Eddy shines a light

The main character from Jacqueline's debut middle grade book has stopped by for a chat today!



Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Eddy Thomas.

Is Eddy short for Edison?

I will not answer that question.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I like to build things out of stuff people throw out. You would not believe the useful items people discard. Sometimes they are not even broken. I pick them up off of the curb so they do not go into the landfill. Sometimes I fix them, or I take them apart and use the parts for other things. For example, I made a sort of alarm clock using the clock from a coffee maker that you can program to make your coffee in the morning so it is ready for you.

There are two kinds of coffee beans. Coffea arabica is generally considered to be of higher quality. Coffea canephorais also called robusta and is easier to cultivate.

What else?

I also have a collection of DVDs of science fiction and fantasy movies. I do not really like the stories because they are not real, but I like to figure out how they do the special effects. Sometimes you can find this out from the extra discs they include. The DVDs of The Lord of the Rings (Three movies directed by Peter Jackson and released in 2001, 2002, and 2003) include an especially extensive collection of features about special effects. I thought it was very interesting to see the different ways they made the hobbits look small. Many of the techniques did not even use computers. For example, forced perspective is an optical illusion that makes things closer to you seem bigger and things farther away seem smaller.

What’s your favorite food?



I am especially fond of the garlic bread my dad makes when he makes lasagna. Did you know that the smell of garlic (Allium sativum) comes from a compound called allicin? It is produced when raw garlic is cut and an enzyme converts diallyl disulphide oxide to allicin. Scientific studies have shown that allicin has several beneficial medicinal properties.

What’s on your playlist?

I like They Might Be Giants.

What else?

Nothing.



Thanks for stopping by, Edison!