So this is what happens when you're blogging at 2 am

55, 56, 57, 59. Do we have a problem? Huh I don't know what it could be..;)

poor crane 58 :'(

The YogoKiss gal! 

Ok that is all:)

REJECTED?!?!?

CRANE COUNT: 60

Yes, dear friends, it is true. I have been rejected! no, not what you think!...Crane no. 57 was offered...and declined. Rather decisively, I must add. Seriously, I haven't even gotten to 100 and I've had to deal with my first rejection!  It is a sad but true story: not everyone in this world wants a cute folded paper peace crane.

I was folding a crane during class *shhh, it's better than texting during class, ok!?* because that day's lecture was pretty much incomprehensible. So, of course, I needed someone to give it to at the end. Naturally, my professor seemed like a likely candidate. At the end of class, I came up to hims, gave him my little crane-speech, and what do I get back?

"Okay. What are you trying to sell to me?"

WHAT?!???!?!?!! No, not selling. Giving. PEACE cranes. Try again:

"I'm writing a blog about folding and giving away 1,000 peace cranes. I just made no. 47 and would like you to have it!"

"No, what are you trying to sell? And is this going on the internet where any wacko can see it!? Do you have one of those stupid facebook things too?"

Sighh...well, it had to happen at some point:) Mkay well done with complaining. Here's what you've been waiting for...cranes 56 to 60 up next!

(56 is currently on its way to Wisconsin for the awesome Dano Barrett and shall be posted later:)

Drew sorta smiling at least with crane 57 (previously REJECTED by my professor haha) 

Dr. Germain with crane 59

And she wanted one with me! Even though i looked like crap and had my eyes closed. Oh well:)

And the dental hygienist with her big blue crane 60 (even matches the scrubs, look at that!)

I feel honored that my cranes got special spots in the office:) I think 59 and 60 will be well taken care of haha.

Oh, and here is Luca with crane 39, as promised!

Nice one:)

Goofy one:)

Next days are gonna be pretty busy so we'll see how much blogging I get done. Finals next week and then SUMMER!!!! Booyah, high school. I have almost conquered you. 

CONFESSIONS OF A CRANE-MAKER

CRANE COUNT: 55

I confess....I have had *gasp* an official one-crane day since the last post. I know, "slacker, slacker!" they say, "you still have not even gotten to 1 percent!" Oh well, as long as I don't totally skip a day, I think the world will be ok:)

By the way, I need to work on my crane-giving speech. You know, the one you give when you want to give a peace crane away to a complete stranger? I'm sure you all have had that experience before;)  Thoughts on how to go about this..? Vote on your favs:

a) YO here's a crane mind if I take your picture ok thanks *snaps photo* bye!!

b) Excuse me, could you do me a favor? Ok, thanks! I am doing a project to raise awareness and raise money for post-disaster relief in Japan by making and giving away 1,000 cranes. Would you like to participate by taking  crane number ____? (wait for response) If you would like to donate money, send an email to thecraneeffect@gmail.com or donate directly to one of the major organizations such as Red Cross or UNICEF. If you do so, please email me so I can keep track of how much money is raised!

c) Hey! I'm doing a project in which i'm trying to fold and give away 1,000 peace cranes to random people. Would you like to take crane no ___?

d) Get a shirt that says "free cranes" and where it everywhere I go

d) WTH why ask? just shove it in their hands and snap the picture:)


OK so some of those ARE actually serious! Please tell me what you think=)

Here are the cranes I have folded since last post:

No. 47!! Caleb has been a loyal follower of this blog ever since the veryyyy beginning..a whole, what..week or so? Sorry about the blurry picture=P ipod cameras are not all that awesome sometimes 

No. 48!...Molly (and Courtney) with her crane on Easter Sunday. I felt pretty special to have a waiting  list that day hehe:)

Luke with his super mini crane (no. 49). This is definitely my smallest crane so far....made out of part of a business card.  Skill, no?;)

Alex and crane no. 50.....good job holding it upside down! Maybe i should have put the picture in upside down...?

Pictures of crane recipients for 51, 52, and 53 yet to come...stay posted  !

Little Max loved his crane no. 54! however, he had way too much fun running away while screaming "NOO CAMERA!!" to let me get a good picture of him haha

AND finally, Laura with crane 55!

Oh and crane no. 2 needed a picture since I didn't decide to take people's pictures at the beginning!

Josh with his girls and crane number two. He has actually gotten *gasp* three cranes!! However, one of them died after being flown violently into the carpet, and the other one mysteriously disappeared..hmm I wonder how that happened?

Well, that's it for news in the world of endless crane-folding. I hope to send my first out-of state cranes away soon wohoo!!  So long, farewell, and have a wonderful Wednesday:)

Happy Easter!! and almost to 50

CRANE COUNT: 46 (we can now officially round it to an astonishing 0.05% of the goal, woa)

I'm probably not gonna post tomorrow, so I thought i should wish everyone a early Happy Easter:)

My track team had a meet this morning, so much opportunity for crane giving arose! Here are today's crane recipients......

Mrs. Rollins, our assistant track coach, with crane no. 42

No. 43 made out of a sticky note! Sorry, Jonathan..bad pic=P

Jesse and crane 44

Thumbs up for crane 45! Jeremy's crane was made out of a PetSmart  receipt I think... 

And last but not least, the Chipotle gal with crane no. 46 (which currently holds the record for LARGEST crane so far!) Made out of a Chipotle newsletter, ya know the one that tells you all about their free-range chicken and organic ingredients? Which I think is pretty awesome. So in my opinion, if you need to choose between Qdoba and Chipotle, go for Chipotle because it's better for you  and the environment! (see link above)

Ok, but done with my lecture on saving the planet one burrito at a time. Hah!

One more thought of the day: I am completely sunburned from the meet this morning, yet it was overcast almost the whole time! What the heck is up with that???

IT'S FRIDAYYY FRIDAYY! oh wait, nope it's Saturday now

CRANE COUNT: 41

Well, I have been bad and skipped a day of blogging! actually technically 2 because it's past 12....*gasp*! Oh well, I PROMISE to try to not skip another day..that was so definite wasn't it?;) But never fear, I have not abandoned the mission! Here are cranes 34 through 41!

34: my mom and my puppy Edmund (yes, I realize it is quite a sophisticated name for a dog)

35: Dr. Sonhi, taken right after he filed off part of my teeth..he should be happy i even gave him a crane after that!

36: Andd the hygienist needed one too of course:)

36: Receptionist at the Indy racquet club..made out of a summer tennis camp brochure  

37: The beautiful Courtney at track practice:)

**INTERMISSION** (corny music plays) Apparently crane no. 38 is being decorated beautifully by my awesomely artistic friend Luca Perillo, so it shall be posted later...ANYWAYS, on to the next crane victim *mwahahaha*...

39: the gal at ORANGE LEAF (really good frozen yogurt place in Carmel..check it out if you've never been there before! )  My favorite flavor there is lychee:)

And finally, no. 41 goes to a slightly puzzled Misty of Goodwill Inc!!  (by the way, goodwill shopping is pretty awesome too! belts for...ready for this? 99 cents. and they all have character too, you know? Not another belt everyonee could get from Hollister.) 

Oh, and I think my search for a prom dress has come to a conclusion...here it is, ladies and gents!:

Mhmm, that's stylin right there!!


Ok, so a little off topic but not too much!! Farewell dear friends, till I post again.

~Christine

JON MCLAUGLIN!! and other stuff

CRANE COUNT: 33

So, this actually happened like last week, but that was BB (before blog..haha) so here's the big news: crane number 12 went to one of my FAVORITE musicians ever, Jon McLaughlin!! (if you don't know who he is, check this out http://www.myspace.com/jonmclaughlin) Some friends (the amazing Kate, Lora, Sarah, Art, Megan, and Mfish) and I went to his concert at Uindy this Saturday.

It was a pretty awesome concert- we got to sit in the SECOND row reserved seats...probably because they could see we were pretty much his biggest fans there (or at least most obnoxious, one of the two!). He is really adorable to watch playing the piano, no other way to describe it lol...I'm sure you would agree if you saw him!! He writes all his own music and sings while playing the piano. While playing the harmonica. Talent, no? Just kidding, he doesn't play the harmonica while he sings...he uses one of these things. I know, great picture, right?

Him and Bobby, awesome backup vocalist and guitarist

But anyways, at the end, as we were standing in line to meet him and get our t-shirts signed, I got the idea that I should make crane for him! sooo i madly looked around for a piece of paper. Finally Mary saved the day with her handy-dandy book of mini notebook paper. I made a crane in pretty much record time (we were already pretty close to the front), numbered it, and then actually got a pic with him and the crane! He said "I'll keep this as my mascot!" which I guess I'll take as meaning he thought it was pretty cool:)

CRANE NO. 12!!

Matching shirts

signed shirt:)

today's cranes: 31, 32, and 33

My econ prof

Beth! and her mini crane:)

Ariana ( business law buddies!)

OK last thing! If you want to see the full list of crane pictures, here is a link to the picasa web album: https://picasaweb.google.com/117401697619023713525/TheCraneEffect?feat=directlink

I've got to get better at giving cranes to strangers haha

Today's cranes: 28, 29 and 30

Notebook paper at precal becomes much awesomer as origami=D (matrix determinants in the background..fun stuff;)

Mini crane for mini Dillon! Just kidding..I don't know why one of my tallest friends got the smallest crane lol

A napkin and a sugar packet became cranes at Jasmine Thai...the waitress wanted to know if it meant she could make a wish. I said "why not!?"

The legend

CRANE COUNT: 29

As I've been giving cranes away, I realized almost no one knew the story behind the seemingly random number of 1,000 cranes. When strung together, 1,000 folded peace cranes are collectively known as a "Senbazuru". So here is the ancient Japanese legend: 

"One Thousand Paper Cranes

An old Japanese legend said that anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes so pleases the gods, the folder is granted a wish.  One of the well know story is Sadako and her 1,000 paper cranes.


Sadako Sasaki (January 7, 1943 – October 25, 1955) was a Japanese girl who lived near Hiroshima, Japan. She was only two years old when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.  As she grew up, Sadako was a strong, courageous and athletic girl. In 1954, at age eleven, she became dizzy and fell to the ground. Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia, the "atom bomb disease".


Sadako's best friend Chizuko, came to visit her and brought with her some origami (folding paper). She told Sadako the legend of the crane. It is Japanese legend that folding 1000 paper cranes (senzaburu) so pleases the gods that the folder is granted a wish. Sadako wished to get well. So, after hearing the legend, Sadako decided to fold 1,000 cranes.


After she folded 500 cranes she felt better and the doctors said she could go home for a short time, but by the end of the first week back home the dizziness and fatigue returned and she had to return to the hospital.
Sadako continued to fold cranes. Even though she was in great pain, she tried to be cheerful and hopeful. Not long afterwards, with her family standing by her bed, Sadako went to sleep peacefully, never to wake up again. She had folded a total of 644 paper cranes.


Sadako's story had a profound impact on her friends and classmates. They completed her thousand cranes and continued to raise money from school children all over Japan to build a statue to honor Sadako and all the children affected by the bomb."

(from http://www.pacificfriend.ca/html/one_thousand_paper_cranes.html)

Check later for pictures!!...the other goal of my project is to take a picture of each person I give a crane to. I'm going to aim for about 5 cranes a day...that means 3 more today lol




btw, if you are interested in donating money to the relief effort in Japan, here are some good places to start:


* UNIEF focuses on helping children (http://www.unicefusa.org/news/releases/unicef-humanitarian-aid-japan-earthquake-tsunami.html?gclid=CNmFqubDqagCFcm8KgodOxZJJQ)


* Doctors without Borders (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/)


* Salvation Army (http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf)


* International Medical Corps (http://www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/)


<3's
The crane-maker

27 down, 973 to go

CRANE COUNT: 27 (0.03%)


Hello small part of the world that will read this blog!


If you didn't already know, my mission is to fold 1,000 paper peace cranes, number them, and give them to 1,000 different people. 


Making cranes has always been my thing. Ever since I learned origami in elementary school, it has become almost second nature to fold any spare piece of paper I find- napkins, notebook paper, old flashcards, even wrapping paper- into cranes. I gave them to friends, left them on restaurant tables next to the tip, handed them to crying babies in hot crowded airplanes, folded napkins for fancy dinner parties into cranes, and even used them to decorate birthday presents. Sometimes people keep them, some throw them away. Sometimes I talk to them years later and they say "hey, aren't you the one who made that origami bird out of a napkin? It's still sitting in my living room window, by the way!" 


I have probably folded hundreds of cranes during my lifetime, and about a week ago I decided I just need to start counting. 


Who knows how far I will get with this project, but I plan to have as much fun as possible along the way...


PEACE out;) 
Christine


p.s. please follow and invite your friends!! Comment with your ideas...I would love to add a charity aspect to this project somehow, maybe donating money to the relief effort in Japan and Christchurch..? If you want a crane, comment...there will be plenty to go around;)