Blog Archives
DAILY CALENDAR CHALLENGE #143 – MAY 23, 2013
Guess what, this is my 600 post since I moved my blog to Word Press three years ago! I must have been slacking back in the early years.
#1 THE ORIGAMI CALENDAR CHALLENGE – SEAL
By using the black folding paper, I think I made him look more like a sea lion than a seal.
This is a harbor seal showing off for the spectators looking in from the glass tunnel that passes under the Saint Louis Zoo’s new Sea Lion Sound Habitat.
Here are a couple of sea lions playing around on the water’s surface.
#2 THE MENSA PUZZLE CALENDAR – WORD SQUARE
I’ll be working on this later this afternoon … though I see where a number of words will fit in already.
#3 THE PAGE-A-DAY PUZZLE CALENDAR – ART DETAILS
GUESS WHAT? I finally found a way to reproduce the painting detail puzzles. So see if you can solve it. I already did, but the answers won’t be up until tomorrow.
DAILY CALENDAR CHALLENGE #142 – MAY 22, 2013
#1 THE ORIGAMI CALENDAR – DOGGONE GOOD GET-TOGETHER
Since I did today’s challenge as part of yesterday’s, I decided to invite all of the four-footers from Origamiville for a doggone good reunion party.
Hmm, looks like a certain feline is trying to crash the party. Why do paper puppies always turn out so cute.
#2 THE MENSA PUZZLE CALENDAR – ANAGRAM OR RHYME
Well, I know the first one should be squeak.
DAILY CALENDAR CHALLENGE #141 – MAY 21, 2013
#1 THE ORIGAMI CALENDAR CHALLENGE – BLUE DOG
The calendar called this fold dippy dog, but Mlle. Renee said that wasn’t a very nice thing to call man’s best friend. So I renamed the fold BLUE DOG. She says she can live with that. Also the calendar made this fold a two day challenge, but I couldn’t control my creativity. So I completed both parts in one day.
Tuesday’s half – the dog’s body.
And Wednesday’s half - the dog’s head.
Put both parts together, and you have … THE BLUE DOG
Renee gives this challenge … a WELL DONE! NOW, I’ll have to think of something else for Wednesday.
#2 THE MENSA PUZZLE CALENDAR - JUST USE LOGIC
I’m just guessing, but I’d say …
? = 175
#3 THE PAGE-A-DAY PUZZLE CALENDAR – ALPHAMETICS
With all the hazardous weather around the country, I almost didn’t use this puzzle today. But you can’t blame the weather on the puzzle maker.
This time the puzzle uses all 10 numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 0. N = 6 and H = 4.
Point to ponder today - are dogs allergic to the same things as humans? I’m allergic to cottonwood trees. Have been since I was 14 when the family moved from Saint Louis City to West Walnut Manor where the cottonwood tree seems to be the native resident tree. While there are no cottonwood trees on my block, the entire top of the neighboring hill is covered with the trees. And when the wind blows from the south like it did today, it actually looks like it is snowing. So naturally I was plagued with sneezes, wheezes and swollen, watering, itching eyes. I noticed that Renee was having the same problem today. Is she allergic to cottonwoods, too? Or is she just having psychosomatic symptoms to humor or mock me.
DAILY CALENDAR CHALLENGE #140 – MAY 20, 2013
#1 THE ORIGAMI CALENDAR CHALLENGE – BLUE BUTTERFLY
Un bel di vedremo! Today’s origami challenge has triggered an ear worm from a favorite opera. Won’t stop me from completing the task at hand. Though Mlle. Renee might get upset if I start singing.
Not only did my blue butterfly land on the puzzle page … it also visited one of the flowers I folded a month or more ago. 
#2 THE MENSA PUZZLE CALENDAR – WASEI-EIGO
Another Japan puzzle this morning. I think I need a cup or two of tea before starting this one. Oh, no! It triggered another ear worm.
OMG! I think I just dated myself. And would any mother let that lead singer near their teenage daughter?
I did not do well with the pseudo-Japanese language. I only figured out half of them
1 – ice + candy = popsicle, 2 – open + car = convertible, 3 salary + man = office worker, 4 – at + home = cozy, 5 – order + made = custom-made, 6 – four + balls = a walk
#3 THE PAGE-A-DAY PUZZLE CALENDAR – MONORAIL
I’ll get back to this later. I’m going back to bed. Well, I did it, but as you can see with a lot of erasures.
DAILY CALENDAR CHALLENGE #139 – MAY 19, 2013
#1 THE ORIGAMI CALENDAR CHALLENGE – THE NOTHING WEEKEND
Still waiting for the rain to arrive and quell the attack of the cotton wood tree allergens. If it does, I might fold something special this afternoon.
HUZZAH! Still sneezing waiting for that rain to start … but I do have something to CROW about!
My first origami rooster … though with minor modifications I might be able to morph it into a bald eagle for the Fourth of July. It wasn’t a wasted weekend after all.
#2 THE MENSA PUZZLE CALENDAR – THE SUNDAY HALF / MIKE’S COIN JAR
HELL’S BELL AND TANGERINES! Wouldn’t you know that they would throw another math problem at me during the middle of a spring allergy attack?
But, the answer is so simple, everyone should be able to figure it out. I did! Even though I sneezed three times while doing it.
ANSWER: First, what is the value of the four different coins in Mike’s jar? One quarter, one dime, one nickel and one penny is 41 cents. You should be able to figure it from there.
#3 THE PAGE-A-DAY PUZZLE CALENDAR – PHONETIC WORDPLAY
I figured it out … so don’t peek at the answer below.
tniap and tnief
DAILY CALENDAR CHALLENGE #138 – MAY 18, 2013
Yes, it’s another weak end, and I’m so annoyed with my sneezing and runny nose and eyes, I don’t ever give a HOOT!
Just give me some strong tea or coffee with honey to sooth my itchy palate … and totally clogged head.
My head has been taken over with cottonwood fluff!
Caffeinated owl courtesy of Mike S.
And I don’t even care that the origami challenge usually seen in this spot has been usurped by a fluff/puff piece.
#1 THE ORIGAMI CALENDAR CHALLENGE – NOTHING BUT FLUFF THIS WEEKEND
#2 THE MENSA PUZZLE CALENDAR – SATURDAY HALF/PERSON, PLACE, THING
I’ll finish this right after I visit the owls, and maybe I should add some bourbon to the coffee or tea.
And the answers are: repeeksdnuorg – pirtsria – lawardhtiw
And I didn’t get any of them. Shame on me.
#3 THE PAGE-A-DAY PUZZLE CALENDAR – PHONETIC WORDPLAY
THANKFULLY, I WAS SAVING
THIS FOR SUNDAY!
AND WHAT DID I DO ON FRIDAY?
I went to a bi-monthly luncheon at the Pasta House with about 20 guys from my William Cullen McBride High School class. Yes, it was an all-boys school.
And they’re all old men now!
DAILY CALENDAR CHALLENGE #137 – MAY 17, 2013
#1 THE ORIGAMI CALENDAR CHALLENGE – EIGHT POINT STAR
This fold was a little bit involved and it took me a while to figure it out. Quite impressive once it’s done!
#2 THE MENSA PUZZLE CALENDAR – WORD LADDER
Not to worry, what with my allergies and the threat of rain, I’ve got all day to figure this out.
While I was able to get a couple of words going down the ladder, and a couple of words going up the ladder … they never were matching words. And the sneezing and wheezing didn’t help one jot.
#3 THE PAGE-A-DAY PUZZLE CALENDAR -
I got the first two with no problem at all. The last one is rather tricky.
ANSWERS: Henry Matisse, Frida Kahlo, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
COMING UP!
I guess 30 Days of Creativity is looming right around the corner on my many calendars. It runs from June 1 to June 30. Hopefully some of my origami calendar challenges will fit in with the 30 Days Calendar suggestions. You can check some of my daily creations from last year by checking the first category in the Categories List just to your right. If you think you’d like to partake in the creativity this year go to http://30daysofcreativity.com/ or check https://twitter.com/createstuff
DAILY CALENDAR CHALLENGE #136 – MAY 16, 2013
#1 THE ORIGAMI CALENDAR CHALLENGE – A MINI-BOOKLET
Shades of my very first job … as a trainee in the advertising traffic department. I learned all about the production end of advertising long before I got behind a typewriter and the creative end. So I not only was able to fold the little booklet, I was also able to print the cover on the paper before I started folding.
Yes, the cover is actually in the middle of the printed sheet before you begin the folding process.
#2 THE MENSA PUZZLE CALENDAR – CALL THIS PHRASE
Personally, I don’t like advertisers who give their telephone number as a word of phrase. It is actually faster to dial a number than to dial a name or phrase. But I will take to time to spell out their phrase number after I have a couple of cups of coffee.
THE PHONE WORD WAS dnab guj BACKWARDS
#3 THE PAGE-A-DAY PUZZLE CALENDAR – MATCH THE FROGGIES
I was able to get the perfect match even as I was typing this very line. And I didn’t make any mistakes in my typing. Did you know that when I went to high school, my typing teacher was the first person to teach typing in a Missouri school? Also in an all boys school. And the typewriter he always used was an antique L. C. Smith original. He was about 88, which was only a couple of years older than the typewriter.
THE PERFECT MATCH WAS 3 AND 6.
DAILY CALENDAR CHALLENGE #135 – MAY 15, 2013
#1 THE ORIGAMI CALENDAR CHALLENGE – PHEASANT
I don’t know, but this pheasant sort of looks like a pigeon to me. But the object of origami is to fold, not to question. So fold I did!
And then the dumb pigeon tried to fly away!
#2 THE MENSA PUZZLE CALENDAR – TRIOS OF SYNONYMS
I managed to get 1, 2, and 3 in a half blink. Still working on 4.
SO, WHAT WAS ON MY TUESDAY TO DO LIST?
It should have been a note reminding me to stay in bed. But instead it was a note reminding me to go to the eye-guy for my annual check-up. Actually, my eye-guy is a very nice young lady who treats me so respectfully, you’d think I was a crotchety old man … which is a state I am fast approaching. Anyway to make matters worse, the minute I walked out the door I was bombarded with a blitzkrieg of assorted pollens, spoors, and allergens that turned me into an eye-watering, sneezing, wheezing fool. In other words by the time I got to the doctor’s office I was a puffy-eyed dolt with a runny nose. Which was really not the best impression you want to make when visiting anyone of the medical professions. Well, after an hour of eye-dilation, eye photography, flashing lights, looking up, down, side ways and doing eye rolls that would have out eye rolled Eddie Cantor … does anyone even remember Eddie Cantor much less his eye rolls … my doctor announced: “Your eyes are in great shape, and your prescription remains the same.” Which means I didn’t have to spend the income tax return money I had stashed aside to buy a new computer on new glasses. Ok, if my eyes were in such great shape, why did I walk out of the office wearing dark sunglasses like one of the three blind mice and had to grope my way across the street in the glaring 93 degree sunlight? Also, why is there never a boy scout around to guide you across the street when you need one?
Yes, you heard me right, the thermometer reached a high of 93F this afternoon. This was the highest temperature we’ve seen in the past eight months. But it won’t last long, the rains are returning sometime around sunset today.
Also, when I got home this is what I found on my back lawn …
Yep, a lawn filled with maple tree twirlers!
DAILY CALENDAR CHALLENGE #134 – MAY 14, 2013
#1 THE ORIGAMI CALENDAR CHALLENGE – THE INSIDE OUT BOAT
I really thought this was going to be a hard fold — they usually are when to have to turn the finished piece inside out to produce the desire end result.
But this one wasn’t bad. Of course, the finished product isn’t very impressive from the bottom view. 
But the inside is really posh!
#2 THE MENSA PUZZLE CALENDAR – I BEFORE E EXCEPT WITH THIS PUZZLE
Trust me, #5 is not Mount Rushmore.
MOST IMPRESSIVE SIGHT OF THE DAY
Mother Nature - Sculptress
... a somewhat unknown or perhaps imaginary actor, writer, director, producer, photographer, friend, brother, uncle and all round good fellow that you really should get to know because he lives with that most glamorous fourpaw Mademoiselle Renee. (Mlle. Renee for short)
