No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on November 13, 2012

Technically I am done with Art Shows this year. I think my first one next year is Farpoint. Next year are my usual shows of Farpoint, LunaCon, Shoreleave, and DragonCon if I jury into each. I might have one or two others to add.

In doing so, I need to figure out what I would like to do next year. There are always a couple of things I sort out during the year that get added into the mix.

I have been thinking about doing a Firefly puppet set for quite a while. I think I might have it all figured out. But after I heard the comment about “puppet show in the backyard” now I have to make them. Deciding whether to do a set of hand puppets or the large ones.

I am working through my head some new monster type puppets that I think I am going to introduce along with the usual Phluzzies.

The dolls are going to make a comeback this year. I had mostly puppets last year but after a talk with Wendy Froud at NYCC, I have an itch to do the anthropomorphic Victorian dolls (Not calling them Steampunk because I don’t know if I am going that direction.)

Might make a puppet or two based on anime characters. Or maybe some dolls.

Am working on the geometry of what is know as a chibi sort of doll. Same for some stuffed animals that are not puppets which will be a first.

I might have to finish up a few critters that I found in the not quite done box. I have about half a dozen bodies that are only so far along. Some of them are fail experiments at the time but I think I can salvage them.

My goal for the next year is NOT to be rushing right before the convention.

Also I do plan to put some stuff up for sale on Esty this year to see what might happen there.

I open the floor to you my dear reader, based on what I have done before, what would you like to see me do? Remember this is blue skying so just about anything goes except recreations of established puppets.

I am grateful for ideas that work.

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Tags: Art, art work, crafty tuesday, Creativity, puppets

Posted By Kathleen David on November 12, 2012

Or rather parts of Long Island are returning to normal. We went to the north shore yesterday to go to Fourth World Comics and the Barnes and Noble at Smithhaven Mall. Along the way we found gas stations open with no lines so we were able to turn that half a tank of gas into a tank of gas so our fuel crises seems to be easing finally out here where I am.

That is not to make light of all the problems that still exist on other parts of the Island and in the Boroughs of New York City. There are still major problems there and we need not to forget these people who are still picking up the pieces of their lives.

Today Caroline is off from school for Veteran’s Day. Thank you to all Veterans and their family for serving our country. My freedoms are safe because of your service. A special thank you to members of my family that served in the military.
Football was a mixed bag. All of the teams I like lost. A number of teams I don’t like that much lost. Needless to say my picks were garbage this week.

Speaking of garbage or rather recycling. This week is paper recycling and boy howdy do I have some since I haven’t been able to put out paper for over a month due to rain/snow/sleet. However there is supposes to be rain coming through on Tuesday. I am going to put the paper out Wednesday morning because I really need to get it out of here.

The cats went through another round of “Who’s the Alpha Cat”. Stalin won again. Fig just stayed out of it unless one of the two grey cats attacked her. She mostly hid during the battles. Millie keeps trying for the title but hasn’t gotten past Stalin.

Word count 13754 on the NaNoWriMo project. I know I am about three days behind now. Let’s see if I can make it up this week. Either way I am going to make myself write more on it. I seem to be able to get to about 20,000 and then throw my hands up for the rest of the month. Yes, I have things to do but if I put it in 1000 word chunks, that about 40 minutes to an hour for me. So one hour writing and then two hours doing something else that needs to be done might be the way to go to catch up.

I have two projects that MUST BE DONE before Thanksgiving or rather within the next week so I can get them back or to their owners. I feel bad about it and as long as these things hang over my head, I am not going any further forward.

I watched the Firefly 10th year anniversary special last night. Makes me want to make the Firefly puppets and send them to Joss so he can do his puppet show. Might want to have those done by Farpoint.

Need more coooofffeeee. Brain is still fuzzy.

May I say yet again plantar fascia really sucks. It is progressively getting worse even with all the preventative measures I have been taking. Makes exercising a little more difficult to really painful.

I am grateful that the gas situation seems to be getting back to more normal around here. I know that it is not perfect but at least it is no longer the panic that it was.

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Posted By Kathleen David on November 10, 2012

We lucked out yesterday and filled one tank. This morning I got half a tank for the other car. So we have enough gas for another week and by that point I really hope this gas shortage over. Apparently the nor’easter knocked out power at two of the lines that bring gas to the terminals where the tankers pick it up for the stations. That slowed down everything again.

Good luck to everyone else who is trying to get fuel.

Today Peter is off to the presentation of the new Balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. He will be one of the Balloon Handlers for Spiderman again this year. He had a great time last time so he is doing it again.

I think we are sticking close to home for another week. I would have liked to go to the Labyrinth sing-a-long last night at BAM but transport was spotty at best and I would have been out later than the trains run right now. It is going to be another week or so until things are back to normal there.

We did luck out that the weather is going to be nice for the next couple of days which will help around here.

Today is about Caroline and me. We are probably going to be going out for a short while to the library and the like. With any luck the library will have power today. It has been closing at sunset because it was running on generator power. They were handing people flashlights to go into the stacks and find their books. Either way it is a Mommy and Daughter day.

I think I am going to start with cleaning and then go onto the next activity.

I am grateful for gas in the cars.

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Posted By Kathleen David on November 9, 2012

As of 5 AM this morning, Long Island is on gas rationing based on your plate number. We have one odd plate and one even plate so today if we could find gas, we could gas up one of the vehicles. Our current plan is stick close to home and see if we can wait this out. Parts of Long Island seem to loosening up so it is a wait and see right now.

The snow is almost gone. The sidewalk and driveway are clear. We need to watch out for ice patches but that’s about it. The temperature is supposes to climb over the weekend. We still have some wind today but nothing like the other day.

Word count on NaNoWriMo is 12043 as of last night. I don’t know how much I am going to get done today as I have other obligations that take priority. I figure if I can 500 words done today around everything I have to do, I am ahead of the game. But we will see what we will see.

I need to get a puppet done in the next week because it needs to get to someone before the next weather disaster strikes. I have a feeling this winter is going to be a tough one.

And I STILL haven’t gotten the dolls done and I feel horrible about that. So that’s got to shake loose and go.

My mind is overwhelmed with all that has to be done. So I need to start with small things and work my way up to the BIG PROJECTS.

Caroline’s 10th birthday is less than a month away. Where did the time go? 10 years seemed to have gone by with an eye blink. Will the next 10 go by as fast? She’ll be an adult in 8 years. Hard to wrap my brain around. We know what we are doing for the party and Caroline is starting to get her list together of the kids she wants to invite. Now we have to pray for no snowstorms on that day.

Well I am off to start taking care of the extensive list I have of things I MUST DO (think of me saying that in an echo chamber because that’s how I hear it in my head).

I am grateful for cuddly warm blankets.

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Posted By Kathleen David on November 7, 2012

Few housekeeping notes before the review.

Weather is looking very nasty this morning but the bigger problem is getting gas in the vehicles. I am making one trip out this morning to stock the larder and get food for the animals and then we are staying put for the most part. I am hoping to see a line that is less than an hour and get in that one. So think good thoughts for me and getting some gas in my truck.

(For the VI: This is the cover of the book Imagination Illustrated The Jim Henson Journal by Karen Falk. The top of the cover is a purple made up of small dots. The bottom of the cover is yellow. The text on the yellow says Imagination Illustrated The Jim Henson Journal by Karen Falk forward by Lisa Henson. On the purple side is an illustration by Jim Henson of Sam and Friends. At the top is Sam who is pink with a darker pink nose, to the left below Sam is Kermit but he looks more like a Lizard than a frog to Kermit’s right is a purple puppet with glasses with yellow rims. Below that is a purple puppet called Yorick, to Yorick’s left is a red puppet that looks like an early Ernie. Below that clutching the yellow are Sam’s pink hands.)

Imagination Illustrated is an interesting look into the mind and thought process of Jim Henson. A lot is extrapolated from short lines that Jim jotted down in what he called his little red book. He noted all kinds of things that were going on in his life both work related and family related. If it was important to him, he wrote it down in the book. He started the book by jotting down what had come before and went on to what was happening now. These notes are also illustrated by photos and drawing that give you the bigger picture for these sometimes almost cryptic words.

This is not a long read but reading it is only the beginning of this book. There is so much to look at and think about. You can see how some puppets came into being. You see how Jim’s ability as an artist translated into so many different mediums. There are pictures of people at the beginning of their careers. It is a visual feast for the eyes and soul. At he beginning of each section, there is an overview as to what was happening during the years covered. This is very helpful to give you context to the notes that follow.

It is also fun to look at all the things that Jim did before Sesame Street and a lot of his advertising work. You can see all that lead to the Muppet Show and the films. Where he met people and how he got to where he got.

I can recommend this book to fans of Jim Henson, the Muppets, artists and crafty people in general.

My only regret is something that the creators of the book didn’t have any control over and that is Jim stopped keeping the red book which was 1989-1990 where the whole Disney thing was going on and there are a lot of different stories of what really happened. I have a pretty decent idea what happened from what people who had been there have told me over the years but it would have been interesting to see it from Jim’s point of view.

I am grateful that this book was published.

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Tags: book review, crafty tuesday