Windmill
Big admission coming: I still play with Lego bricks.
That is, er, let me edit that a bit. I “model” with Lego bricks. That’s what I do.
By that I mean that once the epic castle with the small blacksmith shop and mysterious wizard’s tower has been constructed, I don’t line up the knight and soldier mini-figures and launch an assault on the battlements.
My wife takes care of that. I just build. Mostly.
A basic set of red, blue, and yellow bricks with a single minifig is probably the earliest birthday present I remember getting from my parents. I played with it every day. A couple of years later, I got a helicopter on a specially-designed flatbed truck; a year or two after that my parents and my aunt gave me two copies of the same Robin Hood-style set.
I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
From that point, 90% of the sets I bought or received were either medieval- or pirate-themed. That includes the dozens of Harry Potter sets I bought on clearance several years ago.
I bought big castles. I bought little guard shacks. I bought inns and blacksmith shops.
I built massive fortifications, tiny villages, taverns and bridges and mills and hideouts. I built an Elven library and a fortified windmill. I built giant trees with battlements on the branches. I built pirate bases and colonial trading posts.
I discovered Lego websites on the Internet: Brickshelf, Bricklink, and yes, Lego.com.
I built a Lego website… one which, unfortunately, my students eventually discovered and continue to ask me about, even though I’ve taken it down…
Juliet
…but in a few days, as my students finish reading Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” I will review the story by showing them slides of Lego minifigs acting out the plot in a Lego catacombs. (The Lego “Amontillado” isn’t my work – it’s better than what I could do.)
Someday, my wife and I will finish building our Lego Romeo and Juliet project, and my (already shaky) reputation as a mature, adult professional will be forever shattered.
I can’t wait.
If you don’t like LEGO, you don’t like yourself. — attributed to Jonathan P. Kennaugh
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This blog started as an outlet for a nice bit of fiction every now and then, but more of my real life or real memories keep appearing. Take it all with a grain of salt, though.
Never fear! You have no reputation as a mature, adult professional. So you have nothig to lose!
And how could you neglect to mention compounding your nerdiness? Like, say, buying and building a Lego set while waiting in line to watch Star Wars?
oh, you are so NOT alone! Jokes aside about your character traits from one who clearly knows you (referring to Darth’s comments), I think your upcoming slideshow is pure genious! I will bet those students will never forget that connection.