Page 139 - Adventures of Aimi

Four—Secret Portrait Painter
“They are,” said DJ. “A chimpanzee’s arms are longer than its legs. You look carefully at things.”
“Yes, she does,” said Grami, who had settled herself in the cozy rocking chair. “Aimi looks carefully at things. Sometimes she notices things that others miss.”
“Hm-m-m,” said DJ. “Artists look carefully at things, too. They paint what they see. Sit here on this stool, Aimi. You can watch Solly while I begin to sketch.”
Aimi sat very still on the stool. “Can you sketch and talk at the same time?”
DJ laughed. “Yes, I
can,” said the real live artist.
“I can sketch using the right side of my brain and I can talk using the left side of my brain. I can do two different things at the same time—as long as they use opposite sides of the brain.”
“Remember,” said Grami, “the brain has two halves or hemispheres that are joined by several bridges. DJ’s brain has smaller bridges so he can do two different things at the same time. Your brain and my brain have larger bridges so we can do one thing at a time.”
“Yes,” said DJ. “But you can switch from one thing to another very quickly, back and forth, so it looks like you’re doing more than one thing at a time.”
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