A few weeks back, I picked up Book 1 (The Magician’s Nephew) of the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Years ago, I received the entire series as a present and voraciously tore through the seven volumes. Therefore, this July, what began as a casual opening of Book 1 ended today with the completion of Book 7. What is it about these books? The style is conversational, gentle, and fit for children; nevertheless, the trap of stripping language bare in order to accomodate younger readers is avoided. But, it isn’t really the literary style or the deeper symbolism that held my attention then and now. The fantasy is so well anchored with insight into the human condition, you see the world around you more clearly by looking at another.
My Dear Lucy,
I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand, a word you say, but I shall still be
your affectionate Godfather, C.S. Lewis
Above is the inscription in the best known book in the series, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Do make a point to journey through all the books, though. The final two chapters of The Last Battle paint one of the most beautiful pictures my mind’s eye has ever had the privilege of seeing. Today, upon reading those words again, they were more applicable and more real than they had been before. Like C.S. Lewis says, some day we will be old enough to read fairy tales again. I think, at that point, those chapters will hold an even deeper truth for me.
Matt Online - Matt Online! He’s a funny writer, he really is. Oh, and we are getting him a domain name soon. Expect great things from my good friend with whom I have no quarrel!
musicOMH - Excellent reviews of albums, singles, and movies. If you have your ear to the ground for music beyond the scope of your local radio stations, pay a visit.
Wandering over to Airbag yielded a link that brought me to a lovely pattern for a paper cut-out project. The result was supposed to be a miniature Apple G5, complete with fold-away panel revealing the dual G5’s powering the little beast. I guess I didn’t know what I was in for.
Construction
Beast(ly) is certainly the correct word. With no instructions (not even a handy scissors “cut here” logo for the lines to be cut), one had to make educated guesses about where to cut, where to fold, and where to bend. Still, i’m not complaining: things were pretty simple. However, frusteration could certainly ensue for people who very meticulously cut things out on all the wrong lines. I dutifully cut the corners first and then followed with the longer lines to achieve clean cuts. I used tape and glue during construction to maximize speed of assembly and final torsional stability. Things did not really go as planned.
Problems
If you are going to make one of these, use thick paper. Use thick paper! In the past, I have constructed a clock (which almost worked) and airplanes (from kits) from paper and this important detail is the first thing I should have remembered. There was not any cardstock around, so I had to make do with printer paper. Don’t do something that stupid, folks - you will regret it. Furthermore, using tape was a dumb idea. I mean, things would get stuck before they could be glued in the proper position and I nearly ended up with a crumpled mass of gray paper and half-dry Elmers instead of the ugly-duckling model I did complete. Christ, maybe I should just do origami instead.
Conclusion
Making things out of paper is hard. Damn hard. While enjoyable for most people, I would not recommend intricate paper construction for the mentally disturbed, obsessive compulsive, blind, or criminally insane. If you do fall into one or more of these categories, please refrain from this activity.
Lock Down IE - I have to keep IE on my computer for proprietary online quizzes for classes. So, I locked it down using this, so no one will accidentally infect my computer. Really useful.
