No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on October 24, 2012

Well today just got interesting because the weather is crappy outside and I have things I need to do outside so I guess I’ll figure out inside stuff to do (like Caroline’s costume) until I can get outside for what I need to do there.

Tigers vs. Giants tonight in the 2012 World Series. I think it will be an interesting game considering how both teams got there.

I wasn’t going to do NaNo but now I have an idea floating through my head that might be something I would want to work on. But I think both ideas are more short stories or Novellas rather than a work of long fiction. I’ll make my decision by next week I am sure.

I declare today a doing day and there for this will probably be one of my shortest RTBTCKI on record.

OH! Can anyone identify the Artist of these dolls? I can’t find their papers and I would like to know if the artist is still creating these dollies.

(For the VI; This is a set of twin dolls. They are looking at each other. They have oversized heads. They are wearing brown/green dresses with brown stars on them and a brown apron, white bloomers and black shoes. Between them is a Venus flytrap which is their pet)

I am grateful for that which gets done without me having to do it.

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Posted By Kathleen David on October 22, 2012

And it was nice to have a pleasant weekend. I spent it with family and friends celebrating my parents wedding anniversary. I saw people I hadn’t seen since I got married and some I hadn’t seen since before I got engaged. I was able to introduce Caroline to a number of people who mean a lot to me while I was growing up.

It was nice to see my aunts and uncles I haven’t seen in a while (Hi Aunt Kathie and Aunt Donna). It was nice to see my brothers and sister. Caroline had a blast playing with her cousins even though one was only 6 months old. We discovered as we are leaving that the baby likes it when Caroline sings the Can Can song.

And it was special seeing my parents renew the vows that they had taken 50 years ago. A lot has happening in the intervening time including 4 children, pets, home ownership, doctorates achieved and life. But they are still cute together. You can tell from the outside that they love each other very much. I think we all shed a tear of joy when they said the words reconfirming something that they pledged to each other.

Good food the entire weekend too. We went to some places I haven’t been in a while and enjoyed good meals and good company. I don’t think I had been in La Grotta in about 30 years and it was still excellent.

So we flew back with warm feelings in our hearts. I think the only thing that marred the weekend for me was this stupid cold that I am still getting rid of. Since I had it, I couldn’t hold the baby. And I had to keep my distance from people. But today I am feeling much better so the DM did work Mom.

I am grateful for the whole weekend and all the memories it created.

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Posted By Kathleen David on October 20, 2012

Today we are celebrating my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.

First off I wouldn’t be typing this if they hadn’t gotten married because I wouldn’t be here to do so. For that I am very grateful.

They raised 4 children to adulthood who have become productive members of society. They gave us a stable and safe home where we knew we were loved even if we were being bratty or teenagery. They provided a roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our backs and other things that rounded out our childhoods nicely. When I think fondly back on my childhood, my memories are of things we did with them or they did for us.

We traveled as a family and saw many parts of America. We went to art museums all over and learned about art. My parents introduced us to the world of radio plays and things that they had heard when they were younger. I will always remember listening to our “let’s pretend” records and hearing folks tales as radio plays. They are the reason we can quote long sections of Stan Freberg’s comedy sketches. Later we did the same with Hitchhiker’s Galaxy.

They were concerned parents who watched our TV shows with us and showed interest in things that we were interested in. I will always remember watching Warner Brother cartoons on Saturday Morning with my dad. We shared the things we loved with them and they never belittled us for it even though I am sure there were some things that they just had to grit their teeth on (think early Sid & Marty Kroft).

We have a series of catch phrases that we still stay around each other and the rest of the family knows what we are talking about. Things like “You knew the job was dangerous when you took it Fred” and “I’m Tamernela Grendertha the witchest witch of them all and the one you didn’t invite to your ball” and of course 42.

We are a family that gets along and that came from them. They never fought in front of us. They provided a united front. If Mom said No then Dad said No and vice versa and there wasn’t any room for argument. When my mom was teaching nursing I offered to go into her classes and inform the students that No means No not try to argue it to a Yes because it isn’t happening. If she says maybe, then you might have a chance depending on the tone of the Maybe.

I try to be a good parent because I want to live up to what they taught me by their actions. When I was a child I swore I wouldn’t do certain things to my kid but when I got there and could see why they put that restriction on me or whatever, I find my default position is what they would have done in my shoes.

And they let us know that they loved each other very much. They would do things for each other. They took pride in finding gifts that they knew the other would enjoy. They made time for themselves to be by themselves whether it was a dinner out at a restaurant that didn’t have a children’s menu or going to see the ballet together or seeing a play together. They put each other first in their lives. And they still do.

Today they are renewing their wedding vows 50 years after they first pledged themselves to each other. They will be joined by family and friends to witness this wonderful love that has been going strong for so long and continues to do so.

I am so vary grateful that my parents are MY parents.

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Posted By Kathleen David on October 17, 2012

Actually it is a little more than half way at this point.

And I still have a lot to do to get ready for Halloween. So one thing and then the next thing will be my mantra.

This weekend I will be going to Atlanta to celebrate with my family my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. I am looking forward to seeing everyone. After that I think we are not traveling until December with the exception of Peter who, I think, has not spent a month here this year. But travel was part of the package and I knew that going in to this relationship.

My hands have never been nor will they ever be pretty. I can remember as a kid in fourth grade being informed by one of the social top dogs that I had man hands. I don’t chew my nails anymore, which was a big change in my life as my family and friends could tell you. They have scars and blemishes that I have acquired over the years doing various things. I love my hands. For all their non-prettiness, they work for me and they reflect me. I like that I have large hands with long fingers that allows me to do so many things and get to things that others can’t. I keep my nails short and clean because I work with things that I don’t want under my nails. Sometimes I get a twinge in them and I worry about arthritis or internal damage that will impinge my ability to use them the way I want to. But so far they have served me well.

The cats have all found sunshine to bask in but I think that one cat is going to knock off a pillow onto another cat and we’ll see what happens there.

I am grateful for my hands.

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Posted By Kathleen David on October 16, 2012

This weekend I didn’t sell any puppets. Had a lot of people taking pictures with them. There were a lot of smiles and the rest but no sales. I didn’t not drop my prices on them even though if I had taken about ten to thirty dollars less I would have sold at least two and probably more. But I didn’t drop the price because the price that I set is my price that I have calculated so I am not selling things for a loss.

I learned that from an artist that I admire greatly. He told me to figure out how much I was spending for materials per puppet and how much time per puppet and to multiply the time by at least minimum wage if not a little more since this was a set of skills that I had spent time refining. I did that and found that I was selling everything at a loss. Some puppets more of a loss and some less, but all were being sold for materials if that. I gave it real thought and next time my prices were higher. I got complaints from people that they were higher than the previous convention. But I stuck to my guns. I need to get back what I put into a puppet. It is not worth my time if I don’t.

So the simple formula is
Materials Cost + (amount of time x minimum wage) = price of the object d’art.

Materials cost covers how much material that goes into the object. Now this can get tricky because artists tend to buy things to do more than one projects. I know that for a basic puppet body I will be using a little less than a yard of fabric. The fabric can run from $3.00 a yard to $14.00 a yard depending on sales and the kind of fabric I am using and if I have a coupon. I figure when all is said and done it is about 5 a yard. The fuzzy fabric is a little more expensive but I need a little less of it so about $5.00. Eyes will run from about a dollar to 20 dollars depending on the eyes. On my phluzzies I figure about 3.00 for the eyeballs. One feather boa will give me about 2 to 3 heads of phluzzie hair so 2.00 about. The foam is about another 3 dollars. So that is 18 to 20 for materials.

Time is tricky to calculate but I know it takes me 4 hours to go from fabric to full puppet with a basic set of clothes. I know this because I have been doing it for a long time. It uses to take longer but I have learned tricks and methods to make them more efficiently. Minimum wage is currently $7.25 in New York as of Jan. 2012. So simple math would say that my labor cost would be $29.00 so overall I am selling myself ten dollars short.

According to the formula, 18 + 29 = 47 and I was selling the Phluzzies for 30 at NYCC. I am shorting myself 17 dollars. But I know that I can’t sell them at that price so $30.00 is what they were. If I sold them for $20.00, I would just make my materials cost barely. Because I know I won’t sell any if I price them at 47 per puppet.

Other things that need to be thought about is the time it took to create the puppet pattern that one uses and the patterns for the clothing and the rest. Research and development of one’s skills is another set of costs that don’t really get factored in to the final price of art.

I am grateful when I get paid what I am really worth.

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