No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on January 2, 2012

A reminder since it has been a while since we have had a New Who to Review. All Doctor Who episodes including this one may be discussed but nothing beyond this episode except when the next season is due to air. There will be discussion/spoilers if you haven’t seen the episode behind the cut and in the comments.

The Christmas episode of Doctor Who is almost becoming an institution. There are things that we expect of it and this one, for the most part, delivers.

Overall I enjoyed the episode even with various niggling plot bunnies that keep hopping across the screen. Once we were about a halfway through it picked up and engaged my interest.

Acting was fine by all including the kids. The villains of the piece were one of the usual suspects.

More behind the cut

I am grateful for some New Who to Review.
(more…)

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Posted By Kathleen David on January 1, 2012

Happy New Year Y’all!

Hope the day isn’t too bright and loud for you.

We had a very pleasant time at some friends’ house ringing in the New Year. Caroline was so proud of herself that this was the first year that she managed to stay awake long enough to see the ball drop in Time Square. She was full of glee over it but as soon as head hit pillow, she was pretty much asleep.

Right now she is reading a Scooby Doo book while her cat sleeps at her feet. Sort of a relaxing way to start the New Year.

I found out this morning that the Tournament of Roses Parade will be tomorrow rather than today. Considering how much NFL football there is today, I understand why they moved it.

So how many people have already broken their resolutions? I had one friend who resolved to quit smoking and within 10 minutes of midnight was outside puffing a cig. His comment on this was, ”At least I got it over quickly.” Personally I hope he decides to give it another go.

Most of my goals for this year are organizational. There are some that I want to become a little more of a habit and others that need to be implemented. I have been slacking on my ability to organize.

The other is to read and write more. And by write, I don’t just mean this blog but a couple of projects that I have had in my head for a long time that I just need to put down on paper.

Creatively my big goal is to have everything for DragonCon at DragonCon rather than my usual half of whatever I put on the sheet. I have 9 months or so to do it so I think I can this year. It would be even better if I could get things done way before but I am not holding my breath.

Breathing is another thing on my list of things to do this year. Or rather be more aware of it. I find myself holding my breath a lot and I really just need to breath through.

Today I plan to get a few things started artistically and personally. And some cleaning and laundry as well.

A quiet beginning of the year is not a bad way for me to start the year.

Neil’s wish for his readership was interesting this year. He wished for everyone to make mistakes and see where those mistakes might lead them. I’m going to have a go at that since it is both easy and hard.

Hope 2012 is really good to you and yours.

I am grateful for everything I get done this year.

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Posted By Kathleen David on December 31, 2011

Along with a little housecleaning to boot

Sunday will be First Random Thoughts for 2012
Monday will be the New Who Review for “The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe”
Tuesday will be the first Crafty Tuesday for 2012
Wednesday will be whatever I want to talk about next

This evening we are going to a New Years Party at some friends’ house that is within walking distance from our house which is nice. We just have to be careful walking back to our house.

I want to say Happy New Year to those of you already celebrating it.

Today is a grey looking day with a lot of water in the air. We might get a little sunshine later. But that’s fine by me.

I have been thinking about what I want to accomplish this next year more so than resolve on something. More on that tomorrow.

On the train into and out of the city yesterday I read my way through all my entries for 2011. What an interesting year. Which is ending in an interesting place.

Yesterday we went into the city to see Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan at Madison Square Gardens. Except for some rather rude people in the row in front of us, it was a fun show to watch. During the intermission Peter went to talk to the conductor. Caroline went and met the conductor too. He came back with that smile on his face, which to me means that he is in the middle of some sort of plan. I asked him what was up and he said it was not certain yet but we were going to meet the conductor afterwards.

We met Bruce who is a lovely guy and a very good conductor and he introduced us to someone else.

Caroline meets Peter Pan (Cathy Rigby)

(For the Visually Impaired: This is a photo of the actress/gymnast Cathy Rigby and Caroline. Ms. Rigby is standing slightly behind Caroline and has her arms around her. She is dressed in her green Peter Pan outfit. Caroline has a big smile on her face. She is wearing a black pea coat with a blue and white scarf. She and Ms. Rigby are holding a stuffed crocodile.)

The funny thing was watching Caroline go between talking to Cathy Rigby and talking to Peter Pan. Caroline was given pixie dust with strict instructions as to how to use it by Peter Pan and she listened and thanked Peter very much. She also told Cathy Rigby how much she enjoyed her performance. We all had fun meeting her.

And that kinda sums up the year for me. We met a lot of interesting people and had a lot of interesting adventures. Not a bad way to live.

I am grateful for 2011 both the highs and the lows.

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Posted By Kathleen David on December 30, 2011

A slightly crafty look at the previous year.

Creating for me is just like breathing. It is something I do and, in some cases, do pretty well. I will give credit to my parents and my husband for all the encouragement that they give me to be a creative person and letting me know that being creative is a good thing.

This year I tried to challenge myself in a couple of ways. Some of those challenges were met and others were left by the wayside but are there for another try.

Probably the biggest project I undertook was the X-Men First Class uniform I built along with Lockheed the Dragon. Having gotten the whole thing done, there are a number of things I would do differently but overall I didn’t think it was a bad outfit. I think if I was going to go back and rework any part of the costume, it would be the harness for the jacket and finding a way to add a pocket to the jacket. I did get to use my zipper foot which saved me so much time and I am no longer that terrified of putting a zipper into something.

Lockheed was a project in himself. I used a lot of different things I had done in the past to get him to look like he does. That and some dumb luck with the electronics because this year you could buy fingertip LED lights which were a perfect fit for the head cavity I designed. Given some more time, I would rework parts of his head mechanism. I would have also done a run of tape over the armature wire I used for various parts of the structure. But from him I learned a lot that will allow me to build a couple of other critters I have had in the back of my head.

Lockheed and Me at DragonCon
(For the Visually Impaired) On the left is a purple Dragon with yellow glowing eyes

Nicky and Rod for “It’s OK to be Takei” were another set of puppets that took me outside my comfort zone and proved to me that my geometric skills are much better now than they were a number of years ago. I based the puppets on the Avenue Q puppets. They have bigger heads that I usually do so there was a whole mess of things I had to do so they could operate. Again, given some more time I would have done a couple of things very differently. But the shirts and insignias turned out very well.

(For the VI: This is a picture from the DragonCon performance of “It’s OK to be Takei”. To the far left is John in a Star Trek red Shirt. He was Nicky’s left hand. Nicky is a green puppet with an orange nose and black hair. Nicky is also wearing a Star Trek Red Shirt. In the middle is me wearing a Star Trek Q Costume with a black hat. On the right side of the photo is Rod a hand and rod puppet who is made up to look like a blue Andorian with a green nose and white hair. He is wearing a blue Star Trek Science shirt. To the far right is Rachel wearing a Red Shirt.)

Chuck and Erik from X-men First Class were a set of problems in costuming for very small objects but I think their outfits turned out just right. I did sell them so I must of done something right that a fan wanted them. I did get a funny video out of it before they were sold.

Then there was Castiel who was thrown into the mix after Peter met Misha. I think the wings turned out pretty doggone awesome on him. It was nice being able to consult the wearer of the costume as to some of the details that I incorporated into the puppet.

I didn’t do as many dolls this year but I had a lot of ideas for them. Next year I think I will be doing more dolls and fewer puppets. Also next year I plan to start getting ready for DragonCon on Jan. 1st rather than after Shoreleave so I might get everything in that I think I am going to get in.

I am grateful for everything I learned this year while creating art.

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Posted By Kathleen David on December 29, 2011

This year has been one of some serious ups and serious downs. I have been living in interesting times which has been both a blessing and a curse.

This year I made some new friends and reconnected to some that I had thought lost. It is interesting to catch up on news with people after a large amount of times has past. I think a couple of folks were rather surprised to find out where I am in my life at this point and what I did getting to this point. I can’t complain that I have had a dull life.

There was less travel than other years but that is fine. We went to conventions and even got some vacation in. Caroline had a great adventure with her Father in California, which included a visit to the Phineas and Ferb offices and a recording session for Young Justice. I did enjoy all the people I met along the way.

There were a lot of movies I saw this year. The ones that stick out in my head are X-men First Class, Captain America, Tintin, Midnight in Paris, The Smurfs (which was much better than I thought it was going to be), and Sherlock Holmes.

I started Crafty Tuesday this year and I think I will continue it next year but try to be a little more consistent or maybe move it to Thursday but currently it stays on Tuesday. I did a lot more Random Thoughts Before the Coffee Kicks In than I had in the past. And I plan more Introspection for next year. My web log has taken more of a form than it had in years past.

There was more exercise this year and I am better for it. Now I just have to get it to the next level for next year. Health overall has been pretty much the same. Nothing like it was in 2010 thank goodness.

I worked on projects outside my comfort zone and improved my abilities in a number of disciplines. I performed at a Puppet Slam. First time in a long time that I performed before an audience of adults. I made my X-men First Class jacket that was an exercise in patience and fiddly bits. I shrank it down for two puppets. My drafting skills have much improved after that project. I did some doll making but I wanted to do more. I made angel wings for a puppet which was one heck of an exercise and I would do it very differently if I did it again.

It has, overall, not been a bad year. There were a couple of things that happened that I would prefer not to happen again but I am not holding my breath.

I am grateful for everything this year has been both good and bad.

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