Saturday, September 15, 2012

Somewhere Between Boredom and Genius Lies Obsession

Yesterday I mentioned how Genius spent an evening building a photo opportunity out of a wooden speaker box, a Solo cup, and a mutilated balloon. He was not satisfied with his results, and plans to refine his process at a later date. Until then, he has graciously consented to share his first attempt.


This is the set-up. He had already dismantled his rig, so he did not have a picture showing the speaker box and camera. He was going to snap a photo of that with one of his other cameras. The lesser babka of his picture-taker stable. So what we have here is a sliced-off section of a white balloon stretched over a mutilated red Solo cup, which is jammed into a wooden speaker out of range at the bottom of the pic. He used acrylic paint mixed with water. That's the main component that he wants to modify, to get just the right viscosity. And when he works out the bugs, he will put the whole thing in front of a black or white background, I'm sure. Depending on whether he uses the white or the black balloon.

Here's what he's going after:


He eventually wants to use multiple hues that shoot up independently. He gave it a try, but they ran together. He had taller columns, but I liked this one. Genius had to crop these photos so I could load them in less than thirty minutes apiece. My internet leaves a bit to be desired. So you're missing a part from the left edge that has balls of watery paint bouncing on the mini-lake of watery paint. Surface tension, you know. That's what surprised him, that the drops didn't flatten out into the lake upon contact, but bounced a couple of times, maintaining their spherical shape.

Perhaps Genius will treat us to more colorful eye candy when he refines his techniques. He has more pressing things on his agenda tonight. Namely spending the night at a friend's house, eating pizza, taking photos with glow lights, and watching anime. I told him that sounds like something people do when they're high.

He assured me that they're not. That his friend's mother is just like me.

Alrighty then.

5 comments:

  1. His friend's mother is just like you? Hmnn...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am quite impressed by the photos, even if they weren't up to The Genius' snuff.

    So, his friend's mother is noisy, protective and relentless? Sounds like a perfect parent. And with The Genius away, THIS is the time when some Krispy Kremes should be shipped in.

    Poor Pony...He always gets the short end of the stick.

    ReplyDelete
  3. And we all thought there could be no other just like you! Genius is a genuis! Wonder what he will be like as an adult. My dad had a buddy in the Navy who had 4 of the most outrageous boys. These kids were into everything and the parents were so laid back and easy going. The oldest was the ring leader. He grew up and my parents were interviewed by government officials about having known this young man as a child. Was he in trouble? No. He is now a very high ranking official in the Pentagon. And we wonder why our country is going to hell in a handbasket! This is the child who would lead his pack of littel brothers into the woods armed with all the kitchen knives they could carry, then encourage them all to climb into the trees. The emergency room was their second home.

    ReplyDelete
  4. If that other mom posts those glow light pictures on her blog, please link us up. Those slo mo paint ones are very cool.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Stephen,
    It's not like I chastise him for wire hangers. It appears that the mold was not broken, nor thrown away, after my creation. If we don't put the kibosh on this cloning of my MOMness, my proposed handbasket factory might suffer.

    ************
    Sioux,
    I might just as well call 1-800-BAD_MOM and hotline myself for my parenting skills. You'll know why when you read Monday's upcoming tale of the sleepover.

    The Pony is doing fine in the stick department. Friday was the delivery day for the cheerleaders' Krispy Kreme fundraiser. So The Pony had a dozen all his own. At the present time, three remain.

    **************
    Kathy,
    Genius already thinks of himself as an adult. In fact, that's what the Parents As Teachers worker told us when she saw him as a toddler. "He relates to adults like he's one of them."

    I know a family of daredevil boys like that. Only 3, though. Not a scaredy-cat among them. It's like survival of the fittest over there. They are all great athletes, and good students as well. I prefer my boys to be encased in bubble wrap until early adulthood.

    ************
    Tammy,
    Look for a glow light pic on Monday evening. In what might be considered an inflammatory post.

    ReplyDelete