Mark Wagner, the collage artist, challenges viewers to examine their relationship with money and the capitalist society in which we live. Photo: “Way of the Dinosaur”, cut one-dollar bills. (Photo by Mark Wagner)

Although October Jones is technically an illustrator, we think he needs to consider switching his full-time job to “daily commute doodler.” Almost every day during his train commute, he creates little drawings, inspired by the people around him on the train.

There are so many little, seemingly simple, yet ingenious things that make our life so much simpler. Take scotch tape for example. It’s just a roll of thin plastic film that is sticky on one side, yet how much simpler it made the packaging process of various goods! However, the removal of scotch tape, now there is a problem. Unless you have something sharp, it’s nearly impossible to tear it. To combat this, a brand new product has come out. Rip cord tape – is a regular scotch tape combined with a rip cord. The manufacturer of this product claims that it will make the removal of scotch tape much easier. However, when we look at the pictures, we realize, that yes, the rip cord will remove the middle of the scotch tape; however, the sides will remain in place! This will once again present a problem during the removal process.

Welcome to Cardboard Box Office – our homemade creations of some of your favorite movie scenes built from some of our favorite domestic junk. The project began after finding that we had accumulated both a lot of cardboard boxes (due to moving to a new country) and a baby (due to giving birth). With our social lives drastically altered we decided to find a way to make some of those housebound weekends a little more fun. The costumes, props, and sets in Cardboard Box Office are created entirely out of everyday household items, toys, cardboard, and three individuals slowly losing their sanity. Enjoy!

A government awareness poster for wearing surgical masks is seen reflected and upside-down in the Dambovita river in Bucharest, Romania, 19 November 2020. The poster, depicting a man wearing a surgical mask, reads: “I WEAR A MASK BECAUSE I KNOW THAT ONLY TOGETHER WE WILL SUCCEED!”. As the number of COVID-19 infections increased, authorities decided that wearing a protective mask should become mandatory at all times in all public places. (Photo by Robert Ghement/EPA/EFE)

Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)