Today's Thoughts (Jan. 23)

I began this semester with a delicious mix of nerves and excitement. On one side, it seems that this semester is going to be one of the most exciting of all, as I am making a lot of work that I feel I can really engage with. On the other hand, it is the last semester and the meeting and the comments and the amount of information and comings and goings from meeting to meetings seems to be a little nerve-racking. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to graduate, yet at the same time, there's always that feeling of butterflies in my stomach of: what's next? I mean, I would love to end up working for a paper-engineer company (hopefully alongside Bruce Foster or Robert Sabuda or something of the sort) but the future seems to still be this humongous alternate dimension that I am quickly approaching and all in all, nothing is for certain there. (Although, again, I wouldn't be opposed to random crazy possibilities, like ending up working somewhere far away, in the West Coast or in another country altogether... hahaha! It's a dream, it's a goal! We'll see what can be done about that...)

At the moment, today has been an interesting day. We all handed-in our third draft of the senior thesis. Yet I am not really thinking about it anymore. It is as if the paper (even though it is CRAZY important) is not really something in my mind right now. I seem to be focusing very much on my work and explaining or attempting to come to terms (in the written word) with what I am doing. My paper itself is currently filled with questions and attempts to answer these current questions as best as I possibly can right now.

I am very much engaged with my work, and it has taken me to another place at the moment. For example, I seem to be constructing these large paper engineering pieces that are made up of smaller pieces. I am also attempting to introduce pop-ups that "pop" a lot more, a lot faster, and thus the level of surprised for them in heightened even more. So I am trying a couple of things. One one hand I feel I am playing with these little bits and pieces of work, but on the other, I feel like a scientist going through trial and error and just doing the work, and then stopping and observing and then doing some more work.

Anyway, the thing is, right now I'm experimenting with these constructions that pop very quickly (rubber bands help with this cause! yei!)... also, for these little pop-ups I was trying to find something that could help me put them together and also apart, so that they'll be like replaceable pieces... movable pieces that could potentially come together and make a whole. If you see me down the halls or around school or pass by my studio I tend to have these little things out in my desk or around with me. (They're fun to squish and play with!) But the problem I bumped into was how to make this things come together gluelessly... So I was thinking I could use Velcro! Yei! Great option, but then again, you woudl be able to see it, and I don't know if I want them to be readily visible. Pitching this idea to my friends Emily and Kassia, they actually came up with something ten thousand times better!!! When I was trying to show what I wanted these constructions to do, they just came up with: MAGNETS! So yes, that's totally it! So right now, I'm attempting to do a bunch of these tiny little round-ish geometric pop-ups and may contain magnets that could come together I'm so excited about it! You have no idea.

But if anyone ever wants to enjoy a small break, I'll probably leave some models up in my studio (I think it's S669... on the sixth floor)... PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PLAY WITH THEM!!! and don't worry if they break... sometimes they do that. I'm used to it, and that's what models are for... to make the next ones better!

I'm still on the limbo about colors regarding my pop-ups... More to be said about this a little later. I have to go now.

I will try to post another blog soon regarding the amazing world of pop-ups that I felt I knew and now I feel I don't know... considering the vast array and quantity of stuff I've realized is out there right now! Scanning through over 400 pop-up books can be very very insane! It also made me feel I knew ZZzzIP about pop-ups. sigh... Again, one of those things that's exhilarating and kind'a scary at the same time. I should start keeping a record or a list of those books... I'll post up a list maybe, at some point, if I can remember to do that. (Right now, to give you a name, if you're interested in pop-up stuff, Van Der Meer is freaking AWESOME! I'm looking at some of his books...)

But I'll talk about all that later.