No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on February 7, 2020

There may be a stray convention in January but for us the official convention season starts in February with http://www.farpointcon.com Farpoint. A convention we all love to go to and participate in. It is family oriented and feels like going to a family re-union every time. Over the years we have made friends that we see there and catch-up. There are traditions to be followed every year. There are in-jokes that one gets if you have been going to this convention over the years. It is a comfortable convention and a nice way to start the year.

I will be showing in the art show with various pieces I have created. I will have a puppet for one of the guests. I will have a new puppet that I will debut at this convention then take it around to others throughout the year. There are a couple of other things that might or might not happen depending on life.

This year I am the featured artist at  http://www.heliosphereny.org HelioSphere. I went last year for the first time and enjoyed my time immensely. I am proud to be a featured artist this year. I have some things that I am bringing to knock peoples socks off. Peter is one of the featured writers this year.

The other conventions we will be attending as a family are https://www.shore-leave.com Shoreleave,  https://galaxycon.com/raleigh/ GalaxyCon Raleigh, and  https://www.dragoncon.org DragonCon. Those are the usual ones. I am sure there will be a couple of others that we will be going to. I know there are several Peter will be attending this year on his own which I will post as they come up. I do know we are going to be in Canada on the 4^th of July.

Conventions are just a part of life for us. We know what we need to pack with a few alterations based on either the climate or the convention. We have the stuff for the table all in one area and add or subtract based on what we think we can sell. 

Caroline has grown up going to conventions. She knows how they work and what is expected of her. There are some that she has been going to for years and she had a group of friends to run around with at each.  She still sells commissions and original pieces. Her style continues to improve but she has a distinctive look to her art.

Peter and I have been doing this for years like over 40 for me and 50 for him. We have attended as fans, as staff, as pros, and as smofs. I made the move from fan to pro when I joined Del Rey. He did when his first novel was published. Both of us kind of slid from fan to pro in some ways. I did a lot of staff work and volunteer work at various conventions over the years. My stage management skills were very handy there.

I used to be nervous about speaking in public but now have no fear about it. I thank all the panels I have been on over the years. I am a dámņ good moderator as well. I know a couple of conventions who keep me in their back pocket for moderating when they have potentially explosive panels on their hands. I have been thanks both by the committee running the convention and participants for my abilities on this. I feel that everyone needs to be heard but no one person can be allowed to take over the panel either from the table or from the room. 

We are looking forward to our conventions this year and we are ready for them as well.

I am grateful for everything I have learned at conventions.

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Posted By Kathleen David on February 7, 2020

It is going up to 53 today and it is February. The temperature is going to plunge this afternoon when we have very strong winds whipping through the Island. I need to go out and make sure that the property is secure before that hits.

I woke up with a bit of a foggy brain. It has taken me a while to get my brain working on all cylinders and I don’t even think I am there yet. Might be the weather.

I have pulled something that is making walking and sitting rather painful. I am doing alternating heat and cold to try to get it to loosen up with an over the counter for the pain. This is going to put a crimp in exercising until I can move with less pain. But I have no wish to make it worse either by jumping back in too soon. I figure that I will stretch to see if that helps it.

Writing these entries consistently makes this harder and easier to do. Sometimes I feel like I am tossing pages into the wind hoping someone can find them. Other times I know what I said touched someone because they tell me so. I figure anything I say here that helps someone else is a good thing. I feel a need to teach and to share to help others. Always have. 

Maybe that urge to teach comes from my parents who are both teachers in the conventional sense as they are both college professors and in the unconventional sense as imparters of wisdom to those who need to know especially their children. I guess it might be in our DNA.

Mewlan and Phoebe are having a rather loud game of tag with lots of banging around. I will go see what I need to clean up later. It started over a disagreement over a box that both wanted to nap in. Inky and Fig are having none of it.

OK, off to check the yard as I see the wind is picking up.

I am grateful for the teaching drive.

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Posted By Kathleen David on February 5, 2020

One of the phrases that puts me on edge a bit is “You don’t like X? What? Why not? Everyone loves X!”

I have, over the years, found myself explaining why I don’t like something more than why I do like something. 

Avocados are a fine example of this. I don’t like them and never have. It is not the taste, which I don’t particularly care for, but the texture that is off putting to me. I don’t care what you add to it, it still feeds wrong in my mouth. People have tried to convince me that I am missing something awesome but I don’t see it.

I like football both college and NFL. Peter doesn’t see the point of any other professional sports except baseball and bowling. He is a football widow among other sports that I watch. He understands the fundamentals of the games but has no interest. And that’s fine.

Caroline and I like shows like Project Runway, Face-off, and Ink Master. Peter likes Face-off but doesn’t care for the fashion and tattoo shows. There are shows that he watches that I do not because it is not something I enjoy or feel I need to spend my time on it. 

There are shows that we are all on the same page Doctor Who, Prodigal Son, Why Women Kill, Dragon Prince, and Good Omens to name a few. We tend to either binge watch them if a season on some platforms or watch them as they air. 

Anime is something we all like but where we came into Japanese cartoons is very different. For Peter it is Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, and Giagantor. For me it was Robotech, Akira, My Youth in Arcadia and Vampire Hunter D. For Caroline it has been Sailor Moon, Tokyo Ghoul, My Hero Academia, and Fairy Tale. 

There are comic book characters I have no interest in. I don’t care to read the books or see the shows based on those characters. There are some characters that I liked at one point but really don’t care for now. We pretty much see every comic book or graphic novel film more as a professional courtesy. Haven’t like them all. 

People have tried to convince me that things I don’t like would be something that I should like. I don’t like zombies. Never have. I have seen zombie films and the like but I don’t watch or read it for the most part. Warm Bodies and White Zombie are my speed for zombie stories. More than one friend has tried to convince me to watch the Walking Dead. I have friends in the show. I tried but it didn’t appeal to me. 

I like psychological horror rather than blood and guts slasher horror. I have so many friends who work on those films but I really can’t stomach the gut churring body count with blood and body parts flying ever where. Clever ways of killing teenagers just doesn’t do anything for me except give me an upset stomach. I know technically how they do all that and I have done blood and guts effects over the years for various projects. That I love to do and have a passion for. I just don’t like to watch the end product.

I have friends who love the X-men films but don’t care for the Marvel studio films. I do not try to convince them that they need to see all the films. There are Star Wars and Star Trek fans that like a specific part of the saga and that’s fine. There are people who prefer the book to the movie and vice versa. 

Life is too doggone short so pick and choose what appeals to you and brings you joy.

If you want to, try things you are unsure of before dismissing them out of hand. At least then when challenged you can honestly say I tried but it doesn’t sing for me.

The pressure to like something that none of us need. 

I am grateful for people who understand when I say I don’t particularly care for something.

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Posted By Kathleen David on February 4, 2020

Yesterday I took the time to sort out my sewing tools and take stock of the materials that I have.

I am glad I did since I found a number of items that have been missing for a while like my best seam ripper and the pair of scissors I like to keep at my sewing machine. I also found a missing turning tool that I have replaced but I like having more than one of those.

There is one box of deal with it later that needs to be sorted today before I get to work on the items for the art show. Looks at the table, OK two boxes that need to be dealt with.

While I was doing that, I let my mind wander and sort out what I want to do and what I can probably get done in about two weeks. 

I have a few lower price point pieces I want to get done just to see if I can sell them and then there are my show stoppers. 

Plus there is one puppet I want to get done and give to one of the guests at Farpoint as a thank you. 

The big project I managed to accomplish was sorting out the button bag into a box with dividers so I can actually see what buttons I have. I know what I am not buying for a while.

I also found a second set of sculpting tools I thought was in my doll making box but apparently wandered away.  I also had to toss some clay due to age which was sad until I realized that each one was part of a set I got on sale so they were on the way out when I got them at an excellent price. 

It was interesting as I worked my way through my supplies and got them in order that it helped put my mind back in order so now I have a cunning plan.

I am grateful for an ordered space and mind. 

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Posted By Kathleen David on February 3, 2020

The World Wide Web is both a blessing and a curse wrapped into a ball of chaos.

In some ways the Internet has allowed us to come together and in other ways it has torn us apart. 

Some are discovering that what they say on the Internet, even if it was when they were an impulsive teenager, can come back and haunt them costing them their livelihood. 

I talk frankly about mental health both mine and the social perceptions. I try to bring a human face to it and, in doing so, hope I can help others find ways to help themselves. Which is something that would show up if someone did a search of my Internet footprint. If that is what keeps me from getting a gig, then so be it. But this subject is important to me.

Most of the other subjects I talk about are pretty benign. Puppets, conventions, home life, cats, and Caroline. Caroline was the reason I started this web log. I want to be able to put stories and the like so that my family and friends could read about her and what we were up to. This was easier than trying to remember everything for a phone call or video chat. 

I know that some people read this space for the puppet stuff. Others read for the convention adventures. Some read because they are fans of Peter’s and discovered my web log through his web page and they like the peek into the family like of Peter David the writer of stuff. A number read it because I participated in a contest on Live Journal named Live Journal Idol where we wrote essays based on a topic each week and they came to like my style. 

I have spaces on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and my own website www.nostringstattchedpuppets.com . I have three places that my web logs are published on Dreamwidth (puppetmaker), Live Journal (puppetmaker40) and https://kathwp.malibulist.com which runs off of Peter’s web site www.peterdavid.com. 

That’s a pretty large footprint over various platforms. I have been writing entries for over sixteen years now. Sometimes I think about putting together the conventional wisdom ones into a book of essays about conventions. 

Here are a few things I do know about my digital footprint. There are no nudes of me on the Internet unless they are photo-manipulations and I don’t want to know they are there. There are no photos or records of me knowingly participating in illegal activity. There is nothing that I have said that I will not back up now. If my opinion has changed, I will admit to it. I can still be educated and enlightened on topics. Are there a few things out there I wish weren’t there? Yes, but I think most of us have a couple of those.

My political and religious views are out there but I do not focus on either as I consider those to be personal. 

One does not have to put everything out on the Internet. In fact it is better to not do so.

There are a lot of things in my life I do not write about. I see no reason to put my frustrations and anger out there when it can be so fleeting. I try not to write these essays when I am mad or upset. I guess I do fall into the people who, if you read their web logs, seem to have a charmed life with everything going their way. Well everything doesn’t go my way, but I see no reason to cry about it on the Internet. I have people that I talk to who I know very well for that. 

This is my public face for all to see. 

I have people comment that, after meeting me, I act like I do on my web log. 

I am grateful that I managed my digital footprint as well as I have.

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