Cranes and Color Coding

First off, I want to congratulate Sabrina of Coffee Quill for winning The Heart Of Hyacinth in my Paper Crane Contest!! Thank you to everyone who spread the word.

Is anyone else having better luck making cranes than me? I think my first mistake was using pages from old books that were too small and rectangular since I'm not known for accurate measuring or cutting or folding skills.

Also, it is snowing. At first it was like little stars falling. Pretty. Now it's legit snow and I am DISPLEASED.

And finally, as promised, here is the definition of the day courtesy of the incomparable Dianna Wynne Jones from her book The Tough Guide to Fantasyland:

"Color Coding is very important in Fantasyland. Always pay attention to the color of the CLOTHING, hair, and eyes of anyone you meet. It will tell you a great deal. Complexion is also important, in many cases it is coded too.

1. Clothing. Black garments normally mean EVIL, but in rare cases can mean sobriety, in which case a white ruffled collar will be added to the ensemble. Gray or red clothing means that the person is neutral but tending to Evil in most cases. Any other color is GOOD, unless too many bright colors are worn at once, in which instance the person will be unreliable. Drab color means the person will take little part in the action , unless the drab is also torn or disreputable, when the person will be a lovable rogue.

2. Hair. Black hair is Evil, particularly if combined with corpse-white complexion. Red hair always entails magical POWERS, even if these are only latent. Brown hair has to be viewed in combination with eyes, whose color are the real giveaway (see below), but generally implies niceness. Fair hair, especially if it is silver-blonde, always means goodness.

3. Eyes. Black eyes are invariably Evil; brown eyes mean boldness and humor, but not necessarily goodness; green eyes always entail TALENT, usually for MAGIC but sometimes for MUSIC; hazel eyes are rare and seem generally to imply niceness; gray eyes mean POWER or healing abilities (see HEALERS) and will be reassuring unless they look silver (silver-eyed people are likely to enchant or hypnotize you for their own ends, although they are not always Evil); white eyes, usually blind ones, are for wisdom (never ignore what a white-eyed person says); blue eyes are always GOOD, the bluer the more good present; and then there are violet and golden eyes,. People with violet eyes are often of Royal birth and, if not, always live uncomfortably interesting lives. People with golden eyes just live uncomfortably interesting lives and most of them are rather fey in the bargain. Both these types should be avoided by anyone who wants a quiet life. Luckily, it seldom occurs to those with undesirable eye colors to disguise them by ILLUSION, and they can generally be detected very readily. Red eyes can never be disguised. They are Evil and surprisingly common.

4. Complexion. Corpse-white is Evil and it grades from there. Pink-faced folk are usually midway and pathetic. The best face-color is brown, preferably tanned, but it can be inborn. Other colors such as black, blue, mauve, and yellow barely exist.

So, if your acquaintance is wearing green and is blue-eyed and brown faced, she/he will be OK. Caution: Do not apply these standards to our own world. You are very likely to be disappointed."

Someone should have really given Bella Swan a copy of this guide when she moved to Forks. Corpse-white skin and golden eyes? Hello! Also, this provides some insight into why I've always been obsessed with red hair (so often described as red-gold hair). All the coolest girl characters were redheads, in my reading experience.