No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on November 8, 2014

I have a friend I met in a history class at Emory University. She went on to law school and embarked on a career in patent law. She got married and they added two boys and a girl to the mix of their lives. After the second child, she decided to take a break and be a stay at home mom which is something that she never regrets. About the time that the youngest entered high school, she started to try to get back into her profession to discover that she was considered, in her mid 40s, too old and out of touch. Now during her time as a mom, she kept up on the changes in the law and she also kept herself current on copyright and trademark as well. She had the skills needed. She had the references. She just wasn’t the right “fit” for any company.

Personally I have mad editing and organizational skills. I was a really good stage manager and I can still use those skills to knock projects into shape. I have been applying for various jobs over the years that, given the chance, I would be very good at. I am also one heck of a researcher. But because I have been ‘out of the game’ because I have raised my daughter and people don’t think I have the contacts that might make me valuable, I find that my resume is used to prove that someone in-house should be promoted.

I have been told that I should limit my resume to things I have done since 2000 since going back to the 1980 makes me look old. I have been working since the late 70s thank you very much and I don’t put those items on there.

Doctor Who is finishing up its first season with Peter Capaldi who is shaping up to be one of my favorites. Fandom had several kinds of kittens about the age of Mr. Capaldi. He was too old to play the Doctor. Apparently everyone forgot the age of the first three. Capaldi is knocking it out of the park.

Older actors and actresses are finding ways to work but they are limited by the roles out there for them. It is better than it was but still there is a serious problem with ageism in the entertainment industry. Men do have it easier than the women.

Last night on Bill Maher he discussed ageism in reference to that fact that the Democratic Party wouldn’t even consider Jerry Brown for a Presidential run. Even though Governor Brown did a pretty kick-ášš job of turning California around.

Which got me to thinking about my friend who did all that work and extra work to stay current and is currently an assistant manager at a Best Buy rather than partner at a law firm.

Which lead me to writing this essay.

So if anyone knows a publisher looked for a stage manager type with research skills, I’m over here.

I am grateful for those who look past my age and how I look and see what I can do.

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Posted By Kathleen David on November 7, 2014

Peter is in Mexico. Caroline is at school. The cats are napping in their various nap places. It is quiet except the sounds coming in from the outside. I hear birds, cars, and the train in the station. No leaf blowers or sounds of construction which I expect to hear both of in about 10 minutes.

A small lull before life starts up again. I sip my coffee and plan the rest of my day. Caroline has a flute lesson. The truck needs to be taken to the shop because something wacky happened to the parking break and it needs inspection. I need to get the meat out for dinner.

Then there is the weekend. Caroline and I have a couple of things we are trying to fit in along with the usual. I think we are going to work on dolls this weekend.

But first I just take the time to breath and feel the peace and quiet within the house.

Then I will move onto the next thing and the next thing on my perpetual list of things to do.

I am grateful for these pauses.

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Posted By Kathleen David on November 6, 2014

November 3rd is Jeremy Brett’s birthday. Between this and a couple of other things in the news and personally, I have been thinking a lot about Sherlock Holmes.

My introduction to the character was in one of those children’s anthologies of various mysteries by a variety of writers that I picked up at the Library. The story was the Speckled Band. I enjoyed the story a lot.

My next encounter was in high school. I went by the library and checked out the complete Sherlock Holmes for the summer on the last day of school. The librarian let me do it because he knew I would bring it back at the beginning of school next year. I started at the beginning and read my way through.

I got to The Final Problem and I was shocked. I didn’t know that Sir Arthur was going to kill his character. I quickly went to the next one but it was a tale before the fall. So I thought he had done it and the rest of the book was tales of Holmes before the fall. I was so relieved at The Empty House. I am sad that there are so many who already know so the end of the Final Problem doesn’t have the impact of reading it for the first time and not knowing what is to happen.

In 1984 or 85 I watched, as part of Masterpiece Mystery, A Scandal in Bohemia and was entranced. They got it right. It looked right and it sounded right. As a fan of Holmes I was very happy with what I was watching. I had seen some other interpretations which were fine but this was just heaven for me. Jeremy Brett became my bell weather for Sherlock Holmes.

Since that I have seen a lot of different looks at Sherlock Holmes. From young to old to sideways (House among others).

I had a chance of being part of an official anthology but screwed it up due to not finishing in time for the editor. A thing I regret to this day.

I read through the canon, as it is called, every several years. Like the Count of Monte Cristo, the D’artagnan saga and 20,000 leagues under the sea, it is a comfort to me. I have recently started it up again but this time on the iPad which has proved very convenient.

Peter and I share a love for the character. One of Peter’s favorite Disney films is the Great Mouse Detective of which we have a number of cells from the film. I have made his puppet a Sherlock costume.

Recently there has been a resurgence of the character. Between the Guy Ritchie films, the BBC Sherlock, and Elementary, Sherlock Holmes has become a household name again.

It is nice seeing the modern interpretation but there are times I miss the classic look and feel to Holmes, which is when I go back to the original source material.

I am grateful for all the materials at my disposal to read and view about the Great Detective.

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Posted By Kathleen David on November 5, 2014

You have to understand that convention seating in Artist Alley can be a serious crap shoot. Your neighbors are the people you have to deal with for the length of the convention. We have had pretty good luck over all with our fellow artists and the conventions tend to seat us next to people we know.

It was a DragonCon a number of years ago when we found ourselves next to the Dales. They were promoting Jeremy’s comic Skyward and Caroline became enamored of the Kirby the Dog stuffed animals that Kelly had made. By the end of the long weekend, we had become friends and kept up with each other at various conventions and on Facebook and the like.

Jeremy believed that comics should be for all ages and he worked hard to make his work reflect that. He wanted to produce work that anyone could pick up and either read or have read to them without having to worry about content. He loved it when he knew that children were reading his work. I remember that Caroline and Jeremy had a long discussion at some convention about the story he was doing while Kelly and I talked about fabric and making stuffed animals.

We saw each other at NYCC back in October. We caught up on news and the like. Caroline went to visit them at their table. It was nice. We figured out the next couple of conventions that we might both be at next year. Saying if nothing else we would see each other at Dragon Con.

I was shocked to learn of his passing.

We lost a kind soul with a wonderful art style who believed in comics for all ages. We lost a friend and fellow artist whose career was on a serious upswing.

He will be missed.

My heart goes out to his wife Kelly and his family and friends. My prayers and sympathies are with them.

I am grateful that I knew Jeremy Dale.

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Posted By Kathleen David on November 4, 2014

I am going to keep Tuesdays for talking about my creative endeavors.

You know when you are in school and a kid says something to you and it sticks with you the rest of your life?

I was told at an early age that I have man hands. My hand span is rather large. My fingers are long and my palm is broad. I don’t have tapered fingers. They just end in a bluntness. I have gotten use to the fact that my hands aren’t the most beautiful on the planet.

But what I have been able to do with those hands is rather amazing.

I have said that I really don’t mind some of my other arthritis problems in my back, hips, and knees. Those I can deal with. My biggest fear is loss of the use of my hands.

I sew with these hands. I sculpt with them. I create with them.

And to lose those ability would be to lose a part of myself that I feel I have just started to express.

Many people seem to be amazed at how fast I can get things done. A puppet takes me about four hours with simple clothes and if I don’t have to create a wig for it. It use to take me a lot longer but over time I have learned the most efficient way to form a puppet from cloth and foam. I managed to sew Caroline’s Halloween costume in about 3 concentrated hours. But I have been doing this a while. I know how seams go together. How to deal with sleeves and collars. How to create a pattern just based on what it needs to look like.

Learn the basics and you can do anything.

I taught myself how to knit so I could create a scarf for the 4th Doctor puppet I was building. Took me about 8 hours to really get it down but I can do it now with ease. Still can’t perl worth a darn and have no clue how to read a knitting chart.

I taught myself about creating paper mache over clay for armor and other things.

I have learned to use so many different materials over time just out of the sheer need to be able to do it so something would look right.

All of this I have done with my own two hands.

I love my large ‘man’ hands. I love what I can do with them. I just want them to be able to continue to do what I need them to.

I am grateful to everyone who took the time and voted in this election. After I post this, I plan to do my civic duty.

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