Quiz Results

The results are in!

In third place, earning five points with an 89% team average: The World Series Fixers

In second place, earning 10 points with an 89.2% team average: The Drug Store Owners

In first place, starting off the competition with 15 points and a 96% team average: The Oculists.  This team's members all got As on the quiz; good job, you wild wags!

The Golfers weren't too far off with an 86% team average. I do want to remind you that while a low score wins in golf, it does not win in The Great Gatsby Smackdown!

Workout

I love carbs, but they don't like me;
Big chubby cheeks that all can see,
A curse that comes from too much pie,
Snack cakes, sweet tea, ham on rye.

Go to gym four times per week,
Dance class twice, stay with beat,
Bend knees, side step, back once more,
Hang tough, fall down, hit the floor.

Jump rope, biker hard, swim ten laps,
Push up, pull back, walk real fast.
Lean, mean shape and abs of steel,
Less food in, needs good strong will.

Now, for you, this tale is done;
Look out, bake shop, here we come!

Trees

The tree sways back and forth to find a thing to do. It waits and waits and waits and waits and waits and waits and waits and waits and waits and waits and waits and waits and waits and waits and waits. then it takes place. the cow comes at a run right at the tree, but it can not move.  so the cow hits the tree and the cow falls over.  The tree is proud. it is still tall and as high as a tall tall tall tall hill. the tree feels like no thing can take it down. so the tree waits and waits and is proud and waits and waits. The tree is still at a wait when the giant truck comes straight at the tree. It feels proud and stands tall. The big truck hits the tree and it falls the tree falls, but then the tree picks it self back up.  The roots kept the tree safe and it stands back up. it picks its self up in hard times and keeps on.

A strange death.

"A man can only be pushed so far."Bradford Craus thought to himself. Craus was a humble businessman sitting, somewhat ironically, on the edge of the roof of the Precipice Hotel and Spa. Down below him he saw people going about their business unaware of his presence. Egotistically he sneered at them. "Forget them. Guys like me either live life in control or take it by force." He thought. "I will be in control of my life, even if that means deciding when to end it. Just one small step or scooch." "Killing oneself  is never easy." Leered a new voice. "Mister Quanthal?" Needled Craus. "Of course it is. Perhaps you expected your mother?" Quanthal asked. "Regardless of my personal feelings towards you, Mr. Craus, I am here to remind you that suicide is in direct violation of your contract. Stipends lost or penalized will be taken directly from your family. That's just the way it is." Uttered Quanthal in an uninterested monotone. "Very well then. We all knew it would come to this. Xerxes!" Yearningly Quanthal said after being met with silence. Zoom went Craus' body as it flew toward the street below.

Help

All alone in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night.
Branches creak overhead and animals watch from the gloom.
Could I outrun a bear or beast if it came to it?
Doubtful.
Each minute I'm here my survival rate goes down.
Faint sounds of a river-maybe a larger creek?-come from my left.
Getting back to civilization is key so I walk to the river in hopes of it passing through a town but something stops me first.
Here I trip over something big and solid and wet.
I'm afraid to look but I have to know.
Jerking back after I see what tripped me I almost throw up.
Keeping away from the mutilated carcass of what used to be my friend and camping partner I hurry on through the woods.
Leaving him behind made me feel terrible but I could send people for him later.
My life was on the line here, his was already gone.
Naturally I'm terrified and already running, but this time I watch where I step.
Oceans of sound assault me as I run and I think I even hear footsteps keeping pace with me just a few trees away.
Panic is slowly setting in and I'm not even looking where I'm going anymore.
Quicker, please let me be quicker!
Racing a hidden threat has my adrenaline pumping but my energy is running out...
Secretly I almost wish the Thing would go ahead and take me, just so this could end.
The Thing seems to like to play and continues the chase.
Unfortunately for me-and even the Thing as it seems to enjoy my suffering-it looks as it I have nowhere else to run.
Vultures will have first pick of my corpse, I can already see them flying over us.
Will my body even be found?
Xanthic rocks loom above me and continue both left and right, there's no escape.
Yellow light of the moon makes everything around me ethereal as I turn to face my Death.
Zephyrs blow around me, encouraging me, as I stare straight at the Thing and decide I'm not going down without a fight....

The Stories You Write at 9:00 O'clock...

An all together unusual thing happened last Friday. Bea and I were out scouring the hotel lobby, far later than anyone should be in a hotel lobby, looking for the last remnant of Professor Que's puzzle. Careful to leave no stone un-turned, I tossed away every throw pillow and looked under very vase and novelty sculpture. "Donna, I found something!" Bea exclaimed while running over from the far side of the room. Envelopes, three of them to be exact, were hidden in a light fixture hanging over one of the restaurant's booths. Fingering them for a moment, I opened the first one gingerly. "Greeting!" it started, "How your lives are going to change after tonight! I honor you with being at the center of its destruction." Just as I suspected, Professor Que can't help being poetically morbid. "Kindly open the other other envelopes before continuing." Leaving the opened envelope in Bea's hands I open the other two envelopes, each only containing a slip of paper with strange symbols on each. "Mandarin- each paper contains a phrase that will bring about the end of the world." Nothing like the end of the world written in Mandarin to calm your nerves. "Openly proclaim my intentions to the world- and my cryptic Mandarin text- and the world will end with your words. Privately hide them away, and you can kiss your loved ones goodbye- the only thing you have been seeking this whole quest." Que was a madman, and we both knew that he was capable of both of his threats. Realistically, Que could have the catalytic to the world's demise. "So what we do now?" "Translating the Mandarin sounds like a good place to start." Unfolding the paper, I pulled out my phone to type in the Mandarin phrases. Visibly shaking, I read the first phrase out loud. "Weaver Spider- how is that dangerous?"

"Xcarpath..."

"Yeah... what does it mean, Donna?"

"Zenith Rising- it's a company that makes Xcarpath... what if Que tampered with it and wants to turn it against the world?"

Clever

At some point we all break. Breaking hurts but it is necessary. Caring people will help you through it. Difficult as this may be, there are better days in the future. Everyone has rough days. Forgive me if it seems like I'm trivializing your problems, I just meant you're not alone. God can and will always be there. He'll never leave, you just have to turn to Him. I had to do that once, you know, submit. Just because I couldn't do it alone anymore. Kept trying to do it all myself but it was torture. Letting go of my circumstances and giving them to God was painful and difficult but so worth it. My life changed for the better in so many ways. Now I can confidently say I walk with God daily. Of course there are still rough days, but they are bearable. Problems and trails are still there. Quality time with God and my friends is what helps the most for me. Really helps. Sometimes I just realize how blessed I am to have friends like them. They listen and care about everything and that means so much to me. Unbelievable how much they put up with me haha. Very thankful for them. Whatever, this is getting too emotional for me. Xylophones are instruments. You knew that, but i told you anyway. Zirconium is an element.