Sock It

I got the brilliant idea to make a sock puppet to help me teach English.  That way I can demonstrate conversation skills while simultaneously making an ass out of myself.  Now, my last craft project was in 4th grade when I made a Christmas tree out of a phone book. (Remember that?  You fold every page at an angle and glue the ends together to make it tree shaped.  Teachers dig that stuff because it keeps a roomful of kids quiet for 3 days, so they can take care of important duties like sending personal emails or filing their nails.) 

After stealing a sock out of my dad's drawer, I was at a loss.  This situation clearly called for some expertise.  So, I went to Youtube.   The first video featured a teenage boy who began by saying, "This is the first sock puppet I made."  First??  He continued, "I learned a lot from this one, and as you can see my next puppet is much better."  When I stopped laughing, I realized that his puppets were good.  Too good.  They had arms!  Whoa, that was way beyond my skill level.  I found another video that was only 50 seconds long, and was geared for children.  Bingo!  Then, I went hunting around the house for some crap I could glue together to resemble a face. 

My finished product is not going to make the cast of Sesame Street, but it should be a hit with a bunch of first graders in a third world country.  His name is Stinky.