Surely with the enduring chic of the little black dress and the current popularity of Gothic icons, basic black has not lost its luster. With so many distinctive looks and personalities available, we feel you will have no trouble finding the perfect black dog for your family.

It is not immediately apparent, but over a period a time a pattern has emerged. For no clear-cut reason, black pets languish the longest in shelters nationwide. Light-colored dogs, even those who are not housebroken or who may harbor undesirable behavioral traits, are chosen time and time again over black dogs that have good training and wonderful dispositions.

So often are they overlooked that black dogs on average spend twice as long as their lighter counterparts at our shelter and shelters elsewhere.

In the last year and a half, (A9) hasn't skyrocketed in popularity.

I don't believe that anyone who is a legitimately interesting person can be popular as a teenager," Mel went on. "Or ever, maybe. Popularity rewards the uninteresting.

The hossanas of the multitude can never bring satisfaction to the discerning. Yet there exist those chamaleons of popularity who find their joy, not in the sweet breath of Apollo, but in the smell of the crowd. And not in mind: Do not be taken in by what are miracles to the populace, for the ignorant do not rise above marveling. Thus the stupidity of a crowd is lost in admiration, even as the brain of an individual uncovers the trick.