A friend got a new puppy! She is a three-month-old, half Australian Shepherd, half Spaniel named Dixie.

And yesterday, she came over to my place to play with Puff the Magic Pit Bull, aged fourteen.

So, in the finest traditions of Rachel Lucas (as well as in the interest of keeping my readers fully informed about every possible facet of my life), I decided to upload some dog pictures to this blog.

Might the real reason be that I am exhausted after these long-winded posts? If there are any serious people visiting this blog in the expectation of something serious, you have my apologies, and my promise to get serious again sometime in the near future. (Actually, I prefer satire to some of the stuff I have been compelled to write lately.)

The first thing Dixie did was make a careful assessment of the situation:

She concluded that Puff was a total pushover who would never dare harm a little puppy -- no matter what it did. Here he is, trying to run away!

It then occurred to Dixie that the strange man holding the camera was either a pushover, or a paparazzi of some sort, so she charged!

I was not about to have my creativity stifled, so I bravely held my ground. Dixie continued her charge, and leaped into my lap! (That'll teach me!)

Dixie then decided to take a series of flying leaps, slamming into Puff after working up a full head of steam. Here is one awkward picture of an Amazing, Death-Defying, Full-Force, Sideways Dixie Body Slam! (Bear in mind that the puppy attention span does not allow for anything like a pose for a camera shot, and my digital camera has an annoying three second delay -- so I was lucky to catch anything at all....)

And here is Puff, the courageous Pit Bull, trying his best to get away from the relentless pounding, slamming, and biting.

A good time was had by all!