Avatars
/The countertop I had started working on last time is finished and looks really fantastic, but I won’t be talking about it in this post. I really want to do it justice, and just haven’t had enough time this week to do that. I did want to make sure I got in another post this week however, so I will be telling you about the family’s new avatars.
Recently I have been working on updating the about page, and realized that it would be nice for my readers to have a mental image of who they are reading about. The problem is that I don’t often show anyone’s face on the blog. That’s because there are a lot of creepy weirdos out there, and I don’t want to make it too easy for them to figure out what me are my kids look like, and do their creepy weirdo thing. Enter the Avatar.
An avatar is a symbol or figure that represents someone in a computer game. While this isn’t exactly a computer game, the blog is on a computer, so close enough.
The kids already had the perfect medium for making avatars – Lego! So I asked them to help me make some Lego minifigures that really reflected our family. This is what I got back;
The Family Avatars
Let’s take this one by one. Starting on the left we have Firebeard. Husband, father, and Star Wars droid wrangler? The likeness really isn’t too bad, but I have no idea what is going on here. Perhaps the combination of the superhuman strength and and the hammer imply modern day Thor like abilities but with droids instead of goats. When I asked the kids, they told me, “It's just fun.” At least it is better than the drunken stormtrooper minifig they keep trying to use as his stand in for board games.
Firebeard
The little black figure is our Boston Terrier, Earl. I think the food represents what Earl would like to eat, rather than what he does eat, even so, I am glad that clouds of gas are difficult to represent with Lego.
Earl
Next is me, Gerwerken. My figure is by far the plainest, lacking any outrageous accessory. It looks pretty much like me, except that I rarely wear pants. In one hand I have a coffee cup, and in the other I have the plans for “Taco Tuesday,” which sounds innocent enough, until you realize that in the Lego Movie the Taco Tuesday plan was basically the plan to take over the world, enslave the population, and crush creativity. Was this a subtle hint that they feel crushed under my authoritarian regime, or just a bid for me to make tacos on Tuesdays? When I asked the The boy about it he said, “that's what you need when you work in an office building job.” I’m not sure what that says about office workers.
Gerwerken
Now the Kids, both of whom are riding dinosaurs. I wanted to know what this might mean psychologically for them so I looked it up. Dinosaurs symbolize the fear of no longer being needed or useful. Perhaps Thomas the Tank engine caused a lot more psychological damage than I realized.
The Boy is on the right with the raptors. He is holding a video game controller and a can of soda. While the can of soda is wishful thinking, overall his Avatar is eerily accurate.
The Boy
The Girl is in the middle. She is riding a dilophosaurus (the kind of dino that spits acid in the Lego Jurassic Park game), dressed as a princess, and holding a lightsaber. Somehow, the little plastic figure gives off the impression of leading a marauding horde into battle. So, it’s pretty accurate too.
The Girl
Stay tuned for updates to the about page using our highly accurate avatars, and don’t miss next week’s post on how the countertop turned out – it will be worth it.
