Why bother with pricey digital image manipulation tools when you can create a virtually undetectable specimen like this with nothing more than a pair of safety scissors, the grocery circular from Sunday’s paper, a couple of felt-tipped markers, and a glue stick.
And notice the faint, sketched lines on either side of the cheery observer’s gesturing arm, which adds the illusion of motion to what is already an uncanny study in superimposition, depth of field and perspective.
As an added bonus, this postcard had the following message on the reverse:
10 Aug 1973
We are having a ball.
Our room faces Diamond Head.
We’re sure eating our fill.
The weather is just beautiful.
Aloha from Hawaii,
Glen & Ida
…which appears to be some sort of vacation/travel free verse consisting of a quatrain with five words per line and adhering to the following rules:
Line #1: An indication of your current mood.
Line #2: A random fact about your accommodations.
Line #3: A confession about indulging in at least one of the seven deadly sins.
Line #4: A travel cliché.
Here’s my first attempt at the form:
24 May 2007
I really hate this place.
My room is quite small.
I’ve just been lying around.
I wish you were here.
Join these brave men and women for edge-of-your-seat suspense and happily-ever-after romance!
Her Fugitive…
Jordan Shane was in a serious bind. And Search and Rescue nurse Emily Foster was the one woman who could help him prove his innocence–and steal his heart right out from under him!
His Hostage…
Emily Foster had had enough danger to last a lifetime. All she wanted was a quiet life in the mountains. Instead, she got an attractive fugitive who had taken her hostage–and made her believe in love. On their hair-raising mountain trek, did she dare risk everything for Jordann’s life–and his love?
We made a trip to D.I. (a local thrift store) last Thursday and while we were there Emma declared that she was going to find a nurse book to add to our collection. I warned her that nurse books were getting harder and harder to find, so the chances of her finding one on that particular trip were pretty slim. Undaunted, she headed to the book section and started scouring the shelves.
About ten minutes later she tracked me down in soft furnishings, handed me this volume and asked, “Does this count?”
A Harlequin Romance (one of a series featuring the brave men and women of the Colorado Search and Rescue team) with a beautiful nurse, a handsome fugitive, Lazy Author Plot Device #5, and a cover depicting Jon Bon Jovi and Carrot Top in a passionate embrace?
Everyone at Denley’s was wondering what the new dental surgeon would be like. But when Alison Blake learned that his name was Christopher Stevenson, she knew only too well–and her heart sank…
I teach the 9-year-olds in Primary (Sunday School), and this week’s lesson was based on chapter seven in the book of Matthew:
Matthew 7: 24-27
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
At the end of the lesson, I wanted to illustrate that you can’t always rely on your own judgement in determining whether something is solid or not. And what better way to make that point than with non-Newtonian fluids?
So, in addition to the lesson manual and my scriptures, I packed up a pan, a large spoon, a measuring cup, and a Ziploc bag full of cornstarch, and headed to church.
The Primary lesson went quite well, and when it came time for our little object lesson, I sent two of the boys to the bathroom to fill the measuring cup with water. While they were gone, I showed everyone else the Ziploc bag with cornstarch. I explained that cornstarch was a very fine powder, similar to powdered sugar. (Food Science Fact: Most powdered sugar contains a small amount of cornstarch where it acts as an anti-clumping/anti-caking agent.)
A few of the kids asked if they could feel the cornstarch, but I knew that if I let them stick their fingers in the bag we’d end up with cornstarch everywhere, so I told them they could come up and feel the bag if they wanted to.
A few of the kids came up to the front and felt the cornstarch in the bag, but one of the little girls didn’t just feel the bag, she squeezed it. Hard. And…
POOF!!!
The Ziploc bag, the opening of which was aimed straight at my face, exploded. It was like she’d pulled the pin on a cornstarch grenade. I waited for a few seconds for the dust to clear, but then I realized that the reason I couldn’t see anything was that the lenses of my glasses were covered with cornstarch. I took off my glasses (revealing a perfect outline of where they had been), looked down, and realized that there wasn’t an inch of me that wasn’t covered with cornstarch.
Just then, the two boys who had left to fill the measuring cup with water opened the door to the classroom. I turned, and the boys, being greeted by a large powdered ghost and the hysterical shrieks of a dozen laughing kids, nearly dropped the measuring cup and ran.
Chaos ensued. But by the end of class, we managed to get things cleaned up (somewhat) and we were able to recover enough cornstarch from my clothes for a slightly scaled-down version of the original experiment.
As a teacher, I sometimes wonder if the things that I say will be remembered. In most cases, probably not. But I have a feeling that, years from now, in a religion class at BYU, they’ll come to the seventh chapter of Matthew and some kid in the back will raise his hand and say…
“When I was nine, I had this crazy teacher who thought it would be a good idea to illustrate this point with non-Newtonian fluids…”
If that’s the case, the next time we get to this part of the New Testament, I may just pull out all the stops and do this:
The gorgeous taste of fully ripened pineapple, imposing as a southern island king crowned in glory, is yours to enjoy in every soft and juicy Kasugai Pineapple Gummy.
Another great product description from Kasugai. (Remember their Grape Gummies?)
I really like the idea that a taste can be “gorgeous.”
