Title: On & Off the Ice
Author: Dorothy Hamill (with Elva Clairmont)
Date: 1983
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0-394-85610-4
Length: 181 pages
Quote: "I felt that in a sense I was no longer Dorothy Hamill--I was the United States."
Dorothy Hamill started skating when she was eight years old. At nine, she decided to make it a career. Practice and more practice, working through pain, solid legs, a quiet and disciplined personality, and a beautiful face, can do a lot for a person. In just ten short years, Hamill was the world's champion skater, with an Olympic gold medal and dozens of other prizes in her collection.
This book is about skating, and that's about all. In between 1976 and 1983 Hamill found time to get married, help her mother recover from surgery for cancer, raise money for the American Cancer Society, and bury her grandmother; in the book she also mentions plans to have children. Those parts of her story touch on other people's stories, so we're not told much about them. There's not much about Hamill's education in the book, although she went to school; not much about friends or family; no mention of religion or politics. This is intentional. Part of Hamill's charm was a quiet, reserved manner. In this book, at least, she didn't tell people more than they were interested in knowing.
This quality makes On & Off the Ice a good, tasteful, family-friendly story that nine-year-old girls can share with their brothers without embarrassment. The personal memories Hamill shares are the ones that may be helpful to other young athletes: having to say no to other sports and concentrate on skating, having to "advance at a snail's pace" and perfect simple moves before doing fancy ones, being forbidden to chew gum while skating.
The vocabulary of this book is also accessible to nine-year-olds. Figure skating does have its own vocabulary, but if primary school readers want to learn about skating, they'll learn words like "axel," "camel," and "mohawk."
Later, after the other characters in the story were past embarrassment, Hamill published a more personal memoir for adult readers. Not "adult" in the sense of sex; "adult" in the sense that there's a lot of reminiscence about her parents' declining years. Buy the one that's more relevant to where you are in life. There is, of course, no reason not to read both.
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Petfinder Post: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Long-Haired Cats
Next on the list of dogs the Busybodies of Britain want you not even to be able to admire in dog shows is the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Admittedly that is a long, silly name, and dog shows might do everyone a favor by changing it.
Our first photo contest winner, Rasta from NYC. See below for contact and adoption information.
Changing the name to what? I don't know, but "Fuzzyflops" comes to mind, because this is the dog breed "fuzzy puppy" bedroom slippers try to look like. Smallish dogs with long hair and floppy ears and terribly cute faces. You probably have more respect for other breeds, but you can't not like a CKC Spaniel.
There is an historical reference. England's first King Charles, who ruled from 1625 to 1649, had shaggy hair. So did his courtiers, followers, and partisans--male as well as female.
His father, King James of Bible-translation commission fame, was widely rumored to be bisexual, and he was able to persuade Princess Henrietta Maria to marry him only by proxy, but they learned to live with each other and had several children. He was probably heterosexual. Mostly, anyway. But he was a sickly little fellow with a speech impediment, and everyone had been disappointed when his healthier-looking older brother died. He told everyone he trusted only one barber;when Parliament refused to pay that barber Charles just let his hair grow. In his court men wore their hair in long flowing waves if possible, lace, jewelry, one-or-two-inch heels, and either flop-top boots or slippers with rosettes. About the only difference in men's and women's fashions that is obvious to modern readers is that men wore breeches and women wore long skirts. When they were outdoors both sexes also wore hats; when indoors they took the hats off.
Charles does not seem, in historical hindsight, to have been all that bad at his job--until his quarrels with Parliament reached the point where he not only tolerated censorship but tolerated the execution of well-off writers who published their own books, expressing dissenting religious opinions. Anyway Charles I was a liberal Protestant who married a Catholic and tolerated Catholic practices in England, and stricter members of the English Church wouldn't have it. The opposition party, in which men cut their hair short and were nicknamed Roundheads, took over and executed Charles for the crime of being king. A few years later the opposition leader who took over the leadership of the country was executed for the crime of having killed the king, and the British monarchy was restored.
Anyway, Charles I liked spaniels. Apart from his setting fashions that appeared to be inspired by these shaggy little dogs, it's hard not to like spaniels. First a bloodline of spaniel dogs was named after him; then, as some breeders of King Charles Spaniels crossbred the dogs for fashionable looks, others attached the modifier "Cavalier" to the breed name, commemorating what King Charles' party were called.
Unfortunately, there were valid reasons for trying to diversify this breed's DNA. They inherit all of the "spaniel" traits people want not to have to own. They can be so devoted to their humans that they annoy the humans; some will follow their human from room to room, trying to sit on per feet whenever possible. They are cat-sized and, if anything, like to curl up in their humans' laps more than cats do. They are basically hunting dogs, though small, and tend to bolt away in pursuit of small animals, on walks, then drop their prey right on their humans' feet. Floppy ears can encourage ear infections; CKCs' hair is not a primary source of eye problems, but they can inherit more serious eye disorders. They are prone to genetic conditions that shorten their lives and probably cause the dogs considerable pain. It's been claimed that a majority of all CKC Spaniels will die from heart disease after age ten. Some seem to be born with skulls too small for their brains, as well. PETA scream that "so few dogs of this breed can be considered truly healthy" that the breed should just go extinct.
If only PETA could be considered truly healthy...This organization was always run by left-wingnuts and always known for outspoken opposition to various practices that used, when Ingrid Newkirk was young, to be both common and genuinely cruel. Now they're transferring that outspoken opposition to the whole idea of people being free to own or keep pets. In a world where everyone works to pay rent on miserable little flats to an increasingly corrupt government, the only pets anyone will be able to afford will be alley rats and cockroaches. People who want to live in that kind of world especially don't like the house dogs that protect our privacy, our property, and our persons from attackers. Scratch those people, and out pops their eagerness to violate our privacy, our property, and our persons.
Mullahs who proclaim that people lose blessings by having a watchdog are definitely un-American, and need investigation for any connections to anti-American organizations. It's very simple, Muslims living in the US. Americans generally like dogs. Who don't like dogs? Thieves don't. If you don't like dogs, be quiet, and consider therapy, to avoid labelling yourself a thief. Some Americans are sympathetic to cat phobia, but we're probably right to distrust a man who doesn't like dogs.
People more levelheaded than PETA recommend that you demand tests for genetic disorders and buy pedigreed dogs only if they're free from any bad genes, even if you intend to have your dog neutered, to ensure ethical breeding practices. In theory, DNA tests and early neutering could breed disease genes out of the pool. The average life expectancy for the breed is 10 to 15 years. Selective breeding for healthy CKC traits could boost that to 15 to 18 years.
So some people might want to own a CKC Spaniel just to show what we think of PETA, which is not unreasonable. It's hard to find pedigreed CKC's in shelters because the ones who aren't sleeping at someone's feet have probably been euthanized--for valid reasons--but it's easy to find crossbreeds who have that fuzzy-slippers-dog-face look and attitude of sycophantic adoration. Sometimes the crossbreeds may be healthier.
CKCs need lots of brushing, which is no problem--they enjoy it--and an occasional bath, which may be a harder sell to the dog. They benefit from having a fenced yard to keep rodent-free. Outside the yard they need to be on a leash. Because they are typically so attached to a human, they may need for their human to walk with them, which is a win-win; both parties can benefit from walking about a mile, altogether, every day. In installments.
Obesity can shorten the lifespans of little house dogs who stay close to a human who doesn't get enough exercise. The dogs love treats, especially scraps of what the humans eat, and the humans love giving them treats...and then the dogs gain weight at about the same rate the humans do, only it's much more weight in proportion to the dog's healthy weight of 12 to 18 pounds, and obesity aggravates any problem genes the dog has. This is among the breeds most likely to be buried under the tree where the foolish fat human places a row of five or ten memorial markers commemorating how Fluffy, Muffy, Tuffy, Buffy, Duffy, Huffy, Puffy, and Gruffy all died at ages under ten.
That motivation to please the human helps a dog learn commands and tricks, and thus seem "smart" to humans. CKCs can excel in dog sports where they compete against other dogs their own size. Some also do well as visiting or therapy dogs.
Just for comparison, here is a show-quality CKC to show how close crossbreeds like Rasta, shown above, can come:
Photo from Britannica.com.
Long-haired cats usually do not show an attitude of sycophantic adoration. They bring one out in the people who love them. They are included here, though, to be fair.
Zipcode 10101: Rasta (see above)
His web page: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/rasta-5a37ad7a-539d-483e-9e9c-33187407df75/ny/new-york/animal-lighthouse-rescue-ny1199/details/
Rasta is described as a cautious little dog who has some idea of how small he is, relative to everyone else, and needs time to feel confident about approaching people. He does well with calm adults, human or other, but is frightened by fast-moving, impulsive young creatures who are much bigger than he--so no young children live in his ideal home. A friendly, confident senior dog, on the other hand, might help him settle in.
Sammi fromNYC
Her web page: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/sammi-42594e66-2900-4d89-ac49-bc070624a95f/ny/new-york/anjellicle-cats-rescue-ny488/details/
Sammi does not like other cats. Maybe they chased her off the food when she was living on the street--she was rescued when she was starving, down to five pounds. She's not all that small a cat. She does seem to like and trust humans and even tolerate having her underside tickled.
Zipcode 20202: Sage from Westminster
Rescued from a puppy mill, Sage is described as about twice the size a show quality Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is allowed to be. Either somebody filled out her web page on a computer with an "optical mouse" that bounces when the light flickers, or she was being kept by a dishonest, unethical, as well as inhumane, breeder. They're not sure about her DNA but say she's cuddly and trainable and won't be having puppies in any case.
Chloe from Alexandria
Her web page: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/chloe-c4097203-ae12-4877-b61c-e2eed5b589c1/va/alexandria/marlees-misfits-va935/details/
Just why this super-fluffy cat became a "misfit" isn't clear--they don't have a full biography--but she's been through some horrible things. For one thing she's been declawed. She can't climb, so she'll never be safe outdoors. They think she's fairly well along in middle age. Who knows...I imagine that having all of my whole fingertip joints pulled off with tongs would age me, too. The surprising part is that she's still gentle and friendly enough to be up for adoption.
Zipcode 30303: Eastland from Cumming
He's another shelter pup who acts as if he's learned the hard way that just about everybody is bigger than he is. He needs a quiet, gentle home.
Aioli from Chattanooga
Her web page: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/aioli-62a9c129-a135-4de8-8326-00d5c7762a1e/ga/atlanta/your-local-fur-mama-tn1052/details/
Aioli was rescued along with some kittens. She was eager to move the kittens out into the world...probably due to hormones telling her to go out and start the next litter, but the shelter put an end to that. She likes food and may need to have her weight watched for the first year or two since she's been spayed. She is described as friendly and snuggly but not overwhelming.
Placeholder Post
(This will be replaced by a Petfinder Post later today.)
If you're seeing this, it's because I inadvertently left Kindle open on the laptop last night, which allowed Microsoft to butt in with more useless Microsoft Edge Updates. A Petfinder post will appear after the laptop recovers.
Monday, August 24, 2026
Web Log for 8.24.26
Animals
Why did PETA lambaste Kristi Noem for shooting one dog, then turn around and support a Loony Lefty who killed thousands? (Actual numbers of animals A.M. El-Sayed "euthanized" are, to be fair, disputed, with one source claiming he ordered almost 5000 dogs gassed and another source saying it was only 1900; but nobody disputes that he hates dogs and killed a lot of them.) Because PETA, deep down, are not pro-animals. They want a lot of animals to be slaughtered by the new revolutionary government when land is redistributed so that we're all doomed to pay rent on slums forever and nobody can keep a pet. What they oppose is not that Noem's dog died but that Noem had a legal right to decide that it ought to die.
Lesson learned: don't send money to people who don't support private property rights. Scrutinize the goals of organizations you support financially, and if they run on about "change" rather than listing specific improvements they want to make, or blather about "communities" rather than specifying persons or policies, cut off the funds. Socialists have always tried to take over organizations with legitimate goals and subvert them--that's straight out of Marx. Organizations need to know that any support for anything socialist will cut off funding.
I see no need to try to judge whether, e.g., Tracy Reiman at PETA is a horrible person. I think steady financial pressure to move away from socialist goals and agendas, toward useful ones, may make her a better person. And it will benefit the animals we want to help--that is, cats and dogs, and horses, and chickens, and bluebirds, not alley rats and roaches.
It might be good for PETA if sponsors withheld funding until that organization got behind a movement to block construction of "multi-family housing" and help people rent-to-own some of the land that bitter-clinger "farming" corporations, like Driscoll's, should have to sell off towards compensation to the people they've harmed. That means own the land, Tracy. That means own animals. That means they can decorate and maintain and live in their own houses in their own way, not subject to your approval in any way. Breathe. It's all right. God is in charge of the world. You don't have to be. All you have to control is your own control-freaky self. You can live with other people's right to make their own choices.
Now, clinging to this web site's virtual hand if you need to, chew on this: The natural way people live with animals is that, when a beloved pet dies, they bond with its natural heir. That's the default. That's why we have songs like "Old Rattler left us years ago, but Rattler's pup is coming up" and books/movies like Bob Son of Battle and Thunderhead Son of Flicka. Only in unnatural, undesirable situations does any animal or person turn to any organization to supply home owners with watchdog or rat control benefits. Animal rescue organizations cannot be allowed to hold monopolies. Even animal rescue works better in private, independent animal sanctuaries, where the animals can have relatively natural lives, than in shelters where they're kept in cages. Although it's good to rescue animals from the custody of organizations, and this web site promotes doing that, we as a nation need to move back to the model where homeless animals can be cared for at the homes of recognized animal rescuers in the neighborhood or placed directly in new homes. And control freaks have no business in animal rescue. If you have those nasty control-freak tendencies, find another job now.
Music
Well, it's sort of like music: Napoleon XIV.
Names
Muslims like to boast that their names mean something. They do, and often that meaning turns out to be a lie. Consider the above-mentioned El-Sayed. His name basically has three parts. "Abdulrahman" means "servant of the Merciful One." Would a servant of the Merciful One have killed thousands of healthy dogs? "Mohamed" originally meant something like "praiseworthy" but, of course, it came to mean "prophet." What prophetic message has this idiot ever delivered, and has he ever done anything praiseworthy? Even "El-Sayed" means "the fortunate one." From his point of view, El-Sayed has indeed been fortunate to stay outside of an institution for this long. He should ride that lucky streak back to wherever his parents came from, and stay there. Meanwhile, the only part of his name we can use without lying is "El-Sayed." As far as this web site is concerned, he has no other name.
Web Log for 8.23.26
Nothing's been badly wrong with me or with the laptop--we've just been preoccupied with off-blog things.
Animals
Crude, rude cartoon some cat owner Out There needs to see. Of course Serena and her kittens would never do anything like this...hah. If pushed to it, by confinement with a neglected litter box and punishment when they protested, they could probably think of worse things! Your cat wants all solid bodywaste removed within a few hours, all clumps of soaked clay removed while there's still a dry patch somewhere. Your reward for doing this is that the cat will stop thinking of creatively annoying ways to soil your personal property. (Nothing from the litter box flushes well but your cat may let you recycle dried-out clay.) Cat just wants not to step in anything that makes cat's paws smell or feel nasty. If you can safely let cat go out and use a sand pit, cat will be delighted to keep all bodywastes there, unless of course it's overcome by the same sort of uncontrollable reaction humans sometimes have, in which case cat will at least make a much smaller mess than you would, yourself.
Cows.
Green
Another cartoon some people need to see...suitable for framing.
History
Virtual tour of Eatonville, for those of us who are allergic to Florida. If Florida ever stops spraying poison on itself, it will be a duty and a pleasure for everyone to visit Eatonville. I've been there--in no physical condition to get out and appreciate the place.
Joe Jackson salutes Desmond Doss of Lynchburg, possibly the best-known (in a good way) Seventh-Day Adventist in the church's history. (Lots of well-known people, from Warren G. Harding to Ozzy Osbourne, have been ex-Adventists.)
Doss didn't write a book, though one was written about him (and the author was so impressed that he went on to write a book about the Adventist church). This web site is a posthumous fan project. Doss was a quiet, private man during his lifetime.
Microsoft, Self-Destructive Hubris of
I don't do this every day, but in order to see where we had the most readers I peered below the cover of the statistics page Google generates for all Blogspot blogs. We had approximately 19,000 readers using Chrome and TWO, count them, two whole visits from people using Edge. Because Microsoft's efforts to push Edge and other Microsoft products are making all Microsoft products wix, that's why. Only three years ago, Edge seemed to be very similar to Chrome; the sister whose information was stored in Edge on this computer had no complaints. It was merely that Edge was her browser and Chrome was my browser. That was all! But friends don't let friends use Edge, now.
Opera was what the poor little Sickly Snail used to have. This web site officially cheers for everyone Out There who is still putting up with Opera. More than are putting up with Edge.
Music
Dolly Parton.
It came up in a discusion. Since this web site did US patriotic songs last week, why not? Why shouldn't readers in other countries get to laugh at the versions of your songs Google chooses to offer us? National anthems: New Zealand's.(Rock'n'roll version!)
Great Britain's. (And Google felt a need to apologize for there not being a pop-type video. Hah. A commenter thought the tune was "lugubrious." I had no idea what commenter was talking about until I heard the tempo at which it has to be played to be recognizable in the vastness of St Paul's Cathedral.)
Canada's.
Greece's.
Cornwall's. (Cornwall is not, strictly speaking, a nation, but that doesn't stop them claiming a good old traditional song as their "unofficial national anthem.")
South Africa's.
That takes care of Ellen Hawley's commenters' national songs but why leave out our own readers? Love and peace to all readers who are human, and a quick clean death to those who are bots. Singapore's. (No, I'm not seeing enough visits from Singapore to suggest another bot army.)
Germany's.
(Pause for US Christians to sing the hymns, in English, that we sing to this tune, just to clear our minds. This web site will stay entirely out of any question about whether the tune properly begins with "Glorious things of thee are spoken..." or "Praise the Lord, ye heavens, adore Him.")
France's.
Hong Kong is not, technically, a nation either but Google lists this as its anthem:
Brazil's.
The Netherlanda'.
Japan's.
India's.
Sweden's.
Spain's. (The Spanish Marcha Real doesn't have official lyrics. This doesn't stop Spanish people from singing it. Lots of people have written words to this song; an official choice has never been made. So what's linked is just one of seveeral Spanish songs written to the tune of their national anthem.)
Belgium's.
Bangladesh's.
Vietnam's.
Russia's. (I'm not saying people who feel attached to Ukraine need to click. Actually I wish both countries would just stop quarrelling. Actually I think watching these videos of what people in all these countries choose for emblems builds a feeling that all people have something to preserve--and not sacrifice to war.)
In fact, though Google is not showing Ukraine on our Top 20 list for this week, here's a version of their song, too, to spare people the trouble of complaining. I didn't choose a video knowing it would end with "We Are All Brothers And Sisters. THE WAR MUST END" on the screen, but I endorse the thought.
Argentina's.
Turkiye's.
There.
The "All in the Family" song.
Steeleye Span.
Neil Diamond.
Dee Dee Sharp.
Deana Carter.
The Drifters.
Don Henley.
Joe Cocker...I'll admit, I think (1) the video is full of anachronism and (2) Joe Cocker, being his real age, and all these images of people in their early teens, mix badly and really bring out the smutty quality of the song, which tends to be lost in nostalgia when we listen to the original version. I don't think he meant to make a video that might have been called "Dirty Old Man Who Can't Sing." I suspect the cavorting teenagers are meant to be memories of his younger self and friends. But that's not what comes to mind first.
The Jamies.
Keith Urban.
Red Clay Strays.
Cody Johnson.
Ella Langley.
Lainey Wilson.
Little Texas.
Graham Parker.
The Band.
Weather
Virginians will never forget Camille (even if we weren't in Virginia when "she" landed). New Orleanians will never forget Katrina. Floridians will never forget Andrew. Those used to be human names. Not any more. Though I do wish the Weather Service would stop wasting perfectly good human names on hurricanes.
Painful Death to Driscoll's
(No, this web site is not wishing to shorten the lives of any persons. We want Driscoll's, the nationwide distributors of poisoned berries, to have a painful corporate death. Land pronounced worthless and auctioned off for a dime an acre. Former employees selling umbrellas on street corners for food--or maybe trucked around the country to lecture on how much harm chemical "pesticides" do especially to a brand's image or a person's reputation, as they're refused tables at restaurants and their children aren't admitted to schools. Driscoll's are bitter clingers. Make examples of them!)
This e-mail came from one of the nonprofit MAHA-associated groups that are currently suing Driscoll's, GMO Free USA. It's a 501(c)(3) group; you can send it, rather than the federal government, some of your tax money if you file the full-length 1040.
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PRESS RELEASE Nonprofits Sue Driscoll’s For Deceptive Environmental and Sustainability Marketing Claims of Blueberries and Strawberries |
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WASHINGTON D.C., August 24, 2026 — Nonprofits Toxin Free USA (TFUSA), Organic Consumers Association (OCA), and Beyond Pesticides (BP) filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Driscoll’s Inc. alleging deceptive marketing of its berries. |
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Watsonville's childhood cancer rates are 36% higher than the California average. Pajaro Valley residents have long complained and protested the company’s use of pesticides near schools and residential neighborhoods, even launching a hunger strike in 2025, but the company has responded with indifference. |
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GMO/Toxin Free USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocating for a clean, healthy food system and environment, non-toxic consumer products, and educating consumers about the hazards of GMOs, pesticides and other toxins. toxinfreeusa.org |
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You can send a link to this post, or paste the whole press release into a letter or e-mail and send that, to the stores where you've seen these poisoned berries for sale. Even if the berries you've seen were marked "organic"...federal standards for "organic" are too lax to mean that the food won't cause immediate chemical reactions, at best, and does anybody trust a corporation as evil as Driscoll's to use "organic" practices once they've claimed the badge? *
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