PLANNING TO POST DAILY

Posted on by January 5, 2018

Well, my plan to post daily didn’t last long thanks to getting sick. Oh well, it is an ideal for which to strive.

Today I cannot speak, so bad is this throat that I cannot practice the ventriloquism, not even to do the breathing exercises as they make me cough uncontrollably. Bummer.

If you don’t know, I am trying to avoid a pity party but every time I try to distract myself, something else happens,

Youtube videos work as a distraction.

On a better note, it looks like I am the only one suffering like this. My friends all seem well. My relatives all seem well. My kids are mostly totally well, except the youngest who seems to have a cold. Hoping it isn’t my cold. Hubby is well too.

The picture books of 2017 I did through the Walgreens website turned out well, and soon will be in the mail to the grandparents.

The American Heritage Girl daughter has a pen pal for 2018. The first letter is started, now for it to be done tomorrow because it must mail Monday!

Dear Lord, thank You for family and friends, for doctors visits that might result in getting well, and for picture books to send to grandparents. +Amen.

Health Goals for 2018

Posted on by January 5, 2018

I’ve struggled this year with my health issues and am finding myself facing even bigger health challenges going forward. It has become vital for my spinal health that I strongly correct my posture. A better chair isn’t going to cut it anymore. I need to exercise in a manner that will push my body to hold healthy core strength and good posture. Answer: return to Weight Lifting, and Ballroom!

I found a studio that is at my end of town and is parking friendly for my bigger vehicle. I have taken from this teacher before and while this is not my favorite teacher, I don’t care. I need to dance.

I love waltz, tango, foxtrot, quickstep and viennese. I got out of doing them because I wanted to dance with my husband, but I can see, a decade into marriage, that I am not going to get him to dance. So I am going to go to classes twice a week and dance. Goal, work up to dancing both classes each night for two hours of ballroom twice a week.

I’m also determined to return to lifting weights. At my age, I think no more often than twice a week. My body takes longer to rebuild after a hard session of weights than it did when I was younger.

Lastly, I need to find someone to meet at the park and play Ingress and to walk. I think I shall email prospective walkers today.

Dear Lord, please help me to resist any food not on my diet. Please help me to make exercise a habit I keep always. Please grant me success in improving core strength and posture. Thank you for the opportunity to make these improvements.  +Amen.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! WELCOME 2018!

Posted on by January 5, 2018

Our New Years Eve was spent peeking through the windows at fireworks set off by the neighbors, as was the night of New Years Day. The days were spent inside, hiding from the cold, and in my case suffering not very quietly.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WELCOME 2018!

This is my year to contemplate SILENCE. Its meaning in a spiritual life. Its meaning in everyday life. What is the significance of Silence, which we have so little of these days? I think we’re not connecting with God or each other because we are over-whelmed by noise. We’re so shut down by noise we hardly notice anything around us, not the beautiful sunlight, nor the people, or the sounds of birds. We’re shut down by the noise, the constant noise.  When did I last turn off everything and allow my thoughts free reign?

So I am turning off all shopping from here until after the Easter Trivium. I am opting to spend less time on social media. I am seeking to be quieter. To listen more and speak less (so far blown that a bit but still working on it because it is so worth doing).

Dear Lord, thank You for the new year ahead of us. Thank You for the opportunity to turn off the noise and listen. Help me to listen well to my family, my friends, myself, and most essentially to You. +Amen.

Enter Goody Goodfellow

Posted on by December 22, 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We begin a full year of daily blog posts, and hopefully lots about puppets and ventriloquism.

Goody’s creator is THE DUMMY DOCTOR, Alan Semok.

I looked at a huge number of figure makers online, starting with the amazing list of makers found on Cybervent, a website that I have found useful. I read the comments, reviews, and studied the websites of the dummy builders. Nothing really clicked with me until I ran across the comedy, DUMMY, staring Adrien Brody.

I liked the dummy in the movie, and scanned the credits to find out who made it. Along the way I found that the dummy’s creator also coached Adrien Brody in doing ventriloquism, and played the instructor of ventriloquism in the classroom scene in the movie– I love that movie!

Going to Alan Semok’s website I liked what I saw.  We talked by email, and he mentioned a dummy he was in the middle of building, a “less than intelligent” character, and offered to send a photo of the incomplete head. I agreed and the moment I opened the photo up and looked at it, I could hear a voice and best yet, I found it was a voice I could DO. SOLD!

And that is a short version of how I came to have the puppet I call Goody Goodfellow.

There is more, I needed to perfect the voice, to learn how to drop into his voice easily. I needed to fill out pages of information on the character, and develop some material to use as I learned to manipulate him while providing him with a voice.

Everything about this puppet delights me. His mechanics work smoothly, and are SIMPLE, there is his mouth lever and his eye lever–nothing more, and the entire sleepy look with moments where he widens his eyes is done entirely with that one finger on the single lever.

The only thing I might add is some way to cause his hand on the side away from me to gesture–I’ve seen inside the body levers for having the right hand move but haven’t gotten far enough to dig out how that is done.

My first time being filmed on a stage taught me I need a more appropriate outfit for myself on stage and that Goody needs a red vest. I like what he is wearing but I think a red vest might make him stand out better. There we are, the photo was taken at the International Ventriloquist ConVENTion July 2017.

 

 

2018 is almost here

Posted on by December 22, 2017

I’m writing this early so it may or may not post after Jan 1, haven’t actually looked yet and don’t plan to before scheduling this post. I’m recognizing that blogs may be old tech but I need to start where I am. I enjoy watching video blogs and want to do some of my own, probably with puppet assist!

Daily blog posts replace morning pages (Julia Cameron in ARTISTS’ WAY) for me in 2018. I did morning pages for years and didn’t get anywhere with it. Oh, it was good for the mental health and general creativity, but didn’t result in increased writing. That doesn’t mean that I won’t discover myself doing morning pages and then blogging–it could happen.

In 2018: blog every single morning. I wish to establish a morning routine that includes writing, voice practice, ventriloquism, puppetry, and general self care. I find it very important to make this effort. People are welcome to join my journey, but I really don’t expect anyone to find what I do here riveting but I do hope to get to where it is amusing. I need to blog a lot on the puppets and ventriloquism in 2018. I found my calling last summer when I got on stage with my puppet and I need to do a LOT more of that.

Ventriloquial Skill development is moving along, multiple voices are settling into place, and the personalities are growing their own pages of notes. Notes, I take the puppet notes in the purple notebook that goes with me everywhere. Nothing beats having a small, pretty, tactilely pleasing notebook with a pen, dedicated to a particular topic that is important. My book bag is an ever changing mess of things I carry with me. Always it contains the planner, the purple notebook, the blue prayer notebook, and whatever magazine or book is current reading. Occasionally the iPad will travel in there too. Useful devices iPads, cell phones, notebooks, pens, planners, and cameras–but my camera doesn’t fit the book bag.

 

I have some equipment for sound and video. Something I have wanted to do for some time is move to making videos to put on my blog. Hoping to create a place to make those videos happen. I have a camera with a nice mic, and I have not yet taken it outside to try and find something, anything, to video. Photos on here are mostly my own, some taken with my phone, some with my iPad and some with my camera. Each one works well, each one gives me what I need, and each one allows for redundancy so I am never left without the ability to get a picture.

Sat down yesterday to work on my areas to develop in 2018 in my Erin Conderin planner. I like EC planners. I use the one with daily columns with the time of day down the edge.

That visual helps me to see where I need to be, when, and how much time I actually have between things so I can better use my time. It also helps me keep in mind what I really want to be doing, with the home, family, writing, ventriloquism, etc. 12 boxes, 6 on self development in areas important to me, and 6 areas for family, friends, and others in general. I try to create a balance to the planning. I started my 2018 planner last July with an 18 month, and took out some of the 2017 months and added them to the 2017 planner to keep the year together in one place.

And I suspect this blog post is more like a slew of topics with no depth. Blogging is a skill just as writing fiction is a skill ( another essay topic).

In 2018 I wil blog every day and continue to prepare my ventriloquial skills for going public with them. Should be an interesting year!

Dear Lord, please bless us all in the coming year. +Amen.

SCA: Making Mustard Medieval Style

Posted on by December 20, 2017

We learned to make mustard medieval style. The class was taught for our local Society for Creative Anachronism branch by one of our members who plans to teach this class at events. Really good class–and good for kids too!

Our class used brown and white mustard seeds, a choice of vinegars, herbs to add flavor if desired, water, sugar or honey to sweeten, and a mortar and pestle to grind up the seeds. It ages on the counter for days or weeks, developing its flavor and mellowing.

My effort used apple cider vinegar, honey, 2/3 white mustard seeds, 1/3 brown mustard seeds (might have been 3/4, 1/4), water, and tarragon. Turned out delicious!

The mustard is ground in the mortar with the pestle. How fine or course it is ground it up to you. Moderns can use a spice grinder but it will generally be much finer! The ground mustard seeds are placed in a bowl (glass, ceramic, pottery, but NOT metal as it can change the flavor) and water is added. Surprisingly, cold water will make a spicier mustard, hot water a milder one! Only enough water is added to make a thick paste. They soak for 15 minutes or so, while you get ready to do the next step. Next, you add the vinegar, the sweet you chose (I used honey) and any spices (I used tarragon). If it needs to be thinner, add a bit more water. Go slow as it is more difficult to thicken than to thin!

This is a great project to do with children. Not complicated, and you get to eat your results. Our family will be doing it at home, and testing out more variations. I hope to remember to take pictures and share that activity with the blog too.

Dear Lord, thank You for mustard, for mortar and pestles, and for people who teach what they know. +Amen.

Rainbows and Double Rainbows

Posted on by December 20, 2017

November was quite the month for rainbows here. For weeks there seemed to be an afternoon rainbow on a near daily basis. Twice I raced outside to get pictures and captured a few decent shots.

Amazing! Absolutely beautiful! And I even managed to get a picture of my beloved family, muddy from playing outside, to stand still long enough to grab several different photos I will treasure of them positioned so the rainbow came down toward them, my treasure at the end of my rainbow. Caught two in this example.

Rainbows always bring to mind the story of Noah from the Bible, and how the Rainbow is a promise. Rainbows remind me of all the blessings I have in my life, so having them during November certainly fit with the theme of Thanksgiving. I blog out this year and in anticipation of 2018, there is more good than anything else in my life. Even my problems pale in significance when I remember to cherish my husband and children.

Dear Lord, Thank You for rainbows and family to love. +Amen.

 

Modest does not equal Frumpy

Posted on by December 22, 2017

Our culture mocks modesty. It is said that modesty is frumpy but this is NOT true! Modesty is feminine and beautiful without being salacious or cheap.  Just because you don’t see modest feminine and beautiful clothing in the ladies magazines and fashion magazines does not mean that it does not exist. How do I know this? Because there are clothing stores online such as Holy Clothing where you can find beautiful, feminine, modest clothing. They make their clothing in Maxi, Midi and Mini. The Maxi is ankle to floor length depending on your height, the midi is tea length and the mini is short short.

I love the clothing they make.  For example, here is a skirt that I love : Holy Clothing Annika Maxi This skirt is full, sweeping, long and simply beautiful. The fabric is soft, the embroidery is beautiful, and the skirt is very comfortable. On a taller woman this is more like ankle length, but on short me it is longer and perfect because I do love a really long skirt.  AND they make many of their Maxi items in a shorter tea length version for persons who do not prefer their skirts extra long.

Another favorite of mine is the Catriona Flare Maxi dress.  This dress also comes in a tea length called the Catriona Midi. The Catriona Midi used to be called the Emily Tea Time but it was so confusing for people trying to order they simplified! On me the midi is knee length and I love wearing those over leggings or even jeans.

They also make very pretty tops like the one they call the Ivy. I love having a top that is pretty for over jeans and over plain skirts. I have, in the past, used their mini length dresses over slacks because I don’t consider short skirts at all modest, but both tops and mini dresses can be gorgeous.

Ever found the perfect dress but it doesn’t come in your colors? Yeah, too often. Holy Clothing has lots and lots of colors!

As does everything, there is the down side. First, rayon requires a gentle cold wash and laying flat or hanging up to dry.  Secondly,  when they arrive, the dresses still smell of the fixative used after dying the fabric. I wash my new items by themselves several times with extra rinses until the smell is gone. It is mildly annoying, but worth it for the results. Third, everything arrives in shifts so items go in and out of stock.  All these things are to keep the prices down. Dresses are still the best buy!

I love modesty and just wanted others to know that there ARE places to buy nice clothing that is modest, feminine, and beautiful. Holy Clothing isn’t the ONLY source, but it is a place to begin.

Dear Lord, thank You for sources of modest, beautiful, feminine clothing! +Amen.

 

Returning to Puppets: review of progress

Posted on by December 22, 2017

Last year around October I found myself signing up for five free days of lessons by Tom Crowl titled, Learn-Ventriloquism.  By the fifth day I was hooked and did something I never do–I dug out my credit card and PAID for an online course.   Lessons were incremental, each one a manageable bite, and sent out one a day. Every morning I logged into my next lesson.

Between lessons I practiced. I read everything I could get my hands on about ventriloquism and ventriloquists. I purchased every documentary I could find (I’M NO DUMMY is fun and informative). I haunted youtube for videos of ventriloquists. The insatiable need for more, more, more, drove my exploration.

Lesson 3 was about choosing a puppet so you can be ready when you get to the lessons that require a puppet.  Not wanting to spend the big bucks yet (I was only just starting) I went on Etsy and found a darling puppet of professional quality for practicing my coursework at BobsImagination. The puppet was cute and a sensible amount (under $200 rather than over $2000).

January of this year I signed up to attend the Vent Haven International Ventriloquist ConVENTion in July. By July I had added a traditional ventriloquist figure. I’ll share how I came to buy my professional figure in another post.

I worked hard on the Learn-Ventriloquism course, made some vent friends in the forums, picked up more online classes to keep developing my puppet’s characters and my skills. I planned and planned, added a side trip to visit my old home town, and had a blast visiting several of my oldest friends in the world. It was good to meet up with old friends! But this is about puppets and me.

Sometime before July I joined the International Ventriloquist Society. Breathing and voice exercises became daily habits.

The Vent Haven ConVENTion was eye opening! I have never had so much fun anywhere, anytime, EVER. I got up on stage for the first time and that was an incredible high. I want to do that again. I have never been so charged up by anything in my life.

My first stage performance wasn’t great. I made all sorts of mistakes with manipulating my puppet. I didn’t have much material but what I did have got some laughs. I love, Love, LOVE making people laugh. Major high. A joke went wrong, I forgot a line, and I’m going to do it again next year!

I went and watched my video again, and honestly, I don’t think I can share it; I’m too embarrassed by my mistakes! Perhaps next summer.

The rest of this year I have continued to work on my ventriloquism, added more classes, new voices, better skills, some equipment, and signed up to attend the ConVENTion in 2018.

Dear Lord, thank You for friends old and new, for puppets and ventriloquism, and classes in the art. Thank you for the marvelous ventriloquists I have met, and those who I only know from videos of their work. Thank you for my puppets, time to practice, and the opportunity to make someone laugh. +Amen.

 

STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND-a recommendation

Posted on by December 22, 2017

I read Archbishop Chaput’s book STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World earlier this year and forgot to blog about the book. I don’t think it was as good as his previous book RENDER UNTO CEASAR but timely in its commentary. The author describes how our culture has abandoned its Christian roots so totally that like the first Christians, we are indeed living as strangers in a strange land. Citizens of the heavenly kingdom, we find ourselves living in a world of vice hailed as good, and virtue mocked as idiotic. Into this culture we are to work and still hold fast to what Christ has given us in the Catholic Faith. Simply not easy to do.

The author discusses how the world around us has not only changed in degree from Christianity fully lived (backslid from Christian ideals but still agreeing those ideals are good) but has passed over into a difference in KIND and Christians must brace themselves for the internal battle to seek holiness in a place that loathes holiness.

I recommend the book because everyone needs to look at the world around us from this perspective and most of us miss obvious things. Things like men being mocked when they choose to go home to their families rather than take on the extra project. It is difficult enough to maintain a good balance without co-workers mocking you for trying! Christians are family people. The needs of both spouses matter and a true Christian is not going to mock a co-worker for wanting to partner with his spouse rather than use her!

Using people has become a way of life in our culture and when a Christian chooses NOT to use others as objects this will often cause blow back.  It is as if one man choosing to honor his wife as his true equal is anathema to those accustomed to using their spouses.

At any rate, the book was good, it is worth taking the time to read it.

Dear Lord, please help us to live as true Christians in the midst of the culture no matter how far the culture has gone. +Amen.