Close Enough

This is the puzzle without the box, now that it's "finished."

I rely heavily on the picture on the box when I'm assembling a puzzle. I want to know what it's going to look like before I start, and I want to refer to the picture as I assemble the puzzle. Saves stress. Gives me confidence. I usually choose puzzles with lots of detail and as few large expanses of solid color as possible, because I get frustrated otherwise. This puzzle did not fit that mold. The box got traded out with another puzzle a couple of years ago, so the picture on the box, of a church in the Alps, was no help. And someone mean and lazy made it. All the pieces are essentially the same shape. Thankfully it is a small puzzle. It would have defeated me sooner if it had been large.

This puzzle did go better with some expert help at the beginning from Superwoman Susan et al. And Adventurer Two put in some work along the way. The green patch in the middle is thanks to her.

I can confirm that we haven't lost any of the pieces.

Shopping for a Camera

The word Danjo had me type into google:

Intussusception

Please, no one use it in a sentence...

I have begun the taxes. This is satisfying. I have begun them once again before April. This is not satisfying. Usually they are finished in February. So it's an unusual year. Whatever.

I have cleaned the root beer out of my kitchen, except for the floors. I've decided to leave the root beer on the floors until my shoes stick to the tiles so tightly that the tiles pull off the concrete subfloor. It shouldn't take long.

The San Diego puzzle is done. I worked on it for a bit today, and Venom finished it in ten minutes while taking a break from homework. Must find a slightly harder puzzle for next time.

About a third of the people who get pneumococcal pneumonia also get pneumococcal bacteremia which has a 20% fatality rate in the normal population and 60% in the eldery. And if you are elderly (you know who you are) and get pneumococcal meningitis, you have an 80% chance of death. Who knew? The things we learn when Danjo is completing continuing education. I think I've had the vaccine for that though. The rest of you can risk death without it. I can see how scared you are. Well, I can't really "see" how scared you are, I suspect though. Shaking in your boots, aren't you? There are so many things you could die from (and you will die from one of them), and this is just one. Nasty, nasty pneumococcus. I believe it's a good thing to live by faith...

On that happy note (and as I have already covered death and taxes in this one post), I will leave off blogging and go study up on Maurice Utrillo (the alcoholic illegitimate son of a trapeze artist who also modeled for Renoir) and Victor Vasarely ("the acknowledged leader of the op-art movement, [whose] innovations in color and optical illusion have had a strong influence on many modern artists"), in order that I may give two twenty minute presentations to some kids 1st-3rd grade tomorrow. I need to be able to say more than, "famous artists are often not good role models" and "this guy painted some strange stuff."

The above photographic technique,

which is not

an example

of

Op Art,

takes a very skilled photographer

and a really,

really

good

camera

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oo

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