a (needlessly complex) solution to http://coding101.devetry.com/Studios/blurring.html

gaussian_blur.py

import image
import sys
import random

def randGauss():
    """
    it would be better to use random.normalvariate(), but it looks like the
    textbook version of python doesn't include that function :(
    """
    return (
        random.random() + random.random() +
        random.random() + random.random() +
        random.random() + random.random() - 3) / 3

img = image.Image("luther.jpg")
new_img = image.EmptyImage(img.getWidth(), img.getHeight())
win = image.ImageWin(img.getWidth(), img.getHeight())

width = img.getWidth()
height = img.getHeight()

for i in range(0, width):
    for j in range(0, height):
        # Randomly choose the coordinates of a neighboring pixel
        x = i + int(randGauss() * 3)
        y = j + int(randGauss() * 20)
        
        # if it's smaller than 0, choose 0. If it's larger than width - 1, choose width - 1.
        x = min(width - 1, max(0, x))
        y = min(height - 1, max(0, y))

        nearby_pixel = img.getPixel(x, y)
        new_img.setPixel(i, j, nearby_pixel)
new_img.draw(win)
win.exitonclick()