Normone: Rejuvenating a Planet Two Eggs at a Time to Save a Species of One (~Collaborative Art Journey~)
The Name's Normone or Norm for Short People
Howdy travelers. Have I got a doozy of a story for you today.
Gather 'round and cuddle up to something warm if you're cold or turn the heat off if you're warm and pay attention. If you're looking at me and trying to figure out how to make eye contact, just take a gander down there below my feet. Them's my peepin holes now, so that's where you can look. More on that later.
Ladies and gentlemen, things used to be quite different for me. I didn't always live the life of a Clown Master's conscience.
I used to work the feeds and pick the eggs. Much like any good young citizen of this once fine planet of ours did when they were starting out and still had four legs.
They always told us to be careful out there. Do one thing at a time, do it right the first time, this is not a race, leave the glowing eggs alone, call one of us if you see a glowing egg. Those were just a few of the rules the Clown Masters would drill into our heads on a daily basis.
Break any of those rules and you'd most assuredly be sent home with a painted face and a sore ass, or so said the legend. Nobody ever came back to work the next day to tell any of us the truth about the situation though.
Gossip and hearsay. That's all I ever took it for. They most likely got fired and moved away. Something simple. It's always something simple.
I Was on Egg Duty
When it happened, I was caught completely off guard. Have yourselves a look-see at this here picture I took.
Neither do I
So I picked up the egg and headed on down to the nearest Incubation Station. No different than any other time I take a scroll through the feed, as we say back home. That's the only way to get the job done. That's how we make that chedda.
On my way, I saw another egg just like it, which is no surprise, because they all look the same.
The Clown Masters hate it when we carry two at a time. It's two, dangerous! It's too dangerous!
They always say it twice for some strange reason which seems beyond my level of comprehension, so not once did I ever listen. I should have though. Having two too close together will set off a chain reaction. I didn't find out about that until I already had two and by then it was too late.
Check Out This Selfie I Took
Sorry about the quality of this photograph in advance. I was actually holding the phone in my mouth and using my tongue to press the button. I learned how to do that while driving to work. I was fed up with being distracted so I thought I'd invent my own hand's free device, but that's a story for another day.
There's Something Wrong with this Picture
Yup, we got glowers.
I saw the cracks and chips before I picked them up. Those are common. To be honest, the eggs remind me of the walls inside my grandfathers old abandoned house back in Pottsville. I did not notice the glow until I looked at this picture later on. My negligence ended up causing quite the stir.
I was very close to the Incubation Station when I managed to snap the selfie. Franklin or Frank for short people was standing guard as usual. That sounds important, but all he really does is push the button that opens the door for everyone. He doesn't even look up anymore. We don't really need him. I could probably lean in and hit the button with my tongue if there was a serious emergency. The cameras outside and directly above his head do a far better job of warning everyone.
Here's a frame pulled from the surveillance footage captured by one of those security cameras shortly before the incident.
Memories
There I am about to enter the Incubation Station and commence collaborating with my colleagues. I really like that picture. I miss the old me.
I had to yell to get Franklin's attention. He nodded, slowly raised a leg and did his job.
Before I continue, I must warn you.
The footage you are about to see is quite graphic and not for the faint of heart. It was captured by the internal camera that always points at the door. The investigation is still ongoing and some frames had to be omitted for this presentation.
We can observe the door opening. I remember feeling the blast of warm air. You'll notice the chain reaction accelerate the moment heat was added to the equation. That's all the eggs needed. They hatched out in the open and we had a bit of a meltdown.
I'm very sorry about the quality. The indoor cameras used to be the outdoor cameras. The Clown Masters didn't want to throw the old ones in the garbage after they bought new ones for outside.
I've since learned, the glowing ones skip the Incubation Station and go straight to the Cells. Apparently these eggs are a highly volatile fuel source and without an intact shell they have a tendency to explode and make a mess.
The entire time, I thought I was picking up babies.
Please Turn on the Lights
So Here I Stand Atop the Mind of a Clown Master
I hope everyone enjoyed the presentation. When I was first asked to do this DedTalk I'll admit, I was a bit nervous. Convincing this Clown Master to listen to someone he can barely hear is nearly impossible, most days.
I am finally starting to learn what all of the buttons do, so that helps.
The truth is, as he stands here and speaks today, none of you can hear me. I can hear him mumbling about the great advancements and new ways to profit from this "incredibly safe" new fuel source now found on this once fine planet many of us only recently started to call home. I can also feel him ignoring me and all of the others who've lost their lives recently due to unsafe work practices, cost cutting and shady behind closed doors shenanigans.
The hardest part now is hearing everyone clap. Observing the standing ovation is no easy feat either. If only they knew the truth. If only there was a way to get them to listen.
This place is lucky I'm not violent.
End 
Alternate Ending! 
We were hit by a meteor and all the Clown Masters died.
What the Hell Did You Just Read?
~Everything here was produced and written by me, @nonameslefttouse.
I was scrolling through the feed one day and I came across this:
INVITATION: Collaborative Art Journey..."Rejuvenation" -- This is your invitation to Collaborate! Whatever your expression, BRING IT ON!
From the moment I set my eyes on the first word, I felt invited. Apparently, "Rejuvenation" is the name of the photo and we're allowed to collaborate on some sort of art journey. Since that was the case, I decided to take you all on a trip.
Basically, anyone can take "Rejuvenation" and do what ever they want with it. At first I thought about rejuvenating it... then I got carried away. I thought to myself, "Self, if you're going to paint a room, you better do all four walls."
Here's the Second Rule of Art Collaboration Club
TRANSFORM IT
Print the image or do whatever it is you do to add to/or alter it. (i.e., including but not limited to painting, drawing, adding other photographs, collaging, altering it digitally or however you wish . . .or perhaps even adding a tune, poetry, a story, a gif, or other imaginative play.)
You can make as many versions as you'd like--we wouldn't want to stifle ourselves!
We're artists, so anything goes!
So I did just that.
If you're interested in having a go, more information can be found in the link provided. Don't forget to have a look at the comment section. Many of those on this journey have already placed their contributions there. That comment section is very easy on the eyes if you know what I mean.
Thank You @everlove for this wonderful opportunity.
Awesome! I've checked out a few of those collaborations and they're not even in the ballpark, arguably because this ballpark takes place in an alternate reality in a different dimension in a galaxy far, far away.
I just wanted to have some fun. That was a very interesting way to describe my brain though. Everything seems to make sense now.
Thanks for enjoying it!
Oh my gosh--you are so clever!!! You are the first artist I am aware of that has taken this image in this direction. What a truly fun addition to our collaboration. I'm so thrilled by all the facets you engaged. Great use of my photo--solid transformation! Thank you for playing with us. Upvoting and following you!! ReSteemed!
Thank you for the compliments, kind words and your support. I'll be working on post that will highlight a few things people most likely missed. A behind the scenes sort of thing. It won't be anything fancy though.
Awesome! Excited to see how that unfolds.
I'll probably add it to the comment section on your page under my first comment if I do end up writing something about it. If it's not there before Sunday, it's probably not happening.
If it shows up I'm certain I'll be truly grateful to experience it.
I'm just so random. I bounce around a lot. If a new idea comes up, I pounce on it. I think that's the part I enjoy the most about being my own boss around here! I have a music article on my mind, this project and I'd like to group my recent artworks into one article for my catalog. Knowing me though, my next post will be something strange and not any one of those three.
Interesting Fact:
This took nearly 24 hours to put together.
I'm not surprised it took that long.
At the risk of sounding either incredibly lame, or like I'm being facetious, I'm too shattered after doing 20 bicep curls today to even be able to reply. Feck, I sound lame AND facetious even to myself. See @baerdric's accountability post. I took him up on the challenge. Day 1, 6 tricep dips. Day 2, 20 bicep curls. Can I go to sleep now?
I've been doing a simple workout regimen like that for years!
Ha!
Who's being facetious now!
I'm too fried to be able to tell if anyone is being facetious. Going downstairs to watch a movie now. Don't ask me later what it was about...
Alright, I won't. Have fun!
Those are some great eggs, alright. That green glow shows they are full of life and enthusiasm -- rejuvenation! :D
I'm trying really hard to enjoy what I did here. Thanks for the comment. In all honesty, I'm feeling about as low as I was when I tried to play the three color game... You caught me at a bad time. All apologies. I do thank you very much for stopping in and enjoying my efforts once again.
I hope you come to be pleased with your work on this one. It's a super collaboration that went way beyond what anyone else even could imagine. And spring will be here soon, or at least a break in the winter and cold. That should help. ; )
I like what I did. I did what I did with the hopes people would look. I'm happy a few did, so don't get me wrong... but damn. Someone wrote a paragraph and got paid over $200.00 recently. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong... 262 followers, 17 views, a buck and a quarter for 24 hours of steady work. I can't wrap my head around this. I'm glad a few were entertained, but damn. I wasn't trying to upstage anyone... I'm just doing what I always do. I'm not complaining. I'm simply confused and a bit stunned.
@nonameleftouse, I can feel your disappointment in the rewards on your post. I have had a few of those myself over time. Many of my starting and ending posts are are months still rewarded very little--sometimes only cents--and there are other artists who also receive very little and others who do quite well. We have about 20ish artists that are collaborating--not just making a comment on a post, but actually creating a artistic masterpiece and making another post about it as you did--truly investing themselves in the content. And though we are many and can reach far and wide with networking, we are generally not the crowd that carries much voting power. We are not the whales or those that can at this point greatly affect each other's rewards. But we are already creating a connected artists' community, and that in and of itself is an incredible gift. We are bettering ourselves as artists, and the collaborative repertoire we are creating is astounding. It may go down in history one day!!
I'm truly grateful for your playful nature in this post and for the creative expression that flows through you. Thank you for joining us. You've made a valuable contribution!
My rewards are all over the place, though never really very high. I don't see any consistency in it at all, nor pattern or rhyme or reason. It is quite time-consuming for sure to make the art to then make the post, but gratefully I do it because I want to, not because I have to, all my time is my own and I'm not expecting anything in return. It's a rather surprising game!
The rewards, confusing. I actually lost money because I spent a little "promoting" it. This sat at 8 views for the first few hours. It didn't take me long to realize this post was overlooked. I base my efforts on how well my recent posts did. I did not see this coming.
This post has been ranked within the top 50 most undervalued posts in the first half of Jan 05. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $5.03 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Jan 05 - Part I. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
If you are the author and would prefer not to receive these comments, simply reply "Stop" to this comment.