I completely apologize for not posting last week. I had this blog written and ready two day earlier, ready to post on Monday morning. Sunday night I was up half the night coughing and couldn’t even wake up to go to school. I did manage to attend school after an hour or so, and after school I headed straight for the doctor where there was a shot and about a million prescriptions waiting for me. Then Tuesday, I was bogged down with so much homework that I couldn’t even breathe. I was up all night studying for a test about – go figure – Romeo and Juliet. (If you’ve read my last couple of blogs you’ll know exactly what I mean!) By the time I remembered about completely forgetting to post, it was Wednesday, half-way through the week. So again, I apologize for not posting last week, but you must forgive me, because I’ve made sure this week’s blog is candy-coated fun. Enjoy:)

Spring is in the air! Driving by, you can actually see people walking with their families and/or pets. It’s a new day in Texas when we’re not huddled up next to our Xbox. Speaking of Xbox, I’m going to turn on my 90-year-old-great-grandmother button. When I was your age, we didn’t watch television…we read books.

So, in honor of “the good ol’ days” let’s exersize our minds. If you’re a Texas student anywhere from Grade 3-11, you know TAKS is right around the corner, or, for me, was two weeks ago. Although you can’t take textbooks home to cram before the night of the test, you can pay attention in class the whole year. Impossible? I think not.

Sometimes, you have to think outside the box. Just for you, this week is all about education. No, I’m not going to bore you into an indepth analysis on sine, cosine, and tangent. I’m going to give you guys puzzles, riddles, and other cool things that can help you become smarter.

Alright. So first, let’s start out with a Rebus puzzle. In these puzzles, you are given a picture and you have to figure out what the picture is trying to say. It can be depicted by where the words are, how big they are, which side they’re tilted at, and blah blah blah.

I’ll give you the first one. It’s the word “Herring” in red, so the word would be “Red Herring.” Easy, right? Try this one:

Figured it out already? It’s a pretty easy one. If you guessed “small print,” you’re right!

How about a hard one, then we’ll move on to the next thing?

Hard? It’s okay. I couldn’t get it at first either. Here, let me help you. First, look at the arrow. Where is it pointing (up or down)? Then, look at the direction of the arrow (left or right). Combine those two words and the word “stupid” and what do you get? I’ll let you figure it out:)

Next, for a shorter segment is something called an oxymoron. It is a statement or phrase that contradicts itself. It can’t be true. They are two words that mean the total opposite. Like, for example:

Jumbo Shrimp

Same Difference

Pretty Ugly

Definite Maybe

Advanced Basics

Tragic Comedy

Unbiased Opinion

Clearly Confused

Open Secret

and my favorite…Microsoft Works

If you can say the following tongue twister very fast, we ought to give you a prize. (Oh yeah…you have to say it out loud!)

Mr. See owned a saw.

And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw.

Now, See’s saw sawed Soar’s seesaw

Before Soar saw See,

Which made Soar sore.

Had Soar seen See’s saw

Before See sawed Soar’s seesaw,

See’s saw would not have sawed

Soar’s seesaw.

So See’s saw sawed Soar’s seesaw.

But it was sad to see Soar so sore

just because See’s saw sawed

Soar’s seesaw.

Hey, what’s so odd about this sentence: some men interpret nine memos? Some men interpret nine memos. Hmm…seems pretty normal, huh? WRONG! Normal is boring, and I don’t do boring. That sentence is a palindrome, which means that written backwards, the sentence would still be “some men interpret nine memos”.

Here’s a cool riddle:

A man was to be sentenced, and the judge told him, “You may make a statement. If it is true, I’ll sentence you to four years in prison. If it is false, I’ll sentence you to six years in prison.” After the man made his statement, the judge decided to let him go free. What did the man say?

Answer: He said, “You’ll sentence me to six years in prison.” If it was true, then the judge would have to make it false by sentencing him to four years. If it was false, then he would have to give him six years, which would make it true. Rather than contradict his own word, the judge set the man free. (http://www.increasebrainpower.com/hard-riddles.html)

I believe that’s all the puzzles you guys are getting today. Remember, you can always use Google, Yahoo!, Bing, Ask, MSN, AOL, etc., etc. to find other puzzles. Meanwhile, be sure to check this website out where I found most of the wondrous depictions: http://www.fun-with-words.com/index.html.

Word of the Week

paradox (noun)

a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

Example: “This sentence is false.”

Picture of the Week

“Muktinath, Nepal” by Devon Cummings on Flickr.

Bonus Riddle

If you either solve this riddle or the one with the four “stupids,” your name will be here…in my blog…next week!

When asked this riddle, 80% of kindergarten kids got the answer,

compared to 17% of Stanford University seniors.

What is greater than God,

More evil than the devil,

The poor have it,

The rich need it,

And if you eat it, you’ll die?