problem solving

I am trying to make a kinetic photo for a contest, and it looks like I won't make the deadline.

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[Correction: It's not a contest, it's an assignment.]

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The camera must be moving for a kinetic photograph. I did not want to copy someone else's idea. Like when someone flips a compact camera in the air for a random exposure and try to catch it, lest it break. Or where the camera is attached to a moving car. My idea was to go for the effect of a space ship moving through a star field.

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I made a contraption that would hold the toy one cubit from the camera. Then, aiming at white Christmas tree lights, I pan the camera for a blurred background, hoping to keep the ship in focus.

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Instead of white streaks, I got colored dot patterns. I am not sure why. And what about that color?! Maybe the bluish led (fixed on the ship) offset the white balance.

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I'm not sure how I want to solve this problem, but sometimes you have to think outside the box:

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Here is a story about problem solving I found at Arcamax Publishing.

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Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the merchant's beautiful daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the merchant' debt if he could marry the merchant's daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. The cunning money lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter.

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The moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender's wife and her father's debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

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They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the merchant's garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag.

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Now, imagine you were standing in the merchant's garden. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

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1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.
3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

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Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking. The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking.

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Think of the consequences if she chooses the logical answers.

What would you recommend the girl do?

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The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

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"Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked."

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Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

bugged

There were a few things bugging me this weekend. Not major issues, but man, little things can add up and feel overwhelming, can't they! Part of the problem, is in the way I chose to respond. My attitude was not right, and I LET these things get under my skin. Now, I didn't have a major blowout or anything like that, but on the inside, I felt like I was getting close to it. I want to be wise about the way I choose to respond to difficult situations...

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Arcamax joke:

... like the little daschund whose owner took him along on an African safari. The dog started chasing butterflies and got lost. From a distance, a leopard saw the lost dog and began moving in for the kill. Scary, huh?

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The dog was standing near a pile of bones, and thinking quickly, he turned away from the big cat as if he hadn't noticed, chomped on one of the bones and then smacked his lips as if he had just finished eating, then said, "Aaah, that was one tasty leopard, but I'm still hungry, I sure wish I could find one more!" The leopard heard this and made a fearful retreat.

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Unfortunately, our story doesn't end there. A devious monkey saw and heard the whole thing. Laughing out loud, he told the daschund that he was going to find the leopard and exchange this information for protection. Of course, the leopard was furious when he learned that he had been fooled, so he let the monkey ride on his back as they set out to get revenge on the clever pooch.

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Smelling the return of the monkey, the dog knew that a confrontation was imminent, but didn't let on that he knew they were near. Instead, he announced in a loud voice, "Where is that stupid monkey?! I sent him out over half-an-hour ago to fetch me another leopard!!"