From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:

I dreamed I screamed hesitation!

In Japan, most statues of Thousand-Armed Kannon, a Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, show only 42 arms.  Two are normal arms, and the remaining arms each represent the 25 Buddhist worlds.  40 times 25 equals 1000, plus two regular arms equals 1002.  Whether a statue has 42 arms or 1002, it still seems to misrepresent the goddess by minimizing or exaggerating her arms!

Tibetan art seems to have a better grip on one thousand arms.  This painting of Thousand-Armed Chenrezig (a.k.a. Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion) looks convincing.

This Chinese statue of the Goddess of Mercy also appears to get the number right.

But who's counting?

New Title (Instead of a Raise)

This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?

• 7-letter words: 10
• 8-letter words: 2
• 9-letter words: 1

One 8-letter words describes someone who is unusually enthusiastic about saving the environment.

All letters in the word must touch (in any direction), and no square may be reused.

Click to display solutions

Ma: Tsk, tsk.  Have you seen this new governmental program?  "Accent on Education" they call it.  It's unspeakable!

Pa: Unspeakable?

Ma: See for yourself:

Today's question:

Was New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina?

With "hindpsych," the unfortunate answer is "yes"!  Note that every card in our Tarot spread features wands.  The hermit (left) holds a wooden staff for support.  The central figure struggles to carry a bundle of sticks (still in leaf, as if fallen branches from living trees or uprooted trunks).  And the Page of Wands (right) seems to be planting a tree in a barren landscape. 

We begin with the center card, the Ten of Wands, as it is flanked by two figures facing away from it.  The central figure is saddled with a difficult burden.  He is carrying a heavy load, perhaps laboring to clean up a messy situation.  (Ultimately, he is headed toward the right, where the Page of Wands is planting a tree, so the heavy load in the center picture is more likely saplings, symbolizing the labor and promise of regrowth.)  We see a house and trees in the background; we can easily conclude that the landscape refers to storm-damaged New Orleans and that a time of struggle is looming. 

The two figures facing away from the center card represent two outcomes.  On the left, the Hermit represents receiving guidance and accepting help.  On the right, the Page of Wands symbolizes creatively and wholeheartedly tackling a challenge.  Our spread indicates that New Orleans will experience a "dark night of the soul" (the Hermit) but will blossom again through assertive action (the Page of Wands).  We can say with confidence that New Orleans was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, and we can now move on.

My friend Jonathan wrote to me about "making pesto like an Italian grandmother."  I got to thinking that fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil aren't enough, in and of themselves, to make pesto on par with an Italian grandmother's.  It occurred to me that in order to make pesto like a real Italian grandmother, one would have to somehow be an Italian grandmother.  Improbable, perhaps ... but not impossible, thanks to the Honorary Italian Grandmother (and Saint) Certificate.

Italian grandmothers are famous for being dauntless, affectionate, and inspirational.  The spirit of Nonna, the archetypal Italian Grandmother, is the zest for life.  Nonna is present whenever a family and guests are well fed and whenever something is created by hand, with care and love.

I created the Honorary Italian Grandmother (and Saint) Certificate for those rare individuals with a flair for maintaining tradition, improvising without blinking, and turning anything into a nurturing experience.  The Certificate is personalized in fine calligraphy, easy for you to generate, and completely free!  Click here to check it out.

Never Conceding

Today's "symbolic outlook" from MysteryArts.com is rather exciting.  Notice the elegant progression of spirals, from a tiny spiraling line within the crystal-ball (left), to the full spiral in the circle (middle), to the uncoiling spirals forming the magic lamp (right).  The small spiral is but one of many things floating inside the crystal ball.  Whether symbolizing a spiritual journey, evolution, growth, or the balance of light and dark (as in ancient Chinese art), the outlook seems to suggest that focusing on the spiral brings it to the foreground and enlarges it.  Then, in the third panel, the spiral doubles itself to cradle the flame of a genii's lamp.  Therefore, looking inward (the crystal ball) provides insights into nurturing the spark of life (the spirit contained within the physical shell of the lamp).  Even better are the captions for each symbol.  Reading left to right, enchantment (finding delight, being charming), if put into motion (acted upon), will fuel the imagination (make-believe, as in the Aladdin story). 

This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?

• 7-letter words: 14
• 8-letter words: 5

One 7-letter word refers to a divine or prophetic token.

All letters in the word must touch (in any direction), and no square may be reused.

Click to display solutions

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:

This exquisite line from Tim Powers' novel The Anubis Gate inspired my collage.

"What do you expect?"  Only the very best.

I'm as old as my bubble gum and a little older than my tooth decay.

In the middle of the night, I woke up briefly with a dream idea I was determined to remember in the morning.  It had something to do with the words zither, blither, wither, and slither, and how they could all be represented by a single picture (like a political cartoon).   I recall that the image would have been ring-shaped, to suggest zithering, blithering, withering, and slithering.  As with too many dream images, the details had faded by the time I got out of bed.  I'm left wondering what the image would have looked like.  Could it have been a droopy fool (a withered, blithering idiot) playing a zither in the shape of an Ouroboros (the snake slithering into a ring)?  As a bonus, the entire image could be dithered!