CitiBlocs (or Unpaid Endorsement)

I wonder if you have ever heard of CitiBlocs?  Well, they are little pieces of wood you can build with; they are all the same size and dimensionally they all match up; their width is three times the length, the thickness is, like five three or four times the width and if you... oh for heaven's sake, I can't explain them...  check out the website if you need to, or, better yet, here is something Zack made with them:

Yep, it's a Greek Temple, probably to the God of Wii.  I think it's Ionian, stylewise.


It's got a really ornate roof.

And he is very proud of it.  Duly, I would say.

 He also made this:

Yep, I know what you're thinking:  Well, now he's just showing off.  At first, he wanted to make the structure as it was shown in the booklet that comes with the CitiBlocs.  However, he quickly determined that he could do better and proceeded to add another pagoda-like level, oh, and he also wanted to use all the blocks (or in this case, blocs), which he did - including the couple of dozen coveted red ones.

Zack is a results guy; he wants to get to the next race on a video game, level-up, get a new costume (he really likes having his Wizard101 costume just so), complete a task.  He envisions something and then makes it so.  And, I admire that.  He is also a multitasker, the whole time he was doing this he was paying attention to - and advising -  Nick who was playing a Wii game.

Here's the thing, if I would have been shown the picture in the instruction book and told that if I finished this I would get, say, a big juicy steak...  I'd go hungry.  I would weep before I even started.

I get frustrated at Z sometimes, he can be, well, rigid shall we say?  He has a playground sense of justice, things are either black or white, and he is a natural-born litigator.  Of course he's cuddly and sweet and funny and soulful and loving, but... he does frustrate me.

I really enjoyed watching him create this.  His look of casual concentration, the tongue stuck out while adding a particularly tricky to balance or cantilevered piece; the look in his eyes as he quickly assesses how a piece will stay where he wants it; the stillness of his body as he places the red capstone; the pride and joy on his face as he enjoys the overwhelming sense that is accomplishment.  He gets that, he likes that, he faces down a challenge and gets it done.  He's that guy.

This is what Nick made with the CitiBlocs:

I think it is a scale model of his latest installation at MoMA, "Magical Road to Happy Land."


From Marci's  "...things you don't expect to hear from the backseat ..."

Dad: "Who are the two president's we celebrate on President's Day?"

Nick: "Abraham Lincoln and William Shakespeare"


They wrote 'The Two Gentleman of Gettysburg' together, right?  It's a musical, I think...