Sloth and Manatee

You may or may not be aware that Manatee’s first appearance upon arriving from space was to peek over Birthday Kitty’s hedge and say hello:

(Here also is Manatee cruising around in space)

It was that first peek over the fence/hedge that got things going with Manatee and then Sloth. They soon shared some soup and then they were off to look for Kitty, who had disappeared, and they knew Kitty liked cake so they looked at the local quickie mart, which was run by Harriet the Pangolin, who was unclear on what exactly is cake

Anyway!

When I was small I would play on the patio in our yard and next door there was this dog that would stuff its nose through a hole in the fence and growl.

I had a complete picture in my head of what that beastly monster looked like on the other side. It was much bigger than me and had a big furry spiky body and was hungry and/or angry.

Which is funny ‘cause thinking about it now, the hole in that fence was at the level of a three-year-old sitting on the ground, which is very low, and it was probably a short dog, a roomba-level sort of dog, with a long snout, maybe a furry dachshund type of a dog. Nowadays I would be delighted and want to pet and hang out with the dog and be the dog’s friend.

Which is all to say, who knows what is on the other side of the fence.

For some reason this is also reminding me of a time I went snorkeling, and had a hard time working out the thing on my face for some reason, but then once I got situated, I plunked my face into the water and - holy heck. It was a whole world under there in every color. Like, the surface of that water was another sort of fence, and I had to get to the other side of it.

These days we’re being pushed to fence-build all the time, to think in terms of us and them, to think in terms of brands and red and blue and whatever else, which only enriches others, not ourselves. The real riches, I keep learning over and over, are when we peek over, or through, or around.

Sloth and Manatee Page

Brainwaves

Best of Brainwaves Volume One: The Fountain of Stuff

Best of Brainwaves Volume Two: Mom, Dad, I'm a Cat

License Cartoons from CartoonStock

Art!

There’s this thing that happens in my art classes, where we get to like ten minutes left, and I say ‘hey, there’s ten minutes left so finish up what you’re working on,’ and this is the kids’ cue to very quickly and feverishly start a Whole New Project. Recently my little friend Yair who always has something unique going on used the ten-minute cue to grab a fistful of paint pens and a piece of cardboard and some tape and make this amazing thing. I mean, just beautiful. Here’s to ten-minute or even one-minute art.

Print Shop

BunnyFrogCatSnake

Did a soundtrack for this and everything.

Things Of The Week

Aw yeah, now you have been Rickrolled with toothbrushes:

Enjoy checking out Laptop Stickers around the world. Amazing.

If you love Japanese art and design as much as I do, the Spoon & Tamago site always has something lovely to contemplace.

Okay! That's enough nonsense for now.

May you have something that is definitely cake, may you find your way around the fence to the other side, won't you be my neighbor? - Betsy