First a story.
Years ago in Milan, my Italian editor arranged for me to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. Only my editor and I were allowed into the climate-controlled space, only for a few minutes, and only after we’d passed through an airlock that ensured the humid outdoors wouldn’t arrive with us.
If nothing else, the painting displayed a catalog of human gestures. Just simple, easily read ways to portray emotion from people’s body language. I’ve almost no idea which apostle is which, but I can guess at them because of this sort of “silent movie” means of creating character through gesture rather than dialog. It’s those kind of simple actions I looked for during the Easter Quiz.
In some cases I loved a suggested gesture, but it seemed to be incomplete in its depiction. “Cupping your hand over your ear” isn’t the same as cupping it behind the ear to hear better. Likewise, I loved “Kissed his bicep” but would’ve chosen “Flexed his bicep and kissed it.”
The good news is that I’ve gone shopping and now have fourteen prizes to award. If you can get your mailing address to Dennis, tonight, I can get your prize in the mail tomorrow. If you wait a bit, the prize will go out on Monday. Please also include your avatar name as well as your actual name so I know I’ve met all my obligations.
In no particular order, my choices are:
Savannah Alexis for “She bit the inside of her cheek.”
Meagan Heil for “She lowered her glasses.”
Bethany for “She twizzled her hair.”
David for “She cupped her hand around her ear.” This seemed closest to “behind.”
Bull’s Eye for “He ran a hand through his hair.”
Katy for “He rolled his sleeves up.”
Teal Harding for “Smack palm against forehead”
Emily Slaney for “She slow clapped.”
Mads for “Ball up a booger.”
Deep Archer for “Rubbed her wrists together…”
Jake Gardner for “Coughed into his elbow.”
Tricia for “He lifted his chin.”
Kimberly for “Tore open a sauce packet with her teeth.”
Amy M for “He made his fingers into a V and flicked his tongue between them.” Especially when coupled with her other suggestion, “He mouthed ‘I love you.’”
If you’d like your prize sent elsewhere, give Dennis the details. If you’re outside the United States, I’ll need a phone number to satisfy your local Customs officials. Please format your address as clear as possible. When you run the street/district/city/county together on the same line it gives the UPS people a conniption fit.
Congratulations, and my special thanks to everyone who played. You’ve created an impressive library of gestures that we can all refer to when we’ve no idea what a character’s hands are supposed to do.
P.S. At Brandan’s urging I did include glitter balls in the packages. Those plus the shredded cellophane “Easter grass” make for a static electricity nightmare. Be aware.
Also, I’ll remind you that the cute “chocolate” bunny is actually chocolate-scented soap. See below:
Thank you so much!
Congratulations to all of the winners!!