"I met with my old friend Dimetrodon yesterday," said Stegosaurus.

"You might remember him; he's not a dinosaur but he plays one on TV. Dimetrodon is enjoying his retirement, and has recently met a new friend that he wanted to introduce me to. Let me relate this meeting to the readers of my blog."

"Welcome to my retirement home, Stegosaurus. I'd like you to meet my new friend Nyasasaurus." said Dimetrodon.

"Pleased to meet you," said Nyasasaurus.

"He's younger than I am," began Dimetrodon.

"I'm a spry 245 million years old." concluded Nyasasaurus.

"He is the oldest of Dinosaurs yet to be discovered," said Dimetrodon.

"I'm very impressed and doubly pleased to make your acquaintance," said Stegosaurus.

"I live on a retirement pension too," said Nyasasaurus, "I am however very active for my age. At least now that I'm off the shelf."

"Very good," rejoined Stegosaurus. "Where are you from, originally?"

"I was found in Lake Nyasa, South Africa."

"Interesting! Very interesting! I have a cousin, Kentrosaurus in Nigeria. Have you met?"

"Not as of yet; though I met a fellow who claims to be a good friend of his. A sauropod named Nigersaurus."

"Nigersaurus is a swell fellow. You'll meet my cousin soon I expect; I was pleased to hear he got a new job with Wooly Mammoth recently now he'll have a new friend too!!
Speaking of other Dinosaurs you might meet, I think you will want to be wary of Spinosaurus. He means well but he's a meat eater."

"Well, I'm not too concerned," said Nyasasaurus. "Science is pretty sure I eat meat too and if not, my buddy Dimetrodon will protect me! He has my back!"

"That's right, I sure do," said Dimetrodon.

"Well, after that I felt just a little bit uncomfortable and thought it might be a good plan to politely exit and enjoy the company of fellow herbivores," said Stegosaurus.

"Still not wanting to be rude I remained amicable. Realizing I could use my cool, spiky tail for defense if I really had to, I said, "Nice to meet you Nyasasaurus! Please come by and visit me or my cousins anytime. And you too Dimetrodon! You already know how much we enjoy your company!"

"I recieved a very distressing word from the Moa Birds in New Zealand a few months ago," said Stegosaurus. "They were very distressed, for on February 22nd there was an earthquake in their homeland. It was of 6.5 magnitude, and about 75 mammals became extinct.

Immediately my heart went out to my ornithological friends, whom I have loved to spend my vacations watching. At once I established the Stegosaurus Disaster Relief Agency, realizing that the Stegosaurus Construction Company would also be useful.

The Moa Birds were so happy to see me. Though they were distressed they appeared otherwise well. I am so glad none of them became extinct as a result of the terrible disaster.

While I was in New Zealand rebuilding I learned of the 8.9 magnitude quake in Japan, which happened on March 11th. It was such a large quake, that the exact number of mammal extinctions could only be guessed at; indeed the sight of the destruction filled me with awe and terror.

After about a month in New Zealand the Moa Birds insisted gratefully that they appreciated the reconstructive work with which I had assisted, and though they enjoyed my company if I felt inclined to travel to Japan with the Stegosaurus Disaster Relief Agency to help the Japanese I could do so.

Feeling fortunate in comparison, the Moas were all moved to compassion born of shared experience. Four of them joined me on my raft as I floated forthrightly to the Empire of the Sun. All the time I was longing for the convenience of a contiguous land mass, as I had known in my youth just out of my shell.


When we arrived in Japan, the apparent disaster was greater than could be put into words, particularly by someone with a brain the size of a walnut. The Moas and I set to work immediately, encouraged and amazed by the resilience and determination of the Japanese people.

Within a few days my friend Rhedosaurus arrived, having heard of the disaster and an extra set of claws was put to work. I had not seen Rhedosaurus since I'd taught him to waltz, and he told me that my dancing lessons were to him a great deal of help in finding a nice girl Rhedosaurus, to whom he was now married. I congratulated him, but there was little time for celebration under the circumstances. "


Donate to help New Zealand


Japan relief agencies

"It has been hard work fighting fires in Colorado," said Stegosaurus.

"I've been a little scared too ... you know like my brother horse I'm really nervous around flames. In my film The Lost World I spent a lot of time running away from fires you know so this is a way of facing my fears. I'm so proud of the local mammals; they're so brave! With one fire out, and the second 65 % contained, I've recieved permission to stomp forthrightly back to medical school, which starts Monday."


"Recently, I have received a request for assistance from my brother and friend the Honorable Congresssaurus Triceratops of Wyoming, who is the senior member and spokesman of the Dinosaur Congressional Caucus. It seems that Congress has plans to hold hearings which will determine if he should continue in his position and retain his committee assignment. This was brought about because of his recent appearance in the news; it seems his very existence is now up for debate so he has asked his friends to advocate for him. I cannot appear in person, but I will write him a letter of support! I hope all this gets worked out; mammals argue over the silliest things."

"My summer job in Eureka Springs, Arkansas was a lot of fun!" said Stegosaurus. "Bringing my favorite opera, Scott Joplin's Treemonisha to life was a great experience! My supervisors were determined to present a purist production, so they didn't agree to my suggestion of replacing the dancing bears with dancing Stegosaurids, but I still enjoyed myself immensely. My job has given me enough resources to return to medical school, when the next semester opens on September 20th. "

"Right now I am updating my blog from my native state. I'm in Boulder, Colorado, to try my claw at being a firefighter. I stomped up here forthrightly after my summer job ended, for as soon as I heard about the terrible fires I wanted to do what I could to help the valiant and brave mammals of my homeland."

"I've been appointed to eliminate fuel for the blaze by eating away the brush."

"With the economy in the situation it is in I've had to drop out of medical school for the time being," said Stegosaurus. "Consequently this has given me the time to stomp forthrightly into the State of California. Later today I'm going to stop by the home office of the Dinosaur & Mythical Creature Screen Actors' Guild in Hollywood.

I'm going to talk to the board of directors and see if I can act as an advocate for my friend Dimetrodon, who is in need of a pension.

You see, Dimetrodon is in a bit of a quandry because he's done the work; he's appeared in all kinds of movies and TV shows; but he is neither mythical nor a dinosaur. That's right, he's not a dinosaur. A lot of mammals think he's a dinosaur because we dinosaurs let him hang out with us a lot but Dimetrodon isn't a dinosaur.... he's a synapsid !

As a result he doesn't have a pension. Dimetrodon is starting to get on in years now; he's 120 million years older than I am, and I believe we dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures should look out for each other. Our elders particularly are deserving of care. Dimetrodon is a little odd, with his mammalian characteristics, but he's a really nice guy. He's a true friend with all he was met and I'd really like to give him a helping claw."