3.11.2010

Maybe your time would better be spent elsewhere....

My sister is one of those odd people who spends literally hours in the bathroom. Not doing her hair, fixing her makeup or shaving various parts of her body. She's sitting on the toilet. Reading. Sharing a house (and later -- for one awful year -- an apartment) with her meant constantly being told I could pee in "just a few more minutes." I'm not sure why she found that to be the most comfortable seat in the house. To my knowledge, she didn't have any severe bowel problems that required a long-term commitment. She just liked the privacy. And maybe the accoustics. I never understood it.

However, for any of you who are like my sister, and really enjoy being in the bathroom, here's a lovely book for you. Personally, I would never do this to my bathroom, even if I could sit in the living room to actually make the creations. Why? Do I hate origami? No! Having lived in Japan for a while, I found it to be a delightful part of their culture. Do I have an aversion to toilet paper? Ask some of my childhood neighbors and you'll find that I had quite an affinity for the stuff (and quite a good throwing arm!). The problem is this. When I walk into someone's "guest" bathroom and the towels are very lovely and perfectly arranged, I feel a little guilty using them. I know that's what they're for, and I know that (since I've just washed my hands) I won't be rubbing mud all over them, but it just makes me uncomfortable. Thus, I'd feel like my guests might feel that, if there's origami on the roll, they shouldn't use it. The sign of a good hostess is to make one's guests feel as comfortable as possible. This could cause discomfort, and therefore cannot be allowed in my home. Plus I'm kinda lazy.

However, for those of you who like the idea of bathroom origami, there's this book:
Now your towels and your TP can all be decorative in the extreme. I actually like towel origami -- when I visited Egypt, the young men who performed the maid services in the smaller hotels and especially on the Nile cruise ships would always leave the cutest origami on the beds. Here were some of my favorites (the crocodile attacking the snake was in the hallway) for your entertainment:


12 comments:

The Revolutionary said...

If making origami out of toilet paper is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

The Blog Fodder said...

A friend of mine could make a "rubber chicken" out of a towel, along with a cute story to go with it.
Towels yes, Toilet paper no.

kay - Infinite Shelf said...

Ooh! I want to make origami with toilet paper and towels! That's a fun way to use ordinary things.

the.effing.librarian said...

oh, how many times I have wanted to wipe my ass with a lily.

Alissa Grosso said...

I suppose it's cheaper than buying that fancy origami paper.

Carin Siegfried said...

This is fantastic! And now I really want to go on a cruise down the Nile, too! And to think a few months ago I was impressed when my cleaning ladies folded my kleenex tops into little fans. Well my standards have been raised!

Anonymous said...

Oh gosh - I find it a bit bizarre when hotel people move things around in the bathroom, let alone that! :)

Anonymous said...

Hey! I saw that towel elephant in a photo of the bathroom of a house for sale in my area. They must have that book lol!

Karen said...

The hotel where I stayed in Luxor did that bed-linen sculpture, too. The ones I got were charming, but my colleague's got...disturbing.

Anonymous said...

My mother bought my boyfriend this book as a gift while she was on a cruise.

Apparently the room service staff on cruise liners make these towel animals in an effort to get larger tips.

They sold the book in the gift shop of the ship.

My boyfriend does origami = her bringing it home, saving it until his birthday and then giving it to him in all seriousness.

egarrity said...

In hotels they fold the toilet paper so you know they cleaned the bathroom. Origami towels are fresh clean towels.

Collector said...

:)