No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on March 1, 2018

Our March this year decided that the lion idea included high winds and possible flooding.

This is much later in the day for me to write than I usually do. My blog entry tends to be one of the first things I do in the day but this morning there were other things that took precedent.

Now that I have a lull before I go off to bowling this evening so I am giving writing a go.

I had a couple of topics running through my mind while I worked my way through the grocery store but each are kernels of things that I need to expand on before putting them down for all to read.

I got an interesting question last week at bowling, “Does your mind ever slow down?”

The simple answer is ‘no’. I am always thinking about things. I might be working out the design of a puppet. I might be working out a story in my head trying to figure out how I am going to put it together. I have been telling myself stories for as long as I can remember. Now I am starting to tell them to others and it is an interesting feeling.

The weather is taking a turn that doesn’t look pleasant. If it continues on the path, then we get some of it but don’t get it in the teeth like some other areas, which will be nice. If it does decide to give it to us both barrels, we are ready for that too. One of the things I did was walk the property and put the trashcans into the garage along with a few other things that were still out (snow shovels).

Caroline has been picked to be on the floor with her robot team. I am very proud of her. She is looking forward to the competition. She has her father’s competitive spirit.

I am grateful for a storm that is going to be mostly a miss.

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Posted By Kathleen David on February 28, 2018

With this entry I managed to post one entry a day for the month of February. I have no idea if I am going to continue this through March but I will give it a go.

I looked back on the month to see what I have written about and it is a pretty diverse set of topics that reflect what is going on in my life and my head. It also show me how much can happen in a month even the short one.

I had tinnitus. Have had for years. There are days that I don’t notice it and there are other days that the ringing in my ears makes it hard to think. Interestingly my bat like hearing still works on top of the noise. Makes me wonder what I would be hearing if I didn’t have the ringing in my ears. My world is never really quiet. Last night was one of those nights that the noise in my ears was loud enough that it kept me up late. This morning it is a little less but there and making its presence known.

We say that youth is wasted on the young. As I get older, I wish I had taken better care of my body so I might have fewer problems now. My problems are not life threatening but life annoying. There are some I had no control over and others that are of my own making. (Kids don’t play with solvents without protection. You will screw up your liver.). But I can still move and walk up and down stairs. I can exercise. I can walk through the city of New York or around a convention. That puts me ahead of other people my age that are dealing with all kinds of life threatening and life annoying problems.

The cats are napping in their morning nap spots. This afternoon they will be napping in their afternoon spots. They have a schedule that they live by. It is kind of weird that I know at 3 pm where I will find Fig and Inky. Mew is still settling on her afternoon space. When Caroline came home from Middle School, Fig would be downstairs and at the front door about five minutes before Caroline would walk through it. Now that Caroline is coming home in the evening, Fig tends to stay away until she gets back then Fig joins the rest of us.

I am planning on writing something besides the blog today. I hope to get something done that has been hanging over my head for a while then onto the next project.

I am grateful for silence.

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Posted By Kathleen David on February 27, 2018

We are making the ‘you could die from exposure’ jokes over on one of the puppetry boards I participate in although I did get some great exposure but no credit this past week due to Karen Gillian.

I know this is the song that never ends but it is one that I feel needs to be put out for the public to see as much as possible. Handcrafted products are going to cost more than mass produced products. Not only do you get a unique objects, you also get the craft and learning behind what went into making the object.

I can remember proof-reading for a friend their grant application for a show they wanted to produce. I saw what they had budgeted per puppet for the show.

“You are only budgeting for materials,” I said pointing to the numbers.

“Yeah, but I figure I have a better chance of getting this grant if the numbers are within this range,” they said pointing at the grant application rules.

“You are going to get next to nothing out of this for a large amount of work. Look, I suggest that you put a labor budget line in with the puppets for the build and then if you get push back or noises about it, you can take it out.”

I figured out based on the numbers that they gave me what it would cost at minimum wage to produce the puppets and they added it into the grant proposal.

They got the grant without having to make the puppets for free.

I keep telling artists that their time and all the things that they have learned over the years are worth something.

I do know there are times that one will undercut themselves just to be able to put food on the table or pay the rent or put gas in their car. I understand that.

It is hard to raise one’s prices once people expect that something is going to be X number of dollars because last time they saw it, it was X number of dollars. When I had to raise the prices on my Phluzzies because I was coming close to selling each one at a loss, I got push back from the next convention I was at.

“Well I was planning on buying one this year but you raised the price so it is out of my budget for this convention.”

Yes, I have had that said to me more than once over the years. I don’t argue or barter on this anymore. I say, “Well that’s too bad. May be next time.”

I would really like to see someone barter down a heart surgeon. “Are you sure you can’t use fewer stents and make it cheaper?”

Art and artists are worth something. The public does decided what they are worth on the market, which makes their livelyhood a little more uncertain. But they are worth something.

I am grateful to those who have not flinched at my prices or tried to bargain me down.

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Posted By Kathleen David on February 26, 2018

Some days it can be hard to take that first step but one does and feels good about that however that second step sometimes can be harder than the first.

But the next step does need to be taken at some point or one finds oneself just standing still or moving backwards.

I feel like I have taken the two steps forward one step back path right now.

I get things started but finishing can be an issue. This is what has been frustrating me with my current writings. I have a ton of things started but very little finished at this point. My goal this week is to get one writing project complete. I really don’t care which one, I just want to get one done.

I got something done in the kitchen I have been trying to get done but found myself having to deal with sugar ants that are apparently tired of the wet weather. I have to finish that up today and make sure I don’t have any more of those pesky insects lurking.

So there is what I want to do and what I have to do. It’s a balance that sometime tips one-way to the haves and the wants go to the side.

And then there is the big ol’ puppet project I want to do. I may just make bodies for a bit to get ready for the push this week.

I am motivated so let’s see what can get done.

I am grateful for a lack of insects in my living space.

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Posted By Kathleen David on February 25, 2018

I have been thinking a lot about Black Panther and apparently so have the news media that has latched onto the idea that this is the start of something bigger in film. I am really hoping this is true because that film was amazing on so many levels. There are films that are pointed to later as where it all changed for Hollywood and I think this is going to be one of them. Plus I always liked the character in the Marvel comics so it’s nice that he is being so well received by the world at large.

We have been watching the Olympics off and on during the coverage. And NBC can I ask you a couple things for the next winter games? Please have the commentators shut up during the figure skating events. We don’t need running commentary on how, since we are not professional ice skaters, we can’t really understand the scoring. I know enough to see what they are doing. I want to hear the music and experience the skate without the constant babble. This goes from most of the running commentary this past Olympics. Also could you stop picking at the mental wounds on the participants. “You just got squeezed out of the gold, how does that make you feel?” “You just missed the medal stand, how does that make you feel?” “You just fell on your ášš in front of millions of people, how does that make you feel?” I think we all know how they are feeling by this point and you really don’t need to keep asking them about their failures even if you are trying to build some sort of a narrative that really doesn’t track. Also when talking to the winners, please talk to each other so that these people don’t have to answer with close to the same answer over and over. Curling was a good example of this. I cannot say that I was pleased with the coverage.

Inky has discovered a totally safe place for her to hang where Mewlan will not disturb her. Unfortunately it’s on my ironing board, which is not the best place for her. Mewlan’s balance is not the best so she hates shaky places that the ironing board is. Inky has a really good sense of balance and is using it to her advantage. She is going to be unhappy when I put the board up.

Today I was going in to meet up with some fellow artists and talk art and the like. I wasn’t going to let the craptacular weather deter me because I knew it was coming. When I got up today, I looked at my phone and saw the LIRR alerts coming in fast. Due to track work and weather conditions, it was going to double my time to get into the city. I love my friends but 6 hours traveling in crappy weather makes it untenable for me to attend. Now thinking through the rest of my day.

I can feel the cold on the back of my neck from the window behind me. I hear the pitter patter of rain striking the house and there is evidence on the windows that it rained sideways for a while. There was a power outage at one point. Fast enough that the upstairs clock is not blinking but the downstairs was. Good day for a hot drink and a long book.

I am grateful for amusing cat antics.

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