Scribbles & Munch

      It was an animal-themed weekend.
      Let me start with the practical part: it turns out that for some reason, people using Safari as their web browser were unable to comment on my blog. That has been fixed. Ta daaa! And...you know...safaris...animals...whatever, it's in the theme, just go with it.
      Part two - which is, as far as I'm concerned, much more exciting - my friend and soon-to-be-published-author Camela Thompson flexed her artistic muscles and created a beautiful drawing to be my "logo!" All I did was name three objects, and she used her psychic powers to delve into my mind and draw out the image I had hoped for in its perfection.

      She has mad skillz of an artist--she has mad writing skillz, too, and I'm excited for her novel coming out in October!
      My final and most fabulous animal-themed bit of the weekend involved going to the Columbus Zoo with my brother- and sisters-in-law. I'm lucky to have in-laws who are fun, interesting, and diverse in many ways but so wonderfully dear to each other that they can't help enjoying one another's company*. Doing stuff together is always a good time, and the Columbus Zoo is one of the best I've ever seen. Growing up, my parents were big believers in taking their kids out to DO stuff, so I'm fortunate that I've been exposed to many zoos and aquariums in addition to lots of museums, national parks, etc. I've enjoyed all of the above, but despite my affection for them I find museums can get dull with repetition--not so zoos. Living creatures are never the same twice, and a great zoo creates fabulous opportunities to see them at their best! I dare anyone who is feeling blasé about the world to go to a good zoo and walk away feeling uninspired--it's all happening at the zoo!**
      It got me thinking about animals in stories. Children's stories often include animals as side character, main characters, or even anthropomorphized protagonists. This dates back to fairy tales, of course--and even further back, in religious imagery across every inhabited continent. However in terms of contemporary adult stories, aside from revamped fairy tales and the occasional outlier genius like David Sedaris, you just don't see that many animals as the star of the story.*** Why is that? The psychologist in me becomes more and more intrigued with this the more I think about it. Certainly "primitive" societies see nothing undesirable about featuring animals are powerful characters in stories. What is the root of our hesitation? Is it because the spread of Christianity instilled an idea of man's superiority to animals? Is it because Western culture is so fixated on animals in children's stories that adults just feel too damn silly considering them as serious protagonists?
      Whatever the reason, I feel we're missing out on a great literary opportunity by being so closed-minded. When I think about it, to this day I consider Watership Down to be one of the most ingenious stories I've ever encountered. Do you have a favorite story with animal protagonists, whatever the intended audience? What kind of reaction do you get when you recommend it to other people?


*Um, no...they are not animals. I mean, they are - technically - but that's not why they're in this post.

**All together now! "The monkeys stand for honesty/Giraffes are insincere/And the elephants are kindly but they're dumb/Orangutangs are skeptical of changes in their cages...." Wait...what do you mean you don't know this song!?

***No, we are not counting werewolves. Don't go there.