Click HERE to see the scorpion I built to qualify as a finalist on the final leg of the nine-city, nationwide search for the next LEGO Master Model Builder for Legoland in Carlsbad, California.

Competitors were given 45 minutes and 2,000 assorted basic bricks, then the theme, in my case animals. This is what I was able to come up with in the time alotted. We were told not to worry too much about color, they were looking at form and technique, among other things, when judging.

It was a pretty crazy event, news photographers filled the room, camera men (and women) roamed table to table getting pictures/footage of the competitors/applicants working their pile of bricks into something...

I am so excited and in true disbelief that I, and 26 other hopefuls, actually will get to participate in the final build-off on January 22-23 in Legoland (25 minutes from my house) for the dream job of a lifetime. You can see everybody's qualifying models HERE at the Official LEGO Master Model Builder Website.