No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on April 15, 2013

This is what we call a bottle show. It is very limited in terms of sets and places that you go. In this case we find ourselves on a submarine about to do a 20,000 leagues dive and we all know how well that goes.

Overall I enjoyed it. I like how they played the alien of the piece (more on that behind the cut). The pacing was pretty good. There were a few silly moments and David Warner can be used for 6 degrees of separation in science fiction and fantasy TV and movies like his successor Mark Sheppard (although you could say the same thing about Mark’s Dad).

Using the 1980s cold war motif was fun. I can remember that time and what happened shortly after that. I think there are a lot of 20 somethings that this is all old history or stuff they read about in passing.
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Posted By Kathleen David on April 14, 2013

There will be a New Who Review tomorrow. All I am going to say is that you can play 6 degrees of David Warner and get to just about any SciFi show/movie that has been on just about ever. Well that and it was nice to see an old Who adversary.

A couple of clarifications on my previous post. I was on anti-depressants for less than a year. I had a combination of those and counseling. My first therapist and I were not a good fit and I figure that out pretty quick. I requested and got another who was very helpful. Finding the right person to help one is very important. And I thank my fellow Yalie who pointed out to me that I could change therapists if I could rationally explain to the head of the department why I was unhappy with the person I had.

It was a pretty nice day yesterday. Last night we couldn’t see the Northern Lights since it went north of us but I did see a shooting star so I take that as a positive.

Caroline is learning to play the flute part of the Star Wars theme. That and part of swan lake which she is very excited about. It is amazing how far she has come since she picked up the flute in September. She couldn’t even make a note and now she is playing whole songs with flair. She also can read music with an ease I wish I had.

Today I am going to try to stick around home and get some stuff done here. Caroline wants to learn how to use the sewing machine so I thought we might give that a go. I also need to pull out the Doctor Who puppets and see which I have and which I have to make. It looks like we are going to pull “Lord of Time” out of our hat and recreate it at Phoenix Comic Con at the puppet slam. Still figuring out what we are going to do at DragonCon this year that is going out outshine that. It is a hard act to follow. Our most recent idea was already done in the Internet so we are back to square one.

I found my portfolio. Need to scan it in so that I can post some of my earlier work.

I also need to do some current work as well. I am trying to find a scaly gold cloth that stretches. Sort of like the green dragon-hide that they had for Halloween this year in gold. I have an idea but I need to find out if this cloth exists. Might be time for a trip to the fabric district in NYC. I need that and one other type of cloth to get this to work.

Tomorrow is Tax Day in the US.

Mets did pretty well yesterday. Not as many hits as the day before but they won. The Braves are on a tear and the Nats aren’t doing too badly either. Hardest division in baseball right now.

I am grateful for finding things I thought were lost into the mists of time.

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Posted By Kathleen David on April 12, 2013

Today I am going to talk about something rather serious. It maybe a topic that some people might not want to read about so I am giving the opt out option by putting it behind a cut.

Last night I saw a picture someone put up on Facebook and it resonated with me a lot. I have been thinking and debating about talking about this but I want to put this out there just in case I can help one person.

Here is what I saw on Facebook yesterday

Suicide does not end the chances of life getting worse, it eliminated the Possibility of it ever getting better words on a sign held by man in a photo I saw on Namaste Café on Face Book

In graduate school I tried to commit suicide. Since you are reading this, I didn’t succeed. I got the help that I needed and worked my way through some stuff I need to work through. There was a chemical component that helped me level out and see that what I had thought was a hopeless situation was not so hopeless.

If I had succeeded, there are a lot of people I wouldn’t have met.

A lot of friends that would never know I existed.

A lot of experiences I would not have had.

A lot of places I wouldn’t have visited.

A lot of puppets and other objects I wouldn’t have created.

I wouldn’t have married my wonderful husband.

Caroline would not exist.

At the time I wasn’t thinking about anything that might happen, I was wrapped up in how hopeless I felt and that nothing was going to get better.

But it did. Not all the time and I won’t say there haven’t been challenges along the way. Over all things did get better.

I got through graduate school and survived. I went onto a career in theater. I built puppets. I performed. I wrote. I got published. I went onto a career in the publishing industry and worked on Star Wars books. I have done so many things that I would not have done if I had succeeded that dark and damp day.

My life got better, not perfect but it did get better. And now I am in a pretty good place with who I am and what I do.

Depression does hurt. And we, as a nation, need to get rid of the stigma that goes with seeking help for mental health. Mental health and physical health go hand in hand. A more holistic approach to the problem rather than a continuous treating of individual symptoms.

But I am here to tell y’all that suicide in not the answer. It is a fatal solution to a short term problem.

So if you are feeling suicidal there are all kinds of help out there including suicide hotlines that you don’t have to give your name but you can get help.

So get help, live, see the possibilities even though it does look hopeless at the time.

I did and I am so grateful that I did.

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Posted By Kathleen David on April 11, 2013

The weather looks like we are going to have rain off and on for the day. I need to figure out the rest of the day. Right now I am on call to pick Peter up from his out patient rehab.

Yesterday I got a lot done around the house including the laundry and the cat boxes. I am really glad I got the cat boxes done yesterday because today would not be a good day to clean the cat boxes outside. It is the only way I can clean them with minimal problems for me.

Today I am still sorting out what needs to be done and what I want to do. I am hoping to get some “me” time in there. It is important to recharge the batteries.

I need to kick start the creative me. I need to figure out how I am going to do that. I think I am going to pull out the foam and play around with some shapes. I got some Monsters that want to be real running around in my head. That and Tic Toc which I started on and it kinda got destroyed by one of the cats. Cats and wet paint don’t mix well, just FYI. So I trashed that one and have to start over again.

Right now the cats are in their catpile on the other couch. It is interesting how the pile breaks down to pretty much the same configuration although there might be a slight rotation. The two black and whites are on one side of the pile and the two greys on the other.

I am grateful for clean spaces that stay uncluttered.

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Posted By Kathleen David on April 10, 2013

I think either Mother Nature or I missed the memo about no Spring. Yesterday it got very hot to the point of uncomfortable.

I have been having one of those times where my reading keeps coming back to one topic. This time it is being mindful of what my body is doing and the world around me. Not thinking of the future or the past just what is in the here and now. Not easy to do but I am getting better about it. Especially about how my body is acting and reacting to things. Stress can be a great teacher and a terrible teacher at the same time.

Today is restock the larder and laundry day (insert Dr. Horrible Song here). I am hoping to get crafty at some point today but not holding my breath (which I have found myself doing).

Congratulations to the UConn women’s basketball team. That was a good game.

They are doing a sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon based on the next book in the series. First I have to honestly say that I didn’t know that CTHD was part of a book series and second it sounds interesting. I am curious to see how they are going to tie this film to the previous one considering the body count by the end of CTHD.

Well off to check what I need to get at the grocery store.

I am grateful for those moments that I can take time to breath.

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