Valentine’s Day. That celebration of romantic love. A day of hearts, flowers, and admirers, hopefully. I can already feel hot breath on the back of my neck…
But the breathing is decidedly aggressive and non-erotic… Only one week until V-Day. One week! How am I ever going to get my gift together?!?
There’s really no reason why a gift is necessary except that I like to give gifts. Especially gifts I make. Given the time-frame, a sane person intent on gift-giving would just purchase something for their valentine or write a heartfelt note. Maybe make a special meal.
But for some reason, my brain has latched onto a particular idea like a dog with a bone. My brain has decided that an automaton would be the perfect gift for my beloved, who’s an engineer. (Never mind that I never made an automaton before.) Why my brain didn’t latch onto this idea two or more months ago is beyond me.
If you don’t know what an automaton is, it’s like a moving sculpture. They tend to use mechanisms like gears, cranks, cams, and levers to make a sculpture move in various ways. I thought the mechanical nature of automata (plural for automaton) would make for an ideal gift to a mechanical engineer. That it took me almost 15 years to figure that out is a little embarrassing, but better late than never.
Of course, automata come in a variety of sizes and levels of complexity. Given the time frame, I’ll have to settle for something simple. Much simpler than the idea that came to me. That more complex idea will have to wait until next year, giving me plenty of time to pull it together without losing my mind.
life in jello 