Now it's like this, little breeches...

If there's one thing I'll always need in life, it's a canine companion. It doesn't even have to be mine, but a four legged friend living with me can be the difference between sinking into the depths of depression and, well, keeping my head slightly above water. I feel like I've been fortunate to live with a dog for the vast majority of my life. Aside from the college years, I've always had a Max, Charles, Maulie, Trigger the Psycho and my new German Shepherd guard dog, Aili. Technically she's my sister's dog, but as soon as I moved in she defected. It really blows my mind how quickly she's taken a liking to me. The first thing Aili does when Emily wakes up and opens the door to their room in the morning is come to my door and start bumping it with her nose until I open up and her in. She's already loyal to me; she gets jealous when I show affection to other dogs and when another dog growled at me at the dog park, she got all up in his face like she was gonna kill the punk. Truly I gots a way with the bitches.

At least, the ones on four legs.

I had this long list of things to do when I got Salt Lake that included, you know, important stuff. Like getting a job. Or maybe checking out the dating scene. But it seems like I check off one item on that list per five episodes of Dexter, or a couple sessions of Star Fox 64. Somehow when I moved here, I became addicted to a game that I got the Summer I turned twelve which features a mercenary force of a fox, hare, toad, falcon and a robot helping out a planet of dogs being invaded by an evil ape warlord. That's right. You can't make this stuff up. Despite the ridiculous premise, it's actually an incredibly fun game, and getting the required score to receive a medal on each level was something I labored at for weeks back in the Summer of 1997. This time I did it in a few days, since playing is like riding a bike. The difference is, in '97 I didn't have a care in the world, and I could sink as many hours as I pleased into a game. The Jon Holmes of 2010, though, is probably risking his financial future by prioritizing space dogs. Oh well. Waiting for something to fall in my lap hasn't failed me yet!