{"id":42,"date":"2010-02-23T11:07:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-23T11:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/omeoflittlefaith\/2010\/02\/mad-libs-contest-winner.html"},"modified":"2010-02-23T11:07:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-23T11:07:00","slug":"mad-libs-contest-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omeoflittlefaith\/2010\/02\/mad-libs-contest-winner.html","title":{"rendered":"Mad Libs Contest Winner!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to everyone<\/span><\/b> who entered yesterday’s fill-in-the-blank Mad Libs contest<\/a> using a line from O Me of Little Faith.<\/p>\n

I discovered two things from the contest:<\/p>\n

1) Creativity, among readers of this blog, is apparently a license to describe the pestering of animals. <\/b>Mice, Jack Russell Terriers, cats, birds, sheep, llamas, gophers, flies, chickens, buffalos and Velociraptors all made appearances. Variously disturbing things were being done to them. I fear a PETA backlash.<\/p>\n

2) The excitement of animal-bothering can be a distraction.<\/b> That’s my conclusion, since many failed to follow the explicit parts of speech needed for the sentence. A number of the entries were disqualified for not adhering to the specified last two words: on a\/an (place) (noun)<\/span>. Sorry. But rules are rules, and this is a highly legalistic blog.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/span>
Anyway, I’ve chosen some finalists from the qualifying entries. Here they are:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Lauree<\/b><\/a>
… like herding cats<\/span> with a laser pointer<\/span> on a glass company truck rack<\/span>.<\/p>\n

(Lauree used some extra words but followed the intent of the law, so I’ll allow it. And the idea of cats chasing a laser pointer surrounded by glass is awesome.)<\/i><\/p>\n

Danny Bixby<\/a><\/b>
…is like soothing velociraptors<\/span> with an airhorn<\/span> on a fault line<\/span>.<\/p>\n

(Great imagery. And I will almost always respond favorably to sentences about Velociraptors.)<\/i><\/p>\n

Denise<\/a><\/b>
…is like shearing sheep<\/span> with a lightsaber<\/span> on a Six Flags roller coaster<\/span>.<\/p>\n

(Lads like me love alliteration. And shearing sheep with a lightsaber sounds really fun, whether a thrill ride is involved or not.)<\/i><\/p>\n

dkamfam<\/a><\/b>
…is like twirling matches<\/span> with a fork<\/span> on a desert island<\/span>.<\/p>\n

(A person who could do this would no doubt be elected the leader of the survivors following a plane crash, though that might also mean a lot of headaches what with the time travel and polar bears and stuff.)<\/i><\/p>\n

bobfromchicago<\/a><\/b>
…is like catching flies<\/span> with chopsticks<\/span> on a Niagara Falls tightrope<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Bob wins! <\/i>I give Bob the creative victory for two reasons, because his sentence involves two distinct cultural and historical allusions. #1 is the Karate Kid<\/a> catching-flies-with-chopsticks thing, which I love because Mr. Miyagi = awesome. References to movies from the ’80s are always welcome here. #2 is because the Niagara Falls tightrope refers to the Great Blondin<\/a>, a daredevil from the 1800s who crossed the falls several times on a tightrope and who — get this — makes an appearance in O Me of Little Faith<\/i>. A pretty important appearance, metaphorically speaking. Bob? Where’d you get an advance copy of the book?<\/p>\n

Bob, send me your shipping address<\/b> and I’ll give you a signed Pocket Guide to the Bible<\/a> <\/i>along with a copy of Picking Dandelions<\/a><\/i> by Sarah Cunningham.<\/p>\n

And Denise gets second place,<\/b> because the shearing-sheep-with-a-lightsaber image is irrevocably wedged in my brain. So cool. Denise, send me your shipping address and I’ll put a signed Pocket Guide to the Bible<\/i> in the mail for you.<\/p>\n

—————–<\/p>\n

\"\"What was the original sentence from <\/b>O Me of Little Faith<\/a><\/b><\/i>?<\/b><\/p>\n

The practice of praying in my head — of lining up stray thoughts to present them to God in an official, well-reasoned and coherent manner — <\/i>is like sweeping marbles with a push-broom on a gym floo<\/i><\/span>r. <\/i><\/span>I can\u2019t sustain it for any length of time before everything scatters. <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to everyone who entered yesterday’s fill-in-the-blank Mad Libs contest using a line from O Me of Little Faith. I discovered two things from the contest: 1) Creativity, among readers of this blog, is apparently a license to describe the pestering of animals. Mice, Jack Russell Terriers, cats, birds, sheep, llamas, gophers, flies, chickens, buffalos…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contest"],"yoast_head":"\nMad Libs Contest Winner! - O Me of Little Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omeoflittlefaith\/2010\/02\/mad-libs-contest-winner.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mad Libs Contest Winner! - O Me of Little Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thanks to everyone who entered yesterday’s fill-in-the-blank Mad Libs contest using a line from O Me of Little Faith. 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