You may recall that it rained here in Sandy Eggo last year.

Well, it is happening again today, and so I have been dressed in yellow once more.

Feeling Philosophical In The Drippy Weather

Apparently, this rain thing is going to be a regular occurrence.

Even My Little Pony is bothered by this odd weather. Here she is pictured charging the screen door to get away from the torrents of water. Sigh; guess I’m gonna have to open it for her again.

Hey, What’s Over There? More Rain!

A little dog’s jobs are never done!

And I gotta find out if raincoats come in other colors, because yellow is just not doing it for me.

Legs1 and Legs2 have been a little sad this week, because today is the one-year anniversary of the death of my Ghost Brother, Beso.

However, I don’t quite understand their melancholy. Beso may have transitioned to another state, but it’s not like he’s gone.

In fact, I see him all the time.

For example, he (and Ugly Dog) have become members of the Occupy Sunbeam movement:

We’ll keep on spending sunny days this way… Groovin’ . . . on a Sunday afternoon.

And he growls at me to get off the couch (My Little Pony is ignoring the situation, as usual):

Hey! You! Get off of my couch. Don’t hang around ’cause two’s a crowd. (With apologies to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.)

And he gives me a run for my money, rockin’ his outfits almost as well as I do mine:

Beso the Clothes Horse

Mark Twain said, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” He wouldn’t have said it if he’d met Beso—or he would have edited the statement to clarify that it did not apply to Xoloitzcuintles, also known as princes of Mexico, also known as nekked dogs.

But maybe humans can’t see ghosts. If that’s the case, it’s up to me to cheer them up.

When you’re smiling, when you’re smiling, The whole world smiles with you.

I wonder if I’m up for the job. Wish me luck!

Spring is here. I can tell, because Legs1 got me a new outfit.

She told me that in general she won’t buy me useless clothes, but she couldn’t resist this:

The Noble Hound (Me!) In His Green Gingham Waistcoat

I do cut a stunning figure, don’t I?

I got so excited by this whole “spring” thing that I was forced to quote the Bard (Lewis Carroll) by exclaiming, “O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” and stand on my head.

Whoa! Everything Looks A Bit Different When You're Upside Down And Inside Out

The other day, Legs1 took a closer look at my peace symbol bankie and decided it needed to be washed. I don’t know what that means, except that I ended up with a brand new outfit.

I was told that it’s a turtleneck and that I look smashing in it. I believe the second part of that statement goes without saying.

Here I am in my new togs. What do you think?

I Am Stylin' *and* Aerodynamic!

Anyway, this whole experience got me curious about turtlenecks. So I googled and giggled, binged and banged, yahooed and yeehawed.

And I learned a lot.

First of all, it turns out that I am on the cutting edge of fashion.  George Kotsiopoulos said in the January 11, 2012 edition of The Miami Herald that “The turtleneck will be the must-have item of the season.” According to him, with this one outfit, I can easily transform my look from grunge to preppy to Twiggy to Love Story.

I don’t know what that means. Ah, well!

But in easier-to-understand fashion reportage, on December 6, 2011, Rachel Roy was quoted in a New York Times article about the turtleneck’s renaissance thusly: “I don’t always have to show a lot of skin, but what I do want to show all the time is a lot of brains. And the turtleneck is strong, elegant, smart. I’m a turtleneck believer.”

I’m with her. “Brains, not skin,” is one of my favorite sayings.

Besides being a fashion necessity this season, turtlenecks have an interesting history. They’ve been around since at least the 15th century and have wrapped the necks of all sorts of humans (and dogs), from menial laborers to high-falutin’ celebrities (see wikipedia.org and turtlenecks.org).

Noel Coward popularized turtlenecks in the US in the 1920s. I found a photo of him later in life, and look—he is wearing a turtleneck AND A CHIHUAHUA! (And he has apparently slung a mongoose across his shoulders.) The synchronicity is amazing.

Noel Coward Has Fabulous Taste!

Meanwhile, Legs1 says that turtlenecks always make her think of Dick Cavett, but she doesn’t know why. I think it’s because he rocks the look almost as well as I do.

Dick Cavett, Turtleneck Model. Dick Cavett (b.1936), television personality and host of the long-running Dick Cavett Show, smiles while sitting for a portrait, 1978. Boston, Massachussetts.

Finally, I got curious about my old friend, Charlie Hunnam. Would a motorcycle dude be caught dead wearing a turtleneck? Maybe not exactly, but pretty darn close:

Charlie Hunnam, Keeping It Real, Even With An Almost-Turtleneck

You wouldn’t mess with him, right?

No one messes with me, either. Even when I go for the Love Story look.

Yes, it’s true: I’ve joined the Occupy movement. I am among the 99% that like to bask in sunbeams—so, let’s call it Occupy Sunbeam.

It’s easy to resent the 1% that try to keep us from sunbeams: clouds, window coverings (no matter how tasteful), walls, the earth’s rotation around the sun causing this thing called “night time.”

You can tell I’m in the Occupy movement because I haven’t changed my clothes in a while: I am still wearing my peace symbol bankie. People call me a “dirty lazy hippie.” I don’t know what that means, but if it suggests I get to hang out in sunbeams all the time, then I’m all for it!

Let the Sunshine In!

I recently discovered that it rains in Sandy Eggo! I wasn’t even sure what rain was, but I was a good boy (Good boy, Jax—ahhh) and went out to the lawn to do my numbers* anyway. Next thing I know, gargantuan drops of water were pelting down on me, trying to crush my skull, drown my feet, and soak my tummy. So I did the obvious thing: I walked on my tippy toes, to minimize the wetness damage to moi.

But then I overheard this conversation between Legs1 and Legs2:

Legs1: He walks like a bowlegged sailor.

Legs2: That’s redundant. But I can’t disagree.

And they slapped this ridiculous outfit on me. It keeps my upper body dry, but I find I am still forced to walk en pointe. Maybe I need rain booties, too.

Fish Sticks, Anyone?

Meanwhile, you may think I have forgotten about Ugly Dog’s hack of my blog, but never fear: I am on it! I will have an announcement soon that will amaze you with its cleverness and maturity.

* A big shout out to the famous detective, Randolph the Labrador Retriever, for this diplomatic turn of phrase. For more, read his three-part biography, which starts with A Dog About Town, by J.F. Englert.

What, you saying you’ve never seen a biker dog wear peace symbols before? Even on his bankie?

Where you been, man?

After all, peace is a pretty radical concept. All the best MCs (motorcycle clubs) have embraced it, in tattoo form if not in actual concept. You know, American flag, peace symbol, eagle, swastika, Harley-Davidson logo, naked ladies.

As the late great John Lennon sang, “All we ask is that you give peace a chance.” Especially on our bankies.

Besides, sometimes it gets cold, even in Sandy Eggo.

Peace Out!

Experts say that even if you work at home, you should dress the part. Here I am, ready to field the inevitable phone calls and emails in my gray flannel suit:

My Professional Headshot