Children

I've recently realized that while I spent a good deal of my childhood responding to being told I should grow up to be a teacher with, oh hell no, I'm actually incredibly interested in education and the way children are raised.

That being said, I'm not about to tell you how to raise your children. One of my older sisters just had a baby, and I would never dream of telling her what to do with her child - so I'm not about to correct strangers.

At a convention recently I went to a panel called Educating Through Play, and it was taking a look at how we can educate children through many different mediums. This particular arguments focus was in the favor of games - while I know we have a lot of work to do to integrate it into the system and a lot of problems to address, I think it's a fantastic idea. I've always been a little put off by how rigid the school system is, and have wondered if there wasn't a different way to go about things.

At the convention I was making my tiny origami stars - since I carry the kit with me everywhere, and I can't ever seem to sit still - and ended up being asked about it by the couple I'd just been discussing alternative education styles with. I could have told them my usual story but ended up coming at it from a completely different angle.

"What are you making?" She asked. Mini origami stars, I responded. I have trouble sitting still. "So does my son," she said, "the one with ADHD." We were quiet for a minute and then she said, "What do you do with them all?" Usually I wait for some version of this question and then launch into my whole project spiel. It takes a while, maybe as long as five minutes, and I usually get a glazed over look from whoever asked me the question. Or if I give my short spiel - I'm raising money for research into a cure for ALS - I usually get a confused look, or an uninterested one. Sometimes a confused look followed by an uninterested look. My point being, the conversation doesn't have a lot of places to go after that. So, instead, I said:

"Do you know what Lou Gehrig's disease is?" She shook her head and her husband said, "Isn't that what that baseball player had?" And I said, "Yes. His name was Lou Gehrig. The disease is also called ALS. I forget what the letters stand for. Sometimes I just call it Als." They both laughed. The lady asked if I had ALS and I said no. "My biological mother had it, she died a few years ago." They both gave me really sympathetic looks and then looked back at the stars - which I was still making. "You know," I said, "It was really hard for my baby sister and I. She was only 15 at the time. I was in my early 20's. There weren't many places we could turn for comfort then. I mean, you're not supposed to lose your parents that young. Neither of us were really prepared. What do you do?" More sympathetic looks. "I was in college at the time - I ended up dropping out. I just couldn't concentrate on anything. My adopted mother taught me how to knit around then, and I started making these stars, and they both really helped me get through the day. Repetitive movements. Something pretty in the end. It helped me focus." More nods. And maybe they were just really nice people, but they were still interested in the story. "After a while - like, maybe a year? I realized I had way too many of these stars. I needed to do something with them. Can you imagine a trash collector picking up a giant trash bag full of mini origami stars?" They laughed. "It's kind of a long boring story, but in the end I decided I should raise money to help." It came out sort of odd, because the line we were standing in had started to move. "You mean, to help the kids who have parents with ALS?" The mom said. And it hit me. Yeah, I should raise money for research into a cure. But what about the kids, the families, the parents, the loved ones who are left behind? Who are struggling along? Who helps them? I happened to have an excellent support system in place, but my baby sister still struggles with this. And it's been 3 years.

So I made up my mind, right then. I'm going to research some outlets for victims of ALS, and try and focus on helping the children. It makes sense - they're the ones most attracted to these stars anyway, in their gumball machines.

It's something to think about. I'm also looking to put together a team, to help with outreach for this. Any volunteers?

I hope people are getting the help they need.
I hope I can help people somehow, even a little bit.
I wish I could magically make everything better for someone.

Holidays

I am not a giant fan of the holidays.

They're so commerical. It's so easy to lose sight of what it means to people. Stereotypically birthdays are when people are supposed to make wishes. But the holidays are when I find myself wishing for things the most. (And I don't mean presents.) I wish for my family to make it safely though. I wish for the new year to be shiny and new. I wish for it to never snow (and then immediately take it back, I know global warming is a thing.) I hope that everyone finds a little joy. I hope people get where they're going and that no one gets hurt.

I think about past holidays and wish a whole bunch of other things.

What do you wish for? What do you hope happens?

New idea!

I have a couple of them. I'm writing a book, and designing my apartment (you can't put two theater designers in a blank apartment and not get a design rather than a moving in.) and I'm working my way into a new job. It's fun and constantly giving me new ideas.

Like this! I found these shallow-ish glass bowl like things - people usually put flowers in them, I guess - and I am filling them with stars and sticking a bunch of business cards in them. I came up with this as another option for business owners instead of the bubblegum machines. Their low maintenance and actually kind of pretty. Ok, they're really pretty. And easy to mail! Let me know if you want one.

Also! Let me know wishes! Plodding along steadily with this wish jar. Really hoping to have a jar to sell before the end of the year.

I wish I could get enough wishes to fill my thousand star jar.

I hope the holidays are not hectic.

I futilely wish for no show. sigh.

We're getting to the end of a semester, and a regular old year. What do you hope happens over the holidays? What wishes do you have for family and friends and the new year? Share!

I'm back!

I'm back! And I'm moving. Bleh.

I am pretty sure I have a place for a machine, in Worschester (spelling? Sigh.) Mass. in a fantastic bakery. So there! It's possible! Tell your friends! The ones, preferably, who own establishments that would like to have machines full of tiny adorable origami stars in them. Because, seriously, if I make any more of these things, they are going to fill every single container I have that could even hold stars. All of them. I'm tired of emptying them out of my soup bowls when I want a bowl of soup.

I wish I had moved and was settled.

I hope I get this apartment I'm looking at soon.

I also hope this whole adventure I'm embarking on goes well.

We're staring fall right in the face - what do you wish you'd done this summer? What do you hope to do for the fall? Who do you want to save?

Don't be shy, tell your friends, come back later when you think of another one, or write me a page or two of ones you've been saving up. I don't mind.

So much travel...

So, I have been living out of my car all summer - you can imagine that makes totting around my star making ...stuff...a little difficult. But I did manage to squish most of it into a travelable form. And I am now filling up a coffee tin instead of keeping them all separated out all nice and pretty like.

The tin is getting pretty damn full. (Ignore the quality of the photo - I'm traveling, remember!)

I hope I don't run out of paper anytime soon!

I wish I could make these all organized and nice again!

I wish I had a puppy! And a beer!

What are you wishing for right now? I could do with a nice hug too. Traveling can get awful lonely...

Edinburgh!

One of my favorite things about travel is sharing what I have with other people and getting new things in return - ideas, thoughts, food, customs, accents. So far I have adopted the way they say "no" and "do" and "sittle dune." (settle down) I have fallen in love with Crunchies - which are chocolate with honey comb in them! And foxes biscuits. And steak pies. I'm pretty sure I can manage to make a steak pie. I'm going to try it when I get back.

In return I've been making stars left and right, showing people, handing out cards and looking for a likely candidate to host a machine. I need to come up with a better spiel though. Even though my life is completely insane, being able to make these stars is a constant that I can take anywhere with me. It is a grounding piece to my life.

I wish I could think of a better, shorter way to explain my project.

I hope I can see all the things at Festival that I want too.

Are you at Fringe? What did you love? What stories did you hear? What wishes are floating around in your brains? Share!

Travel

After huge amounts of travel, I find myself momentarily stationary once more. And boy do I have a pile of wishes stacked up. They're my own wishes though, and I'd like some of yours.

I wish I'd seen more in most of the places I've been recently.
I wish I'd been better at staying in contact with loved ones.
I wish there was a way I could keep up this lifestyle.
I hope I get this job I applied for that will be terribly interesting.

I'm living on other peoples couches at the moment but I'm still making my mini stars. I want to keep up this project, so who's with me? Who's got some wishes?