Yes, That's My Neighborhood

Wire service stories are the postcards that we never would have sent. Instead of picking out something mundane or kitschy, the AP and UPI sent our college roommate in Wisconsin, aunt in Boston, and childhood friend in Georgia an inane little note in their local papers yesterday. It says that the place we live in--and keep asking them to visit--is full of uptight people with too much time on their hands: Dog Store Sign Angers Seattle Residents.

"Wallingford, that's where you live, right?" one email began. "You should fit right in there, Mr. Sensitive."

"Wow, this place makes Boston seem like an Aryan Nations summer camp," said another.

Thank you, Janet Stillman, executive director of the Wallingford Neighborhood Office, for enabling this with your outrage and, once again, making Wallingford look like a bunch of cranks. Perhaps you could redirect some portion of your indignation to the ongoing carnage in Iraq, the 12 million children in the US with no health coverage, or--closer to home--this poor bitch.

And thank you, UPI, for not even getting the name right.

Levitating dog of unknown gender courtesy of Flickr user Todd Bates.