Ken Layne

Two years ago tomorrow, we found a dirty street dog nearly drowned in our neighbor's pool. He had been barking out for help, but we couldn't see where the noise was coming from. Finally, Laura went looking around and a wet black head popped out of the neighbor's swimming pool, which hadn't been covered for the winter (or drained) despite the 30-degree weather.

We dragged out the 75-pound beast. His legs were so numb that he just toppled over when I set him on the ground. We took him inside our house, wrapped him in towels, set him by the fire and hoped he wouldn't die. It is bad luck for a stray dog to die in your house the weekend after Thanksgiving.

He didn't die. He ate a little cat food, had some water, warmed up, and seemed to get comfortable with us. When he was all dry and able to walk around without trouble, we decided to send him out to find his way home. After all, I'd seen this dog running with the neighborhood dogs now and then. He must have lived nearby. We left him outside and went out for the night. When we returned hours later, he was waiting patiently by the door. Many days of searching only revealed that he didn't have a home anywhere around here, and that particularly cruel and stupid neighbors had called the Dog Catcher on this good-natured & clever homeless buddy.

We named him Hunter, because he is a mutt hunting dog (German Shorthair Pointer, some Black Labrador, who knows what else) and because as we dried him off after his first long bath in many months, the bookshelves behind us had a row of Hunter S. Thompson books at my eye level. Plus, the crazy thing.

Hunter is a good friend and loyal beast. We have explored many hundreds of miles of desert and mountains and beaches in Nevada and California, and go for hikes each and every day. He keeps us fit and gets us away from work and the house and people in general. He also likes music, and the sleigh bells on many of my home recordings are just the sound of Hunter's dog tags. Jesse Dean has been hiking and hanging out with Hunter for his whole young life.

Happy whatever birthday it is, Hunter! (The vet sez Hunter was about a year old when he found us, so it just might be his third actual birthday, but tomorrow is still his official birthday around here.) Today Hunter is on the cover of Sploid, as the illustration for an article about ... laughing dogs.

The end of what?

So Buzznet has this blog thing now. That might be useful every now & then, as I killed my own blog, long ago, with a knife, in the night, and nobody cried.

We've got the links, the bold, the italic, the underline ... what else?

Ah, bullet points! Numbered lists. Now you will Learn The Truth:

• Liber de vita anime racionalis
• Qui liber sacer uel liber
• Quem fecit Honorius magister Thebarum