Not long ago, I wrote about the human practice of assigning homo-sapiens the names of non-human animals.
Now, in a ‘stone’ called ‘Catch & Release’, I offer a cross-species sporting reference to a mate-selection ritual used by some individuals. The 22 words–in all their glory–appear in the U.K.-based web-zine A Handful of Stones. According to editor Fiona Robyn, a small stone is a very short piece of writing that precisely captures a fully-engaged moment.
To read ‘Catch & Release’,
click the fish below:
A note about the image: I captured it while staring through water, looking down at a pond, standing on the bridge behind Festetics Castle in Keszthely, Hungary–the place where ‘Catch & Release’ was conceived.
And a question:
Do you use non-human animal references to describe assorted human activities and practices?
Ah yes, the curious practice of pet naming! Last night I was considering that Julia Gillard looks like a cross between a wombat and a fox. Then I had a dream about a rampaging wombat, chasing me across a field. Full disclosure: I quite like Julia Gillard, and I like wombats, and foxes, and the comparison was well-meaning.
Nice stone…hmm…I guess it all depends!!
Julia Gillard. Are you referring to the Australian Prime Minister who looks like this: http://bit.ly/dsbW2J
Here’s a good, more recent-looking one: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Julia_Gillard_2010_crop.jpg
If that link worked. She has a very Australian accent as well, kind of sounds like a thumbtack.