100 Words for Snow by Phil James, for Mendosa. As seen on the ever-edifying blog at Present & Correct. Personally, I am hoping for tlalman and tlanip, so I can set up a snow pop-up shop and add to my savings. Please note, Mr. James’ list is, I believe, mostly a work of satire.

Along with Muhammad Ali (“Don’t Do Drugs!”), the Keep America Beautiful campaign to stop littering (“Don’t be a litterbug!”) and President Jimmy Carter urging us to turn down the heat and put on a sweater, Smokey the Bear factored in quite prominently to my formative years. Thanks to him, to this day still I have an outsized paranoia of unwittingly setting the forest on fire. This sign is posted on the side of the firehouse in Jeffersonville, NY. The last I knew it had been removed to make way for a more contemporary mural. I was so happy to see that he’s back in place. And don’t you just totally dig his pants!

Sometime soon we will probably get another car. Ugh! Our trusty Subaru is still going at 14 years of age, but the issue of dependability looms large as we enter the winter months. If we had our way, we would keep the same vehicle forever. That sentiment is far from realistic. We’d also like to get something with a lot better mileage rating. But, advances in technology and fuel usage aside, the automobile industry suffers from what I consider to be an incredible lack of ingenuity when it comes to design. The over-contoured look is so so boring. I long for the days of boxy. Ultimately, it is safety, reliability and efficiency that counts, so this rumination is just that. But still. It made me think about my husband growing up in England during the 70s. He occasionally gets nostalgic about their family car…the DAF. Mostly he just remembers its tortoise-like speed, and something about the rubber belts that needed regular tightening. But damn if it wasn’t cute. These photos are a jumble of models, all found at this massive archive from the Netherlands. Personal preference is for the DAF 44.

Thanks Julia and Robin for posting this. Lesley Gore wrote this song in 1964. Still fighting the same fight. Really?

Correction: My mistake. You Don’t Own Me was in fact written by John Madara and David White, but recorded by Lesley Gore when she was only 17. Thanks Matt!!