Hello there, friends, and happy New Year! 2021 seems to have started in much the same way that 2020 ended - and so many of us still find ourselves living under some form of COVID-related lockdown.
But it seems as though there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. And as we count down to our launch date in October 2021, we wanted to give all our brilliant sup-paw-ters an exclusive preview of one our philosophical of puppers.
Given the challenges we've all collectively faced over the last year or so, it seemed sensible to pick a stoical pooch who tried to teach us how to stop gnashing our teeth at matters outside of our control.
We're talking, of course, about Barkus Aurelius – dog to the Roman emperor, commander of the bone stores of the north, best friend to his human ‘owner’, father to a neutered son, husband to a spayed wife and inspiration to Russell Crowe in Gladiator.
A central theme of Barkus’ 'Meditations (While Licking Your Genitals)' is the importance of finding inner peace and understanding your place in the wider context of the universe. It was crucial, he believed, to maintain focus and be without distractions, to be able to ignore discarded cartons of takeway food and concentrate on strong ethical principles such as ‘being a good dog’. Indeed, in one of his earliest meditations, produced on a bone-burying campaign during the Feline–Roman wars, he barked, ‘Don’t waste the rest of your time here worrying about other dogs, unless it affects the common good. It will keep you from doing anything useful. You’ll be too preoccupied with whose bottom so-and-so is sniffing, and why, and what they’re thinking, or what toys they have, or what they’re eating, and all the other things that throw you off and keep you from focusing on your own bone.’
We're delighted to include here below Rosie's brilliant illustration for Barkus Aurelius - it's for your eyes only, amigos, so we hope you like it!
All peace and love to you and yours for 2021, friends. We're currently working on the final designs for the book, including the cover (exciting!), and we'll have further pup-dates to share with you in due course.