33. Make 1000 Origami Cranes

I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world. ~Sadako Sasaki

The most common response people give me when they find out making 1000 origami cranes is on my Cupcake List is "WHY?" Intrestingly enough, I'm not entirely sure. When I first included it, I knew that I wanted to learn some origami, and that folding 1000 cranes had some special significance...and it would be a specific goal, as opposed to something like 'Learn origami'.

But to try to answer the WHY question a little more thoroughly for myself, I started digging around on the internet (in between folding cranes) to find out more about the subject. I found some interesting things.

First, there is limited explanation about the significance. A few websites provide some history about origami in general(ThinkQuest) and a few more give some words on the significance of the crane (Wikipedia, Lisa Shea) which stands for for honor and loyalty. As for the magic number of 1000, folklore says that the person who makes 1000 paper cranes will be granted one wish.

The most popular story along this line is a true one entitled Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr (which needs to go on my next reading list), in which the heroine, a young girl, contracted leukemia after the bombing of Hiroshima. On her deathbed she determined to make 1000 paper cranes with a wish to live. Sadly, she did not complete the cranes prior to her death-her family & friends finished them for her. Her story became a symbol of world peace. These days, 1000 paper cranes are made and placed in temples & shrines as a prayer for peace all around the world, as well as made and given to those who are sick as a symbol of home or as a wedding gift of luck and long life for the newly married.

So does this enlighten me as to why I wanted to make 1000 origami cranes? Not really~I probably have to stick with my original explanation, lame though it may be. However, the cranes as a symbol of peace really does speak to me. Who couldn't use a little more peace in their life? The one website that I discovered that affirmed this small notion was Sandy and the 1000 Paper Cranes. Her mission is to make 1000 paper cranes, add an encouraging word to each and 'release' them into the world (ie: leave them as many places as she can for others to find and be uplifted). Then she blogs about it. How great is that!? Not to mention a great way to use some of my cranes (much to the Major's relief).

In case you are curious, or possibly inspired, here is how I learned to make a crane: (I had to stop the video a few times to get it right...)

So my real question now is what am I going to do with all of my cranes? (72 as of this writing) A little help?! Suggestions? Anyone? Anyone?

16. Watch Gone With the Wind (start to finish!)

I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow.

~Scarlett O'Hara

Finally...All four hours of it. Watched. You would have thought I was scheduling a root canal the way I kept putting it off!

I had seen parts of it before-the entire first half, I believe-one time in college. But never the entire film. The version that I rented was in color...definitely an improvement over the B&W. Really, when you consider that the film was made in 1939, the effects are impressive and the scenery, well- I'm a southern girl, so we'll just say it was lovely (at least until Sherman burned it all to a crisp).

What can I say...it was wonderful. Time-consuming, but worth it! Very like the novel, which meant that Scarlett alternately infuriated and impressed me. She is so spoiled and manipulative, but she is so strong and self-sufficient. And now I am going to be forced into reading the authorized sequel written by Alexandra Ripley in 1991, Scarlett, which my dear friend says is a great story (not quite up to the first, but what could you expect?!).

The Major even watched the entire film with me, for you doubters...and said it was worth his time (at least the once)! After all, it did win multiple Academy Awards in 1939: Vivian Leigh for Best Actress, Hattie McDaniel (Mammy) for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Screenplay AND Best Picture. And in 1989 it was voted Favorite All-Time Motion Picture at the People's Choice Awards (people's choice, hello?!). So apparently the "People" think it is a great movie. And so did I.

Should you need any further persuasion to add it to your Netflix queue, here is a preview:

Now go on...the next rainy day that comes around, grab a blankie and curl up to an amazing story of the Old South....

I promise it will be worth it!

38. Buy a cow (or goat, or sheep) for Christmas

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

A few years ago I received my first Heifer International catalog in the mail at Christmastime. The 65-year old organization solicits donations for the purchase of providing livestock and crops to people in areas of need, along with the appropriate training and education necessary for the recipients to use their gift successfully. The recipient is also charged with Passing on the Gift (one of the 12 Cornerstones of Heifer's philosophy) by donating in turn an offspring of their gift to another needy person.

I think what really touched me about this type of charity is that one of the primary goals is enabling needy people to become more self-sufficient. Giving is one of life's greatest joys-but giving with the knowledge that your gift will not only meet a need of the moment, but provide an individual with the opportunity to help themselves and their family for the future-that is an even GREATER gift. The old idea of 'Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.'

Now I know that there are a lot of folks around that would argue that these types of organizations are not really helping the people that are in need....animals are not a truly sustainable way of providing for the future and will eventually just be killed for food, etc., etc., etc. Or that the organization is not being run efficiently enough: too many dollars going to the cost of administration and solicitation and not enough to the actual charity. (I read stuff online, too, you know.)

To these arguments I say this: Valid points, all....And, 1. There is always a down side to every good idea (good ideas rarely being perfect), and 2. How many of us would give to an organization without those handy brochures and catalogs they send out? Now there are some that would. And Bravo to them! (No, really.) But most of us, myself at the top of the list, are just not that aware unless a colorful flyer crosses our path (preferably right under our nose) and gets us thinking about it. Painful truth, but true nonetheless.

So despite all the valid questions about this or that, I decided to just GIVE. I like the idea of helping people to help themselves (see above). And my goat, sheep and flock of baby chicks might just change someone's life somewhere. There is the literal, factual account of where all the pennies go, and then there is the prayer that goes with them of a better life for someone else in the world that has far less than I. Without ignoring the pennies, I put a lot of stock in the prayer portion of that equation: isn't that what giving this way is really about?

There are a thousand perfectly reasonable excuses NOT to give part of all that we have...the real challenge is to find our one reason to go ahead and give anyway.

Catch up on my reading: Year 2

My first year of "reading Up" had a slow start. Unfortunately, this means that I did not complete the list of 4o books that I had made for myself, despite my Speed-Reader-Extrodinare status. (sigh) Ah, well. I did manage to finish 26 books on that list, which was no small feat (see post about Atlas Shrugged).

Onward to this year's reading quest! I am going to try to finish the fourteen books from the previous list along with the following 40. (Yes, I know that total is 54~more books than there are weeks in the year....It's a goal, okay?) This year I stuck with all male authors...and boy, are there a lot of them to choose from! When you start poking around famous novel lists (which are everywhere, btw), you see the disparity in the number of male vs. female authors. Anyway, it was even harder to narrow down this list than it was the last one...but I already have the beginnings of a list for AFTER I turn 40! (But that is another blog idea entirely.)

So without further ado, here it is, in no particular order whatsoever:

1. A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith


2. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis


3. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol


4. Watership Down by Richard Adams


5. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden


6. Night by Elie Wiesel


7. Walden by Henry David Thoreau


8. 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marques


9. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett


10. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame


11. A High Wind in Jamacia by Richard Hughes


12. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas


13. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens


14. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemmingway


15. Dracula by Bram Stoker


16. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien


17. The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne


18. The Godfather by Mario Puzo


19. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson


20. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum


21. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy


22. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck


23. The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale


24. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson


25. In Defense of Food by Mihale Pollan


26. Winning Thru Intimidation by Robert Ringer


27. On the Road by Jack Kerouac


28. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert


29. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger


30. Crime and Punnishment by Fydor Dostoevsky


31. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey


32. A Study in Scarlett by Arthur Conan Doyle


33. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming


34. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren


35. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe


36. The Call of the Wild by Jack London


37. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving


38. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty


39. 1984 by George Orwell


40. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

I learned a valuable lesson from my first list...make sure you counter heavy reading (ie: Anna Karenina, Crime and Punnishment) with light reading (ie: Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz), else your head might explode.

Happy New Year 2011!

Happy New Year! Once again, the happy bustle of the holidays has kept me away from the computer, but I suppose that is just the way it is going to be! (I should post a disclaimer in October.)

Now that we are near the Major's kids, the holidays were all about them, which was a fun change for me. We all made New Year's Resolutions~I'm looking forward to keeping mine! (So far, so good!)

In spite of my lack of blogging, I have been working here and there on my Cupcake Resolutions this holiday season! In no order whatsoever, since you heard from me last I have:

• Been reading a bit off the list (#2)
• Started doing yoga again (#9) in anticipation of yoga camp (as we are calling it) in February (#32)
• Been to the shooting range with the Major (#10)
• Made my first SOLO (well, almost solo) Black Bottom Pies for Christmas Eve dessert (#13)
• Lost over 10 (that would be T-E-N!!!) pounds with Weight Watchers (#29)
• Made a donation to Heifer International which bought a sheep, a goat & a flock of chicks! (#38)

My largest (and most important) New Year's Resolution is to finsih my Cupcake List! Best of luck on your resolutions!