No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on March 19, 2017

Occasionally I will dust off my theater skills and put them to good use. Last year I built puppets for the middle school production of Little Mermaid. This year I told the powers that be that I would be willing to run the sound board for Footloose.

Yesterday I found myself back in the middle of sorting out body mics and sound and running sheets. We have to do some trading around of the body mics. I worked out the second act and then started on the first. Now I need to sort out how I am going to do all this. I have all my materials and the script so by rehearsal tomorrow I will have the whole thing sorted out and we will give it at go at the run through.

It amazes me how much I remembered about running a sound board and how to make things sounds nice. I walked out knowing what limitations I am working with and have a plan to help fix it.

Today Peter and Caroline are off to I-Con and I am joining some friends for an Art Brunch in the city. While riding on the train, I plan to work through the soundscape for the show.

I am grateful for the bicycle effect.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 17, 2017

Peter and I were off running a couple of errands yesterday and were talking about this and that while in the car when I got an idea based on our conversation. I told it to Peter who built on it and then I added and by the end of the car ride we had worked out an entire TV series that could come out of what I came up with.

We do that a lot. I am Peter’s first sounding board as I am usual in the room with him when he wants to see if an idea sounds good or if he is totally off base. Sometimes we tell the other one an idea and then say ‘well that’s interesting but have you thought about (fill in the blank)’ and we are off and running on developing the idea into something that we can use. This is how Maddrox came to have a multiple personality problem in X-factor.

There are times he comes to me and says I need an idea for (fill in the blank). I’ll think a bit and give him my take on the subject. Sometimes he uses it and other times he won’t but what I said will give him another idea that does work. I am good at ideas and working out stories.

I am working on actually writing the bloody things. One can have a million good ideas but nothing more comes from them other than the thought, ‘well this is a good idea’. Executing the idea is the hard part.

I have lost count the number of people who have come to Peter with an idea that if he writes it up, they could make money. Peter always stops them before they tell them the idea. It’s his policy, unless being paid by the person with the idea, to not listen. That way if he just happens to write something similar, he has a clear conscience that he came up with it on his own or with me. And writers do come up with the same idea at the same time. Many times it has to do with current events or some scientific breakthrough that gets them thinking in the same direction.

I need better follow through on a number of things and I recognize that my follow through has been lackluster at best. And that’s a great idea.

I am grateful for great ideas.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 16, 2017

Or rather I feel like I let a friend down and it makes me rather sick to my stomach. We have talked it out or rather started to talk it out and there is a solution that I plan to implement. I honestly didn’t know things were going south until they pointed it out to me and they are right and I am in the wrong. Now I correct my fault and my behavior towards this friend. And if my friend is reading this, know that you have absolutely no fault in this what so ever. You are right and I am in the wrong and I am glad you pointed it out in such a polite way.

Peter is attending a funeral today. It is the second funeral in the same family within a two-week period. I feel sorry for the family as they have lost two loved ones in rapid succession. My sympathies to them.

Starting Saturday I am jumping into the school play having agreed to run sound for them. I am hoping I have an assistant but not counting on it. Need to find my good headset for the board. I have run sound for various forms of entertainment and know how to get things setup and done. The real fun is going to be rebalancing the body mics on the fly since more than one kid uses them during the show. I am hoping that the voices will be close enough that I can do a general setting but I am not counting on it. Need to also find my black t-shirts without logos on them.

Gives me two days and a bit to make good on my promise.

Then I have to get the next thing done because that is also looming over me. Fixing some puppets and sending them off to their new homes.

I know what I need to do and I can do it. It is me that is stopping the forward progress that I need to make. I do not blame anyone for the situation I find myself in.

The cold weather and the time change aren’t helping me either. I usually am such a polar bear but this winter I can’t seem to stay warm and if I start shivering then it can be a while before my body stops shaking. I have stated previously how much I loathe Day Light Savings Time and what it does to my internal clock. Nothing has changed there. And an inability to sleep through the night more than one night in a row is not helping my mood.

There is some other stuff going on right now that has me down but nothing I care to talk about publicly. Just think good thoughts that someone who has made us some big promises can come through on them. One would be nice two would be even better and if all three come through, my stress level will reduce greatly.

I will be attending LunaCon this year. I still am waiting to see if I have a table or not in the Art Show.

I will feel better once I get a few things off my plate. But right now I recognize that I am not at my best and I know how I can improve. I also recognize that I am feeling a little down because of things both in and out of my control.

I am grateful for friends who are honest with me about things.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 15, 2017

Yes, I know it is Wednesday even though it was hard to tell because of the snow day so this felt like a Monday but I know it is Wednesday. However we made this on Tuesday so I am counting it as Crafty Tuesday. And yes I probably could use a little more sleep.

Caroline has a friend whose nickname is Brownie. Brownie and Caroline are good friends and share a lot of the same fandoms in common. One thing they both love is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them especially for the critters. Brownie’s favorite creature is the Niffler.

The Niffler from Fantastic Beasts
(for the VI: This is a still from the film with the Niffler who has black fur and brown eyes and a pinkish snout reaching for some jewelry)

Caroline looked for an official plush Niffler for Brownie. We looked for one while we were down at Universal in Florida and, after talking to the people in the animal shop, discovered that there was never one made except the statue and the Pop figure.

After striking out on that, we decided that we could make it ourselves. A Niffler is basically a baby echidna with a different snout.

A baby Echidna photo copyright and all rights reserved Paul Fahy
(for the VI: This is a baby echidna with a black furry body with white tips, a black snout and black eyes on a human hand looking at an eyedropper)

So we took a hedge hog pattern from a Beatrix Potter stuff animal book and changed it up a bit for the Niffler. We made the first one from scraps from another project just to get the shape and size right.

The Prototype Niffler
(for the VI: This is the first try at the plush. The material is brown fleece with brown eyes and a pink snout.)

We looked at that one and did some adjustments like the belly had to be bigger and the snout could be a bit wider. The neck didn’t quite work either so we had to adjust that as well.

Brownie’s Niffler
(For the VI: This plush is black fur with brown leather hands and feet, brown eyes, and brown eyes. He has a pouch that has a necklace in it. He is holding a silver chain in his paws)

I am already working out the third version of this critter and a puppet version in my head.

I am grateful for a project that Caroline and I could do together.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 14, 2017

So yesterday we had all the warnings of a major blizzard with dire predictions of what might be heading our way.

This morning we awoke to discover that a warm front moved further north than expected so we are getting a miserable mixed of snow/sleet/rain with the sleet being small hail stone sized.

We aren’t getting the two feet of snow but driving is very hazardous as I have watched more than one car unable to brake for the stop signs and slide through. I am glad Caroline has a snow day today because getting to and from her school would be more of an adventure than it needs to be.

By tomorrow the school system will figure out if they can safely get the students to and from school but today is an indoor day.

I think our biggest fear is the power going out since the winds are very strong today. One tree limb could make for a bad day for a lot of people. These winds are here through tomorrow. It has been a very windy year.

Today will be a marathon of something and the making of soup. Along with crafty activities and laundry. A quiet day at home with none of us even sticking a toe outside our domicile.

Tomorrow I will post what we made for a belated Crafty Tuesday.

I am grateful that the warm front did us a favor and kept the snow at bay.

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