I once saw a t-shirt in a catalog that had “I never metaphor I didn’t like.” printed on it. I got a big smile on my face–that was me. Metaphors are constantly flying around in my brain, waiting to find their way into a story, poem or blog post. The ironic part is that when I was in 7th grade English, I was baffled by metaphor and simile. I remember the day clearly. That puzzlement continued until I was in my early thirties, on the verge of a nervous breakdown–metaphor became very clear to me.
Anytime I share a blog post, I have to read the Captcha and enter what I see in the box. The other day I found myself leaning from side to side, moving forward at an angle, trying to figure out this one particular Captcha. Okay, that one looks an “o” but it could be an “a” with a serif font. Leaning forward to examine it closer doesn’t make it any clearer; neither does going at it from the side. The next one looked like a somewhat flighty “L” but it was just a lazy “J.”
I like it when they make the second “word” a real word, easily readable. After the uncertainty and confusion of the first word, it’s a relief to see that sometimes a word is what it says it is.