Puppies!

1. As soon as Obama uttered the words: "Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House," on November 4, a certain subset of people (you know, just smaller media outlets, like the San Francisco Chronicle and Reuters, and pretty much everyone else who was tired of covering real news. BORING!) stopped thinking about this year's "historic" election, and what it meant about race in America, and how Obama will tackle the many, gargantuan problems awaiting him in the White House. Nope, they were thinking about puppies, and in particular what kind of puppy the Obama family should adopt as first dog. An ambitious seventh-grader from Conway, N.H. has already penned a letter to Obama, asking him to adopt from the Conway Area Humane Society shelter. A canine club in Peru has offered up a hypoallergenic, Peruvian hairless dog. Apparently, a golden doodle is also in the running.

2.  The Brickbottom Gallery, in Somerville, is opening a show on December 4 called "Best in Show: Artists and Their Dogs." The show will run through January 10, with a reception on December 7 from 4-6 pm. Here's an irresistible sneak peak. It's a pastel painting called "Cleve in the Grass," by David Sholl:

3. Have you seen the puppy cam!? If you've got anything to do for the next few weeks, cancel it. This is much better. Nothing can top watching grainy, live footage of a couple of five-week-old Shiba Inus puppies. (Gawker called it "a fantasty [sic] that cures us of our free-floating anxiety in an uncertain world.") They sleep! They snuggle! They roll around and trip over each other! I actually laughed out loud with delight last night, when one of them sleepily stood up, then promptly, and clumsily collapsed on another dozing puppy nearby. I'll stop trying to explain it, though. Just watch, here.