a side note.

i love when people give their dogs distinctly human names. i've always thought that if i got another dog, i'd like to name it stan. i named my first dog charlotte and i almost named little gussy steve instead. but, i didn't want to insult my uncle steve. so, i used that moniker for my fish. anyway, you can imagine my delight while, when searching petfinder.com, i came across a group of saint bernard dogs available for adoption named chris, brad, mark and jeff. the idea of introducing a dog in the following way makes me squirm with satisfaction. "Hi there, yes you can pet Jeff. Jeff is very good with children and only bites when his tail is pulled." oh, the simple joys.