Welcome to the letter S of the 2024 A-to-Z blog challenge.

An interesting personal note with this puzzle; I was working at this puzzle at my dining room table in March 2020. The news was playing in the background with all the COVID updates, including the world shut down. I tie the memory to the puzzle.

Anyway, this was a challenging puzzle for obvious reasons, but it was satisfying to complete. I think it’s time to complete it a second time so I can associate some fresh memories with it and see if my memory of how hard it is to put together is accurate.

Self Portrait is a 1000-piece Buffalo Games puzzle.

“It is a conundrum, this reality of which we speak. And if you do not find joy in the puzzle itself, you will only have isolated moments of stamped-and-approved joy (“I graduated!” “I got the job!” “I’m getting married!” “I won the prize!” “See, I have the picture!” “It’s posted online!” “It got so many likes!”) and those scrumptious, unexpected ones that take you by surprise—a sunset, a leaf dancing in the wind, a baby’s glee with a wayward bubble, fireworks.

As I often say, I am ultimately drawn to—and stay closest to—the people who can be satisfied with a state of dissatisfaction, who can find joy in the puzzle itself, who want to play with the puzzle—gnaw on the conundrum—more than they want to finish it.” – Shellen Lubin

Shari Marshall­ – A-to-Z 2024

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