A worrying family situation* is running down my battery these days, so posting is expected to be light, with periods of clouds and showers. Cooler by the lake.

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Mimi Smartipants rejects the Drifting Alienated Orb Of Adulthood, and so do I. Join us!

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My, the spammers are getting defensive lately. I received this signature on a choice slice of spam yesterday:

Under Bill s. 1618 Title III passed by the 105th US Congress, this letter
cannot be considered Spam as long as the sender includes contact information and a method of "removal." If at any time you no longer wish to receive email from me, you may send an email to: (sniparoo) With the word REMOVE in the subject line.

Here are just a few worrying aspects of this disclaimer:

1. Errant capitalization. Legislation or no legislation, the e-mail is not Spam, with a capital S. It is spam, lower case. So technically, they are correct. Neither is it a piece of processed meat product (in which case it would be all upper case). But who are they kidding? Of course it's spam, no matter how you slice it.
2. Uninformed use of quotes. Their reference to 'a method of "removal" ' is a little "unnerving." Are they going to "remove" me by force? In that case I won't be sending my address, I'll be changing it. In any case, the quotes cast the intent into doubt. It tends to make me think they're only "kidding" about "removing" my address.

You know, I still don't want to respond. I'd prefer a disclaimer to the effect of:

If at any time you no longer wish to receive email from me, you may send an email to: (sniparoo) With the word REMOVE in the subject line and I will immediately go outside and set myself on fire.

Not too much to ask, I think.

*Before you panic, know that these problems are NOT due to:
-Kitty eating disorders (chewed-rubber-band-orexia)
-Eric's compulsive hoarding of packaging materials
-My little matchbook-collection "problem"

But I am concerned about our unread magazine habit. Darn you, Internet!