Also, I still get a bit freaked out by Dolberman Pinschers. I think I watched too much 1970s tv, in which they were the go-to breed for ferocious guard dogs.

I'm not sure I can accurately describe this without photographic evidence, but I almost went ass over teakettle the other day when I was standing in the park and this enormous doberman came up behind me and just stuck his head and shoulders between my legs so he was peering out the other side.

Once I recovered my recovered my balance I just lifted one leg over to the other side and spent the next few minutes giving him the headscratching he was actually after.

Seriously ridic. I was amost riding him like a pony for a second there.

Dobermans don't really have pointy ears.

Yes and know that if my friends had gotten her as a puppy she wouldn't have pointy ears either.

A former neighbor had a doberman. Named Simba, seemingly with some attack training. Sweetest dog ever (to me at least) - he'd see me and come over and dance around on my feet to express his joy at seeing me, then sit down and try to weld himself to my leg.

And the image of someone pulling up in a car full of dogs and handing a chihuahua out the window has me snorfling.

But did you guys not see Bradley Cooper en Francais? Ooh la la.

le pant! le sigh.

D00d. He's 36? There is an excellent chance he was studying in Aix when I was studying in Montpellier, not too far away. Funny.

So I inadvertently went dark for a couple months due to changing jobs and stuff...but Hi! I missed you guys.

Barb, that is so way very cool!

Hey Raq! I've been thinking about you lately so I'm glad to see you pop up. How's the new job? How's the fam?

The only Doberman I've had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with was a lovely, calm, relaxed lady who was missing a leg. She and her person were seated next to me, my mom, and my cat while we were in the waiting room of the local veterinary clinic. This was roughly three decades ago, give or take a couple years. She and Suzie-cat touched noses, and politely sniffed each other, and were totally at ease sitting next to one another. Since the clinic was only three blocks from home, we would put a collar and lead on her, carrying her as we walked. Since the vet was extremely popular (people would move to the suburbs, and drive the hour to stick with him rather than finding a more convenient; and all attempts at bringing in a partner failed because no one wanted to see the partner), a Saturday morning appointment meant at least an hour wait, so the animals had plenty of time to get to know each other.

TWO PM.

Oh, hey, Raq! Good to see you! How is the new job?

The new job is good. Actually, it's great. I get paid a ridiculous amount of money to aggregate stuff from the Internet and to be the "expert" on online/virtual identity. I get to do lots of creative stuff and often work from home.

But what really makes it cool is my team. They are smart and fun and I'm no longer having to manage 40+ people all over the world via chat.

The fam is likewise good, no major changes there.

The "and stuff" part of my darkness was fairly sucky, but has been resolved with a bit of counseling and a lot of medication.