Just say "Rosebud"

I can only assume that O.J. Simpson never saw Citizen Kane and thus doesn't know how these things are done. If you are a famous person whose fame has been eclipsed, you are supposed to dwindle into obscurity, then say something cryptic on your deathbed. You don't write a book called If I Did It. And, for my money, you don't go on national TV for an interview with your editor, deliciously titled (according to the ad I saw last night) "If I Did It--Here's How I Did It."

Why would one do such a thing? The article suggests that "Cochran said he thought Simpson had never recovered from the loss of his celebrity status as a Heisman Trophy-winning, NFL-record-setting superstar. "O.J. wants back what he had,'' Cochran told Burris. "He wants to be the O.J. that he was.'''

Confidential to Mr. Simpson: Notoriety is not the same thing as fame. Scandal is not acclaim.

Managing Public Manners

We have a small patch of greensward opposite our house (the grass and trees are what separate us from a thoroughfare that leads into a highway, and are much appreciated) where we take Emily for her squeeze business (as in: "Has the dog been squeezed?" "Well, she peed, but didn't poop."). We are not the only ones who use this area that way, nor are we the only ones who clean up after the squeezings. There are, however, a few people who proudly don't. This drives me and the family, who are pretty punctillious about clean up, up a wall. I've been thinking of making a sign that can be placed right by offending piles, which would say "The Maid Called In Sick. Please Clean Up After Your Dog." But I'm not sure whether that would solve things or make the offenders more intransigent.