A Link to the Past

Several of my sophomore students will be reading The Great Gatsby this semester, so I thought I should read it myself.

The English department ordered a slew of new copies of the book,  but I borrowed an old copy from the department's old book cabinet. This is a 1986 edition.

I found this note card tucked between the pages. Looks like someone was bored in study hall. Kids, this is what your parents did in school because they didn't have cell phones.

The bookmark isn't the only thing I found inside.

F. Scott Fitzgerald dedicated The Great Gatsby to his wife, Zelda.

Look underneath the dedication.

Link is the main character in the 1987 video game The Legend of Zelda. 

The "Win with Link" sticker is from 1989.

There's an unused sticker for sale on eBay right now.

I wasn't an English teacher at UHS in 1989 (I was in college), but I worked with people who were teaching here then. I can tell you that this sticker would have made a couple of those ladies furious. If they would have seen it; they would have ripped it out.

So, as a teacher, what do I think? I think that it is a special kind of awesome that this gamer's joke has been hiding undetected inside this book for almost 30 years.

Rip it out? I'm more likely to frame it.

Pinball Update: DIY Joker Face Sticker

When I began the Royal Flush pinball project I was pretty intimidated by what was on the inside of the machine, so the first "fix" I did was cosmetic. It's a simple repair, but I think the process is pretty versatile, and I bet I use this trick again.

Many of the light inserts on my Royal Flush's playfield have a joker face on them.

But this one doesn't have one.

I went online to see if someone sells replacement inserts, but I didn't have any luck. I googled "DIY clear stickers", and found instructions for making custom stickers. The best part was I had all the materials at home. The steps are pretty simple, and I'll put the link to them at the bottom of this post.

 I found this picture on the Royal Flush page in the Internet Pinball Machine Database.

I printed it at 30 percent of its original size on a laser printer, and I covered the face with clear packing tape. I then roughly cut out the joker face. Next, I put the face in a dish full of water and let it soak for a few minutes. When the paper is thoroughly wet, you can use your finger to rub the paper off of the tape. The toner will stick to the tape, and when the tape dries the bottom surface will be sticky again.

After the tape dried, I neatly cut out the face and applied it to the insert.

During the past six weeks I've rolled the pinball over this sticker hundreds of times, and it doesn't show any sign of peeling. Until I find a suitable replacement, this will work fine.

I think it will be really fun for Charlotte and I to design some custom stickers for her school supplies!

Thanks to AndelDOA who posted the instructions to this idea here: link.