Need a laugh about now? I’ve found some places on the Internet that are worth a good laugh. Or, if not a good laugh, an opportunity to mull over the notion that humans who post to the Web come in all flavors and take up some imaginative—even out-of-this-world kinds of projects. Have fun logging on to some or all of the following.
Pumpkin Computer . What do you do with your pumpkin after Halloween is long past, assuming no pies have been baked? A few ingenious students transformed a pumpkin into a working computer. Honest. You can see for yourself at this website and since they were nice enough to provide step-by-step instructions, you, too can be the first on your block to have a pumpkin computer.
Receipt Collection . Mark Thomas is a self-avowed collector. He does not explain why he chooses to save, scan and upload every receipt he receives for every purchase he makes. Why he thinks the average surfer might find his website of scanned receipts one to bookmark and return to, I don’t know. After I viewed just one page of his receipts (he has more than 2,000 posted), I was wishing that he might put aside the electronics for awhile and go out and get some fresh air. But then, judging from the information on his receipts, I can see that this guy really does get around.
Confuse Your House Guests . A pair of twentysomethings found a way to turn their living room sideways. Yes, almost upside down, but in this case, sideways. Sound like a college prank? That’s sort of correct. The guys who did this give step-by-step directions on how they performed their trick, no magic, just amazing ingenuity. When you see the pictures, you can imitate what they’ve done in time for April Fool’s Day. Beware. This is no small project.
A Year of Stuffed Animals . A guy by the name of Jacob must have been given a ton of scrap material. Jacob’s hobby, if that is what it is called, is to make a stuffed animal a day. He’s posted pictures of some of his results, and don’t expect department-store stuffed animals when you go to his site.
Eat 22 . If Jacob can make a stuffed animal a day, then Ellie can photograph every morsel of food that has hit her lips for the past year. Yet, Ellie took her project a few steps further. She had a gala gallery reception after the year was up. Guests nibbled on tiny cupcakes with “Eat 22” lettered in the frosting. And, she made a poster of her many eating sessions—a collage of photos—available for purchase. Does she deserve an award for entrepreneurial genius or what?
MOFA . Since we are on the subject of food, here is a gallery that our food writer, Carolyn McConnell, might enjoy. MOFA stands for Museum of Food Anomalies. Web viewers are invited to send in their weird food pictures for posting. How about a ghost-faced cereal? Or a green pepper, when cut open, reveals a smiley face? Go ahead—look around and waste some time. Pretty soon you, too, will be examining every edible for an anomaly. Too bad Ellie (Eat 22, posted above) didn’t think of doing that.
Wait! There’s more. I’ll write about them next week, since I’m out of room. Meanwhile, check out my new, improved website, Artmedia-Indiana which shows the results of my six weeks of toil completing my online website building class.
