Proud Hens

Becca and Hens at The Magician. Damn could that dog blog. Photo by Bluejake.

Sad day at 125 Stanton. My roommate's little dog Henry was hit by a car while they were visiting her mom in West Palm Beach. He was buried on Sunday. I was never much of a pet person before (not particularly fond of dogs in our youth, the Krucoffs briefly housed some hamsters and a canary) but Henry wasn't a pet to me in the traditional sense since I didn't have to take care of all the (unsavory) things a dog owner has to do. Henry was more like a friend. At times very quiet, at times very loud. He was a champion yapper, best in shout.

Becca took him to work everyday where he played with other dogs in an unusually casual office atmosphere (even for downtown New York) and often dropped him off at the apartment before going out for the night. As a chihuahua he was much like a cat, minus the smell and condescension. He had his pee pad (in Becca's room of course) to take care of business and he spent 90% of his time curled up on a chair sleeping. He was quite possibly the only living thing lazier than me. God I envied him.

On many nights we would watch tv together, almost always at a distance from each other. He stuck to his bark-a-lounge, I glued to my futon. We felt no need to play silly games with a ball or pair of smelly socks; we were just a couple of dudes hanging out, sharing spaghetti, and watching a lot of VH1 Classic. The Road to Sturgis will never be the same for me.

I'd like to think it was a friendship of few words but an understanding that could fill a library. Or maybe just a book shelf. One that contained HST's The Great Shark Hunt, Vonnegut's Jailbird, and the entire Ricky Jay collection. Hens was that kind of dog. Becca returns to New York today and it will be hard to imagine life at 125 Stanton without the little guy around. R.I.P. and all that.

Selected Works from Henry's Online Anthology
Young Manhattanite Interview [Gothamist]
Hard Drive video [HiFiNY]
Fire It Up (Henry in the Hamptons Re-mix) video [SixFive]
New Year's Day on Cocoa Beach: Photos and Go! Team video [SixFive]