to bed. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve inadverdently awakened the ENTIRE house stepping on that thing on the way to the computer room when I wake up earlier than the rest of them, but that’s Baxter in a nutshell…over the top almost all the time…and usually noisily so.

My lady has been earnestly trying to groom Baxter’s ever-growing coat, and I know it won’t be long before it’s far too challenging for her. So…today, I decided it was time to try and find a groomer for him…and HER. We’re both a little skittish…since Angel’s problem…I mean, a CUT EYE? How could THAT not affect our decision? Anyway, today when I was going to get the best Parmigiano Reggiano available in the city, I spotted a grooming place and impulsively stopped in to check it out. Turns out the lady has been in business for years and is quite successful, and after chatting with her for a while, I decided she could do the job my lady was finding so increasingly difficult.
Now…and you gotta understand this. Baxter is ADORABLE…and SUBMISSIVE…and consequently you instinctively want to PROTECT him, and when I told my lady I thought I had found a groomer for him, she kind of looked at me like I was some sort of TRAITOR. Okay…I’m MALE…and the head of a household…and ALWAYS trying to make things safe, better, and more comfortable for those I’m supposed to take care of…INCLUDING BAXTER…but it isn’t always all that easy. You try…God knows, you try, but you don’t ALWAYS succeed…not with female hormones ricocheting all over the place.
Baxter is getting shaggy…and to tell the truth, sometimes he doesn’t smell all that good, cute though he may be. Since I’M the one he chooses to snuggle up to on cold nights, and while I appreciate his love, SOMETHING has got to change. I wasn’t planning to have his HEART cut out…or his nads…only hoping to get his incredibly LUXURIANT coat under control for God’s sake, so how have I become the BAD GUY in all this? The way I see it, I’m an INNOCENT…only trying to do something good, trying to help. Go figure. I should have bought my Parmigiano Reggiano and got the hell home because I’m not up to these maternal, hormone-infused games. I understand it ALL now…the same way I understand I haven’t the foggiest clue about how to deal with them.

Turns out, I miss the comments. I really enjoy reading what you have to say, and I’m beginning to think I shot myself in the foot taking everything out when what I was looking for was CONTROL. So…a little apprehensively, I’m opening THIS area for comments.  To tell you the truth, I STILL haven’t figured out what to do about the spam problem, but this way at least, it will be more manageable.  AC

I really love the idea of freely allowing comments on this website. I’m a big believer in letting people speak their mind, and I thoroughly enjoy reading them…even the critical stuff…but lately I’ve had to re-think that point of view. For the past ten days, three or four sociopathic guys have been mercilessly spamming it. Overnight a couple of days ago, I had more than 500 comments, all spam, and when I implemented spam controls, they started spamming with trackbacks and pingbacks…450 this morning.
I’m well into the process of finding an agent for my novel, Demon Moss…while doing re-writes and even working on a new one, so I really don’t have HOURS to sit at the computer deleting stupidly annoying stuff while looking for honest and sincere comments. Consequently, I have CLOSED coments, trackbacks, and pingbacks on ALL posts. My plan is to allow them on new things I write…until those idiots see an IN and start abusing it…then they, too, will be closed.
If you have something you’re ABSOLUTELY DYING to tell me, use the email form in the Contacts section. I can trace spammers that way, but if they even THINK about trying to gum things up again, that’s closing, too. It’s a pity…limiting the free exchange of ideas just because you’re a jerk…or you hate everybody…or a quirk of statistics has made you a hostile sociopath…or your penis is too small. You might laugh, but I think micropenisia (my word) is always in there somewhere when you’re talking about people like this…little weewee, BIG resentment.
Internet spammers…GET A LIFE. Go annoy your neighbors out in the REAL world. You’re ruining a good thing in the electronic version. We keep hearing about impending government monitoring and control, and guys like you will almost ENSURE it. I tend to keep saying guys…I suppose there could be a few gals doing it, but born and reared in the deep south, I have too much respect for women built in. To me that’s just not a REAL LADY’S style, but…these days?…who knows?
Someday…if I lose my mind or something…I might open up a few posts at a time and hope the assholes have moved on…but I wouldn’t put money on it. They haven’t won, but they’ve DEFINITELY pissed me off…while damaging the best quality of the internet, its best hope, really, the unfettered exchange of thoughts and ideas. By the way, as you might suspect, comments, trackbacks, and pingbacks are also closed on this notice.
Albert Corne