No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on March 29, 2019

First sign of spring in this neck of the woods is when you start seeing crocus appearing. That is followed by other flowers and then the trees start to bloom followed by the sniffing and sneezing and coughing of those who have allergies.

Still bummed that the convention we were going to isn’t happening. I was going to make an Ace puppet for Sophie. Instead we have re-thought our plans and have something else to do this weekend.

Caroline’s robot team has been competing at Hofstra these past two days. She is having fun and made new friends through it.

Next weekend I will be at HELIOsphere as a program participant. I am looking forward to that. I have some interesting panels and get to interview one of my favorite authors. Also it looks like I will be able to catch up with some convention buddies I haven’t seen in a long time.

The weather is doing what spring weather does around here. The temperature is all over the place and the wind can make it feel a lot colder.

We had another round of kitty politics this morning. They were ‘arguing’ over a spot on the couch and a cardboard box. Inky gave up, came over, and curled up by me. Mewlan took the box and Fig is on the couch.

I feel kind of stuck right now. I can tell that I am not at my best emotionally. But I also feel like things are starting to lighten up so I am hoping with the advent of spring that I come out of my winter funk. I feel like I am coming out of survival mode.

Because I have two very long lists of things I must do and things I want to do but I need the energy to do them.

Guess I should start somewhere and get things going the direction they need to.

I am grateful for more sunlight.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 25, 2019

Regenerations convention was cancelled for a number of reasons but in enough time for people to get back the money on their hotel reservations. The convention is working hard at refunds for the attendees but this was a bit out of the blue so they are doing the best that they can at the moment.

We tried to create a quick alternative but that fell through when there was a screw up on the hotel level so we could not get the room we wanted.

However we are going to down for the weekend as there were reasons that we wanted to get down there that were attached to the convention but not part of the convention. Just not in the hotel room we were hoping for.

This makes my life easier in some ways that I am not trying to knock out an Ace puppet in a week’s time. Not that I won’t be building it but there is no deadline at this time.

I have another wacky idea but I need a puppet sized sword to sell it. Might be talking to my brother the blacksmith about that one.

It is disappointing as I was looking forward to seeing friends and catching up but that’s life.

I am grateful for the opportunities that I have even when they don’t totally work out.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 23, 2019

This was one of those mornings that I woke up and that’s about as far as my brain went.

I can tell the days when my brain is fully engaged and those days it is just getting by.

My first tell is whether or not I can do Sudoku. If I am seeing patterns, then the brain is fully engaged.

The first try to get my brain to fully engage is coffee. I have limited the amount I have each day to two cups in the morning trying to avoid the jitters in the evening. This is down from when I worked at Borders, which had free coffee as one of the perks, and drank about twelve cups a day. At Del Rey I got it down to six, again free coffee was a job perk. Then when I was pregnant with Caroline I cut it down to one cup and discovered I was not as wired at bedtime so I continue with it.

If that doesn’t work then exercise is next both mental and physical.

If that doesn’t work, then I know it’s going to be a difficult day mentally.

I am more careful about what I say or do on the Internet on these sorts of days. I tend to be emotionally a little more hair-trigger.

So I will muddle through the day and do what I can. I hope tomorrow is better.

I am grateful for the days of fully engaged brain.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 22, 2019

Tonight begins Purim, which I didn’t really know about until I got together with Peter.

Purim is considered a lesser Jewish festival where there is the celebration of the defeat of Haman’s (boo hiss) plot to eradicate the Jews as recorded in the book of Ester.

I only know the American version where the kids dress up and there is a lot of noise from groggers every time Haman’s name comes up. I am sure I am missing a lot of what the festival is about.

Hamantashen and kreplach are the foods of choice. The shape of the Hamantashen is suppose to mimic the three cornered hat Haman wore.

Today is also a Friday in Lent so no meat today. I plan to get some salmon for dinner that everyone loves.

I am going to get stuff together for the puppet I am embarking on. See what coupons I have that will make this cheaper.

This weekend is going to be pretty quiet. I am happy with that.

I am grateful for costume breakdowns.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 21, 2019

If you are in Atlanta, the Center for Puppetry Arts is teaming up with StoryCorps. 

From their Facebook page “The Center for Puppetry Arts is proud to partner with StoryCorps Atlanta to collect and preserve memories about how the Center for Puppetry Arts and Jim Henson’s legacy has touched peoples’ lives.”

They have a list of ways that you can participate even if you are unable to be there in person.

I am thinking of telling the story of the opening of the Center with Jim and Kermit cutting the ribbon since I was there.

Puppetry for me is like breathing, I honestly don’t know how to not puppet.

I cannot remember a time that there were not puppets in my life from Kukla, Fran, And Ollie to Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood (I remember when he got a statue of each of the places in the land of make-believe) to the Muppet Show with a side stop at Sesame Street. Puppets have always been there.

Since then I have made friends because of puppetry.

I found my husband because of puppetry that lead to my daughter being in this world.

Because of the Center for Puppetry Arts, I have seen a lot of really good puppet shows performed with all kinds of puppets showing me the possibilities for the art form. I learned how to make and repair lots of different kinds of puppets. It really gave me an education that I appreciate to this day.

I have become an educator about puppets over the years. I have talked about them at various conventions. I have taught people how I make puppets. I have helped people execute their ideas for puppets. I love seeing what they have made with the information I have given them.

So let’s celebrate all things puppet today.

Puppetry is a world-wide language that is spoken in many tongues.

I am proud to be a professional doll wiggler.

I am grateful to Vince Anthony and the Center for Puppetry Arts.

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