I actually had a better topic in mind for another installment of "random blog posts," but I also thought that this was an excellent opportunity that I couldn't miss--an opportunity for me to air out some frustrations. We all have minor annoyances: some things just don't happen the way we want them to, or we make a fatal error and make things worse. Well, there are some things I can't make better or worse simply because of the fact that they are unable to be changed.
1. I'm an average height for a teenage girl, I guess. I'm only two inches off from being considered "short statured"--apparently the maximum height you can be is 5'2". I just wish I wasn't done growing, because I could totally make use of being two inches taller! Just imagining being able to see what's on top of the fridge and reach everything in my house is a dream. (Don't tell any of my actual "short statured" friends I made this blog post though, otherwise I might get glares for the rest of my life!)
2. I'm allergic to most furry animals. I used to have two cats, but after about a year of owning them I began to develop an allergic reaction to their dander, and so did my mom. It was devastating having to give them up, considering they're my favorite animal. The allergies have only gotten worse--I went to one of my friend's houses, and their dog licked me, and I broke out in tiny hives! It doesn't make sense for someone who loves animals so much to be held back by sneezing and sensitive skin.
3. This was a tragic thing that happened long ago, before the Wii, but my GameCube stopped working. It would power on, the trusty ol' thing, but it refused to read any of the discs I was putting in. I don't actually know for sure, but I suspect that it was the slightly problematic design of the console itself. Everyone knows that anything with moving parts is going to be the first to go when machinery starts to break down, and on the GameCube, this was the laser that moves back and forth while the disc in spinning. I think it's possible that the optical laser itself could have gotten damaged easily over its short one year of use, or that the mechanism that actually causes it to move stopped. Either way, the design was kind of annoying! (Okay, if I was a tech whiz I could change this, but dismantling something I don't understand is a bad idea!)
4. My little brother is getting older and more intuitive too fast! If you know anything about me, I'm sure you've heard me complain about my brother's annoying "terrible two's AND three's" phase. However, him being so young has his advantages. I can convince him to go throw things away for me when I'm just too lazy to stand up, he'll accept basically anything I say without contest if I append "because I said so," and thinks I'm basically the smartest person ever (besides mom and dad). Now, our conversations are slightly different: "But Jazmiz, why, Jazmiz? Why won't you take me on the trampoline?" "I have work to do." "But... why?" "Because I said so." "Why did you say so?" There's very few ways to win!
5. Mushrooms don't need to go on pizza! #stopmushrooms2k14
I could write more. I could always write more. But anything else I'm going to say will go in a second part.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Monday, November 3, 2014
Lateral Thinking Puzzles
I enjoy being challenged. Now, I say this loosely--I do not necessarily like being challenged by a difficult fitness workout, or math homework. But I do enjoy all sorts of games and puzzles that aren’t easy to solve or complete. A category of these type of “games” are what we call Lateral Thinking Puzzles. Basically, you’re given a couple clues to a situation, and you need to answer a question or fill in the details to the situation. If you’re “mediating” the prompt, you know the answer, and you have a group of people try to solve it by asking questions. The questions can cover anything, and be as vague or detailed as possible, but they must seek and answer of “yes/no/irrelevant.”
I remember first being introduced to such a pastime at camp--a girl had brought up a particular puzzle that she had solved with a friend earlier, and asked if we (a group of about ten girls) wanted to help solve them. The prompt was this: The music stopped, and then she died. (If you’re interested in trying to solve this one yourself, I guess you should stop reading here?)
Questions were shouted, one after the other, some overlapping and some needing to be repeated. “Was the music stopping the cause her death?”
“Yeah, duh.”
“Was it pop music?”
“Probably not, but that doesn’t really matter.”
“Was her death intentional?”
“No!”
“Did she have a boyfriend?”
“What?”
“Did the music stopping make her die?”
“Marisa, someone literally just asked that.”
“Oh.”
It went on like this for a while, and eventually, the golden question comes along: “Did she walk on tightropes?”
“Yes!”
How someone got to this point, I don’t really know or remember--we were all pretty freaking lost and confused. But that was all we needed to get to the point of the story.“Did the music stop while she was walking on a tightrope?”
“Yeah!”
“Is she blind?”
“Oh my gosh, okay, I got it--the music is her cue to start and stop walking on the tightrope, because she's part of a circus act, but somehow the music malfunctioned while she was in the middle of the routine! And then, well...”
I think everyone pieced it together at that point. For the next two hours, we proceeded to do as many lateral thinking problems as possible before lights-off, and that was definitely a blast. If you’re one of my good friends, I’ve probably subjected you to a couple rounds of this type of guessing puzzle. It’s really easy to play (depending on how hard or complicated the prompt and/or ending/solution is), everyone can be involved (it's more fun in larger groups), it doesn't require any accessories (besides a sharp brain), and it’s immensely satisfying being able to solve one.
By the way, the music stopped and then she died actually has an alternate, more practical answer. Care to try?
I remember first being introduced to such a pastime at camp--a girl had brought up a particular puzzle that she had solved with a friend earlier, and asked if we (a group of about ten girls) wanted to help solve them. The prompt was this: The music stopped, and then she died. (If you’re interested in trying to solve this one yourself, I guess you should stop reading here?)
Questions were shouted, one after the other, some overlapping and some needing to be repeated. “Was the music stopping the cause her death?”
“Yeah, duh.”
“Was it pop music?”
“Probably not, but that doesn’t really matter.”
“Was her death intentional?”
“No!”
“Did she have a boyfriend?”
“What?”
“Did the music stopping make her die?”
“Marisa, someone literally just asked that.”
“Oh.”
It went on like this for a while, and eventually, the golden question comes along: “Did she walk on tightropes?”
“Yes!”
How someone got to this point, I don’t really know or remember--we were all pretty freaking lost and confused. But that was all we needed to get to the point of the story.“Did the music stop while she was walking on a tightrope?”
“Yeah!”
“Is she blind?”
“Oh my gosh, okay, I got it--the music is her cue to start and stop walking on the tightrope, because she's part of a circus act, but somehow the music malfunctioned while she was in the middle of the routine! And then, well...”
I think everyone pieced it together at that point. For the next two hours, we proceeded to do as many lateral thinking problems as possible before lights-off, and that was definitely a blast. If you’re one of my good friends, I’ve probably subjected you to a couple rounds of this type of guessing puzzle. It’s really easy to play (depending on how hard or complicated the prompt and/or ending/solution is), everyone can be involved (it's more fun in larger groups), it doesn't require any accessories (besides a sharp brain), and it’s immensely satisfying being able to solve one.
By the way, the music stopped and then she died actually has an alternate, more practical answer. Care to try?
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