No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on July 17, 2011

Measure twice and cut once. You can save a heck of a lot of materials that way.

When you are old enough to eat and drink anything you want, you figure out that if you do so you are going to screw up your body big time. All things in moderation.

As a parent I have found that a number of things I told my parents I wouldn’t do to my kids is precisely what I am doing to my kids because it now makes sense to me.

Exercise is not evil.

All complicated sew projects desire blood at some point.

You always find something the last place you look because you have found it and don’t need to look for it anymore.

When you are an adult, things tend to stay on the floor until you pick them up. Even more so when you have kids.

Bathes and Showers are good things.

No one owes you a living. Just because you reach adulthood doesn’t mean that you automatically get to have the life that you want. You have to work for things which makes them that much more precious when you succeed.

Emo is so 2000 and Goth is so 1990 therefore Punk is so 1980.

Baseball goes with peanuts as football goes with chips and dip. That’s the way I was raised.

Learning to cook is a good thing to do. Especially if you have certain foods that your mom makes best. Learn to make them from her so you can occasionally create your own comfort food.

Laundry can take over your life but it only does it for a finite amount of time.

Learning how to tie different kinds of knots has a million and one practical uses in the real world.

Maintain your tools. They will work longer for you and you will have fewer problems with them. Also the right tool for the right job but also learn how you can use other tools to cheat if you don’t want to spend an absurd amount of money on a tool you might use for a day or so.

What you do to your body at a young age really does affect your quality of life down the road.

Good friends are in for the long haul not just when things are going well.

Yes, fandom has always had mean people in it. Sorry. It is just that the internet has focused that to a rather loud group.

If someone finds a fandom through a modern telling of your fandom, don’t belittle them that they don’t know the whole canon. We all had to start in fandom somewhere. And some of these fandoms have a heck of a lot to absorb.

Going from fan to professional can be tricky but once that happens you have to be careful because you aren’t just a fan anymore especially if you want to keep your pro cred.

Try to do one creative thing a day. Keeps the brain going.

You can stop learning when you stop moving. There is always something out there that you don’t know.

Take a moment to just enjoy the act of breathing. It is amazing that our bodies to this for us without us having to think about it.

This too shall pass is my mantra on certain days. Nothing is really forever but sometimes it seems like it is.

I am grateful for all the life lessons I have had even the ones that hurt.

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Posted By Kathleen David on July 16, 2011

Yesterday we took Caroline to see HPATDH2. We made the conscious choice to see it in 2-D since the previous two films had been so dark not just in tone but also in pallet. There were some sequences that would look cool in 3-D but nothing that screamed must be seen in 3-D for full experience.

Spoilers are going behind the cut and very well may be in comments so you have been warned.

When we last left our heroes, they were in serious trouble. This film picks up pretty much where we left everyone and goes from there. I am glad that we recently re-watched the first part of the Deathly Hallows before seeing the second because it refreshed my memory a bit that made the ending make a little more sense.

Overall the acting is as good if not better. The onus is on Mr. Radcliff, Mr. Grint, and Ms. Watson for the piece but the adults play a role as well. It was nice to see the adults back in the picture since the previous film was pretty much the three all on their own trying to save the world. Easier with friends I think.

The look was good. The battles were magically magnificent. People died and people lived. It was pretty much the books come to life which has been the nice thing about the whole movie series. They made the books come to life which can be difficult.

So overall I was quite satisfied with the movie but don’t think it is worth 3-D.

I am grateful that these films got made.

(more…)

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Posted By Kathleen David on July 15, 2011

Today I am going to see the last installment of the Harry Potter films. I know what is going to happen since I read the books. I am looking forward and also kind of sad at the end of something that has been in my life for about 13 years. But the books are still there to be read, so it really don’t end.

It started for me when I work at Borders in the children’s department. The manager of the store knew I was a very fast reader so she wanted me to read this new book from Scholastic so someone on the floor could be asked questions by parents about the book since there was going to be a push for this one. She gave me the galley for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I stayed up rather late reading the whole thing in one shot not because I had to, but because I wanted to find out what was going to happen next. I told my manager the next day that this was going to be a hit with kids but I had no idea at the time how big a hit it was going to be.

Harry Potter, to my mind, will always be the books that made Ariel a reader. She had been having some problems with reading and had been working with a very nice tutor to work through those problems. But when Peter informed her that he was not going to read the book to her a third time, she buckled down and read it to herself because she wanted to experience the story again. After that she and books became really good friends.

When we heard that Warner Brothers had gotten the movie rights, we cheered because there was a Warner Brothers store in the mall near us and that means, if it held true to form, there would be lots of Harry Potter merchandize to be had. Before that there were a couple of t-shirts but not much else and nothing in adult sizes. This turned out to be bitter sweet since the movie came out about the time that AOL shut down all the Warner Brothers stores. So we got our Harry Potter stuff at an insane discount and said good bye to a really fun store at the same time.

We didn’t go to a midnight showing of the first film, but we did see it the first day. Ariel was enchanted by it. Peter and I were impressed at how much they had managed to cram into the film from the books and that it did feel like Harry Potter. We saw it a couple of times and enjoyed it each time.

By the fourth book, we went to the stores at midnight to get the book and we got multiple copies so we could all read it. Peter caused a bit of a ruckus at San Diego the year the last book came out. He was late for a panel and explained that he had been finishing the last Harry Potter novel and then proceeded to say “Show of hands, who cried when Hermione died in Ron’s arms at the end?” The place erupted between the laugher of those who knew he was making it up out of thin air and those who hadn’t finished the book yet and were not happy at spoilers being given. One couple he saw was a man and a woman. The woman was turning six shades of red while the husband was assuring her that Peter was making this up and that didn’t happen in the book and he should know since he finished the book.

Since then we have met a bunch of the actors from the films. We have done sketches at conventions in the Masquerade based on Harry Potter (like Snapes on a Plane). I have built puppets based on the characters including a Dobbie puppet that we used at a Harry Potter Roast at LunaCon. And introduced another person to the world of Harry Potter.

Caroline had experienced the Potter phenomenon through the films. We have started to read her the books but since she wanted to see the last film, we figured that was the fastest way to get her up to speed. So she has gone through all the films. She went to the Harry Potter exhibit where she was sorted into Gryffindor which she was quite pleased with. She has a wand that Olivander sent her (long story involving a buddy who can be seen at Universal playing the character). She is looking forward to see the film with us.

It will be a little sad saying good-bye to all the characters again. I am happy that the same set of actors have been playing the kids since day 1 so they get to tell the whole story.

But Harry Potter the phenomenon will live and grow. Time magazine even had an article recently on fanfic and Harry Potter. People will flock to the Harry Potter section of Universal. New kids will read the books and see the movies. I think Mr. Potter is here to stay like Alice and Dorothy along with the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew and other childhood classics.

I am grateful for all the lovely things Harry Potter has brought into my life.

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Posted By Kathleen David on July 14, 2011

Or maybe I should be committed.

I got my DragonCon Art sheets in yesterday. Today I need to print off the paperwork and start making that which I said I was going to bring. I also foresee the gym and the grocery store in my future today. So that’s the day in full.

Yesterday I unpacked us from Shoreleave which took most of the day. The other part was wrestling with my computer and its serious lack of memory.

Have you seen the new trailer for Sherlock Holmes? I am so there when it opens. I have gone back to listening to the Soundtrack again. I really like Hans Zimmer’s soundtracks. He also did the Pirates Soundtracks. I have been listening to a lot of Soundtracks these days. These include Tron (I have always liked Daft Punk) and X-men first class with a few additional tracks that were not on the album like Gnarls Barkey’s Run (the instrumental version).

Tomorrow we have tickets for Harry Potter not in 3-D. Considering how dark (in color not tone although it could be both) it is, we have opted to see it rather than see what the effects might be.

For those of you who like Jason Momoa in his various TV roles, you get to see him on the big screen soon in Conan. It looks interesting enough and Jason is such a nice guy, we are going to see it.

Next Wednesday, if all goes right, Caroline and I are going into the city to see Captain America for the Marvel Screening. Peter will be off to San Diego at that point. I figure not too many Marvelites will be there since most of them will be at San Diego at that point.

Baseball starts up again post All Star Break. There is movement in both Football and Basketball towards new contracts.

Peter’s next book is now available through Crazy 8 Press as both an e-book and print on demand. You can find more information at Crazy 8 Press. It’s a great book and a little different from his other Arthur books. Feel free to cross promote this book.

Need to get going on the next project so I hope y’all have a peaceful pleasant day.

I am grateful for all the sales of this new project.

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Posted By Kathleen David on July 13, 2011

Yes, I know it is Wednesday even though I think I lost a day somewhere this week.

But today I am doing my DragonCon Art Show paperwork and sorting out what I am doing for the next 6 weeks.

So this is what I am thinking (and input is appreciated) for the Art Show

2 Pluzzies
Because that is my signature piece and how some people recognize my table.

Larger Hand puppets
The telepath in uniform (We can’t use names for fan stuff really)

The mental bender in uniform (with helmet)

Sarah Jane in a Sarah Jane Adventure outfit

Smaller Hand puppets
We are going with Firefly. Peter came up with the clever idea of selling them in sets
1)Mal and Inara
2) Zoe and Wash
3)River and Simon
4) Kayle and Book
5) Jayne and a generic Reaver

Plush
Ship Ship (from Ben 10)
Kitsune
Otto

Dolls
(Four of these are on another table)
Steampunk Granny (which won a 2nd place in 3-D at Shoreleave)
Steampunk Professor
Steampunk Badger
Steampunk Dragon
Steampunk Tiger
Steampunk Bird (yeah I am keeping this one rather generic)
Steampunk Rabbit
Steampunk Lion
Steampunk Fox
Steampunk Dog

So that’s DragonCon Art Show. Now let’s see if I can get it done in time and in budget because there is mega project two

The X-Men First Class uniform

Here is where I am with that

(For the VI: in the middle is the odd shaped buckle for the harness. Then starting at 6 o’clock and going clockwise the yellow nylon cloth, the striped blue cloth, the checked blue cloth, the blue pleather, the blue neoprene, and the triangular harness buckle[at about 12 o’clock])

I have some idea how I am going to pattern this. I am going to start with a muslin so I can figure out how to break this puppy down.

Mysterious part of the project is in the planning stages but I think it is not something to put off.

I am going to work hard to easy I think.

The Shoreleave Avenue Q puppets are going to be used. I need to redo Nicky’s hands because they are way too tight for my sized hands. I made them with Ariel originally in mind.

So there is the mad master plan.

I am grateful for everything I will get done on that list.

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