No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on June 2, 2010

This year we are doing a series of stories by Mo Willems. So I have been building the puppets for the piece. So far I have an Elephant Head and a Pig Head. Today I hope to have the bodies done. Tomorrow I am starting the pigeon and Knufflebunny (who will be the narrator). Then we need to finalize the script, rehearse a bit, and perform 6 times on Field Day. I am still sorting out the pigeon.

Mets won on the road, this after a serious loss to the Padres. Now if they could just capitalize on this. NBA finals don’t start until tomorrow. ABC got the best of both worlds, two large markets on either coast with a lot of people interesting in between.

Today I am finally going to go see Iron Man 2. Yeah, I know it has been in the theaters for a while. I had other things that I had to see first. Ariel and I are going.

Have you heard about this new telescope that is going to replace the Hubble and allow us to see further in time that we have been able to before? The James Webb Telescope is touted to do all that and more. I, for one, am very interested in what it has to show us. I have enjoyed the images that came from the Hubble after they corrected its vision. I can remember someone saying at the time that the problem was found, “And that kids is why you check your math.”

I am reading and hearing more about how rewarding with large amounts of cash or other prizes actually makes the project take longer than it would if it was just part of the regular paycheck. I also starting reading an article on attention deficit disorder but I lost interest. Right now I am very interested in the human brain and what motivates it. Part of it is because of Caroline and wanting to be able to give her the right kind of guidance to give her the tools that she will need later in life. Because what she learns now will serve her through out life.

Then there is the redefining of the “nervous breakdown” which had morphed into “burnout syndrome” but now is called “vital exhaustion”, sort of a catch all for that overwhelming feeling that the world is crashing down around you. I prefer F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of “cracking-up”. I swear that we all have suffered from it at one time or another since life can be difficult and sometimes our coping skills doesn’t work the way we want.

I have given myself a deadline to finish this entry by 10 so I can go and work on something else.

I am grateful to my fellow puppeteers for giving me information which is going to help me finish the field day project.

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Posted By Kathleen David on June 1, 2010

This is a bit of a set piece. We have our core characters in an odd dilemma of what is reality and what is fantasy and who’s fantasy is it? My theory I am putting behind the cut.

I like Rory more and more. I am hoping that he sticks around for a while because the dynamics between the Doctor, Rory, and Amy are really neat. And Amy’s feelings for both Rory and the Doctor are an interesting mix.

The structure of the story was interesting. I have to say that it had me going for a while but the ending left me a little unsatisfied.

I am enjoy this season a lot. I do find it interesting that, for most of these episodes, you could drop just about any incarnation of the Doctor and it would work one way or another. Moffat seems to have more of a sense of “history” of the character than RTD did (again I am not slamming RTD, just noting a difference).

As usual spoilers can only go up through Amy’s Choice and I have seen the next two episodes and would like to leave those who haven’t totally spoiler free thank you.

(more…)

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 31, 2010

New Who Review Tomorrow for Amy’s Choice

But today I want to talk about Memorial Day. We have a couple of holidays to recognize the men and women of the armed forces but this one is to honor our dead who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

It started to remember the Union Soldiers who died in the civil war which tore this nation apart. It expanded to all veterans after World War I where so many went to another country to die.

Locally I have noticed that the cemeteries are festoon with American flags and flags of the branch of the arms service that they served in. There is a parade in town today that ends at the memorial for fallen veterans we have here. There will be speeches then by local politicos and, more importantly, veterans of the armed services who will talk about those that they knew who didn’t make it home. The national moment of remembrance is at 3:00.

If you are an American reading this, take a moment and give a thought to those who have died to preserve our country. Let us return this holiday back to what it was meant for. Summer will come soon enough and we can enjoy it but today I ask for that pause at 3:00 to thank those who may have been forgotten.

I am grateful to all the men and women who have served in the military but today I remember those who didn’t come home the way that they left.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 30, 2010

I took the girls out to the lunch and then took advantage of some Memorial Day Sales to get them both some clothes that they needed for the summer. We did some fun stuff too.

It is so funny to see Disney advertising and selling Marvel toys in their stores and on-line. I know that Disney bought Marvel but this is tangible proof that this really happened and it is not a dream. That and our gate passes that we got because Peter is an employee of Marvel and therefore part of the Mouse.

Today is picking up with some stuff I didn’t do yesterday including some fabric purchasing for the puppet project. That, along with restocking the larder, should take up a chunk of the afternoon. My coffee machine threw up because I hadn’t been using the correct filters so I spent about half an hour this morning cleaning up the mess. I found one correct filter so I have coffee which is a good thing according to my family.

So the Mets can’t win outside CitiField. Does this surprise anyone? Last year they could only win on the road and their home stands were a disaster. Now if they could just get it together and win at home and on the road, we would have a ballgame.

So apparently the NBA finals are around the corner and it is the Celtics vs. the Lakers. I’m cheering for the Celtics. My family lived in Boston for a while and I have only visited LA. And Kobe Bryant needs something to gripe about for the next year so the sports pundits have something to talk about. I wouldn’t have minded the Suns vs. the Magic either. Then I would have been cheering for Orlando.

I have to rewrite the last half of my writing project. I need to get it from Peter’s computer and figure out how to fix it. I know the basics but I need to revise it.

Tonight we are going to grill because it is tradition. I am working out what we are going to grill but it will be traditional. I’m thinking beef.

A few other things are rattling around in my brain pan but nothing that I am ready to talk/write about.

I have been reading books again. I haven’t been a consistent book reader since Caroline was born but I am getting back into it. This week I read Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O’Toole, and Oliver Reed by Robert Sellers, The Black Cat by Martha Grimes and The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and Birth of Forensic Science in the New York Jazz age by Deborah Blum. Hellraisers is kind of like reading a train wreak of people’s lives. I knew quite a bit about Oliver Reed because I read his biography “Reed all about me” but less about the other three. It can be a hard slog but it does cover a bunch of Actors that I admired. The Black Cat is another Richard Jury Mystery. I read these more for the dialogue and interaction of the character than the mystery itself although this one wasn’t bad. The Poisoner’s Handbook is a very interesting look at the creation of modern forensic science amongst serious political corruption and graft. Next is the newish St. Germaine that I have had on the stack for a while.

I am grateful for weekends that move a little slower than the week did.

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Posted By Kathleen David on May 29, 2010

Today I plan to take the girls out. Peter may be staying home to finish the novel he has been writing or he may come with us. We do plan to spend some family time together this weekend be it playing board games or watching a movie together.

I finished the first part of my writing assignment. Now Peter has to look it over and work on it a bit. More about that when we can talk about it. I was pretty pleased in how it turned out.

Now it is onto the puppets for Field Day. I have to find my fabric coupons so I can get what I want at a reduced price but it shouldn’t be that expensive even if I can’t use the coupons. I plan to do progress photos of the pieces. After that it is Shoreleave both the art show and the costume call. I have a pretty challenging piece that I hope I can execute.

There is a lot going on out here on Long Island because Memorial Day Weekend is also the start of the summer season. We have had people walking down our street to the ferry which will take them to various points on Fire Island. There is increase traffic out to the Hamptons. Our population does go up on the weekends. And then Sunday evening (well Monday this week) the cars and the people go the other way. We know how to avoid a bulk of this extra traffic but not all of it.

If the weather stays this nice, I plan to take a book and settle into the hammock this afternoon for a good read.

I found out today that Coheed and Cambria gave Peter and me a shout out at their concert on Wednesday. I thought that was really nice of the guys. We would have been there but Peter was under the weather so we didn’t.

I am grateful for pleasant days and pleasant nights.

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