I recently read this article, An Elephant Crackup?, about Elephant trauma. It talked about how elephants that witness something traumatic, such as seeing the death of their mother, tend to be more violent. They will rape and kill rhinoceroses, destroy small villages and sometimes kill people with their tusks. It went on to talk about how these events parallel the same type of trauma a person may go through when their village is destroyed, leaving young children to go on with no home and no sense of belonging. They too usually end up being very violent and lash out. The similarities and affects of these two scenarios are quite amazing. The article also talks about the intelligence and complex emotions that elephants possess.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to make this comparison. Ever since I started reading about animals and their emotions for my thesis project six years ago (wow how time flies!), I’ve been very sympathetic towards animals and the lack of compassion that most humans have. Why is it so hard to believe, or so shocking that elephants may be complex like us? Here’s another article, Elephants’ jumbo mirror ability, that makes a small case for elephant self-awareness. In this article, they’ve shown an elephant a mirror and the elephant recognizes itself.

I hope these studies will make people more aware of just how tender and delicate these huge animals are. And maybe we will gain more respect for them and have more interest in making sure that they survive.

OMG – this is hilarious, a dog that is addicted to sucking on toads. You must listen to the audio… NPR : The Dog Who Loved to Suck on Toads

I just entered Joe in the 2nd Annual World’s Coolest Dog and Cat Show! Please give him your vote!

Last night Joe received his 3rd annual skunking. Yes, it appears to be annual. The first time was October 1st, 2004, the second time was September 13, 2005, and now October 16th, 2006. What the heck is going on here??? Why does he feel the need to find a skunk and get sprayed every fall? Or why do these miscellaneous skunks need to find him and spray? I don’t get it. And it makes me extremely angry. I really enjoy stuffing my face into his soft neck fur, and now I can’t. It takes at least a month or two for that smell to completely go away. So angry!!!

Yesterday I went kayaking on a river for the very first time. I was scared out of my mind in the beginning. Mostly nervous about being cold (we had thrown together my gear from about four different people) and hitting my head on a rock or getting pinned up against a rock because I had no clue what I was doing.

Two other people went with Steve and I – Matt, with class V experience and Alex, with a year and a half, maybe class III experience. We went north of Sacramento to the South Fork of the American River and did the C to G run. We entered at mile 6 and took out around mile 12.2, roughly 6.2 miles.

Right where we got in the river we hung out a little so the guys could introduce me to some things. First they taught me how to “catch an eddy” and then how to get out of one or “peel out”. I did so-so with that, and was still very nervous. Then I was feeling pretty warm, the perfect time to try a roll. So after much, much hesitation I gave it a try and made it. And as it turned out, being cold wasn’t much of a problem. The gear and boat were warm even though the water was very chilly (around 60 degrees).

On about the second rapid (I think) I ended up catching the edge of the boat and flipping over. I tried to roll up twice and didn’t make it so I had to bail out and swim. The guys said I would have made it if I hadn’t brought my head up too soon. The water was FREEZING!!! I was afraid I was going to lose the little booty-socks I was wearing (they were too big), so I grabbed onto Matt’s boat and he pulled me ashore while Steve and Alex grabbed my boat.

That took so much energy and really freaked me out. I was ready to give up right then and there (the entry point wasn’t too far back). But I sucked it up, didn’t say anything and kept going after a short rest.

We continued on slowly. My strokes were very weak at first and got stronger throughout the day as everyone pounded “paddle” and “be aggressive” into my head. At some point Matt said that leaning forward helped, so as soon as I consciously started doing that my strokes got much stronger.

Matt lead, showing me the way through the easy spots. Following him made me a lot less nervous. He also gave me a lot of great instruction along the way, which was extremely helpful. If it had been Steve in that role I probably would have been more frustrated and less likely to listen (you know how it is with someone you’re very close to).

We stopped for lunch and a break about half way through. After lunch I did a lot better and was really starting to get a feel for the water, paddle and boat. Apparently I did really well following Matt, making the boat go where I wanted it to. Steve said that a lot of newbies end up spinning around, especially on rapids, which I didn’t do once. I think I let the boat spin me twice, but it was on calm water where I didn’t care.

I didn’t have any more spills the rest of the way, but I did have a few scares that I was able to stabilize. I definitely enjoyed the second half of the river more than the first, and the guys said those were the hard rapids! I’ll try it again, now that the initial fear is over.

A life time goal achieved, well sort of. Actually, I wouldn’t even call it a goal, it’s more like a nice-to-have as an artist. Anyway, I redesigned the icons for Alexa’s toolbar and basically revitalized it, brought it up to date visually. Which means that over a million people will see my artwork; my cute little icons. Sadly, they won’t know that I did them, which is why this only sort of counts. Oh well, I still think it’s a neat accomplishment

I love this holiday… another little tribute to Halloween – the Hallow Queen. Enjoy!

My favorite holiday is coming up, Halloween! To celebrate I made a cute little pumpkin last night. Ok well he’s not really cute, he’s actually pretty mean looking. After all, he is demanding your candy and you can’t do that with cuteness. I also put him on a Zazzle t-shirt.

Last night Steve and I went to the usual Tuesday night rolling sessions (see previous post). In the last couple of weeks I had practiced doing rolls with hand paddles and was able to do it pretty well, but once the regular paddle was in my hand I lost it all – two many things to think about at once.

So last night after some warms ups with the hand paddles, I finally did it! I rolled not once, not twice, but about 10 times with the paddle and no assistance!!! Woo hoo, I can roll a kayak! And all thanks to Steve’s wonderful instruction and encouragement

Now we need to head out on a river. No, no, not a crazy one, just a simple little class 2 – one that doesn’t require rolling as a prerequisite. It should be a lot of fun with our new-found kayaking buddies.

Bill Weber correctly guessed last months logo, Hard Rock Cafe. Congrats, Bill!

The October logo is awaiting your guesses.