We Have a Winner

Congratulations to TSAnnie, who wins the Name That Photograph Contest from Friday.

TSAnnie's entry was "Stoic."

Warning! What follows is a rambling, wordy, over analyzed, excruciating description of my decision-making process. You may wish to exit this blog right now or risk beating your head up against a wall about three sentences from now.

First, thank you all for participating in that contest.

There were many I loved and a few I really loved. For example, Bayman's "The Trojan Sponge"--which referred to fiddler crabs being carried in stealth mode onto the beach--had me in absolute hysterics right off the bat. Anonymous's "Logfest" also made me laugh. The more entries I read, the more I loved, and the more difficult it was for me to decide.

When I read TSAnnie's entry, I furrowed my brow and said to myself, "Self? I know at a high level what this word means, but could there be a deeper meaning, could there be more to it?"

Self said to check Wikipedia which says, among other things, this:

"...Stoicism teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions; the philosophy holds that becoming a clear and unbiased thinker allows one to understand the universal reason. A primary aspect of Stoicism involves improving the individual’s ethical and moral well-being: "Virtue consists in a will which is in agreement with Nature." This principle also applies to the realm of interpersonal relationships; "to be free from anger, envy, and jealousy", and to accept even slaves as "equals of other men, because all alike are sons of God."

When I read those words, I became overwhelmed with emotions and actually drafted up an e-mail to send to TSAnnie. Those words have significant meaning to me. But after I drafted up the e-mail, I didn't send it for reasons I cannot explain.

Next, after all this and still unable to make a decision, I wrote down all the entries and then let the Random Number Generator (random.org) pick the winner. TSAnnie's was the 13th one I wrote down, and 13 was the winning number.

Since I had spent so much time reading deeper meaning into the word "stoic" than she probably intended and because Random Generator also picked her, TSAnnie wins.

Even I am exhausted trying to explain the inner workings of my decision.

Please come back tomorrow when things should be more coherent, but don't be surprised if they aren't.

Thanks again to all who participated and congratulations to TSAnnie, whose lucky number today is 13. (E-mail me and let me know which of the books you want.)