An old photo of Holly, my first chessie and the meanest, toughest, surliest old school bay dog bitch I've ever seen. She loved me beyond measure, tolerated my wife, and everyone else could go to hell. I hope I never have another one like her, but god, how I miss her sometimes...


My second post over at Mouthful of Feathers is up, as is my latest Quail Forever blog. Feel free to check them out if you get a chance...

And for today's edition of Mallard's Infinite Playlist... well, pretty conventional stuff, really: the Cowboy Junkies and their exquisite, haunting, beautiful cover of the Velvet Underground's Sweet Jane. As much as I like the original, when the Cowboy Junkies' version came out in '88 I thought then - and still do today - that it was simply one of the most beautiful songs I'd ever heard.

Was I in love with a girl at the time and did playing this song over and over and over in my iPod Walkman hone my adolescent heartbreak to a razor's edge? Silly question...