No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on July 30, 2013

31 Days until Dragon Con! Yikes!

At this point this blog is probably going to mostly change over to what I am doing for Dragon Con for various things. Blogging about it keeps me honest about what I have done and what I have to do.

I also have Caroline’s Costume to do for Shoreleave (this weekend kids) and I would like to bring the beginnings of the next set of puppets I am working on.

So that’s a bit to do but I am going to start now and just work it. My brain seems to be firing on all cylinders now and my muse knocked on the door with her suitcase in hand so I am going to assume she is going to stay a while.

Here is the Master List of things I would like to get done before Dragon Con

Yes, I am leaving the titles as is. I figure part of the fun will be figuring out what I am going to do with them.

Secret Project #1 (Hand and Rod Puppet)

Secret Project #2 (Hand and Rod Puppet(s)) aka Puppet Slam project

Secret Project #3 (Hand and Rod puppet)

For the Art Show
1) All Magic… (Hand and Rod Puppet)

2) Comes at a Price (Hand and Rod Puppet)

3) Blue Phluzzie (Sort of my signature piece)

4) Yellow Phluzzie (Signature part 2)

5) Grrr (Monster hand puppet)

6) Argh (Monster hand puppet)

7) Goat Boy (Doll)

8) Lioness (Doll)

9) Lion (Doll)

10) Lizard Wizard (Doll)

11) Can’t take a sky from me (Hand puppet set of 9) {This is in my iffy category}

12) Bite my Shiny Metal … (Hand Puppet Set of 9) {Again iffy}

13) Not the Doctor (Hand and Rod Puppet)

14) The Shape Shifter (Hand and Rod Puppet)

And that’s my insane idea of what I can get done in the time allotted time.

I am grateful for my muse showing up even with her baggage.

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Tags: Art, crafty tuesday

Posted By Kathleen David on July 29, 2013

Catching up on things.

I forgot to mention in my travel log (the previous entry) that we had dinner with Maggie Thompson and Mark Evanier, which we had done the previous year. We decided that we are going to make this a regular event for us at the convention since we have so much fun getting together and sharing a good meal.

I am sure I am forgetting a lot of other things that happened there. It was a rather busy weekend.

We got home very early on Tuesday morning having taken the red eye. We got home and I power napped since I hadn’t really fallen asleep on the plane.

Wednesday we went into NYC to catch a couple of plays that weren’t Caroline appropriate. The first was The Book of Mormon. I went in knowing basically what I had seen on the Tony Awards broadcast and the TV ads. The writers are the powerhouses behind South Park so I knew what kind of humor I might be walking into.

I very much enjoyed it. It had heart and that surprised me. It also was not as mean spirited as they have been on South Park and there were only a few shock jokes in the whole thing. They were helped by the Avenue Q crew to take their songs and ideas and craft it into a musical. If you don’t mind religious jokes and occasional scatological humor, this is a musical I can highly recommend to you.

For the evening we went and saw Christopher Durang’s newest play Vanya and Sasha and Masha and Spike. I expect this one is going to have a very long life in regional theater. It is one set and the roles are mostly for older actors. We saw it with the original cast and enjoyed ourselves very much. Having done probably one too many Chekov plays than is good for me, I could see where the structure was going from the moment you had two characters looking over a pond and morning for their unlived lives. Unlike Chekov, you find yourself laughing a lot. Cast was top notch. David Hyde Pierce stole the show in the 2nd act with a brilliant monologue about the lack of collective consciousness due to our modern world. Top notch Durang all the way around. I think people forget that Sigourney Weaver started on the stage. She is a fellow YSD alum. And she had serious stage chops. Kristine Nelson holds her own on stage with the others but she is a veteran of the boards. The next generation is represented as well and very well. I expect to see them in many shows to come.

Caroline came home last night and we are happy to have her back. This morning was back to pretty much normal. Today Bob and Mike come over and we get Mystery Trekkie hammered into shape. The opening sketch is funny as always and we wondered why we hadn’t gotten to this episode before.

This weekend is Shoreleave and I hope to see my friends there. Then onto DragonCon at the end of August.

I am grateful for Caroline’s safe return.

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Posted By Kathleen David on July 28, 2013

She has had two weeks of adventures with her sister, brother in law, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. One week at Sun Ray Cinema (best place to see movies in Jacksonville) and one week being a beach bum in St. Augustine. But today she is getting on a plane and coming back to us.

Next weekend in Shoreleave. I will be interested in what I will be able to get done between then and now.

33 days to DragonCon. Can I panic now? I will have to buckle down and get some stuff done. Well a lot of stuff done.

But first we have the meeting of the minds for Mystery Trekkie this week. Later than usual I know but there are reasons for it.

I am trying to figure out what I did to my left ankle this time. Might have sprained it. It is a little swollen and the color is off (bruise like).

I am grateful that I can put weight on my ankle with out too much ouchie.

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Posted By Kathleen David on July 26, 2013

I have been rather busy for the past week and haven’t really had time or the energy or the means to write up all the stuff that has been going on.

I have been writing and rewriting this entry in my head for a while now. I have been adding and subtracting what I am going to say.

I am putting this behind a cut because this is gonna be long.

(more…)

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Posted By Kathleen David on July 19, 2013

What does a vampire call a squad of Cheerleaders?

A Happy Meal! (This will make more sense later.)

Ariel called me yesterday at SDCC. I was sitting with Peter, Blaze James, Claudio and Chondra Sanchez at the outdoor bar at the Marriott. It was both a business meeting and a catch-up with friends. The day was sunny with a breeze so it was very comfortable outside. I heard my phone and pulled it out. I saw it was Ariel.

“Hey kid, what’s up?”

“Are you sitting down?”

“Yep. Here with Blaze, Chondra and Claudio. Why?”

“Marty Gear passed away. I thought you should know from me before you read it somewhere else.”

We talked a bit more and I hung up. I told Peter what had happened. I swear it got a little cloudy at that point.

Marty and I tried to figure out the first time I met him and his wife Bobbi and we couldn’t come up with it. It was at some convention somewhere that’s all we could put together.

Honestly it didn’t matter. Marty and Bobbi made you feel welcome. If you costumed then you were part of their clan.

Marty was known for a lot of different things in costuming. He ran costume calls like a finely oiled machine. He was a great MC. He would dress up as a vampire called Uncle Vlad and would tell the worst vampire jokes and shaggy dog stories on this planet. He took great pride in this.

I worked with Marty as a workmanship judge for many a year. He taught me a lot about how to be a good judge and what he looked for in a costume. His eye for detail was amazing. If something was stated as screen accurate, he would hold them to that. The details from the back were as important as the details to the front.

He was a fun person to talk to. We had many a conversation about all kinds of topics. People would drift in and out of the conversation. It was comfortable to talk to him. We discussed major things in our lives with each other. We told each other theater stories. I taught him a lot about how to put a puppet together.

He was much beloved by many and he will be missed.

We were talking about Shoreleave and getting together to catch up on things. Now I am going knowing that there is going to be a serious Marty sized hole at the convention.

I will miss his quips and advice. Heck I will miss those jokes that made me both laugh and groan at the same time.

What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?

Frostbite!

Rest in Peace Marty. I will miss the bad jokes a lot and you even more.

I am grateful that I had Marty Gear in my life.

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