scraping the surface

I have been so excited about the "art of the book" class,
happy to be exposed to new ideas, knowing I will be
challenged to be more conceptual and not so literal in
the making of my art.
Today finally got here, having been marked on my calendar with a
big red circle for the past 6 weeks. I have spent the past few
days gathering the tools, choosing the container, and mapping
the route to the classroom.
I got up a lot earlier than I needed, and, realizing that I was the
first one to arrive, circled the complex of buildings for at least
10 minutes.
In the studio, a dozen students (most 40 years junior to me) who
will spend the next 12 weeks learning to relate form, material,
text and image in the design of traditional and non-traditional
book formats, sat around the tables. I felt like I was the only
one who was enthusiastic....maybe it was too early for them?
The class will be demanding of both time and energy. If I had forgotten,
this was apparent with the handouts: syllabus, materials list,
reading list, and assignments.
Our first assignment is to alter the surface of 25 sheets of paper,
potentially to be used in the production of a book. Burn, tear,
emboss.....wet, sand, puncture....and I have only "scratched the surface."
So all afternoon my thoughts have revolved around how to come up with 25
ways to change the surface. I rubbed a rusted metal scrap on
a piece, was a little disappointed with the result.
One down, 24 to go.