Your Love is Better Than A Paper Basketball

Clearly, it's a Valentine's Day Card.

No? Not obvious? Let me try again. 

What's wrong? Is this what you wanted?

I am very grateful that my wife took the time to buy Valentine's Day cards for our son's (3.5 years) preschool class.  Who knows what I would have come back with.  

When she returned with these, I was pretty excited and knew we had to try one out.  Two engineering degrees and fifteen minutes later, I was still trying to assemble the basket when my wife announced that she had finished making the "ball".  

Go ahead, look at the pictures again. Do not let the picture of the visual instructions fool you. It's a trap and you should know that a one-sided piece of paper only has two dimensions. Scaring up that third dimension was not easy.  

Soon after the ball was completed, the "net" was ready. L trapped the ball against the counter with her pointer finger and flicked it in a way that was reminiscent of shooting triangular paper wads through our friends' finger-made field goals as a kid.  We watched as the ball (which looked like something out of Mad Max's Thunderdome were Max a mad crafter instead) scooted across the kitchen island. (Insert nervous laughter here).

I convinced my wife that despite what amazing Valentine's cards they were, it would be too difficult for a preschooler and the teacher to try and assemble these things in class.  She got new ones with tattoos which were a big hit and didn't require a user manual or tech support hotline.

We now have quite a number of these would-be paper sporting events.  If I thought it were appropriate, I would take them to work and continue my effort to keep things light amongst the robots.  We'll see.  In the meantime, I've been spending my spare time constructing next year's Valentine's Day cards.

Defending the Nation

While driving to work on the Mass Pike this morning, I noticed the Newton Armory. This particular armory has dual purpose. The first reason that this small castle still serves as the home base for the Army National Gaurd. Respectful. The second purpose for this armory is recreational volleyball. Also respectful and equally important to the nation's status as a world super power. Let me explain.

According to the often inaccurate Wikipedia,
"An armory (Armoury) is a military depot used for the storage of weapons and ammunition. The term may also apply to an area within a building, used for the storage of weapons. In the United States, armory may refer to the building from which a military reserve component trains during peacetime. In a typical armory, ammunition is stored under separate lock and key from weapons to minimize the potential for misuse and improve safety. Very sensitive alarm systems are also extensively used."

Every night there is a volleyball league. I think that the armory should provide these weeknight warriors with access to weapons and ammunition. If the Garden City were ever to come under attack, they will be prepared. They will lock the doors, climb the turret, and fire away! Okay, so perhaps it's not a good idea to provide these weapons to these Tuesday night athletes with the desire to kill (volleyball term, peeps). Instead they will lock the doors, climb the turret, and bump-set-spike to the bitter end.