I got my sample ballot printed out recently and did my due diligence in researching the candidates.   I had pretty simple criteria as I visited their websites – dividing them neatly into “vote for” and “lunatic”.  Well, maybe not quite like that.

I have my notes ready and I’ll be heading to the polls early on election day.  I considering doing the early voting, but the process when I did that before seemed… eh.  A little too casual, maybe.

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In a recent staff meeting, I made a small cube-shaped jack o’lantern out of orange paper and left it on the table when I left.  One of my coworkers saw this, loved it, emailed me, and asked if I could make some for her daughter’s preschool class. She requested 19 of them on a Tuesday and needed them by Thursday so she could deliver them on Friday.   

I agreed – figuring I’d do twenty so she could have one too – then did the math.  Each cube is 6 modules in orange with a seventh in green for the stem. Times 20… 140 pieces of paper folded.  In two days. Plus assembly and drawing a face on each one.

I bought the orange paper I needed Tuesday night and got all of them cut – plus 10 cubes and stems done.  I also made a stencil for the faces. On Wednesday, I finished up the folding and got them assembled and finished.  Delivered Thursday – on time. Looking forward to the pictures of the kids getting them.

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In other folding news… I participated in a Make a Difference Day event on campus where I taught students to fold some origami ornaments.     Most of the students there were making ornaments from kits, but a few joined me for a little folding. As we went along, a couple of them starting teaching other students that joined in.  And they divided up the labor – one guy cutting paper and another folding right up to where the designs diverged.

We made a ton of ornaments in a couple hours and two of the students wanted my contact info for future projects.

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Tonight was trick-or-treat in Akron.  Two years ago, I missed it entirely. It was on a weird day or something.   Last year, I bah-humbugged my way past it with dark porch lights and a scowl.

This year, though, I bought several bags of candy and determined the day well in advance.  It was from 5-7 and by 4:50 I was on the porch with a chair, an origami pumpkin, a bowl of candy (with more in reserve) and a book.

Took a bit for the kids to start showing up and many of them were in large groups.  There were some kids that were maye a little too old for trick or treating and many didn’t have much in the way of costumes.  And one girl had a torn grocery bag for her treats – I wanted to maybe get her a new one, but she was gone before I could say something.

It was cold and raining and not quite as magical as when I was a kid, but I gave away a lot of candy and most of the kids said thank you – even if many forgot the “Trick or Treat”.

I have a little candy left over to take to work to share, so, everyone wins.

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