Greatby Anonymous

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October 13, 2009: This a nice puzzle if you like putting together puzzles.

Putting the pieces back togetherby eddiepuppeteer

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May 09, 2009: I've only just begun to put this puzzle together. So far, I'm finding it to be quite enjoyable. I've forgotten how much fun jigsaw puzzles can be. I have only two beefs with this particular puzzle, which prevented me from giving it my coveted five star rating. First, there are a couple of pieces which have leftover cardboard from the piece to which it was once connected. In other words, the puzzle wasn't cut quite as cleanly as it might have been. This is relatively minor and is only the case in a very few pieces. Considering how inexpensive this puzzle was, this complaint is somewhat petty on my part. (As is my next complaint.) Second, (my next complaint) on the box there is a big gold emblem which informs me that this puzzle commemorates the historic Presidency of Barack Obama. Now aside from telling me something I already know, what bothers me is that the emblem is placed over the biggest image of the puzzle itself, obscuring it from view. This image is what I use as a guide to help me put the puzzle together, so when I get to that part, I'm going to have to wing it.

As to the image, I've got to say I am simply thrilled that we have this man as our President. As someone who voted for him twice (Texas primary and general election), three times, if you count the caucus (a portion of our delegates are awarded through the caucus), I am looking forward to what so far is shaping up to be the excellent Presidency of a thoughtful and talented person. And no, I am not one of those people who thinks that Obama can do no wrong. I haven't agreed with everything he's done, but the good has FAR exceeded the bad, and already the positive change is happening. And now off the soapbox.

The image itself is inspiring; I'm glad to see that many of Obama's words are written throughout the puzzle. (One practical consideration here is that they are very useful in piecing it together. I recommend after pulling all the edge and corner pieces that you start with the giant "Yes We Can" at the top.) I tend to prefer more contemporary artistic portrayals of the President, and I have one such puzzle which I will work on next. But despite the fact that this puzzle reminds me slightly of those ubiquitous commemorative coins, when you look at it closely, (as you inevitably will as you work on it) those associations will fade a bit. Again, the style of the picture itself may not be my favorite, (a little too traditional for my taste), but the more I work on it, the more it grows on me. Perhaps I like it so much because this is the first time that the person whom I voted for in the primary went on to win the general election. And I've been voting for President since Mondale '84. (For the record, I voted for Tsongas in '92 and I don't think I voted in the '96 primary.) Somehow, I don't see either Mondale or Tsongas on a puzzle like this. Maybe Mondale. (Either Bill or Hillary Clinton, yes.) But the image of a wet Paul Tsongas coming out of that swimming pool in his ill-advised Speedo sort of blows the image for me.

Barack Obama definitely looks like he belongs on an image like this. And to evoke an obvious metaphor, I have faith that he will help put the pieces of this country back together. Yeah, I know. That was kind of cheesy on my part. Oh well.