Once in a Lifetime
I have kept a pretty close eye on the Lego Master Builder Contest over the past few weeks as they held regional contests to fill a seventh U.S. Master Builder position in their California Legoland theme park. The contestants were each competing for what many would consider a dream job, despite the fact that it was really a $13-$15 per hour job in California. I’m not so sure that is a very good wage in the golden state.
Still, my imagination has soared thinking about it. As a child, Lego was my favorite toy. I spent hours upon hours building from my imagination and I consider this a very strong foundation for my creativity to this day. The continual problem-solving, designing, adjusting, invention of building with Lego parallels so closely what I do in web and graphic design. So much of HTML and CSS, especially, is tied to tinkering and tweaking; you have a set of pieces and must push yourself to find new forms with that limited set. Sure, every now and then you get a freebie like a molded plastic windshield (akin to a well thought out CSS hack perhaps) that makes life easier but each new piece brings possibilities and limits. To think about a job or career that consisted of playing with Lego(s) is a fantastic thing.
Today, I have passed my well cared for Lego collection to my son. He is seven years old and we sit down together and build at least one evening a week. Its fun for him and a bit therapeutic for me after a long day at work.
Here are a couple of good reads on the contest: