A family safari is such a great way to spend time together and is excellent therapy for everyone!

An area of history and legend, offers some of the most excitinggame viewing in Africa. It is a place of exceptional beauty where one can explore therugged, unspoilt African landscapes either in the comfort of open 4-wheel drive vehicles,on a walking safari, on mountain bicycles, or horse back, guided by expert rangers and experienced trackers. In addition to the game experience, Mashatu offers a view ofAfrica, unchanged since the days of early visitors such as Kipling, Selous and artist/explorer Sir Thomas Baines. Historic and archaeological sites abound; notable are the Motloutse Ruins and the Pitsani Koppie sites.

The excitement of Mashatu has not changed over time. It is still home to large herds of elephant, prides of lion and cheetah. Along the river courses, huge Mashatu trees provide shade for eland, impala, wildebeest, giraffe and zebra, whilst at night, the bateared fox, African Wildcat and the magnificent leopard search for prey. Some 366 species of birds may be seen. Mashatu Game Reserve proudly provides a refuge for the largest, single population of elephant on privately owned land in Africa. Known as the relic herds of Shashe, these elephants are the last living testament to the great herds that once populated the meandering Limpopo valley. Today, the population on Mashatu Game Reserve alone, is estimated to number in excess of 500.

Source: Nature & Kind Travel Collection

Walking wild in Laikipiak Maasai-land is a walking safari holiday through on of Kenya’s best wildlife viewing habitats: the Lewa Conservancy.

Combined with the two Maasai Community Conservation areas of Il Ngwesi and Lekurruki, these three areas provide some of the most stunning landscapes in Africa. This area is home to a wide variety of game including the Big Five and over 420 species of bird. This safari is supported by camels, that can be ridden if the terrain allows.

Source: Nature & Kind Travel Collection

detail of the head

IN ACTION!:

Why is it that the days you wake up most tired, have the most to do, with no nap in between, and wind up staying up the latest, you’re not tired at night; but then you wake up the next morning and are unable to function and the cycle begins again?  I am so ridiculously awake right now, but wild horses could not drag me out of bed this morning, and if I know myself as well as I claim to, this will be my problem tomorrow as well.  Why is that?  Did my body and brain just adjust to being awake and now that they are, they don’t want to sleep?  I feel like I am reverting back to my childhood.  The days where I would make up any excuse not to go to sleep.  I would fight sleep.  I would hop out of bed to get a drink of water; get up and say “I never kissed mommy goodnight.”  I would do everything short of whipping out a sword Peter Pan style and literally fighting sleep – and I mean, trust me, if I could have made that happen, I would have.  But in the end, sleep always won out.  It still does.  Except now I don’t mind because I love sleep.  Well, save right now of course…

So what is it about kids that makes them want to fight sleep so badly?  Sleep and dreams are my two favorite concepts about which to learn.  I sit in class in my sleep deprived state wishing that I could be napping, wondering why kids these days fight off nap time, often to the dismay of babysitters everywhere.  I constantly think about how I wish I had racked up the hours of sleep back in the day, because I feel I never get it anymore, and how if I were a baby all I would do is sleep.  It’s almost as if kids have something to prove, no?  As if to say that they’re cool for not needing a nap and staying up past their bed time.  When I had a bed time, I know I thought I was the coolest thing going when I was up ten, twenty, thirty minutes past EIGHT.  Now I’m in college and I’m probably more of a child than ever before.  I curl up with a blanket and I take naps with my stuffed animal giraffe and I think that’s okay.  It’s perfectly acceptable, and kind of cool too.  So why didn’t I think it was cool when I was five?

All I know is, college has taken my sleep schedule, crumpled it into a tiny little ball, and thrown it out a ten story window.  College laughs in the face of my former sleep schedule.  College is causing me to sleep less, and drink caffeine more.  But don’t worry, I never drink coffee before nap time…because that would just be stupid.

Crack open a Red Bull, kids, it’s going to be a long one.  Love always, RJ.

Oh yes.

That, my friends, is a giraffe enjoying the delicious tastiness of your computer screen.

That giraffe says, “Go here and draw a giraffe! Help that blog get goin’!”

Note carefully that she does not say, “Goez heer so i can haz frend?!” because giraffes, in addition to high heads, have high I.Qs. Nevertheless, they are afraid of cats, who do speak that way… maybe you should be afraid, too.

mountain & giraffe are colored in!
took 2 hours.
the video making process?: an hour.
so sleepy it’s weird. niiight!

IN ACTION!:

1919 - The Giraffe

Click pic for full size.  View the full collection at  clicksypics.com.  To find out how these are created, go here.

Using only tape and garbage bags, Joshua Allen Harris creates giant inflatable animals that become animated when fastened to a sidewalk grate.  Steven Psyllos caught up with Harris recently to discuss his older works (including a bear and a giraffe) and unveil a new beast that looks not unlike the Cloverfield monster.

Internet is amazing place you can find absolutely anything. One lady bet her friend that she could collect 1 000 000 giraffes by 2011.
The rule is simple you can create giraffe in any way you like ( draw, made it from Lego or model it with any kind of material ) but it should not be done on a computer and not bought objects from stores. Really childish campaign , but it is fun. If you got some free time , be part of it . I am still drawing my giraffe.
So far 386 145 giraffes are sent , we have 400 days to collect 613 855 girrafes . Let see if we can do it.
Submit your Giraffe here

This dream started out with me on an airplane, and we were just reaching our destination.
Upon our descent, most of the people on the plane started to get airsick (and if you know me, I’m the type of person who can’t STAND to see, hear, smell, etc. ANYone vomiting.  It is extremely disturbing to me).  Once the plane landed, I rushed off of it to get away from these people.

We had landed in the middle of a wide, open plain.  I can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing it was Africa, and you’ll see why in a second.
We were all of the same group, and we began to walk towards the edge of a cliff (which wasn’t too much of a cliff–it had a slope downwards that was fairly steep, but we were still able to climb down it).  We were walking, and then we came upon a giraffe.  I started yelling at everyone to go AROUND the giraffe rather than near it, because they are actually quite dangerous, but nobody listened to me.  The giraffe then proceeded to swing it’s head at people and hit them with its two bony horns (which, I recall from watching National Geographic the other night, is how giraffes fight amongst each other in real life).
In an “I told you so” manner, I began to climb down the slope with a few other people.

Once at the bottom of the slope, we were on a second plain, and then we got into a truck.  Most of us were in the bed of the truck, because there wasn’t much room in the cab, of course.  as we were driving, a cheetah started to attack us–it was jumping so high that it was above the bed of the truck, and trying to jump into it.
I, for some reason, had some sort of a club or a baseball bat, and I hit it to fend it off, which worked.

A little while later, we got out of the truck, and started walking….and then some male lions started chasing after us.
We ran as fast as we could, and eventually someone saw a beach, and yelled “head towards the water!  They’re cats, so they don’t like to swim!!”, and so we did just that…and it actually worked.
The lions didn’t follow us into the water, and after about 5 minutes, they got bored with waiting for us to come out of the water, and wandered off.

In a second part of the dream, I was taking pictures of fiddler crabs on the shore.
Then, it switched to a scene where I was still in this Africa-type place, but I was conducting an interview for the teacher of an elementary school.  The interview was being held on the playground of the school, and the person that I was interviewing for the position was messing with a piece of fabric on the sand for some reason….after a few minutes, this all changed–I was the interviewee, and the woman was the one who was interviewing me.
The interview concluded, and at about the same time, a male teacher came up to the interviewers, who were his superiors, and told them that, from now on, he would like to be addressed as Mr. 33702 (or a number similar to this–I know that the first two digits were 3s, but I can’t remember the last 3 digits), which was his zip code.  I made a joke that he was definitely not the only one in that zip code, and that there must have been hundreds of other “Mr. 33702″s, but he ignored me.

The dream then changed again, and I was still in this Africa-like area, but this time, I was a senior in high school again.  I took a few different artsy classes (which makes sense, since, in real life, I’m a photographer and all-around artist), and in one class, I won a contest where the prize was to pick one of a variety of corsets.  I chose one that was all-white, had a lacy pattern, and was very elegant and feminine.  Then that class ended, and I ran into a friend (a friend who I actually DO know in real life, but whom I haven’t seen or talked to in a few years, and she just happened to be in the dream), and she was very hysteric, going on about how she thought she might be pregnant.  I was telling her that she shouldn’t worry, because the only reason why she thought this was because she was a day late on her period, and she hadn’t even taken a pregnancy test yet, but it didn’t calm her down.

Which was when I woke up.

As I look at today’s Creative Something of the Day, I’m thinking … dang, I should have made his neck ABOVE the hood stretch out a little longer …

Cobraffe

Let’s go with people named Nick…

Nick Brandt

Nicolas de Staël

David Sedaris stares deeply into your soul while riding an escalator.

The Setting: The Keswick Theater, Glenside, PA.

The Situation:  I had just attended a reading by author/humorist David Sedaris with my family.  Basically, he read stories from his past books, and essays he was planning to put in his upcoming book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames.  Following the reading, Mr. Sedaris was signing books and mingling with fans.  I got in line with my mother to get her copy of the book Me Talk Pretty One Day signed.

What went down:

When it was our turn in line, my mom began chatting with David about random topics; meanwhile I stood there awkwardly.  Eventually the subject of their conversation turned to me, and I began awkwardly talking about a recent trip to Germany I had taken.  After a few minutes of awkwardly discussing German architecture, David had signed my mom’s book, and it seemed about time to part ways.

But wait!  David told us how he always liked to bring presents for the young people that came to his readings.  ”Oh, boy!” I thought to myself.  ”What did David Sedaris bring me?  A free trip to Disney World?  A shiny new bike?  A giraffe?”  David slowly reached into his leather man-purse and procured a…hotel-sized bottle of bodywash.

...Oh.

Maybe I set my expectations too high.  Sigh.  Oh well. I awkwardly accepted the gift, and thanked David for the kind gesture.  Inside, though, I thought: “Bodywash? What, do I smell bad or something?”  It’s kind of a weird gift to give a stranger, bodywash.  Not to sound ungrateful; on the contrary, I treasure any gift I receive from a well-known individual.  To date, I haven’t used the bodywash.  I’ve squirreled it away in the desk drawer where I keep celebrity relics to remind me of the day when David Sedaris subtly implied I smell like shit.

Note: David Sedaris doesn’t like it when you take his picture (he’s very sensitive to flashes of light; they make him projectile vomit), thus, I have no picture with him to share with you.

Back in the summer, I visited Gracie the Elephant at Homestead Gallery, near Kemptville. This encounter is recorded in Meeting Gracie. At the end of September, Gracie moved to Merrickville and was joined by a second creation by artist Robert Turnbull. Gracie and her giraffe buddy spent the fall outside the Judith Moore Gallery. I wrote about them in Visiting Gracie and Friend.

In November, Robert was featured on a segment of CTV TV’s program, Regional Contact. The enjoyable show gives viewers a chance to see Robert at work on his sculptures and learn a bit about his background and inspiration. In addition to his giant animals, some of Robert’s other work is highlighted. You can watch the podcast of the segment online at CTV Ottawa – Regional Contact. Just click on the video link for the November 7th broadcast. You’ll also get a preview of Robert’s next project: a hippo!

Was ich ja immer wieder zum Schießen finde ist, wenn eine Giraffe versucht, etwas vom Boden aufzunehmen.

Lange Beine sind ja grundsätzlich betrachtet sehr sexy. In solchen Situationen hat sowas für mich jedoch durchaus etwas von Comedy, zumindest viel Witz:

© skriptum

Welcome to Jackson!

This weekend, Giraffe took a trip to the North Country of New Hampshire as I reconnected with old friends and stomped around old haunts. Jackson has a special place in my heart. I lived there for a few years in elementary school (third through fifth-ish grades), and then I was back up in the vicinity when I was serving in the AmeriCorps Victim Assistance Program for a year after college.

The Jackson Covered Bridge is quite old. Giraffe is much younger.

There’s nothing like an old one-lane covered bridge into town to make it feel out of time, or quaint, or touristy, or all of the above. In any case, I find it endearing.

One of Giraffe's new favorite places.

One of my most favorite places is Jackson Falls. During AmeriCorps, I spent many afternoons there sitting in the sun, surrounded by the roar of the water, pondering all the things one ponders when you’re 22/23 and trying to figure out life and the world and people, and you’re working at a crisis center where you live in an apartment above the shelter (that is in an undisclosed location).

View down the Falls.

And one of my favorite events when I was little was the Wildquack River Festival, which involves herding hundreds of rubber duckies racing down Jackson Falls. I’m not even kidding. I had a bright orange volunteer shirt that I wore for years after I had the chance to be a duck-herder (broom in hand).

Giraffe takes a closer look at the Falls.

I didn’t want Giraffe to be like one of the rubber ducks and take a trip down the Falls, but Giraffe couldn’t resist getting a closer look.

Giraffe sunning next to the Falls.

View from the top of Jackson Falls

After some delightfully serene moments at the Falls, Giraffe and I headed back down into town.

Jackson Grammar School

We said hello to the Jackson Grammar School, where I started my first day with a side ponytail, had my first crush (on a pale boy named Simon), and was one of three Jessicas in a class of 10 (and that was several grades combined). It was originally a three-room schoolhouse, and if I remember correctly, while I was there, they added on an extra classroom (it’s even bigger now). My favorite classroom was up some stairs that are on the other side of the window to the right of the door.

Recess Yard

We played four-square and tetherball and hopscotch and jump-rope during recess. And tunneled into the big pile of snow that the plow made in the winter.

Jackson Public Library

And Mr. Poon or Mrs. Birkbeck would walk us across the street and over the bridge that crossed the Wildcat River to the teeny Jackson Public Library, where we could feast our hungry brains on the shelves of books that seemed quite adequate to us young’uns at the time (but they’re working on a big expansion right now!).

Jackson Town Hall

Our yearly musical productions were performed in the Jackson Town Hall, just across the street in the other direction from the school. That is where I twirled a yellow boa as I sang “Cabaret” in a production of SRO: Standing Room Only. Again, not even kidding. I guess I was too young to be paralyzed by nerves.

The Wentworth

The Wentworth (across the street from the library) was one of the places that my parents worked, and we lived in one of their condos for awhile. Things of note that I remember about the Wentworth: they had hayrides in the fall, my mom built a gingerbread replica of it one holiday season, and it had a huge fire one year (I remember watching the flames shoot from the roof in the middle of the night).

So, Giraffe had quite a tour and a trip down my memory lane. Also, as a side trip, Giraffe went on safari in Conway, and came across an adorable creature named Jenna. Will the wonders of the North Country never cease?

Hark! Is that a baby Jenna I see?

Today I added pictures to accompany the Animal Silhouettes sub lesson and added a new one, called Silly Sentences.  I also posted a lesson I created that I based on traditional Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Signs to have the students create a Personal Identity Radial Design.  You’ll find a power point of the hex sign examples, the files for the front and back of the brainstorming worksheet I created for the lesson, as well as a few examples of completed student artwork.

Republic of NIGER

stamp: 25 francs

year: 1959

mammal: giraffe

So, I spent the day at Leslie’s house, host of what has become a  great “teaching” artwork  blog site called Lesliepaints .    I have had the good fortune of being friends with Leslie for over 12 years, a friendship that has definitely influenced my artwork, as well as  my ambition to continue to paint and she was the driving force for this blog site.   Leslie encouraged me to act upon my expressed interest in varying my work from primarily landscapes and architecture to adding animals to the mix.   When I wanted to start doing this, of course, I called her.  Painting with Leslie is like nothing you have experienced while painting alone.  While she enjoys watching another artist’s style at work,  her input is priceless, noteworthy, entertaining, useful and appreciated.  This giraffe is from the same photo Leslie used to compose her piece Giraffe Portrait.   It is always interesting to both of us to see the different colors and style that appears when we do the same piece, this mainly derived from our trips through the Indiana countryside painting landscapes plein air style together.   Our finished pieces were always a world apart and fabulous to see.   An artist’s style is definitely their signature, every artist has their own and all are definitely unique and wonderful.  This was a fun and informative day, thanks Leslie.  I may be on my way in the animal world.