Myth Busters, College Edition

Well, there ya go, I leave for college and don't fold a single crane for months. What dedication. So much has been happening though...everyone told me that studying architecture at Ball State was a total life-killer. Well, you know what? They're completely right. And the whole thing about having to choose only two among good grades, sleep, and a social life? That is true as well. By process of elimination, or at least subconsciously, sleep got hit pretty hard. I am proud to say I have not had any all-nighters yet, although came close finishing my last project at about 4:30 am. Good times, good times. I would just like to say that whoever came up with the idea for putting an automatic 65 cent coffee machine in the Ball State architecture building is pretty much the most awesome person ever.

First of all, I'm going to post pictures I never put up from New Mexico, then add some new ones. I just got back from Chicago on Wednesday (College of Architecture field trip), so can now add Illinois to my list of craned states. Wohooo! Oh, lastly but not leastly...Chicago pizza really isn't all it's cracked up to be. I mean, it was all I could do to choke my way through the gobs of cheese. Not that it wasn't good, it just took a lot of chewing...

147- Carmen, Las Cruses New Mexico

148- Jane, Las Cruses NM

149- Mona, Las Cruses NM

150- Jerry, Las Cruses

151- Judy, Las Cruses. Although she was blind, Judy loved her crane and told me she would hang it in a special place in her room forever.

A couple of the pics are on my other memory card and I'm too lazy (and tired) to upload them now, so we're going to skip a couple..

159- Kevin, Whole Foods Carmel IN. 

162- Misa, Wicker Park, Illinois. For my dear friend Maya's birthday, we took the "L" to Wicker Park,  did a little shopping, and ate at this little vegan-type restaurant with odd but completely yummy items such as lavender lemonade and strawberry fresco. It was definitely my kind of place- healthy but delicious. Native Foods...so good! http://nativefoods.com/

Okay, I know I have so much catching up to do. Working on it...for now, I think it's time to call it a night. Home for Friday and then back to the stress of school next week!

Peace cranes, ya'll <3

Cranes from the Land of Enchantment

CRANE COUNT: 158
JAPAN FUND: $33.10

Hey guys! It's good to be back home in 'ol Indiana! ("cue "Back Home in Indiana")

We had quite an interesting drive back from New Mexico- after the RV broke down, we left it by the highway somewhere near Chandler, Oklahoma. After unhooking the Chevy Trailblazer we were towing, we packed four people, two very big dogs, and most the contents of the RV into it. Long story made short: the RV is still in Oklahoma, and somehow, by some miracle, we and the Blazer made it back to Indy at 3 am in time for work on Monday! I honestly can say I am done with road trips for a while =P

Although Oklahoma as a state is not my idea of a great time, I have to hand it to Oklahomians. Somehow, at a gas stop in Oklahoma, my ipod touch fell out of the car and onto the pavement. The lady who almost ran over it in her car (ahhh!) found my phone number on it, called, and promised to send it back. And sure enough, I got a package in the mail today- less than a week since I had lost it- with my ipod carefully packed in two layers of bubble wrap! Little acts of kindness like this really makes me feel better about the world in general. It really would have been so easy to have not looked for a phone number, to just have kept it, or to even have forgotten to mail it back...it most definitely made my day<3

It also put the crane project on a slight hold, since it is on there that I keep the official list with each person's name and crane number. Ok, enough yabbering and excuses though...I have some catching up to do.

135- Amy

136- Drew

137- Justin

139- Christy & Jim- Ladybug Campground in Cuba, Missouri.

Christy & Jim were  motorcycling route 66 and staying at campgrounds along the way:)

140 -Dave & Valencia, KOA Campground, Clinton Oklahoma.

As a side note: if you ever decide to go on a RV/camping road trip, try to stay at KOA's. Two words: free pancakes. Oh, and usually they have a pool.

141- Debby, Amarillo Texas

142- Suzi & Peter, Carizozo Market- Carizozo, New Mexico.

On the drive through this little town, my dad spotted a sign for Carizozo apple cider, and we stopped at a little grocery store to get some- flavors raspberry or cherry. After careful consideration, we selected raspberry, and the taste was like literally nothing I have every tried before. I decided on a mixture of Dr. Pepper and vinegar with an aftertaste of chocolate chip cookies....yep! I think you will just need to take a trip to Carizozo to experience it;)

143- my Grandma Dorothy, Mesilla, New Mexico

144- Sarah, Mesilla, New Mexico

And I'm having some technical difficulties with 145 currently...

146- Paulette, Las Cruses, New Mexico

I have quite a few more....I'll put em up in my next post- don't worry!

CRANE COUNT: 155
JAPAN FUND: $33.10

OK, finally! Since the last post, I have driven across half the country (or at least from Indy to New Mexico) and given cranes to people in four new states along the way- Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico! I was busy folding them in everywhere from Mexican restaurants and nursing homes to campgrounds and tiny grocery stores- out of menus, travel brochures, frilly paper table mats, and KOA pamphlets...

The road trip, which although lent itself to some good opportunities to share cranes, did not lend itself to having much internet availability! So I have quite a lot of catching up to do- I've made and given away 29 cranes since the last post!! I also have a few pictures from before the trip, so here it goes!!

127- Alexis

128- Destinie

129- Hillary and Jenny

130- Scott at Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt in Carmel (his crane was made out of a watermelon frozen yogurt card) 

131- Dempsey at Kroger

132- Melinda at....guess where?!?! Steak and Shake, duh!!

133- Jon at Bub's Cafe on Father's day

134- Dave at hhgreg electronics

Well I am currently writing this from a motel room in a tiny town in Oklahoma after the RV broke down....hopefully it will be fixed and we will be on the road again by tomorrow!

Last thing: tonight another natural disaster struck Japan- a 7.1 earthquake. Read more at http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/07/09/japan.earthquake/.

Currently there are no reported injuries or damage, but it only occurred around 40 minutes ago. Please keep the Japanese people in your prayers!<3

I still have a lot of pictures to post, so I will put them up later.

Another Earthquake...

CRANE COUNT: 126
DONATIONS: $33.10 (Japan fund)

So if you didn't realize, I am also trying to start a fund to help with the rebuilding of Christchurch, New Zealand after the devastating earthquake felt there in February of this year.  Since my dad was originally from New Zealand, a lot of my family (and friends) live there and I feel a very strong connection to NZ. My family and I have visited Christchurch many times..it was a beautiful city and will never be the same :/

Before/after the first earthquake- the CTV building in Christcurch

Before/after downtown

On Monday, another earthquake hit the city. At a 6.0 on the Richter scale, it was almost as strong as the one felt previously this year (a 6.3 and 7.1)- and some experts are predicting a 20% chance of more to come, along with the aftershocks already felt since Monday. Since it happened during the day, there are no reported deaths; however, the already devastated city has been even more severely damaged. Click here for a more in depth account...

If you would like to help, click on either of the following links and email me at chrispianist04@gmail.com to let me know how much you donated.

http://www.christchurchearthquakeappeal.govt.nz/
http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate

And here are some more cranes, of course!

118- Jennifer, who is going to major in fine arts next year! With her beautiful picture and green napkin crane.

121- Michelle

122- Melissa and the Ball State University map crane

123- Emily (and Mary, who I promised would get her own crane later!)

124- Maeleen. Orientation roomies!

125- Preston + mini yellow crane

126- Ryan

It's feast or famine in the crane business

CRANE COUNT: 119

DONATIONS: $32.10

I can't remember how many times so far I've wanted to forget about this whole thing. Why?? It's not really doing any good, right? I mean, I've raised about 2 bucks lol. That's pathetic. But every time I feel like quitting, something or someone inspires me to keep on going. It might not seem like too much trouble to fold and give away origami, but for someone naturally shy like me...HAH...I wonder why I decided to torture myself every day like this!! I'm pretty sure I won't have any shyness left in my by crane 1,000. =P

This time, I want to thank the girls at 2nd Reformed Presbyterian church in Indy...their enthusiasm was contagious, and together they contributed about $30 to my Japanese Red Cross fund!! It's a great start. :)  Thank you so much, Jenny, Vineeta, Bekah, Cindy, Laura M., Laura N, and Beth (not pictured). I love you girls!!

Here are the new ones since last post:

108- Stephanie

110- at the SoHo cafe in Carmel

111- Kieghea at the Indy Zoo. (which I hadn't been to in literally years!  It's changed a lot since then, adding a new aquarium as well as a reptile exhibit which was pretty cool. )

112- McDonald's gal! I've got to remember to ask for people's names. It's  enough to have to explain the crazy project, tell them about the blog, and ask if I can take their picture =P

113- Vineeta, who just got back from a missions trip in India,, you go girl! :)

114- Bekah!!

115- Beth :)

116- Laura

117- Cindy

...yes, I accidentally skipped 118 again. You'd think I would learn haha

119- Dani

I am writing this while listing to some awesome live jazz music at open mic night at the SoHo Cafe in Carmel. It's a little gem of a cafe/art gallery tucked away in the Mohawk Place shopping center just north of 126th and Rangeline Road (also backs up onto the Monon Trail). Check it out sometime..there's open mic night every Thursday. Plus they have amazinggg smoothies!

I realized that I haven't posted for a long time when I went to SoHo today and remembered that I hadn't put up my crane picture from when I went a week ago...haha whoops. But first thing I saw was my brown napkin crane sitting on top of the coffee cups! But..apparently not my crane...an impostor!! My original crane had somehow (mysteriously) been replaced by a new one slightly different...!! It's my first crane mystery =D

The impostor!!

Sighh..yes, I know I have been very slow at crane-making lately. I think I need a new system: make a ton of them, put them in my bag, and just number them as I give them away. The whole using-found-materials thing greatly reduces the crane quantity since I really don't have enough time in my day!

Ok I'm done now:) I hope your summer is going amazingly so far!

Camping and Crane-ing

CRANE COUNT:109 (well, that is a little bit of a lie, because I accidentally skipped 108...oopss! Don'y worry. I'll go back and give someone 108 before I do 110)

DONATIONS: $2.10

I hope everyone had an awesome Memorial Day! I don't know about you, but I'm starting (haha) to feel the after effects of mine. A couple days on the lake = major sunburn! I think I'm literally the reddest I have ever been. Too bad it's not Halloween, or I could dress up as a tomato, and no one would no the difference!;) 

Also, a night sleeping out under the starts = beautiful star gazing, but not very good sleep. Especially in a campground where no one feels like sleeping and you are rudely awakened at 8:00 by the voices of two little 6-year-old twin boys who are staring down at you wondering "What's SHE doing here..."

"Why is she on the grass?"

"Why did you sleep outside?!"

Oh well...my back was sick of being poked by rocks anyways! Here are the new crane editions. I made one out of a Einstein Bros menu, but failed to give it to anyone lol. I blame it on the much-too-early hour of 8:00 in the morning.

105-Mr. Beard!! Caption contest, anyone? I think any caption  I think of would fail to do this picture justice lol

106- Nicole. Congrats on graduation! Her crane was made out of wrapping paper and officially gets the "Most Colorful Crane" award so far:) Thank you so much to Nicole<3- she was the first to give a donation for her crane. 

107- Michaela and her map crane. Thank you to her too...donation number two!!

109- Daniel. After driving an hour and a half or so to go camping, we found that we had forgotten anything to eat for lunch except about four bags of chips, a loaf of bread, and some uncooked sausages....smart, no? So, after setting up our tent (which takes a couple hours, being an old Cub Scouts tent with no instructions), we drove the pickup to the nearest store that might possibly sell food- a little convenience store/gas station/deli/pizza place. You have be multipurpose in small town Indiana! But sometimes, it's the most unexpected places that you have the best experiences.

To get out of the heat, we sat in the back of the store at an old picnic table, enjoying our cold sandwiches wrapped in waxed paper next to the man above, who was busy reading his worn bible. Soon, though, my sister, Dad, and the man, who introduced himself as Daniel, were busy having a conversation, and I found that he was a construction worker. As we ate, I made him a crane out of a pizza menu.

Well, that's it for now. I've got a cold and severe sunburn (lol) so I probably won't be out of the house crane-ing in the next couple days.

PS I noticed in my stats that I have had views from Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Singapore, Bulgaria, India, and of course the United States. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for reading!!! =D