making paper + a bit too obsessed

My new thing - making paper from old scratch paper.  It's turning out well!  I started yesterday, and am still going today...my sewing machine is, I think, feeling a bit neglected.

When you make the paper pulp, you're supposed to use the blender.  Alas, I do not own my own blender and my mom absolutely forbids me to use hers.  As it turns out, it works out quite well just to rip the paper by hand.

First step - rip up some old printer paper and dump it in a large basin of water.

The paper will then soften - the longer you soak it, the easier it is to break it down - and you can rip it further, until it looks more like this, and the water begins to feel thicker and becomes cloudy with floating paper fibers (beautiful, and it feels nice too):

The whole process is rather therapeutic.

Then, using a screen and a frame, fully immerse it in the water so that the little bits of paper are on top of the screen, shake it around in the water to even it out, and lift out of the water.  I used a plastic embroidery hoop and some mesh off an old screen door.

My first attempt - not so beautiful.

Anyway, what's really supposed to happen is, once the paper pulp is settled on the mesh, remove the frame and quickly flip the paper over on a piece of cloth (keeping also the mesh there) - then sponge out the water, pressing firmly.  (Second try - I added some old red paper - it looks like a valentine!).

Then remove the screen and gently peel the paper off the fabric - and let dry.  (I just ended up laying on top of some more old mesh, and air drying - it dried overnight).  Voila!

It ended up feeling like a thin egg carton.  I shall continue trying to perfect my method, until I get really nice paper.  See what I mean?  Obsessed.  I think I'll be spending a lot more bonding time with my bathtub over the next few days.

Anyway, CHANGING THE SUBJECT, I also discovered the "I Write Like" site, http://iwl.me/.  It somehow analyzes your writing, and then tells you how your writing resembles some famous writer.  Quite entertaining to use, since it's free and everything.

I discovered that for the arts articles I write for The Tech, the case is overwhelmingly

I write like
H. P. Lovecraft

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

But for the rare occassion that I actually write more than a few sentences in my blog, the general consensus is that

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I've never actually read anything from these guys.  I think I will now.  Curiosity, you know.

I also got the random Charles Dickens, Dan Brown, Vladimir Nabokov...