A drawing of a rabbit with the long ears and the cute whiskers and everything else. But when you look at the drawing again the rabbit looks like a hare.
One where you see a young lady. But then a second later you see an old woman. And a second after that you see a third woman, in, like, her early thirties, and she’s going to law school, because that’s what she thinks she should be doing, even though she doesn’t really like it at all. Also, she’s two hundred thousand dollars in debt.
Something with a box. It’s been too long since there’s been a really good box optical illusion.
Two lines, where the first line looks longer than the second line. But when you take a ruler to measure them they’re actually the same length. Pretty standard illusion, right? Wrong. Because the ruler you used to measure the lines, it’s now a Snickers bar.
A trident. Only the trident doesn’t make any logical sense, because who do you think you are, Poseidon?
O.K., this one is a little more open-ended, but basically it’s an optical illusion where at first you don’t see it and get really frustrated and then, after several minutes of staring at it, you’re suddenly, like, “Whoa. Crazy.”
Two hands drawing each other. And the illusion is that at first it seems like a career in the arts is feasible, but then you stare at it for a bit longer and realize that, no, it’s really not.
One where you think you see a vase, but then you blink and now it’s two women. And then you blink again and it’s three women, only one of the women is shaped exactly like a vase.
Dyslexia.
A staircase, where no matter how long you follow it the staircase never seems to go any higher. Over and over again, you keep following this crazy staircase, until you’re just, like, “Man, is there an optical-illusion elevator I can take? This is ridiculous. I have a meeting I need to get to.”
A blue star. And how it works is you stare at the blue star for thirty seconds and then you look at a blank sheet of paper and what you see is that you just wasted another goddam minute of your stupid life.
One of those hypnosis spinning-wheel things. Doesn’t seem like that big a deal, does it? Then how come you’re suddenly clucking like a chicken?
That same girl from the law-school illusion. And here’s the thing: she is really, really pretty. And at first you don’t think you have a chance with her. I mean, look at her. She’s gorgeous. What would she want with a guy like you? But then, maybe because you’re nice to her, or maybe because you make her laugh, it seems like there’s a possibility that she likes you back. And then one night, a couple of months later, the two of you kiss, and it’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to you. But then—optical illusion!—she calls you the next day and says that the whole thing was a huge mistake and that she was drunk and that maybe it’d be best if the two of you didn’t hang out together anymore. This optical illusion is called Sarah. ♦
