Just Another Hour...

...and 2008 is over. This time of the year it's customary to contemplate about life and sum up the year that just passed. I won't do any summing up, at least not in public, which leaves me the reflection part of previous mentioned New Year activities. But pondering over life's mysteries is what I usually do anyway, right? So the challenge really is to make it interesting, coming up with a fresh view of some sorts, and this idea here came to me a couple of weeks ago as I spoke to one of my girl friends. She felt a little out of place, as if she'd never get to where she should be in life. Too tittle accomplished, too many wishes, too many loose ends. Now, these were her feelings, only true to her at the time, so to put it in perspective I gave her my thoughts on Jigsaw Puzzles.

I'd like to think of these puzzle games as what you're supposed to be doing with your life, the purpose of it, and life itself is the room you need to lay out the pieces.

Jigsaw puzzles come many different shapes, styles and sizes. There are children's puzzles with very few and very large pieces, and they are quickly put together. (Maybe not if you are child but for this analogy we're all just people, regardless of age...) Children's puzzles are usually brightly colored with easily recognizable patterns. No real challenge there.

There are a lot of different ways to raise up the difficulty level, and the most obvious is perhaps to increase the number of pieces. The challenge with a larger puzzle is actual the space. The more pieces the more free room you need to place the pieces you're working with. Pieces that are not attached to each other take up a considerable amount of space actually.

OK, large puzzles are tricky, and the one from Ravensburger with 18000 pieces surely isn't for anyone. Then you really have to be an enthusiast. But about this one it has to be said that it's consisting of 4 parts of a map, and each comes in it's own bag. Kinda cheating, right?

The strategies of building a puzzle can also vary, but I guess the most common approach is to separate out the edges and make a frame. Well, I do it like that anyway. At least when it comes to actual jigsaw puzzles. Regarding my own life I have a feeling that's not how I build it... But there may be a solution to that too. You see, in addition to larger jigsaws there are ones that are really hard in spite of being more standard sized.

For one, there are puzzles that comes without a picture on the box. So you're building a puzzle without having a clue of the outcome! Maybe just a hint that the result will be an image of a famous painting or something. And can you imagine laying a puzzle where there are no edge pieces? They also exist. Along with the kind where they put an extra 5 pieces in just to confuse you...

Another reason for not being fooled about sized is that the pattern itself can be deceiving. I mean, a simple (and rather predictable) image is the one from the Alps. Clear blue sky with a bright sun and a few white clouds. Sharply defined mountains, green valleys, a flowing river and of course the castle. A puzzle like this is no game, 'cause it's so easy to sort out the colors and different areas. But an abstract pattern with similar colors all over is something else. With that kind of puzzle you can't build up those individual parts which you can put together later; no, with that kind the building process may appear more random. With the "alp-puzzle" you know more or less where the pieces should go, at least the general direction of them, but with a more disorganized picture there's no obvious way of telling if that misty pink is a piece of the sky or merely a reflection in the water.

It's late now, or rather early, and the New Year is only a few hours young. I'm pretty confident I haven't said all there's to say about jigsaws, but then again, if I had the subject would be closed, right? Like now there's room for additional input. Feel free. One point I'd like to make though is that the more complex your jigsaw puzzle is, the longer it will take to build, but it's also so much more rewarding.

I hope no one thinks this is sad, me writing and posting to the blog an a New Year's Eve, instead of being out celebrating. Rest assured, this is nothing but sad, in fact I had a wonderful evening. And not totally on my own either - my kids have stopped by own their way to their friends and such, and I have also received calls and messages from all the people I care about. The certainty I feel now that I also have people who care about me, well, that's the best start of a New Year I can imagine.