FINISH THAT THOUGHT #2-1 - RESULTS!

Thank you all for participating! I had a lot of fun reading the entries. I'm completely exhausted now (packing for a cross country trip the day you're supposed to judge wasn't great planning on my part...), but I think I have everything done... Hopefully. If you missed reading any of the offerings, go check them out here. Otherwise, here are my comments and decisions:

Michael: I loved how you took the question in the beginning of ‘can you help me bake a cake’ and made it harder than asking her to marry him at the end. That was fun. I also enjoyed how the instruments used in baking a cake are MacGyver-like to someone unfamiliar with them (props for that). My favorite line, though, was when she asks him when he thinks he’ll get good at this parenting thing… “Probably about the time [she] leaves home,” is perfect. I feel like that all the time.

Emily: So much fun! I loved how you mixed the MacGyver I know with an older man struggling with arthritis and no time constraints. Nostalgia smiles all over the place! I really enjoyed the idea of his having a muse – it’s such a common idea for artists that it makes so much sense. My favorite line: “…that’s the problem with this younger generation, no imagination.” Loved it.

Charles: Moving can be so difficult. I never moved as a child, but I’ve done so several times as an adult and it’s never easy. I loved how your story showed that there are good thing and bad things and all our attitude needs is a little perspective. I loved the line “…a little bit more than ridiculous dusted in flour.” The picture was perfect.

Casey: Party planning competition at its finest. I loved the description of Cromwell Clutterbuck and all that you conveyed in two short paragraphs – the details were great. Also, you use of language flowed very nicely and you had some very evocative words! (Seriously, where can you use the words soiree, macerated, and sumptuous in the same story? Well, lots of places probably, but they were super fun!) By the end I was slow clapping along with him. “Honestly,” fireworks and dogs? Shoulda thought that one through.

Mary: He’s like a child! The little stinker. I loved how you painted their relationship so clearly. When he’d put five pages in the box and she’d fill four boxes, I laughed hysterically when she told him, “You’re going to keep at this until you have your mess cleaned up.” Also, I love the line, “A slow smirk seeped across Jamison’s lips…” Very nice.

Carlos: So much fun! I loved the situation you created, and all the doubt as to who knew what and when that might change. Their situation certainly was dire if ten MacGyver’s couldn’t fix it! Sheesh! Or the criminal hugely underestimates MacGyver. I’m seriously interested to know if he just happened to carry around a portable hologram thing-y or if he MacGyvered his own way out of the situation…

Rebekah: You can paint a picture with words like no one else I know. Such a hard subject matter. I winced in all the places. I was shocked at her unexpected, but totally should’ve been expected, getting knocked unconscious. And I willed her to run – far and fast and forever. But I was confused at the end. Was she sending a daughter off? Without her? Or was she living a fantasy? You needed a few more words.

Festive Challenge Champion: Casey Rose

Special Challenge Champion: Emily Karn

Grand Champion: Carlos Orozco