13 Thursday: What’s Left is What’s Right
1. Talking to my blog friend Smiler about why I haven’t joined the NaNoWriMo writing project, in which bloggers write a novel in thirty days, posting an entry each day, I said: I write so much already that I do it in my sleep, and then there’s the part of me that still considers writing fiction a form of lying.
2. Whenever I ask a question in a comment on a blog I have the urge to say, “I’ll take my answer off the air.”
3. Telling time after losing an hour to daylight savings time is like being bilingual. In our bedroom the clock reads the new time and in the kitchen it’s old, and no matter where I am when I look at the clock, I have to translate one time to the other.
4. What does fall smell like, in one sentence, Fred recently asked at Fragments from Floyd. My answer: Fall smells like an apple crisp crust baking brown and crispy with warm wild apples steeping inside (even if I they are store bought apples this year SEE HERE).
5. THIS is me walking to the mailbox. Take some Dramamine and turn up your sound.
6. For THIS one, hold on to your hat.
7. It seems fitting that the word GOD is in GOLD.
8. And that menses and semen are the same words with the letters switched around. Note and tone are too.
9. Are you left brained, right brained, or a balance of both? Check out THIS dancer and see if you see her spinning clockwise or counter clockwise or both? It’s fascinating!
10. When I first showed the dancer to my husband he said, “I see her turning clockwise because that’s the way she IS going.” But I saw her spinning counterclockwise at the same time he was seeing here go clockwise. Eventually he did see her go both ways and got that she isn’t actually changing her direction. It’s an illusion and her direction is dependent on how you look at her.
11. “Seeing is believing, but feeling is the truth.” ~ Thomas Fuller.
12. Sometime when I’m writing poetry I squint my eyes while my brain searches for the right world. After I found myself squinting to make the dancer change direction, I wondered if squinting is a way for me to access my right brain functions.
13. In my last 13 Thursday I wrote about watching the campy 1958 movie The Blob on Halloween and how someone in the movie actually said “shucks.” “When’s the last time you heard that and what do you think they would say today instead?” I asked. The best answer came from Deana, who said: “I bet it would rhyme with shuck.”
Thursday headquarters is here. My other 13’s are here. View more 13 Thursday’s here.
November 8th, 2007 1:11 am
I looked at that spinning dancer one and after a few moments she changed direction. Apparently that was my brain changing gears!
November 8th, 2007 6:27 am
Hi Colleen, OOhh my I did have to hold on to my hat in the second video, The tree was blowing and sounded like you were having a thunderstorm…
November 8th, 2007 7:38 am
The spinning woman was spinning clockwise when I first looked at her, then I saw her going the other way, and finally I was able to switch her back and forth at will. What’s that mean? Probably that I’m an alien … lol. The confusing part is that she goes from holding her right leg out to holding her left leg out, but there’s no jump in the middle for her to “change” feet.
:^D
Lots of fun. Thanks, Colleen.
November 8th, 2007 7:49 am
My results: counterclockwise with no ability to reverse her…not even by squinting. Too bad. I’d have liked to have been a switch hitter. Yes to Joe…truth does depend on perspective and subjectivity. There is no one reality.
Sorry I couldn’t watch the video clips. I have trouble streaming with my connection. But from previous commenter, I can imagine.
November 8th, 2007 8:31 am
1. I have been reading about the novel project, and cannot imagine taking on something so grand, cudos to those who go for it!
5&6 Great videos!
8. Menses and semen – how fitting!
9. Counterclockwise only – I sent this to my left-handed daughter and she saw clockwise only.
Great 13 as always!
November 8th, 2007 8:46 am
Counterclockwise means your left brain is dominant meaning you are logical, practical, probably good at math and science. Clockwise would be right brain which rules imagination, feelings, and the use of abstract concepts. If you see her change I believe it means you are (like Nicholas said) shifting brain gears, using both parts of the brain.
My sister Kathy found it and we played with it for many days on the LOVELINK, our family email of about 8 people. A couple of us only saw in clockwise and couldn’t shift it (we are a very right brained dominant family). Others had to work at it to switch. We figured out a few helpful tips to switch, such as scrolling to half the figure or looking at her foot and imagining it or shifting your gaze. I tend to see it counterclockwise first before I shift it. I do think I have good analytical skills mixed with being right brained (not good with math etc.).
Funny how the word menses switched to semen like the dancer!
November 8th, 2007 9:52 am
I first saw her counterclock-wise and then she changed!! It is very interesting.
November 8th, 2007 9:56 am
I could shift it from counterclockwise, but then I couldn’t get it to shift back. Maybe my logic took over!
And menses/semen would have to be semens 🙂
November 8th, 2007 10:02 am
Not wanting to accept that I don’t have an active right brain, I went back to look again. This time, clockwise. Do ya think it’s because I’ve just spent the last hour or so writing comments on blogs?
November 8th, 2007 11:31 am
That dancer had me in a trance. At first she was spinning counter clockwise, which made no sense to me since i’m a lefty and supposedly artistic, but then I remember at trick I use sometimes to look at an image I’ve too long in a fresh way: I look at is upside-down. So I’d bend down and look at her from a different angle and every time I did that she changed direction almost instantly. Fascinating.
November 8th, 2007 11:43 am
I’ve been squinting while you’ve been looking upside down. Our minds are like snow globes that we have to shake up a little from time to time.
November 8th, 2007 12:07 pm
What fun I had here this morning, crunching through the leaves, listening to the wind blowing, watching a dancer and smelling apple crisp.
Now I’m going to stand on my head to see if I can get the dancer to spin the other way.
Happy TT!!
November 8th, 2007 12:18 pm
Clockwise.
November 8th, 2007 12:29 pm
Where do you find those amazing links?? 🙂
The dancer was dancing counter clockwise…
Loved your nr 11, it truly left me thinking. I slightly disagree with your nr 3: bilingual people don’t translate, they decode immediately…that’s my own experience, unless I am looking for a specific word…
Happy thirteening, it’s always a pleasure to read your lists!
November 8th, 2007 1:09 pm
Have I ever told you your T13 is my favorite? I totally look forward to Thursdays to see what you come up with! That spinning lady…at first she was spinning clockwise, then she switched and went the other way…then back again, etc., etc.
Loved the video of you crunching through the leaves. I was making that noise this morning, while out walking Wolf 🙂
November 8th, 2007 2:01 pm
Do the NaNo novelists have to post a blog entry every day, too? NaBloPoMo is a separate deal created for those who aren’t doing the NaNo thing.
I haven’t been able to write a novel in 44 years, no way I’d try in 30 days.
I agree with Janet. Your TT’s are among my favorites, too.
November 8th, 2007 3:05 pm
Thank you! Feedback like that gives me incentive not to throw the computer out the window.
I don’t know about the NaMO stuff. I just today figured out that it stood for NAtional and MOnth!
November 8th, 2007 10:11 pm
I sooo agree with Thomas Fuller….! I have to check that Dancer out…! Hmmmmm.
Love yoyr two Videos Colleen…Walking through the leaves—What a GREAT Perspective!
November 8th, 2007 10:41 pm
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month which is … ta-da! … November. I’m a WriMo for the first time this year. Jennifer, you should try NaNoWriMo BECAUSE you have been unable to write a novel in 44 years. I haven’t written one in 67 years (gotcha beat), but I’m pretty much on track to get the 50,000 word rough draft finished during this 30-day month.
November 9th, 2007 9:02 am
walking so clever and what a memory sk
November 9th, 2007 9:36 am
My hubby stumbled on that spinning dancer last night. We are so opposite. I was seeing her spin clockwise while he was seeing her spin counter clockwise. Fun stuff!
November 9th, 2007 9:57 am
I want to thank “Smiley”……….I can now do the dancer without a problem and it works instantly when you look at it upside down. What is that all about? Like Colleen said we looked at this for days. I tried to have it go to counter-clockwise and it wouldn’t change and I didn’t know what anyone was talking about it.
November 9th, 2007 10:03 am
That’s great, She! Let’s see if we can get Kathy to see it using the upside down trick.
November 9th, 2007 11:04 am
Fall to me smells like burning leaves in the ditches of the neighbourhood in which I grew up..back in the days when this ws allowed. Now, it’s more the smell of wood fires coming out people’s chimneys! (Not that I mind the fabulous smell of apple crisp!)
November 9th, 2007 11:08 am
No surprise that I’m right brained! I can’t even make the dancer go counter-clockwise! I’d bet most bloggers are right brained.
November 9th, 2007 11:09 am
Well I hope today wasn’t a day my mama visited, she will think I have a potty mouth! I have to go see the dancer….
Martin changes our clocks right off but I was always slower in doing my own. (my car is still on old time.) And with the new time I translate it into the old in my brain. If it is 8:00 at night I think…oh it is really 9:00 and I need to start winding down. I can’t help it. I stay that way until after Christmas.
November 9th, 2007 11:18 am
Okay I can only see clockwise and I tried. But I am not logical or practical…but surprising math was my thing. In fact I loved calculus. Go figure. But I couldn’t make her spin the other way.
I had to laugh going back and reading your comments because I am doing the NaBloPoMo…just the post a day, which is killing me. But I laughed thinking surely you hadn’t been there and thought I was doing the novel thing, of all people! Did you at least roll your eyes thinking that? The spinning explains why my language skills are so faulty.
November 9th, 2007 12:24 pm
I calculate “the real time” after the clocks go back too for several weeks. It makes me feel rushed that the days are so short, over before they hardly begin.
Did you (Ruth and Deana) try looking at her from upside down? Some people are having luck see her change doing that.
I knew there was a NaNoMo for posting every day, but I thought you posted every day anyways, Deana, so I didn’t quite understand it.
November 9th, 2007 2:58 pm
#9 utterly fascinating. She was turning counterclock wise for me at first (as I tried to figure it out) then as I relaxed into it and just looked it it she went clockwise, then when an IM popped up and I had to look and think about who it was shwe went back to counter clockwise.
November 9th, 2007 3:05 pm
OK I have to question this #9 right brained left brained activity. At first I was OMG its sooo weird. But being a software developers. The image is the image – it is a flash animation and it changes at random times. You simply cannot change how a flash animation acts with your mind. In case you can’t tell I am very logic oriented. I believe in what you are saying and certainly believe in left versus right brain activity but this one “game” I think works because we want it to. Just my 2-cents. You have a great blog.
November 9th, 2007 4:28 pm
But that doesn’t explain how you can watch it with someone else and both see her going in a different direction at the same time.
November 9th, 2007 4:29 pm
Seeing is believing, but feeling is the truth.” ~ Thomas Fuller.
Amen! Couldn’t agree more.
November 9th, 2007 4:57 pm
This dancer was the first thing I thought of when I got the Sunday Scribblings prompt, too!
Flash animation is a strange mix of left and right brain activities….and so is perception….
Anyway, on to think more about my actual post. 🙂
November 9th, 2007 6:31 pm
A lifetime seems small to write a novel, I can’t comprehend how people do it in a month. I enrolled for NaBloPoMo and I’m struggling…
The dancer – I fail to see her turn counter clockwise, and I have been monitoring her for last three days! I am logically challenged…sigh!
November 9th, 2007 10:17 pm
WO! that was amazing. First she was ONLY counterclockwise, then instantly she changed!
very good link, thanks.
November 10th, 2007 3:31 am
OK. This dancer thing really had me going for a long time. At first, I saw her going counter-clockwise. Then she was going clockwise, and I couldn’t make my mind change it. But she did change! And I think it’s computer animation, and not my mind changing gears. I saw it go from CW to CCW and back to CW several times. Things like this frustrate me, but I enjoy your blog!
November 10th, 2007 5:27 am
It’s been awhile since I’ve been over here dear sister partly because I’ve been reading a lot of fiction lately and don’t have the time it takes to read blogs anymore. After staying away from that avenue of expression for over twenty years, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how reading fiction works. It takes a good writer to bring a reader to a place of believability. One must know a lot about Life to pull it off. Much truth lies within. I think you could do it.
And to the dancer: I have yet to see her turn both ways. With squinty eyes and on my head, she goes ONLY clockwise for me. As I said to you on our family email list (the Love-Link), I think I’m stuck – and strangely (but maybe not), that brings me back to your thoughts on #1. Maybe someday my left brain will kick in as reading fiction sure has. I just can’t get enough (I was just blown away by Nobody True, written by a British writer, James Herbert.)
November 10th, 2007 9:59 am
Good storytelling is good storytelling. A myth is a lie that tells the truth, same for fiction.
November 10th, 2007 11:10 am
i am most intrigued by item #12….. i am looking now to see if i too have “a door…..”
November 10th, 2007 11:15 am
I enjoyed both your youtube clips. I first saw the dancer going clockwise, then while reading the text on the left, she changed. I then tried and tried and tried to get her to go back to clockwise and couldn’t, so I tried the same thing, reading the text without focusing on her, but keeping her in my vision. And sure enough, she flipped back for me. Very strange. And cool. I guess my mind can’t make up it’s mind about which side to use. I don’t know what that says about me.
November 10th, 2007 11:25 am
One great post. It set me thinking too…
November 10th, 2007 2:05 pm
Loved this post! Lots of links and info…I am writing my third NaNoWwriMo book and it’s a blast. Also doing NaBloPoMo so I may be spinning in different directions, too! Good post!
November 11th, 2007 1:27 pm
Sorry I’ve been “away” for so long! I saw your comment on Sunday Scribblings and had to check out the dancer. She started out clockwise, then switched to counterclockwise, then switched back to clockwise. I stayed passive throughout, so now I want to see if I can change anything deliberately.
I haven’t done NaNo, but I’m writing #6 in the series now. #1 is out (street release on the 28th, advance copies and sales already in progress), with the contract for #2 pending. Grinnn.
November 11th, 2007 2:02 pm
Mary and I just did this together. At first, I saw clockwise and she saw counterclockwise. We were both able to switch the dancer, but in Mary’s case she was seeing switches back and forth before a single rotation was complete. She did it by focusing on the foot and then de-focusing to two images, and said her job became easier after I’d covered up the ads on the right. (She also says mild irritation helped, and her determination not to let it stop her.)
November 12th, 2007 2:12 pm
She was clockwise for me. 🙂
But I had no trouble seeing her spin the other way either. 🙂
I loved the crunching leaves.
~S 🙂