Done :)

I am done with the senbazuru. Approximately 4 months, 4 days, and (APPROXIMATELY) 4 hours have passed since I begun.

Pictures to come.

I hung them from two headbands... again, this will make more sense once pictures are posted, but there were these small wire twisty things meant to fix it to your hair/scalp. Instead, I used them to tie the strings to. Now, I just have to tie the headbands together. They kind of form an infinity symbol, which I really like.

So proud of myself. It's been a long journey. I'm debating to fold one last non-mini (all of my other ones are teensy) crane and make it 1,001. Thoughts?

Merry belated Christmas! It's been forever since I posted because I have been folding like CRAZY. I folded 75 cranes today. Also, I stabbed myself with the needle a ton when I was stringing and then dropped the headband on my foot when I was hanging. Yes, I am clumsy... *sigh*...

I hope everybody is having a happy holidays filled with good weather, smiles, and joy. I really want it to snow here because now that it's gone, well, I want it back. Snowballs, forts, angels, and sledding, I want to do it all! Preferably before winter break ends.

xx Anya

What I've learned, 2012

740 cranes! The picture doesn't reflect mine at all, but whatever, I guess. Every crane is beautiful. Every crane feels like a little bit of hope...folding is therapeutic, in a way. I'm almost testing myself. The clock is ticking. Paper, paper, paper. We love and we live, and this is a way to go beyond myself. Origami? I've never been good at drawing, or art in general. My fingers haven't started hurting yet. I fold during class, while I study, eat, read. I do better in school now because I can work with my hands. I'm a kinetic learner: I need to feel. Sometimes I even dream of cranes. I dream that they float down in the wind. I dream that they tell me to keep going, that I am close, and that it is worth it, this project, that has taken me months, that I have doubted myself over, that I have wondered if I can do this. 100 became a goal, 200, 300. And I realized that I would not stop. Not unless my family friend's disease was cured, although what I fold for is bigger than a cure. It is bigger than a violin. I fold because cranes are a promise. One day, I will write a letter, fold it in a crane, seal it in a biodegradable bottle, and throw it out to sea. I think of all the words I haven't said... I fold. Cranes are my constant, my rock, my life vest. Because this year has been hard. Not just this school year; since January. Divorces, runaways, surgeries. Sometimes I wonder if I've made the right decisions. I guess cranes have become more than cranes. Because so many things have betrayed me this year. So many things have gone wrong. But through it all I can fold. It's like the way I practice music, except that for once I can hold something tangible.

740...

I forget to count sometimes, just fold, surprise myself at the end. 60 more, I tell myself now, and I'll only have 200 left. My friends offer to help. Really, this is something I feel like I need to do alone. I wonder, when it comes down to crunch time--next week--what will come out of this. I wonder what it will look like when I'm done. I'm procrastinating on stringing again. I've learned so much: in awe of the kindness of people who fold me cranes and are my personal cheering section, in awe of my own strength, and in awe of my mom, who persuades me to persevere.

Thank you to all the people who have helped me with this project. It is so much more than a piece of paper-- 1000 pieces of paper-- and so much more than a gift. It's ending soon. What will I do? Who knows? I don't. When the phone rings I hope it's not bad news. I am wary of surprises. I don't believe in romance novels anymore. I watch my friends, hoping they're okay. These are all the things I have learned to do this year... When 2012 ends, I know I will have learned the good too. I do believe in miracles now. The power of dreams. When a friend is in need, I will rush to their side. I know life better. I live, I love, I dream, I hope.

Artsy... Literature?

720 cranes :D
Also, it's 12/12/12!

But aside from that... Tis the season to be *swamped-by-homework-and-feel-like-you-are-going-to-slowly-painfully-die-in-the-ever-growing-pile-of-test-notices-in-the-corner* merry, tralalalala, lalalala.

Also, I am a year older now! My birthday was on the 10th of December, sadly accompanied by a quiz, math test, math meet, and SS presentation. And... English!

In preparation for our Creative Writing unit, we have to do some writing challenges, and I thought it might be fun to share some. After all, literature is artsy, too :) You are welcome to write with me and share your snippets in the comments section!

Challenge 1: Write a fable! It cannot have a happy ending. (15min.)
Timer: 5:48-6:03
By: Anya and Emilie

Once upon a time, there were two best friends. One was Hildegarde; Hilda, who had long, fair hair and a smile that could charm even the darkest soul. And of course you could never see Hildegarde without Margaretta-- Mags, the village people called her. Her hair was sable silk and eyes like the ocean. They had been friends since they had met in the village school. They lived in an old village, far away from London, in a place just slightly in the middle of nowhere, near the Big Woods in England: The village of Raven's Swoop.

Mags and Hilda knew exactly what they were going to do: they had vowed to become schoolteachers together. Hilda for English; Mags for maths. They would teach at the school where they had grown up. They would be forever close. They would have no secrets, because we all know that secrets become a private anarchy between friends as close as Hilda and Mags.


And yet there is always something more. That summer, Mags's father was killed in a fire at the factory where he was a tailor. Mags, who had run in to try and save her father, now bore a face so scarred that her school friends could hardly bear to look at it. And Hilda?

Hilda and Mags, forever, Hilda told herself. She forbade herself to dream of anything better. Secretly, Mags was just another burden... Was this really her childhood friend? Margaretta, the fair? Hildegarde, the princess? Where was their friendship going? But such questions are the foundation of loss. And slowly, Hilda began to let go of Mags. Little things, at first. No, sorry, I'm busy today. They grew bigger, these arguments. No, Mags! If you weren't just so gloomy-- And the grand finale: Mags, why can't we just go back to the old times? You've changed. I wish we'd not ever been friends in the first place! And later, Hilda to her new friends: Mags is so ugly. I can't believe I was friends with her.

Mags and her mother moved. Another village, this time in the South of France--her mother's mother's home, a quaint little cottage. Mags did not tell Hilda where she was moving. Hilda found that she didn't quite care. Mags changed her name back to Margaretta, Hilda back to Hildegarde. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

They met, once, for the last time, in a train station somewhere in London. They did not recognize each other. Two ships passing in the night; Hilda, being pushed in a wheelchair, leg mangled. She had just been in an accident involving a drunk trolley driver. Margaretta, walking swiftly, scars healed. Hildegarde saw her--perhaps once--and called out: "Mags!" Pushing herself through the crowd, to the train. "Mags!"

Margaretta turned around, once, just after the conductor punched her ticket, in the doorway of the compartment. Hilda called once more, "Mags!" They found each other, eyes connecting, in the crowd. Margaretta turned back. The doors slid shut.
 
(Ze End...)

Senbazuru Update

Guess what!? 400! Yes, that's right. 400 cranes :) I started the senbazuru for one of my teachers in late August, hoping to hit at least 100 and then we'd see. I'm stringing them as I go, aiming for 25 strings of 40. Right now I have 9 (360 strung) and another one ready to go... soon I will have 10 beautiful strings hanging!! I'm keeping the top part of the strings under various cups, containers, etc. and it looks crazy.

I fold, on average, 15ish cranes a day (at school) and over Thanksgiving break so far I've folded a little over 100. The great thing about this is that I can fold while reading, studying, listening to music; anything that is hands-free. It's meant to be a New Year's present and I'm counting on the fact that should I not have it nearly done by the first week of winter break, then I'll do some extreme folding and stringing.

Happy crafting, all! :)