Jason - Aged 27

Sometimes you tweet something and you could never guess the consequences of your idle warblings. I’ve already blogged about the Giraffe thing but I felt the whole adventure was also note worthy. I’m no stranger to the power of getting people enthusiastic about an idea. The whole #ratm4xmas thing was the perfect example of that and I blogged about it at the time. As per usual, this all occurred on twitter, where fun stuff always happens.

Twitter tends to work like the ocean. The sea ebbs and flows with the tide, occasional blips will stir up a storm or two. Whatever starts will eventually fade away into forgotten memory. We people sit on the beach and react differently to these developments. Some get on their surfboards and ride those waves while they can. Some have a paddle in the shallows dipping in every now and then. Some will be in a meteorological office plotting maps of the occurrences, comparing them to old occurrences. And some sit on the beach laughing at everyone else. I’m kinda a mess of all of the above. I can be quite reactionary/band wagony which I’m trying to address. More often than not some wise older than me thing will point out the wider issue and I’ll be left looking like a puppy covered in mud. I want to be wise old labrador. Maybe one day…

Recently a storm started which didn’t stop for so long that I’ve forgotten when it started, it’s only just falling away now. I refer of course to the UK general election. Twitter was ablaze with election based jabber for weeks. Links, jokes, hash tag games the whole shebang. This whole thing has been quite good for me because it finally helped me breach the world of politics and gain a better understanding of the whole process. It showed me why it was important to vote and all that.

The problem for me was the doom laden inevitably of it. If I was of the tory way of thinking it might have been better but due to my silly beliefs in compassion and such like it wasn’t to be. Thing about twitter is you tend to gravitate towards people who think similarly to you, unless you like looking for an argument, but I don’t. Consequently, most of the people I follow were lefty types and were all getting very down about the numbing inevitability of an impending tory government.

This really reached critical mass on election day and it was all getting a bit much. I could see that people needed a little distraction, just a little reminder that even on days like this of enormous consequence, we can still have a giggle. It could have been anything, just something to take your mind of the thing that had dominated your thoughts for so long. So I had a quick think and then it just popped into my head.

Draw a Giraffe

It was obvious to me immediately how it would work. No competitions, no talent requirement, nothing that would make it stressful or competitive, that was the last thing everyone needed. People just needed a little release, a little sunshine. So I tweeted a request for people to draw Giraffes and off we went. I drew mine first and people got onto it straight away. The seed had been planted. All you need is about 5 other people to have a go and the inspiration spreads like a forest fire. As time rolled merrily forward over the course of the day the entries were rolling in. Each one a thing of beauty. You could see in each picture how much fun they’d had drawing it.

Just as quickly as it had started it had finished. I wasn’t going to press the issue as there didn’t seem to be any point. It was always intended as a little distraction and on those terms it was very much mission accomplished. By the end of the day the collection stood at 125 giraffes! I was so proud of everyone. I made a little gallery for them and thought that was that. But there was one last thing…

People ask me about twitter a lot but I’m never able to truly explain why it’s brilliant. I guess it’s brilliance is the sum total of the people you follow and interact with. I follow the best bunch of guys in the world so everyday is a joy for me. The one thing I will say to people is this

You get out what you put in

I tweet a lot, I make very few apologies for this as it has given me so much. This Giraffe thing was no different.

A guy I’d met a little while ago, Mike (@mikewinship, follow him), was at a festival called ATP. The special curator (or something) of the event in question was none other than Matt Groening. Anyone who knows me, knows that the Simpsons is truly one of my favourite things in the world. No matter what it does now, nothing can spoil the memory of the golden age. You can imagine my excitement when Mike tweets me this:

@mixmasterfestus Tomorrow I’m going to attempt to get Matt Groening to draw a giraffe. This is a good plan, yes?

Now, Mike was delirious with Giraffe fever and had declared he was going to attempt to get a Groening giraffe. I didn’t want to get my hopes up so I wished him all the good luck in the world and watched with eager anticipation. It was like chinese water torture for me so I can’t imagine what it was like for him. Here’s how it went down:

@mixmasterfestus @mapsadaisical I’ve been in the signing queue twice now & he’s stopped before I got to the front. Won’t fail again… (1:32 AM May 9th)

Waiting in line to try and get Matt Groening to #drawagiraffe – he’s not here yet tho… #ATP (3:43 PM May 9th)

@mixmasterfestus @mandrewb have been told he’s not signing til 6. Queue disbanded. I now have no purpose for an hour or so. (4:29 PM May 9th)

Then nothing, until 2 hours later…

7th from the front for signing… #drawagiraffe happening real soon! (6:39 PM May 9th)

Then it happened…

Matt Groening: “Giraffes are hard!” #drawagiraffe http://twitpic.com/1mh5g0 (6:55 PM May 9th)

:O:O:O

Mission accomplished!!! #drawagiraffe http://twitpic.com/1mh5v4 (6:56 PM May 9th)

Mike Winship, a king among men

I was so proud. To think a single tweet could reach so far only goes further to prove how much fun can be had on this earth. It was the best end to this saga I could have possibly hoped for. It was perfect. We should all thank Mike for his dogged persistence and for just capturing the spirit of this whole thing so brilliantly.

Now all that remains is the question of what to do with these Giraffes. People have suggested donating them to the marvellous Onemilliongiraffes.com project. Thing is I can’t donate them as they aren’t really mine. This whole thing wasn’t about drawing them for me, they were about drawing them for yourself. The One Million Giraffes thing seems like a nice idea, but it’s not my place to just giveaway other people’s lovely pictures, that’s their decision.

People have suggested making a book of the pictures or something. At first I thought I might be stepping on the Onemilliongiraffes chap’s toes but he’s doing this for a bet whereas I’ve been doing it for no real reason whatsoever. I’ve come to think thats there plenty of room for Giraffe based hijinx so it would be fine for me to do something with the election collection, as long as it’s a force for good it doesn’t matter. If they find their way into the million too, all the better. I’ll pitch it to the guys who drew them and see if they can think of anything cool. Something might come of it, who knows?

So there you have it. This whole thing has gone to prove that it’s really not that hard to enjoy yourself. People can be great fun when you give em a chance.

You can find the gallery here: http://www.thinktanktoybox.com/2010/05/drawagiraffe/

You can find the One Million Giraffes project here: http://www.onemilliongiraffes.com/