My hamster Kubrick passed away last week, the victim of declining health due to advanced age. He was 3, positively ancient for a Dwarf Hamster, and by the end he was a wizened old coot with grey hair on his back, and bald patches on his tiny arse.

I'll always remember him, though, as the spry little rodent with an insatiable appetite for sunflower seeds that I brought home from Petco three summers ago, his full flower of youth still before him.

Ah, well. Death comes to us all, eventually, and Kubrick's time in the sun had passed. Now he lies in a shady spot in the Griffith Park bird sanctuary, never again to trod his recycled paper bedding.

All is not dark, however. To paraphrase Dickens: "It is a far, far better hamster wheel he goes to, than he has ever known."

Requiescat in pace, my furry little friend. See you in the next world.  ¶ 8:08 PM