Tacky Cardigan With Words on It, Squared: The Ugly Sweater Paradox (and photo fest)

paradox (noun): 3. Any person, thing or situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature. dictionary.com

I bought this "ugly" holiday sweater with the words "Let It Snow" on it for Jon Farleigh.
(Hint: That is why this post is a Tacky Cardigan squared. It's a "Tacky Cardigan" about an actual tacky cardigan. And, it has words on it. This achievement, to me, is like another person's completion of a half marathon. Not sure what the equivalent of a full marathon would be, perhaps this post. Anyway...)

I guess - notwithstanding it's in the shape of a dog's torso (vs. human's), which intrinsically detracts from the manufacturer's "ugly holiday sweater" marketing strategy - this sweater is ugly. I mean, I probably wouldn't purchase a similar design for myself, but ugliness is kind of subjective (even where dogs are concerned), you know?

Anyway, let's just assume the sweater - all by itself on a hanger - is ugly. But, look what happens when it's on Jon Farleigh.

Wait, there's more...

So, what do you think, now? Is it (the sweater) still ugly?

Here's my answer:

[represses gurgling noises] Ugly? How the flip can it be ugly when it makes my already-cuddly, floofy, loaf-of-Wonder-bread-shaped, doe-eyed, squishy, pookie-bear Jon Farleigh even more adorable than a diapered cherub shooting love arrows off the top of a cottony cloud next to a rainbow shooting out of a baby unicorn in a field of kittens?!

And, therein lies the paradox. But that's just my opinion. ☺

By the way, dog-sized, red buffalo-checked trapper hats aren't ugly (nor dorky) either.

OK, on three...one, two, SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Look at all the corgi fur exploding out of Jon Farleigh's sweater! Not even *I* realized he was that fluffy! It's killing me! More sweaters, please! For Dewi too! A lumberjack one! And maybe some snow shoes! ☺

But wait, there's even more! While y'all were celebrating, or sleeping in, or something, Jon Farleigh turned FIVE years old on New Year's Day! I can't believe he's five (and that Dewi will also be, in February). Where has the time gone? Here are a few pics from the day (some appeared previously on Facebook).

I purchased the Gingerbeg cookies, personalized bone biscuit and mini-cake from our local Three Dog Bakery. The sock monkey is just for show, and yes, the dogs got steak leftovers from New Year's Eve dinner at Ruth's Chris. Please don't tell them that it probably won't happen again, until maybe 2020, when Jon Farleigh turns 10. 

Happy New Year, everybody! 

Vintage 70s (Style) Cardigan With Sleeping Kittens and Puppies 'Ironed' on It: My Heart

Note to the really young readers: People wore shirts with iron-on transfers on them in the 70s. Puppies and kittens were popular among little girls (like me). 

I would've liked to have worn this on my shirt back then...

My furry, heart-shaped, with corresponding coat colors, BFF babies. (Well, four of them, anyway.) SQUEEEE! ♥♥♥

This (1,000-words worth of a picture) is why I spend the time here, on this blog. This is, above all, why I share my crazy, wonderful pet stories with all of you! How could I not? 

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all! 

I think you're swell!

Tacky Cardigan With Words on It: Wine and Cheese

Don't hate me because this meme is shameful.

:-) (you know you want to)

Thank you to Taryn T., who took this photo, and generously offered it to me to caption. I heart her.
I also heart her dogs, Jimmy (the smeller) and Wilson (the cheese cutter), beyond measure. 

If you'd like me to consider your pet(s) photo for a Tacky Cardigan, just post it to the Facebook page!

Tacky Cardigan With Words on It: Salon Conversation

Love those salon convos, don't you??

Oh, dear. 

Who wants a brownie? ☺

To have your pet(s) photo considered for a Tacky Cardigan, post it to the Facebook page!

Tacky Cardigan With Words on It: Career Choices

...with guest Cardigan models, Wilson and Jimmy!

To see more of Wilson and Jimmy (and to learn the "true" calling of these talented canines), visit their human mom Taryn's blog, A Tail of Two Cardis!

☺☻☺

To have your pet(s) considered as a guest "model," just post a photo to our Facebook page!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now, the answers to Monday's "Internet hoax" quiz:

1. True. My survey. Don't accidentally eat a black jelly bean in front of your dog.

2. True. I was the eyewitness. The fact that the kid was wearing a sheep mask is irrelevant.

3. True. I won.

4. True, however, the "spicy" part is relative. For example, if a dog happened to eat some of a cat's M&Ms, he'd probably call them "spicy." Hypothetically speaking, because dogs and cats shouldn't be buying M&Ms. Speaking of spicy M&Ms, look what just debuted at a Target near you...

Appearing this fall at your local Target

What a coincidence, huh?!

By the way - in case you didn't bother to read my pumpkin post (ahem) - it's important not to add too much pumpkin, or else the end product might get overly hard. And based on his expression, I think the poor M&M on that bag might be trying to tell us something (like perhaps, he ate too much pumpkin).

5. True. Weirdest squid you ever saw. But, no, it didn't work.

So, did you all score 100%???

Tacky Cardigan With Words on It: Bluff Called

Sometimes they just write themselves. 

So who can spot the major difference (besides Maddox's position) in the two photos? :-)

Let me know in comments!

If you'd like me to consider your pet(s) for a tacky cardigan, just post a photo on the Facebook page!

Tacky Cardigan with Words on It [Reader Edition] - Flattery

A reader submitted photo! Yippee!

Poor Race! ;-)

Thanks to Martine for submitting this week's photo! And to her awesome dogs, Race (the Cardigan Welsh Corgi on the left) and Sadie (the beautiful blend on the right), for being joyfully oblivious!

If you want to see more of these two dogs, check them out on Pack (packdog.com), which just launched (out of invite-only private beta) to the entire free world today!

Race on Pack
Sadie on Pack

Hint: My dogs are on Pack, too. Just search their (or my) names.

Would you like to see your dog (or cat, rabbit, fish, lizard, bird, etc.) in a tacky cardigan with words on it?

Just post a photo of them to the blog's Facebook page (on the wall or in a message) and I'll consider it.

Thanks again to those who have submitted your dog(s)' photo already (I've still got my eye on them)!

(Note: You'll be notified in advance of publishing if your photo is selected.)

Tacky Cardigan with Words on It - The Stuff that Dreams Should Be Made Of

Am I wrong? 

That first question was rhetorical, by the way. ;-) 

(And the kitty in that photo - in case you're taking notes - is Maddox. We busted him out of the shelter a year ago, after a loooong time being there. He smiles in his sleep a lot.) 

Reminder: If you'd like me to consider captioning YOUR pet's photo, and feature it on the blog, post the pic on the Facebook page (on the wall or in a message). I'll let you know the week before (I post it), if it's selected.

Thank you to those who've already submitted photos! I'm carefully considering all of them!

Tacky Cardigan with Words on It (1st Edition) - The Talk

As promised in my last post (about resting), a weekly photo meme...

Disclosures:

<> Just because I wrote it, does not mean it actually happened. 

<> Any resemblance to your own pet is purely coincidental, unless, of course, it is your pet. Which reminds me:

I would love to caption YOUR pet's photo and possibly feature it on the blog! If you're interested, post it on the Facebook page (either in a message or on the wall). I'll let you know in advance (by Facebook message) if your photo is selected!

<> I write tacky captions, because they make me happy. Tacky cardigans (as in sweaters), however, do not. 

Have a far-out, groovy day!
☺☺☺

This blog is not about sweaters, but it is a little about poop.

Not a sweater blog,
but not an anti-dude blog either.

And that title, friends, is for all the people who accidentally hit on my blog when googling (or yahooing, binging, etc.) the search term "cardigan sweaters".    :^)

Not that anyone has ever done that, since my blog stats don't indicate anyone has actually ever found me using keywords like "cardigan sweater" or "knitting". Well, except for the one person who was looking for the "cardigan chronicles blog," which is actually a blog about sweaters (but that could've been news to the person searching, since they went ahead and clicked into my obviously-not-about-sweaters blog).

Hey, do you like the photo?

Note: Any men reading this (ahem, Ron) can feel free to abstain from answering that question...or not (I repeat, not for you, Ron).

I was originally going to use a frumpy cardigan on a mannequin photo, but decided I like this photo better. It's much more colorful.

Did anyone happen to notice that yesterday was my 100th post? No?

Yeah, I waited until today to say anything because I was actually conducting an experiment to see if anyone would notice. That's okay; I didn't notice either (not true), and my feelings are not hurt (that's true). I was just waiting to use my 100th post as an excuse to write this incredibly random, long-winded, overly sarcastic post about sweaters and (soon-to-be-about) poop, and well, Sunday was not a good day for me to do that.

So the handful of people who've been following my blog since the beginning might remember (and wish they didn't) a post I did about deer poop and the safety of deer in my yard. Did you know that corgis require a mystery nutrient contained in deer poop in order to survive? (By the way, I'm looking for investors in my new venture to bottle and sell the deer poop in my yard as a corgi dietary supplement. There's enough of a supply to keep every corgi in Virginia, USA in good health.) :)

Um yeah, so that wasn't one of my better posts. (More on that later.)

Back to search keywords.

Have you ever looked at the different keywords your readers are using to find your blog? All the "experts" will tell you that if you want to help people find your blog, you need to make it easy for search engines (like Google) to find you. And so in order to do that, even though it might seem obvious, you should really know what kind of readers you want to attract.  As for me, I'd like to attract corgi owners (both breeds really), dog and cat owners, people who enjoy reading about dogs and cats...and complete nonsense. If I get a stray person who likes to read about sweaters, or ice cream, or even eating ice cream while wearing a sweater, well, that's just the cherry on top (pun intended).

So as I've obviously been known to do now and then, I looked at the search keywords in my stats a few weeks ago and amongst the expected "chronicles of cardigan," "jon farleigh and dewi cardigan" and numerous variations wherein, for some reason this one seemed a little peculiar:

"deer dung soup"

And to be clear that this was not some sort of Google stat FAIL, I went ahead and googled it myself (as if the folks at Google don't already think my search history is bizarre), and whatdaya know? There's my little blog (on like page 13). WTFudge?

Yes, I'd blogged about deer and poop in the same post (see above), but I never once used the word "dung," (but, come to think of it, I did do a post about soup - but NOT dung soup)!!!!  I repeat: WTFudge?!

So do I consider it a cherry on top that I got a reader who might have been looking for recipes for DEER DUNG SOUP?  Um, well, I dunno?! Would you??

Has anyone ever found your blog using an unconventional search keyword?


(Know what? Ironically, with this post I have just further optimized search engines to find my blog using the search keywords "sweater" and "dung." Neat.)