vain hopes, futile efforts

breakable brittle brown cards concept copy crisp diurnal duration ephemeral erratic flashy flimsy fragile frail frangible friable fugitive groggy haywire house ineffective insecure insecurity labile metaphor of ostensible ostentatious playing precariousness rickety shaky shiftiness short showy space specious table tippy unfruitful unreliability unstable unsteady vain vanity weakness wobbly wonky