In late November we discovered that one of our two dogs at the time, Etienne by name (a fine loyal poodle) had very advanced diabetes and was dying. We had pretty much no choice but to euthanize him. He was about twelve years old, and I've had many dogs over the years but it's never easy. I still miss him terribly and it's been a hard holiday season without him. A couple of days ago, we had the total cliché "Look What Followed Me Home" scenario - to make a long, schmaltzy story short, here's Darla. She's a stray, some kind of terrier mix (before we had her groomed her hair was very long and straight, like a Scottish terrier's), about 9 months old, and cute as a bug. Fearless, affectionate, and overflowing with charm. I dipped into my tiny, tiny bank account to pay for a vet exam and a set of vaccinations and tag and all that stuff. She is terrible for my modeling/rigging productivity but otherwise it's all good. I'm not much of a photographer at all (this is the first photo I've taken since maybe 2005?) but I thought this one came out well enough. Snapped with a cruddy Kodak EasyShare digital camera, a little postwork for redeye. Enjoy :)