No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on January 10, 2015

One piece of housekeeping: the image I used was by Lucille Clerc in the Je Suis Charlie entry not Banksy. I apologize for this.

Yesterday was a bit of a wash. I got one chore done that was lower on the list so that’s good but I didn’t get the one higher on the list I wanted to do. So higher one is on the docket for today along with a couple of other things we tend to do on Saturday.

Thanks for all the good wishes both on here and via other means of communication with me. Like I said yesterday, this is annoying but not life threatening. Biggest problem is dropping things or realizing that my grip is going so I am doing a lot of things with two hands. I see plastic dishes in my future.

Looking forward to football this weekend and even more next weekend. I find it kind of sad that we are already seeing teasers for commercials for the Super Bowl.

It was fun watching Inky watching her first snowstorm. She didn’t know where to look. She has settled in well and is perfectly happy now being an indoor cat. None of our cats want to put a paw outside which is just fine by me.

It is still really cold out there. I can feel it radiating off the window and that’s with sunshine pouring in. It is going to get warmer but not by much. The snow yesterday has pretty much turned to ice so I have to deal with that this morning.

Is anyone else watching Gravity Falls? I really wasn’t sure about it at the beginning but I am a big fan now. Caroline asked me what was going to happen when she was too old to watch cartoons. I told her we would probably watch them anyway and you are never too old for cartoons.

I find it interesting that about the point that you are an adult and are in charge of what you eat, you start eating better because you know that a diet of junk food is not good for you. I also find it interesting that Caroline limits her junk food intake on her own at 12, which apparently makes her a little weird to her friends. I am happy she makes responsible food choices. It isn’t that she doesn’t like sweets. She does but she also knows that a little can go a long way to satisfy a craving. Yea, I know I have an odd kid.

I have things I need to do so I am going to do them probably after I start that rare second pot of coffee since my brain is not quite jumpstarting this morning.

I am grateful for what I did get done yesterday.

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Posted By Kathleen David on January 9, 2015

There has been a lot going on here at Casa David. A number of things I can’t talk about. A couple of things I don’t want to talk about. And a few that I won’t talk about.

One thing that has been ongoing that now I feel I can talk about it is something that has been going on with me.

Peter noticed that my hands were visibly shaking at times. I noticed that I felt as if my whole body was vibrating at time and when I got the shivers all bets were off.

So off to the doctor and a specialist and a few tests and I have yet another life annoying rather than life threating problem. I seem to collect those. Anything that is wrong with me is not going to kill me but it will make things interesting at times.

It is called essential tremors and a lot of people have it and either don’t know or ignore it. It can be brought on by all kinds of things including stress. One has their good days and their bad days.

Mine is pretty low level over all. I can feel it but it hasn’t really affected my life with the exceptions of a couple of dinner plates I have broken and a number of bowling balls I have dropped while playing. I have always been a bit of a klutz so this is not too different for me.

Honestly it looks worse than it is. I wouldn’t recommend that I take a picture for you even with the steady feature in the camera, which kind of stinks because I have always enjoyed photography. Threading a needle can become quite a challenge. My handwriting was never the best anyway so no really difference there. Those who know me are probably nodding at this point. Trying to create a straight line on something is an adventure. I am able to perform a nervous puppet incredibly well.

So I know my limitations. I know things I can do to help. I know that this may be as far as it goes or it might get worse. If it does get to a point, there are medical things that I can do but I am not there yet.

So like I said annoying but not life threating. I will continue to deal with it pretty much as I have in the past but at least I have some idea of what is going on with me now.

Onto the other stuff that needs to be dealt with.

I am grateful that it turned out to be life annoying.

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Posted By Kathleen David on January 8, 2015

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it –Voltaire

Yesterday there was an attack on a satirical newspaper called Charlie Hebdo. Gunmen walked into an editorial meeting and opened fire.

Twelve people died in the attack

They were:

Charlie Hebdo editor and cartoonist Stephane “Charb” Charbonnier, 47, who had been living under police protection since receiving death threats

Cartoonists Jean “Cabu” Cabut, 76,

Bernard “Tignous” Verlhac, 57,

Georges Wolinski, 80,

Philippe Honore, 73

Economist and regular magazine columnist Bernard Maris, 68, known to readers as Uncle Bernard

Mustapha Ourrad, proof-reader

Elsa Cayat, psychoanalyst and columnist, the only woman killed

Michel Renaud, who was visiting from the city of Clermont-Ferrand

Frederic Boisseau, 42, caretaker, who was in the reception area at the time of the attack

Police officer Franck Brinsolaro, who acted as Charb’s bodyguard

Police officer Ahmed Merabet, 42, who was shot dead while on the ground

There were three suspects in the shootings. It was originally reported that one was dead but it turned out that he had turned himself into police and informed them who the other two suspects were. They seem to be the equivalent of Timothy McVeigh in terms of connections and motivations. I am not going to name them because those who died need their names remembered not the gunmen.

They didn’t like what a newspaper had to say. Now remember that this is the same newspaper that was firebombed not that long ago for the same reason as this attack.

Charlie Hebdo is an equal opportunity satirist. They go for anything and anyone if they feel they have something to comment on. Like the Daily Show, everything is fair game. Sure they skirted and sometimes went over the line of good taste. Yes they did print things that made people uncomfortable but it got them to think.

And someone decided that they should silence them.

As an artist I am appalled at this.

I have worked with groups who have a political bend to their work. Now I wish I had done it more often.

So yesterday a new tag appeared on twitter and tumblr and anywhere else you use tags #JeSuisCharlie. People have changed their profile pictures to a selfie holding paint brushes or pens or pencils or sculpting tools many with the phrase “weapon of choice”.

We say that the best protection for free speech is more free speech.

A lot of artists have drawn art to reflect their feelings about what happened. I think Lucille Clerc summed it up for me.

(For the VI At the top is a red pencil intact with the word Yesterday above it. In the middle is the same pencil broken in half with the word Today above it. At the bottom is both pencil halves but the broken half has been sharpened with the word Tomorrow above it)

My prayers and sympathies go out to all the people affected by this tragedy.

I will not be silenced. I will not be cowed by threats or promises. I will say what I think and continue to make art that reflects my beliefs.

Je Suis Charlie.

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Posted By Kathleen David on January 7, 2015

Where I am of about six minds on what to write about.

And I also want to write nothing at all.

Kind of a conundrum if you ask me.

But I am making this an exercise to get the writing day going so I type away and edit the ever loving out of what I am typing. Sometimes there are two versions of this essay. There is the public version and the private version. Whether the private version gets saved seems to be at my whim.

I know a couple of people who read this every day that I post or almost every day. I know my parents keep an eye on it. Occasionally my brothers or sister and a couple of friends will comment about things either here or on Facebook.

And now Caroline is reading this. She started by going through the archives on the date of her birth and read all the entries I wrote on that subject. Then she started reading more. She says it gives her some perspective on her life in a strange way.

I honestly have nothing on here that I wouldn’t want her to read. In fact I always ask myself if this is going to be a problem later when Caroline reads it if she wants to.

I also think about down the road since employers are looking at the social media footprint of their potential employees. I will stand behind every word I write here and not feel at all embarrassed.

I honestly don’t know if I would have been as careful if I had started this in my 20s. I have my written log at the time but I never expected anyone but me would be reading it so I did not self-censor. Yes children, there was a time before the internet and web logs and Facebook and the like. Heck there was a time before cell phones where you had to be home to receive a call. The fact that we can hold a computer in the palm of our hand still amazes me.

So I continue to write about my life and things that I think about sometimes way too much. I toss it out on the web for all to see. Sometimes I get feedback instantly and other times it will be months down the line like the woman who said she enjoy reading my essays because it increased her vocabulary.

Today is one of those days that is whirling around in my brain as a day where something might get sorted out or nothing will be sorted out. Right now I am leaning towards nothing but hoping for something. It would be nice to have some clarification but again don’t think that is going to happen.

I am grateful for all the eyes that see the things I have written.

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Posted By Kathleen David on January 6, 2015

I think it might come from years of doing costume calls but I am a stickler for detail. You tell me that you have accurately recreated something and I will hold you to that. And people have lost points with me when they brag about how much like the original it looks like and I can spot five things off the top of my head that they got wrong. None of those are fabric related or rarely.

Any way stickler for detail, I have over the years learn to let certain things go with the puppets and figure out what is most important for the look to be right. I also figured out that unless the puppet needs to get in and out of its clothes, you don’t need buttonholes.

However occasionally something will just stick and I can’t let it go.

Case in point, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson from the TV series Sherlock.

My puppets from Dragon Con 2014
(for the VI from left to right were a Phluzzie with green skin and blue fur, Sherlock with purple shirt, blue scarf and black coat, Henry the Canadian Bear, Watson with brown checked shirt and black coat, and Phluzzie Pinkish skin and purple fur)

I got a lot of compliments and some interest in the puppets. People thought they were darling. They were amazed by the detail on Watson’s coat.

All I could think is that Sherlock’s coat is wrong wrong wrong. The Belstaff he wears a very distinctive and I couldn’t find the right fabric for love or money. I was not happy with the puppets because of that one detail. And I think people knew that Sherlock was not quite right but they couldn’t really put their finger on it.

Fast forward to last month were I went into the city to a Christmas party thrown by the lovely people at Magnolia Pictures. I went in early so I could again peruse the fabric stores for several projects and see if I could find some fabric within my budget line. Last place I went was Mood. Yes, that Mood from Project Runway. Swatch the dog was there sleeping on the counter and everything. Met a costume designer assistant who was working on a fun looking project as well.

And I found this in the sale section

(For the VI This is a close up picture of a black woven fabric which has some consistent white threading through it give it a rather distinctive pattern)

It’s not the side of the fabric that one would typically use but it works for me.

The price was not exorbitant and I had a coupon so I got a yard and a third to make a proper coat for the Sherlock puppet.

And it will finally look right to me.

I am grateful for finally finding the right fabric for this project.

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