a rose by any name...

It was bound to happen.

Sue, my wife, went to a local arts & craft fair last Friday, where the local Humane Society had a booth and a few non-human creatures, one of which was what is usually described as the-cutest-puppy-ever. We now share our home with three doguettes and a tiny 3-month-old terrier-mix puppy boy. Deranged Freya snaps at him, and Nahla for the first time ever has been seen baring her fangs when he gets too close, but it has been explained in no uncertain terms to them that such behavior will not be tolerated. As for our oldest, Brownie, she stays out of the way of the whole circus, just like bad cat Jefferson does.

The little guy hasn't been the death-of-carpets I had feared. In fact, within 24 hours of being with us, he had figured out what we mean when we say it's time to do you-know-what and goes straight to the backdoor. Yes, he is a smart one. He even already responds to the name we chose for him.

What is his name?

I suggested Fenris. Sue nixed that. I suggested Kodos, from the old Star Trek's Kodos the Executioner in episode The Conscience of the King. Nope. Our boy flipped his fat tail so much like a metronome that I suggested Metron, the ambiguous character from Jack Kirby's New Gods. Definitely not.

We did agree on a name though, from our watching so many old movies on Turner Classic Movies. What would be appropriate for someone small and scrappy and fearless?

Cagney, of course.