No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on April 19, 2012

We have been waiting to hear if Peter was going to get a gig that would both be fun and profitable. We did and we finally know what our next couple of weeks are. The upshot is that Peter is going to be gone for a week next week, which is fine.

We might be going to the Marvel screening for the Avengers next week. It is dependent on Caroline’s testing times. I can’t take her out of school until the test is done.

If you didn’t see/read yesterday’s entry which was up kind of later than usual due to Internet issues and some other things, it was about the puppet I made for Ariel for her chorus concert. It is nice to know that I can turn stuff around pretty fast if needed. I took it to my local cloth store yesterday and they were amazed since it was a pile of cloth that I bought on Monday.

Today is Caroline’s school library and a couple of errands that need to be done.

Caroline wants to go see Chimpanzee this weekend so that there will be a donation made to the Jane Goodall foundation.

I have two projects on my plate that need to be done. I hope to have both completed by Monday.

I have a mask idea that is running around in my brain that I am really thinking of executing just so I can get it out of my head. I have a feeling that the puppet hiding behind the mask is next. Then there is the doll idea…. Well not worried about creativity right now. It seems in full bloom.

I am grateful for things being a little less up in the air than they had been for the past couple of weeks.

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Posted By Kathleen David on April 18, 2012

Ariel needed a puppet for her Chorus Concert to be used in a song. She knew I had built one before but I honestly couldn’t remember where it was or what condition it was in when she was home for break. I think I may have sold it since this was about 5 to 6 years ago. So I agreed that I would build her another one for the concert. I had a bit of a brain slip and found myself looking at a 48 hour window to complete the critter.

(For the VI: This is a photo of a one eyed, one horn flying purple people eater puppet. The purple puppet is sitting on a black stool. There is green foam behind it. The puppet has one eye in the middle of it’s face. The horn is yellowish and on top of the head surrounded by a purple feather boa. There are pieces of the feather boa on both wrists. There are wings that attach under the arms and to the body.)

More Photos and Process behind the cut.
(more…)

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Posted By Kathleen David on April 16, 2012

Today Caroline’s vacation is over and she is back in school. This week and next week are the mandatory assessment tests that she has to take because she is in the third grade. She is ready for them but not happy about it. I can’t say I am either really. The idea that one test is going to tell the story of the school system is just bogus. It puts stress on the teachers and the students that doesn’t allow for much learning outside the box for most of the school year.

Baseball has been fun to watch this weekend. It is nice to turn on a game and not have the inevitable ending of a loss due to leaving men on base. Tonight is one of my mixed emotion nights since it is the Mets vs. the Braves.

Do you ever get the feeling that the universe is trying to nudge you in a certain direction and it is getting awfully pushy about it?

Still grooving on the concert we saw Saturday. I have found myself humming various Henson tunes for two days now. I woke up to “Moving Right Along” running through my head this morning.

Boston Runners Association is asking/warning/pleading that people who aren’t fit to run the Marathon skip it this year since the temperature is going to be very much on the high side. Not as bad as it was in 1976 but still if one doesn’t know what one is doing, then they should think twice about it.

A couple of errands must be run today along with some laundry but I have a creative itch that I need to scratch. I also have to get my health insurance card back from the doctor’s office along with setting up a follow-up visit. I also have bowling tonight. I can’t believe that the league is getting ready to wrap up.

If you get TIME magazine, there is a very interesting article about the fraternity of presidents both from a historical and current view. I learned a lot about the political system from that article and how I wished the rest of the political machine worked.

Dealing with Kitty politics or, at this point, letting kitty politics settle out unless I think someone is going to get seriously hurt. It is Spring and they are having an election for the Alpha position. Fig has tossed her hat into the ring this year which is adding a new dynamic. I figure it will shake out the way it usually does since Stalin is dictator for life.

Lovely day outside today. I might go out and play in it before it gets too hot.

I am grateful for experiences that get me to thinking about things.

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Posted By Kathleen David on April 15, 2012

Short version: Yesterday we went to the Bronx Zoo and Carnegie Hall and had fun at both.

On Friday we had an idea to go to the Bronx Zoo since Caroline didn’t go to the Central Park Zoo when we were in the city on Thursday. Saturday morning we managed through the box office to get tickets to the 3:30 show of The Carnegie Hall Family Concert: The New York Pops: Jim Henson’s Musical World. So the day was pretty much planned.

It was a great day to go to the Zoo. The weather was short sleeve weather but not overly hot. The animals were out and many were more active that I had seen in a while. We are members of the Zoo which has its advantages including some really nice parking on weekends if you get there early enough.

Caroline wanted to see the big cats and the new baby giraffe. We stopped at the polar bear because he was putting on a show for all. He was taking a couple of toys in his pool, batting them around, tossing them up into the air and catching them with very large splashing around.

We worked our way around the zoo looking at the various big cats. The lions were out and looking proud. The snow leopard was hiding but peeking at the visitors. The giraffe baby was cute and it was amazing how big it was for practically a newborn. We had a very lovely time.

Getting into the city wasn’t the problem, but getting over to 57th and 7th or parking near it was pretty much a nightmare. We finally found a place to park and walked to Carnegie Hall to get our tickets.

We were in the nosebleed section almost at the back of the hall but for me it was perfect because I could see behind the playboard and watch the puppeteers at work. It was an amazing concert and I am so glad that we went. It was hosted by John Tartagia in green pants. The human cast of Sesame Street was there along with the main puppets except Oscar and Big Bird. Bob commented on the fact that he has been with Sesame Street for 42 years and it still was a joy to be part of it. Uncle Traveling Matt made a visit with Wimbly and Red. The Muppets were there including Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Paul Williams sung a medley of songs he wrote for various muppet projects. And they ended it with singing Rainbow Connection along with the audience. It was magical and wonderful and one of those once in a life-time experiences that I am glad I got to share with Caroline.

I am grateful that we had such nice weather for the zoo and that we saw Jim Henson’s Musical World.

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Posted By Kathleen David on April 13, 2012

But first Happy Friday the 13th! Happened in another month this year as well.

Caroline and I decided this week that we were going to have a trip into the city just the two of us. We kept where we were going a little loose because that gave us some options for staying longer at places or leaving sooner if we wanted to.

On the way into the city, Caroline read her latest Tintin compilation which included “the Secret of the Unicorn” and a couple of others that were used for the structure of the film.

Caroline reading on the Train into the city
(For the Visually Impaired : This is a picture of Caroline sitting on a blue seat on the LIRR train. She is reading Tintin. The book is in her lap being held open by her right hand. Her left hand is against her left temple and she is leaning on it. She is wearing pink sweatpants with a pink castle on the left leg. Her top is grey with grey and pink striped sleeves. Her long brown hair is pulled back into a pony-tail.)

We went first to Midtown Comics to see if we could find her a sketch book since I couldn’t find her empty one at home. None there, but Caroline did get some comics she wanted and had a spirited discussion about the various forms of the Lanterns. She wondered why there wasn’t a pink one. We went to the Office Depot to find a sketch book which we found a version of.

After that I fulfilled my promise to take Caroline to Mood which had been shorted last time because they were filming Project Runway All-Stars in Mood at that point. She loved it. She looked at all the fabric and I gave her an idea what you would use various forms of fabrics for. She loved it but was also a little overwhelmed with all the choices of fabrics.

Caroline beside a barrel of Animal Print Fabric which she loved esp. the purple leopard print.
(For the VI: This is Caroline wearing her pink Disney hoodie standing to the left of a large cardboard barrel which is filled with rolls of animal print fabric in all kinds of colors. Behind her there is a standing rack of fabric mostly in the purple and blue end of the spectrum)

After that we went to John’s Pizza for lunch after making a quick stop at Toys R US to see what was out in Skylanders land. Caroline read her Adventure Time comics while waiting for the food to arrive.

(For the IV: Caroline at the table with a red table cloth. She is reading a comic book. You can see the word ROCK across her chest in white)

Our next stop was the Natural History Museum. We have an app that allows us to find our way where we want to go so I asked Caroline what she wanted to see first and we took off from there. We started in the room with the Blue Whale. I let her take her camera and take pictures while I sat down and watched her from a distance.

After that she wanted to go sketch Dinosaurs. So we worked our way to the big hall of Dinosaurs and she set herself up and started to draw.
(For the VI: Caroline seated a the back of a large dinosaur replica skeleton. She has a pad of paper on her lap and she is pulling a pen out of a plastic bag. To her left is my brown messenger bag.)

She finished up a couple of drawing and a couple of sketches and decided that she wanted to photograph some reference photos for her art later. We wandered the realm of the dinosaurs for a while until it was time for our visit to the Beyond Planet Earth exhibit.

It was an interesting exhibit about space exploration going forward after an intro to what has gone before. Both Caroline and I found it fascinating but we both questioned the idea of an elevator to the moon. I can’t work the physics out in my head given the rotation and orbit that changes slightly constantly.

We lucked into the short ride train home and met up with Peter. Tired but happy for our adventure together.

I am grateful for experiences like this with my daughter.

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