No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on April 24, 2018

I have been binge watching “Project Runway” and “Project Runway All Stars”.

One of the people who has come into the public eye from the show is the mentor for the designers, Tim Gunn. He has a catch phrase that, apparently, is something he said to his students at the Parson School of Design, which is “Make it work.” Meaning take what you have and get it to the fabulous point you have in your head.

Yesterday I sat down and actually listed out what I want to do before DragonCon for the puppet show and nailed down the Art Show theme that I now need to break down.

I am at the start of the make it work journey.

There are things I can control and things I can’t. Fabric can be a crap shoot as to what I can find and what I have to make look like what I am creating. Eyeballs can be a bit of a pain too. Then there is finding the right hair, which can be a make or break point in getting my idea across. Accessories are where I have excelled at creating items that have impressed people.

What I am really good at is clothing for puppets. I can make or recreate just about anything for a puppet. I have frock coats down to a fine art. Shirts are not a problem for me. Dresses can be fun and frustrating at the same time. Armor is the next step in my fabrication bag of tricks.

So I will make it work and get done what I need to get done in a timely fashion rather than the panic of the last minute.

I am grateful when I do find that perfect fabric that solves a million of my problems.

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Posted By Kathleen David on April 23, 2018

As in I have a lot to do.

Two weeks to my vacation and in that time I have some things that MUST BE DONE and a few items I would like to get done.

We have gotten in all the stories for the Glenn anthology back from their initial edit. Now it is off to the next step in the process. We have the cover and it is lovely. So that is pretty much on time, which can be a miracle in publishing.

Now to put into place the various things that take up time including the Marvel Friends and Family viewing of Avengers: Infinity War on Wednesday. After that I need to look at my time and how I can use it wisely. Next week is going to be about getting the house ready for my leaving it for a while.

The weather has been nicer. The open windows are being appreciated by the feline population of the house. There has been a lot of action as the open windows. It is nice that all three like to smell the outside but have no interest to negative interest to going outside. They are happy as indoor cats and we are happy about them being indoor cats.

I have both my Art Show entries and my Puppet Slam piece sorted out. Now onto to the build part of the process. I want to get a majority of it done before Shoreleave with only a few pieces left to do. I also have a 12th Doctor idea for me that I might be able to get done. Caroline has three costumes she wants to execute as well. If that’s not motivation I don’t know what is.

I am grateful for finding the right material for the puppets.

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Posted By Kathleen David on April 22, 2018

This year’s theme is ‘plastic bad’ which could be the theme every year but considering some of those floating garbage island in the oceans, I think we need to pay attention now.

I live in Suffolk County which, as of January 1st 2018, has a pay a nickel per bag (that’s both plastic and paper so if you like to put plastic in paper it will be a dime) or bring your own. There are a few exceptions to the rule which is summed up as ‘wet exemptions’ like the fish store and the butcher do not charge when you buy ‘wet’ food. So when you go to your local Barnes and Nobel, you either carry your books out in your arms or a bag you brought in or you pay .05 per bag used.

I have no problem with this and have certain bags for certain stores that I have tucked away in my car. In fact I haven’t used plastic from the grocery story in years with the exceptions of a few quick trips and even then I tend to walk out with the items un-bagged.

We use re-usable water bottles around the house and at conventions. Caroline’s school has water fountains that allow you to easily refill your water bottle. I am seeing those types of water fountains in many more places.

We don’t bag our comics (Yes, I just heard the horrific gasp by some collectors). Caroline uses backing boards as paper for her drawings at conventions.

We recycle all the types of plastics we can. The only thing that can be tricky is finding somewhere to take the plastic bags that do happen to wander in the house. Recently most of the grocery stores have put barrels where you can recycle those as well.

We tend to turn paper bags into paper mache for all kinds of projects. Cat litter bags are then used in cleaning the cat boxes as are their food bags.

And of course all kinds of bits and bobs that might be thrown out in other households get turned into all kinds of things in ours for puppets or costumes or art.

What was once a conscious effort has become almost effortless. My town has a good recycling center that takes paper and plastic every Wednesday. I have places to recycle other materials that they don’t take. And we re-use a lot around here.

We are making an effort to keep our carbon footprint down and this Earth Day we recognize that plastic can be useful but should be disposed of properly.

I am grateful to everyone who makes the effort to keep plastic use down to a minimum.

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Posted By Kathleen David on April 19, 2018

Outside our living room window there is a flock of starlings bouncing about. There are some mating dances happening on the rail of the porch. The cats have their spots all picked out and are watching with great fascination at the activity in front of them.

Riverdale used Carrie the Musical as the basis for the episode that worked and didn’t work at the same time. But then Carrie the musical didn’t really work on Broadway either. Caroline loves that show along with I-Zombie, Black Lighting, and a lot of political comedy shows (Think John Oliver and Samantha B).

I am still interested in where they are going with Once Upon a Time. I am glad that they knew this was it for the show so they could bring closure for them if not their viewing audience. I will be watching whatever the show runners come up with next.

Pollen is in the air and my head feels like it is stuffed with cotton. This is with allergy meds. I shudder to think what it would be if I didn’t have those.

Someone put up one of those what where you doing X number of years ago and I went through to think of what I was doing X number of years ago. It is now 30 years ago that I attended the Yale School of Drama which is mind blowing to me. I have been here for 20 years. 40 years ago I was around Caroline’s age now attending High School and wondering what I was going to do with my life.

Time does fly as you get older. I think having a child speed up the clock.

I need more coffee.

75 days to Shoreleave. Need to keep myself honest for the love of puppets.

I feel more like myself even with the stuffy and irritated head cavity than I have in a while. I must use this to my advantage.

I am grateful for feeling more like me.

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Posted By Kathleen David on April 18, 2018

But first I would like to wish Shana, my eldest step-daughter, a very happy Birthday and I hope the day brings her lots of lovely things.

I have less than three weeks to execute a puppet who is pretty much like another puppet I have done before except the hair color. It’s a two-day job along with building another stand since I am short on stands right now. I also need to buy a new drill bit since some how the one I was using has developed a fault that is making it hard to drill evenly. I think I need to get to that sooner than later.

I was telling a fellow puppeteer about what I was building and why it was so easy. They said that two-days for me would be a week for them and they really don’t see how I can get things done so quickly but so well. I take some pride in that.

I also discovered that it is 76 days to Shoreleave where I need to be to a point in my puppet building. So that is kicking up the voice yelling “get it done” in my head.

I am grateful for easy puppets.

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