Scissors! Really?! How did I miss that?
Argh! There are some weeks I just don’t seem to follow or get the riddle! Don,
you are close – mine was couch – just long enough to lie down on, cover myself
with a blanket and take a nice Sunday afternoon nap. Ah well, not today.
I have spent the majority of the last 3
days grading my way out of a pile of midterm papers. I finally got above the
pile late yesterday. I don’t mind grading, actually. Even though it is not my
favorite past time, I get to explore the world from the perspective of my
students. The research topics I was editing range from the familiar Tattooing
and green house effects to some that are more interesting: independent films, graphic
novels, steam punk as literature, robots as maids, and cryptozoology.
You mentioned the Whoosh effect, Don. I
had that – a paper on cryptozoology – jack-a-lope, bigfoot, tree octopus. The
paper took me back to living in Wyoming, my mom playing bridge with the ranchers’
wives and the stories. I remember one rancher wife was late to the game. She
drove up in her beat up blue Ford truck, stepped out dressed in heels, furs
(this was back before it wasn’t politically correct to wear fur), tacked her
shotgun into the rack hanging across the back window, took a shovel and lifted
out of the truck bed the biggest dead rattle snake I’d ever seen. She hung it
on the rack on the side of the truck, strode into the house and proceeded to
play bridge. Apparently the snake had coiled up under the truck and she had to
dispose of it before she could come play. While she played, she told us stories
of how the jack-a-lope came to be, and that she’d have to look out for the
snake’s mate as they had a tendency toward revenge.
One of my favorite exercises for my
research class is to look into the tree octopus. It constantly amazes me how
many of my college students believe that a tree octopus is possible. Actually,
it is a bit scary…
Believe it or not, there is an
International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine, and a cryptid zoo which
studies actual animals like the giant vampire bat, the inflatable hedgehog, the
okapi. It was interesting to note that most of their information is collected
from people who have “happened upon” the cryptid in question. Their main focus
is to analyze the date they’ve collected and decide whether or not the cryptid
is plausible. Must be an interesting job…
Cryptozoology is the making of science
fiction and fantasy. Zack is using it in his Captain Jackson series; I use it
in my Tracker stories. And the current craze for vampires goes a long way to
support the thought that this unappreciated science just might make good fiction.
I don’t have a riddle this week either.
My brain is just now unwrapping itself and seems to be taking a long needed
break for a day.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Noticed that sowrite.us.com has another 1000 word
challenge going – check it out!
Carolyn
Don, watch the sunburn!
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