No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on March 10, 2015

I have used Radio Shack for electronic parts for various projects all of my adult life.

Radio Shack was where I went and looked at the walls of parts to figure out how I was going to put something together.

I was extremely happy when they got EL wire in and battery packs to go with the wire.

Now I am at 6’s and 7’s about where to go for good electronic components at decent prices.

Ideas anyone? Companies that they like? Places they avoid?

One of the places I get my wigs isn’t selling them anymore. I could weft my own but there is only so much time in the day. So I need wigs that fit my puppets that are on the large side of doll wigs. I have been using Build a Bear wigs for some but they aren’t doing as many colors as they have been so I am back to square one.

So wig recommendations? Also looking for beards and mustaches as well.

I am looking for both black and grey fur with a little curl to it. I have a lovely piece of grey but it is too small for a puppet head and the last of a larger piece I bought about 5 years ago.

There was a time that I could get all the colors of the rainbow for the Phluzzies’ bodies. It was that furry fleece when it was cut it would get everywhere. Someone called it poodle fleece but that was not the name of it.

It’s on the three puppets seen here.

Anyone have any recommendations?

I did get the reformulated 3-M spray to work for me. Just not happy with the consistency and the time it takes to tack up.

It is amazing how you can get use to using a certain type of fabric and when it goes out of style/print, you are hard pressed to find a substitute.

Here’s to hoping that they don’t redo the cell foam I use for my skeletons.

I am grateful for new materials that do as well if not better than the old materials.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 9, 2015

Caroline got up on time for school only because she has an alarm clock. She said that she felt like a zombie and why do we need Daylight Savings Time because it was dark outside not light like it had been.

I am in full agreement. Let’s get rid of this silly law and live like our ancestors did in standard time.

I set a clock for me too because I knew I wasn’t going to wake up on my own like I had been doing until this ruddy time change.

Rain this morning, which is a nice change of pace from the snow we had been having on Mondays. It is already 37 degrees F which will help continue the rain and the melting. I can see part of my lawn and my back porch I haven’t seen in over a month.

We have been watching spring training baseball. It is nice to see again. I have to admit the ad guys have been on their toes and gotten some great snow related commercials making one really long for baseball.

Finally was able to get the trashcans where they can be picked up for garbage today. Took some extracting but I did it. Next to dig out the recycling cans for Wednesday.

Caroline, as I have stated before, has been reading my blog and she is up to a point where we had to sit down and explain to her what happened early in her life and why it really doesn’t matter anymore since she is fine now. She came upon the entry where I talked about developmental apraxia and her speech. We pointed out that she is now a verbal child with an extensive vocabulary so it does not affect her in the least. She does remember her speech therapist and working on talking. Now she knows why she was doing that.

We had round I have lost count of kitty politics this morning. Millie got into the mix where he usually stays out of it so the three of them were going at it for a while. Each is now in a different corner of the room sleeping in their favorite spots.

Got a couple of things I need to do today and a couple that I want to do. Going to be a grown up and do the needs before the wants.

I am grateful that Caroline understands what happened back when she was three.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 8, 2015

Today is her birthday, which makes this harder not that it is not harder enough.

I was first introduced to Melissa at a DragonCon by my friend Anya. I had some puppet on my arm, which if you have seen me at DragonCon you know is pretty much SOP, and we talked that evening about puppets and fandom. We would meet up at DragonCon catch up on news and agree to at least say hi the next year.

I remember one Dragon Con she wasn’t looking like her usual self. She was subdued compared to other times I had seen her. She told me that she was doing a battery of tests because she was feeling off.

By this point we were Live Journal buddies so I kept up on things there.

She had Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or, as it is know, Lou Gehrig disease.

Being true to herself, Melissa, or Fiver as a bunch of us called her, didn’t let this slow her down.

She did a lot in the time since her diagnosis. She still attended Dragon Con and I saw her there. Through the power of fandom her husband and her were in the Hobbit movie. The costuming and props department did a wonderful job disguising her wheelchair and breathing machine. She was the mascot for Chucks for Fiver which is a charity for ALS. She couldn’t do the ice bucket challenge but a number of people did it for her or in her name.

She kept up with things in people’s lives even when she didn’t or couldn’t comment. I know this because at Dragon Con we talked about things I wrote about Caroline.

Six years ago she wrote a list of 25 things about her I place it here so that you can know a little bit about this wonderful person. I think number 25 she did in spades.

Fiver you will be missed and you will be remembered.

1. I love flamingoes. Real ones, plastic ones, embroidered flamingoes on shirts, I just love ’em. I suppose it’s the Floridian in me.

25. I want to be remembered for having looked Death in the face, and my response to Death being a chuckle. copyright Melissa Petrey Kern

I am grateful that I knew Melissa.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 7, 2015

Something happened to one row of my keyboard on the laptop so I am on a secondary keyboard so I can type on my computer. Going to have it looked at sometime next week.

I am having some adjustments to this situation. I can’t find a good spot for the screen and the keyboard at the same time but I can make it work.

Had to shovel out the end of the driveway since the village plows decided that they needed to dump lots of snow and ice balls in it and because of the low temperatures, it frozen instantly. Took about forty minutes to break through and get it so we can drive out of the driveway. Uncovering the car was an adventure too.

We finish our X-Men film marathon. Right now I think my favorite is X-Men First Class.

Working through some stories in my head. I need to outline one and just start writing the other. I reread something I wrote about two years ago and I still like it. I put it in for an anthology so let’s see what happens next.

I think I will make a schedule for next week. Peter is leaving for Wizard World on Thursday. Caroline is going to visit her sister over the weekend. And I am going to have some time to myself for the first time in rather forever it feels like. I might get together with some friends or I might do something else. I am rather unsure.

I am grateful for streets that are passable.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 5, 2015

Happy Birthday Mom,

Caroline and I have been talking about my upbringing a lot recently. It started because she had been reading my blog entries from the beginning. She has been asking me questions about how I grew up and when you taught me various things.

Which, of course, got me to thinking about my upbringing. Which was a fine one indeed thanks you very much. You managed to steer me into the adult I am today. I always felt encouraged to explore things I found interesting. You gave me boundaries but knew when to let them expand.

You trusted me to do the right thing. I think one of the biggest punishments for me was knowing that I disappointed you. It still works by the way. And I had to earn that trust back but you never held what I did against me down the road. We dealt with it and moved on.

I learned a lot from you by observation and you answering what probably felt like a million questions. I solved a gardening mystery for a neighbor because of things I have learned from you about plants. They were over watering.

I can cook because of what you taught me. I have a feeling of security when I try something new in the kitchen because I know how to fix it if it goes wrong and the basic chemistry to cooking. Caroline is learning how to scramble an egg the way that you taught me how to. I remember thinking when I was a kid that I was never going to be able to get the speed and accuracy you had when you scrambled an egg. Now Caroline thinks the same thing. I get a feeling of pride when I can cook something that you made me and it tastes like the way you made it.

I can sew all kinds of amazing things and that is because you taught me how to sew. I know it took me a while to get to that point and I am glad that when I was ready to learn, you were still willing to teach. Every puppet I make is in part because of what you taught me.

I have a love of reading mysteries from you. You introduced me to the writers you enjoyed and I have been enjoying them ever since. I didn’t notice until much later that the majority of writers you introduced me to were women writers. I still love a good mystery to this day.

You probably taught us more than you will ever know. And we are still learning from you.

You have four children and three grandchildren who love you very much.

Happy Birthday and I hope that the weather where you are is better than what is outside my window right now.

Love

Kath

I am so very grateful that you are my Mom.

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