No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on May 12, 2016

There have been a number of web log entries and web site articles talking about the demise of the fan run convention or about that the corporate run conventions killing the fan run conventions and then dying themselves from bloat and over reaching.

I have been going to conventions for pretty much 40 years now. I might be off by a year or so but it is so close I will say 40. I have been to all kinds of conventions in many different countries and worked a lot of conventions as well both as staff and a guest. Heck, I was the tech director for DragonCon way back in the day. I have worked Art Show, Masquerade, Con Ops, and Security.

And you know what? I have heard this all before.

There will always be fan run conventions. There will always be the Creation Ltd or Wizard World or Reed-Pop conventions. There will be fans who make a living working for the corporate conventions or the talent as a wrangler. There will be fans who decided to put on a convention and twenty years later find themselves still putting on that convention. There are conventions that turn into one offs but are remembered fondly or not fondly depending on one’s experience.

There will be World Cons, World Fantasy Conventions, Costume Con, and World Horror Convention. If not under those names, there will be an equivalent.

There will be children that grow up going to conventions that will then bring their children to the conventions where they will do the same.

I like that I can wander around some of the large conventions and I see friends and families wandering around and having a good time. I like that conventions have recognized that families are good customers so to have activities and panels for the children as well as panels for the adults is a good idea.

I was at a convention last year and sitting down for lunch with Caroline. At the table in front of us was a girl a little younger than Caroline dressed up as a storm trooper. Her brother was dressed as Robin and the Dad dressed as Batman. The baby was dressed as Yoda and they had done the stroller up to look like the baby was sitting on a rock. They were working out the rest of their day and who was going to go see what. It was a lovely picture of a family having fun together. I asked the Mom who’s idea was it for the costumes and it had been the kids who wanted to be these characters so the parents went along with it for fun.

Conventions aren’t going anywhere. They may morph into different things. Some will succeed and some will fail. Some will fade with time and interest waning. But there will always be something going on every weekend for the fannish minded.

I am grateful for all the fun I have had a conventions.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 11, 2016

I need to remember that before going onto the Internet.

I think over time my tolerance for idiocy has reduced and increased. There are some things that use to bother me and I would have to jump in and say something to correct what was an obvious error to me that I just let stand now because I know I am not going to change anyone’s mind. But there are other things that I never spoke out about that I now do because I can’t take the ignorance anymore.

I have gone the path where I went from I know everything to I know nothing to I know something about a lot of things but not all things and that’s fine.

I still enjoy learning and gaining knowledge. I find a subject that interests me and I will research the heck out of it.

Caroline’s brain apparently works the same way but her retention of details is amazing. She saw Aladdin about a year and half ago and then again about two weeks ago. She said at the Intermission, not as many fireworks at the end of “Friend Like Me.” Peter asked James later about that and James told him that yes, there was less due to a miscue. She can recall all kinds of things that she has read. She is getting pretty good at Jeopardy as her knowledge base increases.

Inky had overcome her fear of the top of the bed and has taken to napping with me.

They gym continues to be an adventure. I can tell pretty much what my chances are of getting my whole workout it or just a good chunk of it. Part of that is on me and part of that has to do with how many people are trying to do what at the gym. There are days that my shaky hands makes it hard to get the whole thing done. Feeling like I am going to toss my cookies makes me slow down or stop early. The days that I can get through the whole thing and I feel fine afterwards are the days I look forward to. Yesterday I upped the weight on a couple of exercises because I was going through it too fast. So today there are some muscle groups complaining about it in the good way. I have however done something to the back of my leg that keep tightening up so I keep carefully stretching it and hoping I didn’t do any damage.

NBA finals are still going on. I think it’s going to be the Cavs and Warriors in the final.

I love how ESPN is still trying to make football relevant in the offseason. They had the Draft to talk about for a while and now it’s rookie mini camps and the trades. That they can maintain interest the whole year is amazing.

Off to start the day.

I am grateful for having the wisdom to know when to just leave well enough alone.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 10, 2016

There has been an on going discussion on an art board that I am mostly an onlooker unless I have something to say that is relevant to the topic at hand.

It started when it was made know that an artist who has had problems delivering art work in a timely fashion was asking for donations for which she would do a fast digital sketch for each person who donated over X dollars. Now this artist has a 5 year backlog of art that has been commissioned and paid for that they still have not done but apparently they can’t make their rent so donations are needed so they can continue to work on their back log.

It is known that this artist has some mental health issues that they said they were getting help for. We heard stories of bad effects of various medications, which made it impossible for the word to get done. Now they seem to be on something that is working for one problem but not for another. They say they have lost their motivation to create the art that they were paid for but as soon as they get this money and can get their motivation back, they will do all the work they owe people. They really promise this time.

Now a number of other artists who have the same issues have chimed in on this pointing out that medication does not solve all issues immediately but it can bring you to a point that you can function. And there is no guarantee that their motivation is going to magically come back.

One artist who has cleaned up their backlog after a breakdown and some time away from the Internet, pointed out that an artist doesn’t need motivation rather they need discipline. They pointed to a post on Tumblr by theangryviolinist who was answering the question “How do you keep yourself motivated to practice?”

They replied
F— motivation. It is an unreliable little d—f— and isn’t worth your time.

Discipline is reliable. Motivation is fleeting. The question is not how to keep yourself motivated. It is how to train yourself to work without it.

This gave a lot of food for thought in the group. And a number of people chimed in that they hadn’t thought about art in that way. Others pointed out that learning to draw takes discipline or learning a new form of art skill.

Peter agrees. He never has to worry about motivation to write. He has the discipline to sit down and write motivated or not. Sometimes part of the story comes through motivation but most of it is just the discipline of sitting down and writing. He has said that if he waited for motivation, he would have never finished his first novel.

So Discipline is my word for the week. Let’s see what I can get done.

I am grateful for discourse on the Internet that does not dissolve into name calling and explaining people’s motivations for writing things.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 9, 2016

Which I think is my mother’s favorite line out of all the Star Wars films.

It was pointed out word wise that I should also count my web log entries since they are words that I write every week.

So word wise not a bad week of about 10,000 words including blogs. Going to try to double that this week and keep a closer account of exactly how many words I do write.

I did get Caroline’s Rey costume version one done on Tuesday. Puppets are still on the edge of being.

I did stay off of the Internet at the beginning of the week but will admit to being sucked down the electronic rabbit hole later in the week. Going to work on that this week.

Gym work last week felt fine. I have had to increase the weight on several machines, which is a good sign. I think I am going to mix it up a bit this week.

This week I am going to help Caroline with a project and work on Arthur the Puppet.

But first a little cleaning left over from this weekend to get ready for the next part of the week.

I am grateful for what I did get done last week.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 8, 2016

I know I am a very lucky person that I have both a good relationship with my mother, my daughter, and my stepdaughters.

I think my relationship with my mom put me on the right path to be a good mother.

I remember back when I was stage managing in Atlanta and had just dealt with crisis #57 during a rather contentious rehearsal period, one of the actors came over to me, gave me a hug, and said, “You’re going to make someone a wonderful mother one day.”

There was a period of time that I figured I would never be a mother followed by just a stepmom when Peter and I were married but a year after that I was expecting and that December I joined the Mom Club.

I have been Caroline’s Mom for almost 14 years now and I am proud to have that title.

Ariel joined the club a little over a week ago with the birth of AJ. This is her first Mother’s day.

I am trying to be a good Mom to Caroline and set an example for her to follow the way my mother did for me. I am giving her the skills that she needs to do whatever she wants with her life like my mother did.

My mother is my example for Mothering done right. She is always firm but fair. She knows that her four children and three granddaughters are all individuals and what might work for one is not going to work for another. Even when I was at my teen angstious and felt like I wanted to rebel against the world, I knew that no matter what my mother loved me. She might not and on occasion did not approve my choices but she loved me none the less.

Today is going to be pretty low key. I have stuff I need to do around the house. Caroline needs help starting her next art project. Peter is not feeling particularly well. I need to be Mom today so that’s what I will do.

So Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. Not only the bio-moms but the step-moms and pseudo-moms too. You know who you are and I thank you for your service.

My sympathies to those who have lost their Moms especially several friends who are spending their first Mother’s day without being able to call their Mom.

I am grateful that my Mom is my Mom and that I am Caroline’s Mom.

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