Modular Origami

Given my Japanese heritage and my penchant for crafts, it's no surprise that I'm something of an origami nerd.  Recently, I've gotten into modular origami (i.e. origami for adults).  The concept is simple: fold many identical units and then assemble them into an interesting geometric shape.

For most of my modular creations, I follow the design patterns of Meenakshi Mukerji on Origamee.net and in her book Marvelous Modular Origami.  Her designs are fairly straightforward, and the results are always impressive.

I must say that up until this point, I've pretty much been an origami purist.  If it didn't start with a single square piece of paper, then it just wasn't really origami.  But I have to say, I quite like the geometric polyhedral shapes created with modular origami.

The nice thing about modular origami is that the units are often very simple to make.  No crazy reverse folds or ambiguous crease lines.  Folding the individual units makes for a nice, relaxing post-work day activity.  The assembly of the overall unit, however, can be quite tedious and time consuming (and quite the opposite of relaxing to tell the truth).  But persevere, and the end result is always satisfying.

Since I've outgrown cups and cranes, modular origami is a great way to "grow-up" my interest in paper folding.  After all, we can't all be Kamiya Satoshi (in case it's not clear that's one sheet of paper, 10 hours and something like 1300 folds).

Daily Monku:  What is up with the article of clothing (if you can really call it that) called the "romper" (even the name is ridiculous, so ridiculous that I insist on enclosing it in quotes cause it can't seriously be called that)?  I honestly don't think it looks flattering on anyone.  It makes you look bloated around the middle with a short waist and emphasized thighs.  And what baffles me more is that a lot of women seem to think the "romper" is an acceptable replacement for a dress, meaning any event/occasion you might think a dress is appropriate, they now substitute it with the "romper".  Seriously...  Twenty years from now they're going to make fun of us for wearing these things and thinking they were fashionable (the same way we look at side ponytails with neon scrunchies and jewel toned t-shirt rings).