In praise of paper

Perhaps you are old enough to remember that famous, fatuous prediction of the paperless office, courtesy the computer age. Hah! At this point, I am much more concerned with how to make use of all the excess paper churned out by my computer's printer. Of course. But then I have a love affair with paper. I like books. I like magazines and newspapers (remember those?). I like note pads and sticky notes to keep my mind functioning. In short, I'm a throw-back to an earlier age -- even though my husband started me on home computers in the 70s and today I love blogging. Nonetheless....

...what could beat the standard coloring set-up offered to young children by any restaurant worth its salt. (I grant that the coloring book above is a cut above average, thank you, Genovese's). I kinda doubt that even the most upscale, priciest bistro would entrust a tablet PC with a display of coloring.com to a greasy fingered kid.

But then my GD finds myriad uses for paper using her basic tool set -- markers, scissors and glue.

For example, she made this house which now sits on my slide scanner. It's a 3-D production. The door and window open, to reveal household equipment inside.

This nearly-6-year-old is also into making books. Real Books. Oh, yes, she's learning phonics. The title of this opus is Pesct Valle; I am presuming that's a genuine valley girl on the cover...

As you can see, this book has several pages (made, after much protestation, from some of the excess from my printer...) She, too, would prefer pristine white paper.

But if you're looking for high class paper pizazz, here it is. A 10-finger set of ferocious paper claws. Admittedly, the dotter found the instructions via The All-Knowing Google. I found something yet more grand: a site with Star Wars origami. A true coming together of the paper culture and the computer culture. I really like that.