STEPHEN FRY

Ha ha! So that's a ha-ha! LOL, I'm a doo-doo head, not looking that up before now. What a boo-boo. Reading a book without looking up an important term - bit of a a no-no. I'll just sit here in shame playing my tom-toms. Eating bon-bons. Heh-heh.

'The Hippopotamus' is maybe my favourite book of all time. I just re-read it, but the first time I read it didn't really count because I was about thirteen and in that stage of adolescence when you think you can heal people by having sex with them. I sympathised with Davey massively and was hugely crushed when Ted shattered the whole illusion. I seriously considered going and hiding in a ha-ha, but didn't know what one was. I thought about stripping naked and hiding in the airing cupboard, but pictured my Mum's undisguised astonishment when she entered to shelve the bath towels and decided against it. I did strip naked and wrap myself in the bedroom rug in a sort of tube achieved by grabbing one end of it and rolling, but I did that occasionally anyway and no one thought it was strange.

One of my favourite things about Stephen Fry's writing is how perfectly he conveys the horrific awkwardness of adolescence. It's brilliant the way it conjures up the warped and embarrassing and fumbling way you try to make sense of the world in those in-between years! When you think you're the only person in the unviverse like you and that you must've been put on this Earth for some special reason and that everything you do is a trial that you must suffer like a martyr and that soon everyone will discover this and you'll be vindicated and revered and then you'll be able to take off your mask and reveal the shining golden lizard's skin underneath and tell the world your true planet of origin and the sacred purpose you've been sent to fulfil, namely to gather all Music channel presenters together and carefully surgically remove their eyes leaving the optic nerve in-tact and promise to replace them only when they've apologised for the atrocities they've committed.

This time I read most of 'The Hippopotamus' in the bath and put lots of bath oil in the water so that I would slide straight into my clothes afterwards. That was weirdly the one thing I remembered from reading it the first time - Ted's piece of advice about bath oil - and I've carried that with me ever since.

I'm still reading this book at the moment. I find the book is Stephen Fry, because there is so much of him in the book itself. I really don't like the horse shagging scene....it's very disgusting >_<

One month gone and finally have something to show, wether you've been waiting for something or not

So, here's my first real Hippopotamus fanart:

Full resolution: http://tabascofanatikerin.deviantart.com/art/The-Hippopotamus-203857820

It's the bar scene quite at the beginning of the story. With Jane, a waiter, Ted...and his reflection.
It was drawn with coloured pencils.
Actually I wanted to do a complete family portrait but I don't know if I will do that at all. Actually I would still try that.

And exclusively shown here: sketches with Ted and Jane.
And please don't be shocked

I hope you like my first tries!