Written by Kim Mitzo Thompson
Illustrated by Patrick Girouard
What a wonderful little video clip! If you’ve read Catherine Friend’s The Perfect Nest, you’ll enjoy watching this Perfect Nest in Ireland
Following Sylvain Chomet's first-class "Simpsons" opening, I didn't expect any animator to top it creatively—and certainly not so soon after. I've never been happier to be wrong.
Add a CommentCute, cartoony bird / chick toy character design, available as a 3D print.
Wisdom, the oldest known bird in the world at age 63, has just seen her newest chick hatch! Wow!
One of the surprising things about writing a nonfiction piece is that the story isn’t finished yet. Our world doesn’t just stop, it’s not stagnate. Life goes on. And that means that Wisdom has yet another chick.
Laysan albatrosses are known to take a year off now and then, usually at 4-5 year intervals. Wisdom has continuously hatched a chick since 2008, so she’ overdue for a sabbatical. This year, I was worried that she might not return and that could mean she was taking a break; or, it could mean that she died somewhere, lost at sea. Instead, Wisdom is breaking all records and teaching scientists so much about the life of an albatross. Before Wisdom–banded since 1956–scientist believed that Laysan albatrosses lived to be about 25 years old. We still don’t know if her life is an aberration or the norm. Scientists have banded Wisdom’s chicks for the last few years to follow the life of her chicks. They could fall prey to predators, storms, pollution or fishing. Or, they could live as long as Wisdom, or longer. This story is far from over. And that makes it even more exciting to me than when Wisdom first captured my attention. When will her story end? No one knows. Cool!
Cornell Bird Lab maintains a web-cam of a Laysan albatross nest on Kauai, Hawaii. Watch it here.
READ Wisdom’s remarkable biography here.
Oh little Peepsqueak. This picture of you reminds me of something that happened to me when I was little. We were visiting an aunt in Washington. She had a rope that dangled from a tree in her backyard. She also had a big DOG that came running into the yard barking at ME! I jumped on that rope and UP, UP, UP I went! I did not even know I could climb a rope! I just did it! ha ha!
Most of my art comes from my imagination, but it is also from my memories and from my life experiences. All that being said, I think I can still climb a rope!
For as long as I can remember, I have LOVED toys! To have a toy made from one of my cartoons is my dream come true! It will help the world see my character the way I see him. REAL!! ha ha! This series of plush Peepsqueaks in the pictures above, were the first proto-types that came to my home. Merry Makers is the toy company we worked with. It was so fun to see my little Peepsqueak transform from page to puff! He is such a cute little plush!! Merry Makers did such a good job! You can buy Peepsqueak now if you go to their website. They welcome retail orders online at http://www.merrymakersinc.com and retail and/or wholesale orders at 888-989-0454 or via email at [email protected].
Below is the final Peepsqueak. I just love him! Isn’t he cute!!! I brought him to a preschool yesterday and the children loved him and all wanted to pet him…. so they did!!!!
So order your Peepsqueak now! He is waiting to live in your home!!! Don’t forget, the books, “Peepsqueak”, and “Peepsqueak Wants A Friend” are at your bookstore waiting for you too. They would all make great gifts for the kiddies on Easter.
话说好几个月前不请自来了一只流氓大白公鸡,一来就霸占了地盘,把我们僅有的一只小母鸡据为己有,三只可怜的小公鸡只得靠边站,连用个餐也得闪闪躲躲以防被攻击,一点也不敢惹这只极度嚣张的大公鸡!沒想到居然连我也得对他俯首称臣拜他为王!今天我就让这只气焰高涨的大公鸡给欺负了!
且听我细细道来:今天大人把吃剩的苹果核丟到院子去,我以为大人在跟我玩 'Attack' 的游戏,暗自高兴又有好东西吃了,立刻一支箭了追了过去,不料大公鸡也慢吞吞的尾随我而来,然后狠狠的朝着我的大白屁屁啄了下去,痛死了,又不敢反击,只好含着一泡眼泪逃走,大公鸡这才理所当然的享用他的战利品,还顺便招呼小母鸡来吃,继续往他山大王的霸业之路迈进!
Months ago a white stray cock came to our house and decided that this is the home he likes to stay. He acted as he's the emperor of the yard, he nicely treated our only little hen but chased away our three little pet cocks! Today, even me, a cat, a preditor, have to admit that he's the only boss!
The story begin with mom throwing an apple-kernel to the yard, immediately I chased after it, assuming that's something delicious, never noticed that the cock is following behind! While I sniff at the kernel, the cock gave me a good peck on my butt! The fact is I'm a good cat, I won't attack families, thus I have no choice but to leave it to him and his darling queen!
Well, its not chocolate, but um...I just wanted to share my new blog with you guys - its a weekly art journal following my pregnancy:
Right.
So, this is a design I cooked up for a note card. The matching envelope you can see here.
-Claire
There's a whole big rambling post about it at Absolutely Small.
My self-portrait! ;)
Finally I've created something purely 2D again, escaping from my usual 3D work. I used to create 2D computer graphics for old school commercial computer games and it was a true delight to return to my old passion.
This picture reminded me of a time when I was about 11 years old. We used to go to a local “pond” and there was a big old oak on the bank which had a rope hanging from it. We would run, jump “tarzan style” onto the rope and swing out over the pond – letting go as we swung out and taking a “flying leap” into the water. One Sunday afternoon, I ran from the car, jumped for the rope – grabbing it with both hands and – BANG !!! My head hit the tree and left a scar which I still have in my temple until this very day. I had not noticed that someone had wrapped the rope around the tree one time – it was not hanging free. As I swung out – I actually flew in a circle, right back into the tree trunk!
oh no! Owch! I can just picture that!!!!! haha!