I love the giraffe exhibit at the Portland zoo because it is sort of down in a bowl, so you are really close to their heads... they have such fabulous faces, in addition to their long necks...
When I was a kid I went to a circus and got to feed a giraffe a peanut—their tongues are ROUGH like cat tongues, only HUGE... very strange feeling.
While this middle section is SUPPOSED to be an AMUSEMENT, today I am doing more of a GRIPE. You see, I've had the unfortunate experience of learning a lot about graffiti culture recently... Might be I know somebody who got busted...
Apparently the unreadable word things are 'tags', and if you like somebody's tag, then you tag NEAR it, but never over the top, as that is a sign of disrespect. People who tag together are a crew. And I'm mad at them. GRRRRRRR
In actuality, I LOVE wall murals—if somebody creates something of beauty, I really love it, even if they really weren't supposed to. But this tagging stuff to me just seems like dogs peeing on stuff to mark the territory.
And I wish I had NOT had the occasion to learn any of this.
I've read and reviewed this—FABULOUS book for the younger teen or tween in your life... It came out in paperback relatively recently, and Gae is living the dream as they work on a movie script for it.
Blurb from Amazon:
While Nick Gardner’s family is falling apart, his best friend, Scooter, is dying from a freak disease. The Scoot’s final wish is that Nick and their quirky classmate, Jaycee Amato, deliver a prized first-edition copy of Of Mice and Men to the Scoot’s father. There’s just one problem: the Scoot’s father walked out years ago and hasn’t been heard from since. So, guided by Steinbeck’s life lessons, and with only the vaguest of plans, Nick and Jaycee set off to find him.
Characters you’ll want to become friends with and a narrative voice that sparkles with wit make this a truly original coming-of-age story.
22 comments:
I so know what you mean about this tagging nonsense!! Graffitti could be really amazing and super fab but does it have to be so stupid macho and masculine?! LOL!
Awww now Giraffes know a thing or two about looking gorgeous with patterns without even trying! Yay! Take care
x
My girlfriend is a giraffe nut. She could stare at them for hours.
Dropping in from A to Z Challenge. It's my first year participating.
Brett Minor
Transformed Nonconformist
Didn't realize they tagged each other! That does make sense, because sometimes it looks like graffiti on top of graffiti, on top of...
I didn't realize that about the graffiti either.
I've attended more than one workshop on gangs and graffiti. If we look past what it means (and i guess we shouldn't) the art of it is awesome.
I LOVE giraffes, btw.
I love giraffes! They're surprisingly graceful...in a double jointed sort of way. :)
Wall murals are beautiful - even if sometimes illegally placed - but tags are just destructive and cost a lot to fix the damage. It's sad that some people don't respect another's space.
Giraffes are such weird (wonderful) creatures- I love that photo!
Didn't know that about graffiti and sorry that you had to learn all the ugly stuff. :/
Giraffes are beautiful and oddly graceful on those stilt legs ... and proves God has a sense of humor. Sorry about your Graffiti run-in. :-(
That top pic is too sweet.
The enclosure at the ABQ zoo placed the giraffe heads really close, too. Gene Simmons only wishes he had a tongue that long.
I agree about the tagging. If they're going to do graffiti, the least they could do is make it a piece of art, pleasing to the eye. But noooo, they have to tag and be obnoxious about it. Meh.
Mel at Writings Musings and Other Such Nonsense
Nice G post - I certainly thought about writing about giraffes today.
I love giraffes. Hubby and I visited a giraffe sanctuary near Nairobi in Kenya. It was amazing, and I can still remember the rough tongue--the huge, long tongue--when we fed them. The visit rates in my top ten of animal encounters.
Some people call it graffiti, and sometimes it is. At other times, depending on the presentation, it can pass for urban calligraphy.
I loved reading about your experience with giraffes. They are so cute, I wish I could feed one a peanut!
The whole tag thing of graffiti, kind of takes the beauty out of it. I thought it was just people freely displaying their creativity. Maybe I'll just continue to think of it that way.
Have fun with a-z.
Interesting info on graffiti. I had no idea. Granted, I have very strong feelings that art, no matter the medium, should be passion, a marvel of the human heart and soul. Expressing a need for dominance seems something else entirely.
That aside, the giraffes are AWESOME!
~VR Barkowski
I love the giraffe photo-so sweet!
I agree with you about graffiti...it does seem very territorial~
Ooh, the book sounds fab :D
Comparing tagging to pissing out territory sounds about right. And I'm so sorry you have a personal reason to learn so much about the topic.
That baby giraffe is just so darlin'. And how wonderful for Gae -- a movie deal!
Hi Hart .. love all giraffes - especially when they lope around in the wild .. but I'm lucky I've seen them.
I can understand your frustration at the tag and the crew ...
Cheers Hilary
Giraffes are one of my favorites!
I can't stand graffiti tags either, they're so damn ugly. How could another tagger ever LIKE the first ones?
Now, the murals on the other hand can be absolutely oustanding pieces of art. I would be happy if someone spray painted my wall with such a bit of art.
Thanks for including me in your alphabet romp. Stopped by here today on a whim... well I try to when I can . . . not knowing I was included in this series. :) what a cute, fun idea. I should get in on it next time!
xox
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