No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on January 2, 2016

Yesterday was a quiet day spent at home for the most part. Traffic where we did have to go was very calm. Almost like we had a cosmic pause button for the day. It honestly felt like Sunday but it was Friday. Now we are to Saturday and the world has two more days to ease into 2016.

We did watch Sherlock: The Abominable Bride and enjoyed it. My comment on Facebook was, “Moffit and Gatiss, you magnificent bášŧárdš,” which seems to be the household feeling on the whole thing.

Also on last night was Space Cases on Teen Nick on something called the Splat. They showed four episodes. It was nice seeing the series so clean and crisp. Holds up too. Peter was smiling while he watched it. He still has fond memories creating that series with Bill Mumy.

Monday the world returns to its usual hustle and bustle as we return to our usual schedules. The gym should be fun since it tends to be more crowded after the first of the year but I am going to take a page from my friend Bobby Box’s book and welcome all those new people to the gym. Exercise has to start somewhere and better to get that habit in place.

I am feeling good about the Doctor Strange Movie. I have seen some photos both official and unofficial and am looking forward to seeing the finished product. Doctor Strange is my favorite character in the Marvel Pantheon so I feel about this film the way that my friends felt about other Marvel movies. Which is, “Please oh Please don’t suck!” I am quite enamored of the costume that has been extrapolated from the Ditko original drawing, which really could not hold up in our world under our laws of physics although people have tried. Yes, there is a puppet in the works.

Football is coming down to those who can spoil it from other teams. They have no chance at the playoffs but they can make sure that someone else can’t either.

The college football playoff system still needs tweaking but it doesn’t need any more playoffs. In fact we don’t need anymore bowl games either. It use to be getting into a bowl game meant something but now it seems that you win a majority of your games, you are in a bowl. And can we cool it with the ad names attached to the bowl games?

Now that Etsy has become the haven for the large box craft businesses, has anything come in to fill up the gap? It is really sad how that went down.

Also any ideas where to put a photo heavy website?

Today is going to be about laundry and putting away the last of the items we had out from our travels. And maybe some creative work as well.

I am grateful for this short pause before the year really begins.

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Posted By Kathleen David on January 1, 2016

We had a nice ringing in of the New Year in by spending time at our neighbor’s house, which is walking distance from ours. All we had to worry about was crossing the street. One of my neighbors has taken up micro-brewing beer and is quite good at it. I got to sample his Irish Red Ale last night and it was very tasty.

Thinking about the year going forward, I have come to some decisions and some conclusions. Part of what I want to do is just building upon what I started last year. Again I would like finish all the puppets done for Dragon Con before Dragon Con. I would like to sell another story or so. I would like to continue my exercise program, which will be a little more difficult for about the first month of the year due to the number of people in the gym increases starting this week.

But there are some other things that I need to do this year for various reasons. Some I want to do and others I have to do. But that’s part and parcel of being an adult.

I have decided to try to keep up with this journal. Even a short entry each day to see if I can. I will try to keep Tuesday as Crafty Tuesday. I may try to structure a few other days but I am on the fence about it.

I do know I need to figure out how to create a website to show off the photos of my puppets. I know I have been saying this for years but that and business cards are in my near future.

Today will be a quiet one for us, which is a nice way to start the year for me.

I am grateful for the new year.

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Posted By Kathleen David on December 31, 2015

Last day of 2015. Hard to believe that the year has gone that fast.

A lot has happened in that year too.

On the sad side, my father-in-law Gunter David passed away. I will always appreciate that he accepted me into the family and he loved watching Peter and me together.

On the happy side, I met a number of people I have admired for various reasons and was able to tell them that very face. I made new friends. I got puppets to various actors who loved them.

I sold more stories this year than I have any other year. I sold more puppets this year than I have in any other year except one. I learn new crafty skills.

I learned that I can write and write well enough that others look forward to my writings. I can draw better than I think I can. I am good at figuring out how to make something look like it should given the materials I have at hand.

On the health side I learned I have a condition called essential tremors and now have ways of dealing with things that come up. My left hand has mostly recovered from the bad spill I had in Philly. Still can’t snap my fingers on that hand without some pain.

Saw some good theater this year including “Something Rotten” which is really excellent and I still highly recommend it.

Did many conventions and made the vow to limit our convention going next year just because we aren’t as young as we use to be.

This year my friends who have wanted to be married or got married in another country could now get married in this country. I went to the wedding of my best friends Jeff and Angelo which was a happy occasion with a little but of a cloud since Angelo is battling cancer and the prognosis is getting worse every time he goes to the Doctor.

Fandom decided to deal with its own and now there is a no means no campaign to allow people to be safe to walk about conventions without being harassed.

There was the usual pettiness in fandom but there was also great kindness and helpfulness.

Overall it was an improvement over 2014 and I hope 2016 continues the trend.

I am grateful for all the adventures I had this past year.

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Posted By Kathleen David on December 30, 2015

The Christmas Special of Doctor Who has become a staple of the Holiday season. Every year Whovians wait to find out what the BBC is going to do this year to amuse us on Christmas Day.

This year I was amused a lot. This episode fired on all cylinders for me. The acting was brilliant. The script was solid. The cinematography was well done. The directing worked very well.

This is the episode that had a lot of fence sitters about whether Capaldi was a good choice for the Doctor got off the fence and onto the yes side of the field. He rocked it without his guitar.

I was dubious about bringing River Song back again. I enjoyed the character but, like the weeping angels, I thought she had been over used in the Matt Smith era to the point of what was left to say about her.

Oh how wrong was I. This is such a lovely piece about the relationship between the Doctor and River. It is the Doctor seeing River from a whole new point of view and us the viewers as well. Lots of credit goes to Alex Kingston for bringing the character to life and surprising me with what she can do with that character. I cared about River Song again.

The madcap adventure they go on is reminiscent of the classic screw-ball comedy/buddy adventure of old with lots of witty banter and some lovely moments between the Doctor and River as each discovers new things about the other.

So thumbs way up on this one. Probably my favorite of the Christmas episode.

I am grateful I managed to stay spoiler free for this one.

I am allowing for spoilerly comments in the comment section.

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Posted By Kathleen David on December 27, 2015

It was three years ago today at Disney Hollywood Studios, Peter had the beginnings of his stroke. The next couple of days were a roller coaster of things that had to be decided right that minute and choices had to be made quickly. After that came the longer range plans of rehab and quality of life along with the unknowns of his recovery.

Three years later, he is considered pretty much fully recovered which is rare in his form of stroke. He is in what they call statistically the lucky 1%.

At the beginning of all this I didn’t know day to day what was going to happen to him or us. Now I have a secure idea of what the day to day is and what our plans for the next month or so are.

I have added the phrase caregiver to my other titles and I take it seriously. I care for my husband. I promised on my wedding day ‘in sickness and in health’ and I take my vows very seriously. Three years ago in a hospital he said this isn’t what you signed up for and I said I didn’t care. I love my husband and I love him a little more each and every day.

Sometimes it is hard on Caroline because, unlike most of her peers, she has experienced the feelings of almost losing a parent. She does worry about her father’s health and does live with the fear of him passing. But she doesn’t let that fear control her. This past spring she dealt with her grandfather passing and spent most of the time comforting others. She has a big heart and loves with it lots of passion and emotion.

But we all survived what started on this day three years ago and I think we are stronger for it.

I would like to thank everyone who helped us and those who continue to help us. We really would not be in as good a shape as we are right now if it wasn’t for them.

Today we pack up and start our journey home. We have things to do when we get back there. We are hoping for less rain than what we had coming down but not counting on it. But we are all here and we can make these trips and that is a blessing indeed.

Hug your loved ones because you never know when the world might change in the blink of an eye.

I am grateful for my husband still being here.

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