An Early Christmas Story At My House

Ravi folding one of his shapes as a kid

I know that Ravi will probably hate me for telling this story, but after my post yesterday, I thought I would share this quick story with you on Christmas.

It was our first Christmas in Toronto. Ravi was always a little set in his ways of doing things. Even now, when he goes into a store and something is not on the right shelf, he puts it back. So, when Ravi, Mom and I got up at 7 am on Christmas morning and Ravi asked if he could go downstairs first and organize the presents, we said “Okay”. Mom and I went back to bed and two hours later, Mom comes into my room asking if Ravi had come to get me. I said no and we went downstairs to find ALL of the presents unwrapped. Not just his, not just mine and my parents’ gifts, but the ones we were supposed to take to my grandparents’ house that night! I was furious! I almost cried and wanted my mom to wrap mine up again just so I could open them myself. She handed me my gifts which included the “Brothers In Arms” album from Dire Straits and went to re-wrap the gifts for that night. This has made it a wonderful story to tell at Christmas every year.

Merry Christmas everyone.

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IKEA Commercial Brings Back Memories

Most of you have probably seen the following commercial done by IKEA, in which the kid is continually building a fort out of the couch and mom is continually taking it down. Take a look:

I wanted to share this because it reminds me of when my brother and I were younger living in Burlington. We had a family room that was magically transformed into a Sultan’s Oasis (took me moment to come up with something to describe it appropriately). In the commercial, the kid only uses the couch. My brother would construct a tent-like structure with blankets, pillows, couches, chairs and anything else he could find. It would take up the entire room and use every last pillow in the house. It would be constructed on a Friday evening and he and I would sleep there for both nights of the weekend. Takedown was on Sunday. I wanted to share this, well, because my brother is special and I love him for it. This commercial just brought back memories. I guess watching the new show “Touch” has also got me thinking about it. Just wanted to share.

I only wish I had pictures scanned for you, but I will attempt to do so and update the post thereafter. What commercial brings back memories for you?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Family

Weekly Photo Challenge: Family.

I looked for another photo, but it was going to be a tough call between this one and that. So, I chose a photo of my brother and I. One of my very favourites.

Me and my brother, Ravi

How I Got Started In Origami

Even when we were kids, my brother Ravi was known more as the artist than I was. I sucked at any sort of visual medium and art in general. I’ve always needed some king of boundary or guideline. The infinite realm of possibilities was always overwhelming and stopped me before I started.

Ravi became interested in origami paper because of the patterns on a similar shape (squares). He didn’t want to make shapes or fold it, he just wanted to look at all the designs and colours. Inside the packages of paper were instructions that showed how to fold the paper correctly. It was perfect! Specific instructions and a definite right and wrong way of doing it.

I began with one of the most common ones, the Japanese Crane. I practiced it, bought books on it and became quite good at it. I could do it with my eyes closed…literally. Then I turned to something my mother swears she knew when I was 12: Teaching.

This was really the first teaching gig I got and I was 16 years old at my local rec centre. I made a proposal to the advisory council for a new course. I taught a full class for two years and it always had a waiting list. When the budgets were being cut and there was a chance the class would be ditched, we did an “Origami-a-thon” and an “Origami Auction” to raise the money. We raised more than enought to keep the program for another term and take an outing to the The Japanese Paper Place.

This is how I got my start. Next time, I’ll talk about my masterpiece. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Just decided to add this photo with the cranes. A few that I had sitting around the house.