WHEW! WHOOP!

Mere minutes ago, I got home from the Phoenix Comicon. And while the organization of the event was something no large organization should ever allow to happen (like..it was *bad*), the actual event itself was splendid! I sold lots of puppets & in general hung out with some really rad people.

So where have I been for the last 2 months? Well, I've mostly been working on making puppets for comicon, but I've also had the good pleasure of going back to Toronto to work with Unraku on a project. I really love working with film/video. It's not something I'd ever really envisioned myself actually doing 4-5 years ago, but boy howdy it's fun! Not only is it fun, the people involved with Unraku are simply funderful. They're kind, generous, funny, caring, creative, talented & generally awesome. And they also know of good places to eat. mmm eating. I like eating. I like eating in Toronto with Unraku. Yes.

So right before I got to go to Toronto to eat with Unraku, I came down with pneumonia (and bronchitis & an ear infection). It wasn't too serious. No hospitalization or anything, just a good old-fashioned chest x-ray and a breathing treatment that made me feel like my chest was going to explode. Honestly it's the worst I'd felt since I had my son. But a trip to the Urgent Care is always better than a trip to the ER, so we opted for that.

Jump to 3 weeks later (which means 4 weeks of disease) & I'm still feeling cruddy after a round of antibiotics & inhalers & cough syrups & whatnots. I go back to my Dr. & she decides to run a few tests & put me on a giant antibiotic & some steroids (which were a-ok since I had to get so many puppets made for comicon). She calls me on Tuesday night to let me know that my pneumonia, et. al. was caused by pertussis. That's right, I had whooping cough. WHOOP! WHOOP! So did I heed advice and rest? NO! I couldn't! I had committed to comicon well more than a year ago & I would have been just so sad to miss out.

So here I am, just having gotten home from the Phoenix Convention Center & I still feel fairly rotten. I had an amazing time, but I think I'm going to take it easy for the rest of today & all of tomorrow. Wheezing lungs make for sad lungs. Other than the painful chest & a few other small symptoms, I'm feeling okay. If I feel like this next week, I'll go back for something stronger.

Also, Canada, I totally gave you whooping cough and I am sorry.

I really have nothing important to say

Usually when I post to this here bloggity blog, I have some kind of idea I wish to express. Not this time, friend. This time the only idea I have in my brain is "wow, has it really been a whole month since I've posted? What the shibbidiboo have I been doing???"

Oh...right. In-school residency to 4th graders. wow. yeah. Privileged 4th graders at that....150 privileged 4th graders. Save us all.

It made me really appreciate my 1st graders. That's not to say that 4th graders are horrible...their puppets turned out beautifully--and one-on-one, I fully enjoy the conversations I have with 4th graders. Even in small groups....but you get 150 of them and all bets are off. Even in groups of 30. This is why I didn't become a teacher.

there were 5 groups of 30 kids...each did a different type of puppetry (Shadow, Overhead projector, hand, rod, & marionettes). Thankfully I didn't head this thing up. I'd have made them all draw faces on their fingers with a sharpie and called it temporary finger puppetry. "The good news, kids, is that you get to take your finger puppets home with you!--provided you don't wash your hands"

That went on for 3 weeks. At the end of the 3 weeks I was physically and emotionally spent. Teaching is tiring! Teaching 150 4th graders AND our 28 first graders all in the same day? WOW. Yeah, tiring.

I was--and still am--however, thankful for the job and the experience. It was neat to watch it somehow get pulled off. And in the end, the kids did a good job on their puppets and on their performances.

So...I guess that's where I've been...kinda. I also attended the Phoenix Improv Festival & did the National Day of Puppetry (how did I not post that?!) But I suppose I'll talk about that another time? (I probably won't really...) I mean...yes, I'll most certainly talk about that another time!

Meta?

I made a sandwich to be proud of.

Comicon was a success! So successful that we've decided we're going to do it again next year (Memorial Day Weekend), but next time we'll get a big space instead of the small artist's table. It will cost about 3 times as much, but I think it will be worth it.

A lot of people seemed to be interested in portrait puppets, which was nice, but I kinda don't think anything will come of it. Next year I'll make less expensive monster puppets and offer those. Oh, and next year? TOTALLY going to geek out and go all steampunked.

While there I made a myriad of finger puppets, which I'll upload to my shop throughout the week (I have a terrible sore throat/ear ache, so I'm not in a hurry to list).


Oh hey, also, I was featured on the Such Cool Stuff blog. My blogging about a blog...is that meta?

Titeres Galores

DEATH awaits you all with sharp, nasty, pointy teeth!

I'm going to Comicon this week. Not the big one in San Diego, CA, no no, this is the mega-con in Mesa, Arizona. Got that stalkers? I'll be at the comicon in Mesa, AZ this week. Don't rape me or anything okay?

In preparation, I'm trying to make a lot of puppets...to be exact, a lot of really nerdy puppets. Got that nerds? I'm onto you! I know what makes you tick! It's things like Liches & Yetis! Oh yeah, I know that WOW isn't just an interjection, but a really creepy life-sucking game! I know the difference between a dwarf and a halfling! Oh yes! You shall see dorkdom at cactus-con a-plenty and it shall on be at my table! Or maybe not.

I'm actually having a bit of terribly wonderful bad luck with my shop. I can't seem to stock up my stuff. I've been making things and listing them on etsy, figuring one in the hand is worth two in the bush & in the last week I've sold 6 things on etsy! Including little pepe fleece for eyes, who has been in my shop since August of 2006! So hooray for adoption! The only downside to this is that I've got comicon coming up & am trying to get enough finger puppets for my table that I won't look ridiculous for the 4-day event with 8 puppets.

I'm going to the post office tomorrow with all of my goodies to bid them farewell. One is going to China.

So this week gives me hope. Maybe I can make it as an artist on my own-ish. I'm setting goals for myself. I'm hoping to make at least 12-14 puppets (finger) per week. I'll list at least one puppet per day & hopefully they sell. This week, so far, I've made...1, 2, 3...4, 5, 6 plus 5 is 11...plus 1 is 12....plus 3 is 15... 15! I've made fifteen puppets. I need to sell about 35 a month in order to maintain financial sanity. Well, at least financial stability.

Imagine That.

Our theater is doing an amazing project with a local school. Schoolchildren grades 2nd-8th have written stories that they think would make good puppet shows. 2 from each grade were chosen (plus one rad poem) and in a relatively short period of time (about 3.5 weeks), the shows were created & performed in the theater. The school brings their students to see their work & the 15 chosen authors are given awards this week. This has all been funded through an arts grant (of course).

I have to say I really enjoy all of the pieces. Each puppeteer has taken 3 stories to adapt. Everyone kept the voice of the child throughout each piece. Some shows are funny, some are very sweet & one makes me nearly cry each time I read the script.

And even the variety of puppets used gives a really great exposure to puppetry. It starts with a blacklight show (which brings on immediate Ooooohs from the kids) and moves into rod marionettes, rod puppets, scarf marionettes, mouth puppets, shadow puppets, overhead projector puppets (drawn & colored in rather than silhouetted shadows), and glove puppets.

It was a greuling process trying to put all of these shows together, but I'm really pleased with the result. In all, I think we kick patuchus.

I leave you with a lovely that I sent over to The Trunk Space not too long ago.



It makes me happy.

8 posts worth of posting.

So the few of you that check in on me every now and again are probably sick of seeing the same bit about the silly rhinos. Sorry about that. And then again, who am I writing for, you or me? Probably more me, otherwise I wouldn't do it. But hey, at least when I get the bug in me to write, I give you a week's worth of reading.

On the puppetry front I went to PuppetFest Midwest and made the most amazing puppet I've ever made. Keep in mind that I have had a child. The child did not have yellow eyes and I did not use The Ultimate non-toxic contact cement to make him. I took Nick Barone's workshop. Yay for that whole shin-dig! Very patient and willing to put up with attention-loving kids like me. I'll post photos soon. I haven't quite finished his arms. I'm afraid I was too eager to slap them on and sewed one to the body a bit early (before I finished the 2nd one--bad call). So I've realized the fallacy in this and now I'm kind-of sad to take the other arm off, fearing that I'll leave a big-ole frasty mark on his side. I'm very impatient. I need to get over that.

The workshop was only half of the loveliness that was Puppetfest Midwest. I also got to know quite a few amazing puppeteers. Can I be thrilled that this is what I do? I make friggin puppets and I work at a friggin puppet theater. I meet and get to talk with heroes of puppetry. I do shows for grown-ups and I'm basically doing what I wanted to do when I was 5. Nobody grows up and does what they wanted to do when they were 5. If you challenge me then you are a liar. You didn't want to grow up and be a grown-up. When you were 5 you wanted to be a Snork and you know it.

So while at the festival I had forgotten that I signed up for something called Bits & Pieces. Its a late night show that's basically an open-mic night. I had brought a handful of finger puppets (only because they were in my sewing bag) & I grabbed a pig & a hamburger before I left--very last minute, too--just in case I wanted to sign up once I got there. I saw my name on the list when I arrived & freaked out a little. I hadn't prepared a darn thing. Nick was in charge of the evening performances & wouldn't take my name off of the list. Thankfully I had wonderful people in my life (Thank you Drew Allison) who made sure I had 3 glasses of wine in about 30 minutes before I went on. I don't drink terribly often. Drew was, by the way, the first person to actually get me drunk. Enabler. So because I had prepared nothing, I knew I'd be improvising.

A word on improvisational theater. (Yes, I spelled theater with an ER, not RE--eat it.) Doing a show with multiple people is one thing. The fewer people you have in your show, the more "on" you need to be. A two-person show is intimidating to me. It can be for a lot of people. In fact, I'd say it is for a lot of people. You just have to be flat out on top of your game. I had no other experienced improvisers upon whom I could force to perform with me. I have never before done a one-person improv show. I had no one to bounce ideas off of but my forced-split-personality self.

I also have never done a solo puppet show. Also an intimidating thing for me. I'm sure most puppeteers are completely comfortable with such an idea. But if my ship is sinking, I want someone to hug on the way down.

So I mustered up my gut (aka Drunkie McDrunkicide) and went on with just me, two hand puppets and a fist-full of finger puppets. The suggestion was singing sausage. I do longform, by the way, so it was one continual scene and nothing jokey-gamey-gimmicky. I honestly think I did a very good job with it! I had many, many compliments post-show. People laughed about when I thought they should, and I had fun (which is the ultimate importance). I'm sure it was a mixture of "hey I think she's funny" and "hey look at Drunkie." But even that bit of a mixture is okay with me. Causes me to really want to kick some Bits & Pieces tuchus if I'm able to go next year.

I came back to a busy Crafty Burrito week & even more puppetry. Last weekend I participated in the 48-hour Film Challenge, sponsored by IFP & the Phoenix Film Festival. We were 2 hours late turning in our film due to some technical problems. Ah well. we had a lot of fun making it. We used paper puppets. Something I'd never done before & thought it would be easier than it was, and then it ended up being easier than I'd been making it after lots of failed attempts at both moving eyes & mouths from flat paper. I didn't have too many materials or tools available to me and we made more than 20 puppets for the 3 minute film. I mean, that alone we should be proud of. We'll screen it on Thursday for a $10 a ticket. That's right, it's a STEAL!

I have a puppet slam coming up next weekend. For anyone in the area who wishes to go, its $8 if you call & pay in advance & $10 at the door.It should prove to be an okay slam. Its called the Sweaty Butt Puppet Slam. Being in Phoenix, I can attest to the sweaty buttification. I've not finished writing our piece yet. bad, isn't it? I suppose I'm just not married to the idea, so its hard to get behind it. I feel like maybe the premise has been over-done & will cause the show to be predictable, which automatically makes things boring--for me. And with all of the creative juices flowing out of me so much in such a short amount of time (festival followed by 48 hour challenge), it's just difficult to make myself write something that I can't get fully behind. I feel some sort of creative stifleifity going on and I'm not a fan. Boo.

I'm hoping that getting back into Etsy a bit can cure that. I haven't made anything new (excepting a head of lettuce at the festival which someone wanted to buy before I cut the final thread--that was a nice feeling.) But I have been listing some things I'd already made. I actually sold 4 things just this week, so that's really exciting. One being Gloria, my zombie. One of those things that I question whether or not I'm making puppets the "right way" and rethinking how much my labor is worth when I employ only a certain set of skills. (I actually went back and changed that sentence from using the 2nd person (You question, you're making, your labor, etc) and decided to own those gross feelings as my own.) Anyway, just being in a general funk. Everyone goes there, and it's not a bad place to be in..it's just a place. So anyway, I'm hopefully coming out of that funk. I'm hoping once swim lessons are over in the child-boy's life, that I can get back to making things hard. I can't see it not happening.

(The photo is of a puppet I made for an awesome kid named Elliott who designed the puppet all by his lonesome.)

I'm apparently bad at blogging

I keep meaning to write something of great importance, but I put it off, then I forget about it. It was so important, right?

I've been taking these last couple of weeks to actually be productive. That includes making puppets, listing puppets on etsy, taking pictures of puppets, updating bad pictures of puppets & giving puppet workshops.


Speaking of workshops, the workshop on November 10th was amazing! Thank you to everyone who not only showed up, but showed up with enthusiasm and an open mind to discovering their puppet. Yes, it sounds like a hippie way to build, but sometimes you just have to let go and let puppet...or something like that.

A bit of an amusing story...So about an hour and a half before the workshop, as my husband and I were on our way home from grabbing some last-minute supplies, I start to feel a bit under the weather...the car ride wasn't helping. I just barely made it to the toilet & had some diarrhea of the face. I climbed into bed with the usual post-barfing shakes & called the venue. Basically we decided that if I could do it, I'd do it, but if I couldn't, the people who signed up are all very understanding & some might not mind a postponement. I didn't want to leave anyone hanging, so I decided I'd go as far as I could. If that was 1/2 way through the workshop, then so be it. Thankfully the more I got to thinking about puppets, the less I got to thinking about vomit. The ginger ale helped, too.

There seems to be a trend in my puppet workshops & vomit coming out of my body. 3 hours before I was to leave for New York to give a workshop at the Etsy labs in June, I got the stomach bug that had been going around our home. I decided to still go & had a great time. I think I need to give at least one more workshop for adults to see if this theory holds up.

Puppet-Making Workshops

I'm going to be giving a make-and-take puppetry workshop at The Trunk Space on November 10th. I hope lots of people sign up.

I'm also giving a puppetry workshop in Brooklyn, New York on October 12th. Oh, and I'll hopefully also be giving a kid's workshop in Brooklyn as well! I hope more people sign up for that one because it costs a lot to fly across the country. That and I love teaching. Especially kids...and adults. Man, that's a tough call. It's a really neat experience watching adults turn into little kids when they make puppets and at the same time I love to see a child with that overwhelming power of "OH MY GOSH I MADE A PUPPET!"

Either way, I'll get to see what this strange phenomenon, "Autumn" is. You see, New York has things called "trees," and those trees have "leaves" that actually change colors when it gets cold outside! Its like a hyper-color shirt from the 80's.

Hooray 80's.

Also in the exciting world of me, I'm attempting to develop my website. Not much there right now, but I have a friend who is going to help me. And unlike when most people say, "I'm having a friend help me," I think she'll actually help me. You can check out her stuff here.