Googly Eyes

There sits a poster, depicting big and strong,

A serious one at that,

A big old lion, and so it seems

It is an unapproachable cat.

But then I came along,

And planted googly eyes,

Within a flash its toughness was gone,

I hurried off with laughter in my cries!

About a month ago I purchased a packet of one hundred googly eyes from Hong Kong, for a mere dollar, including postage. What inspired me to do so was an appreciation post of googly eyes on Tumblr.

So I decided to try it for myself – I would find all posters, calendar photos or inanimate objects that lacked character, and I would bring them to life with a pair of googly eyes that face downward with such wit. And so, I began with my sister’s much appreciated dog calendar. Now, there sits a Pomeranian atop the month of February, staring down at my sister’s dates with large, googly eyes, judging her handwriting and her pen choice.

Though these extremely cheap googly eyes are not self-adhesive, I have worked my way around it – I simply use a glue stick. My next target was the tissue box, a dull blue ocean sits on all corners, hidden behind a large white seashell in focus. To put it out of focus, I simply pasted a pair of googly eyes. Now, the ocean in the background has regained its attention, and can look far and beyond the seashell that once blocked its way, thanks to the help of its new googly eyes that stare deep into your soul.

That was not all, though. I felt my work had not succeeded because despite my best efforts, my sister had sat on her side of her desk completely oblivious to the fact that she had four fake eyes staring her down. She simply shut her laptop down, and walked off, continuing her daily habits. I searched her desk, far and wide and found an inanimate object perfect to animate – the sticky tape dispenser. Now, right underneath the sharp blades, sit a pair of waiting, wanting googly eyes, hoping for somebody to touch and use it.

Yet still my sister did not notice. I had to point out each pair of googly eyes, so that she could appreciate my work. Instead, she had a minor panic attack about the fact that her beloved Pomeranian carrying a delightful rose in its mouth now has a pair of crazy eyes, making it look the epitome of a serial killer.

It appears my job here is done. Unless, of course, I decide to carry around a glue stick in public and stick these tiny googly eyes on posters that I see. I am now considering this.