Hello, dear friends. Augustus J. Bootle here. These people want me to provide a biography for you, so here it goes. I come from a long line of brilliant circus fleas. The Bootle & Brothers Family Flea Circus was quite famous in the parasite world. You know, once you get bitten by the show business bug, you always have that itch to perform…Or, so they say.

But not me. From the moment I was hatched out of my larvae – one of 10,000 Bootles hatched that day, I was expected to carry on the great line. I spent my formative years – aka my childhood - being forced to learn how to swing from trapeze and be shot out of a canon. When I wasn’t walking tightropes, or juggling or riding a unicycle. All I wanted to do was play in the fur, but NO. It was always, “AGUSTUS! TIME FOR REHEARSAL!!!” So, while I was born and raised under the small top, I did not want to stay in the circus. Actually, I always wanted more than anything to be a Praying Mantis, or a monarch butterfly. Even a yellow jacket. Anything, but a lowly, circus flea.

Luckily for me, I found a great host. My Weimeranner was owned by a Lexicon Professor at Columbia University. So, I got to spend my time in the university library reading up on all the classics. Let’s see. There was William Shakesflea. Jane Aphid, James Fleamore Cooper, F(lea) Scratch Fitzgerald, Earnest Hemmingtic of course, Fleador Dostoyesky. I’m planning on writing my own book one day. An autobiography. “Born Flea.” University life quite stimulating. Though there were a lot of suck ups. Then one day my life changed course forever.

My dog’s owner went out of town for a conference and my host was being watched by this sophomore. A student who liked comic books!!! Superman, Batman, Spiderman (my personal favorite). You name it. I read it. And this is when I started dreaming of becoming a super hero myself. I could already leap tall follicles and I was faster than the speed of lice.

Pretty soon, I decided to fly off the Weimeranner (a decision that was helped by a new flea collar my host received). And I went off seeking adventure. I bounced around a bit. There was this beagle who belonged to a book agent, a real blood sucker. I summered on a shorthaired terrier who belonged to a movie critic. I had to see some real stinkers. I wintered on a Samoyed who lived in the village. But, nobody wanted to play with me. And before we could even begin, the flea collar would come out and I’d be on my way, wishing that some day I could find a real sidekick. A partner. A friend.

And that’s when I landed on CUR. He didn’t know I was there at first. I was deep undercover. Laying low. Sleeping with one eye open. Clocking him. And guess what I found out? This mutt was the pick of the litter. He had a good heart and a kind soul and the pride of a lion. If only his confidence could be picked up. Anyway, that’s where I come in. See, I, Agustus T. Bootle, has never had a problem with confidence. What I needed was a sidekick!