Dungeon Lemming

I escaped from the Dungeon of Puppetmaker40!

I killed Goblinartstudio the minotaur, Jeff Morris the leprechaun, Kit Hartford the giant spider, Zessa the kobold, Chaospearl the orc, Gemmagic the minotaur, Zakcrazyquilt the zombie, Koyangwuti the zombie and Readinggeek451 the rat.

I looted the Dagger of Kradical, the Wand of Blake's 7, the Shield of Atimson, the Axe of Yuki Onna, the Wand of Scifi Fandom, the Wand of Querldox, the Shield of Wicca, the Axe of Doctor Who, the Axe of Farscape and 233 gold pieces.

Score: 233

Explore the Dungeon of Puppetmaker40 and try to beat this score,
or enter your username to generate and explore your own dungeon...

Ra! Ra! Ra!

There is a big yellow ball in the sky bringing light and warmth to the earth. I haven't seen such in about a week. And apparently I won't be seeing much of it later this week either. Sad thing is that I need to give the playground about 24 hours to dry before I can take Caroline back there. The rubber mats they have under the structures hold water for a bit and she can get rather wet in a short period of time. There is also the problem of the "pond" that appears if we have had heavy rains which is probably there for the rest of the week without anymore rain. We did need rain. I just think that all of the rain for the season in a one-week period is a little much.

I have been reading other blogs and I find that a lot of people seem to be in the same brain fog I have been. Maybe it is the weather. Maybe it is the alignment of the planets and stars. Either way I want my brain back where I can put two thoughts together and get them to stick. I did make my list of things I need to do before Shoreleave and wept. I do the same thing every year and every year I tell myself I am not going to do this to myself after the show is done. So I have a two weeks (less than) push of things I have promised myself and other people. Today I am going to get thing 1 and thing 2 off my drafting table and then work my way through the rest.

There are questions that I can pretty much expect Peter to get asked at a Q&A. One of the ones that is in the top 10 list is "how do you deal with writer's block?" His reply is usually something to the effect, "I don't. I don't have time for it so I don't have it. I push through or go onto another project and then come back to the one I need to finish." So right now I don't have time for artistic block. I have to push through and get these projects done which I do under a pressure deadline because I piddle until the pressure is on. Not a good way to work and one that I need to change my habit of doing it this way.

I am grateful for that mysterious yellow ball in the sky.

The Interview Meme

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Here are my 5 from paigemom

1. Tell me the highlights of Caroline's birth.
I can remember how happy Peter was to find out that the couch in the birthing room he was sitting on folded out into a bed.

I can remember having Peter read me this one news story about 7 times to keep my mind off of the contractions. It was about a donated Christmas Tree in memory of someone's son who died of brain cancer.

I remember that final push and then a slight pause and hearing her cry for the first time. The Doctor put her on my chest as Peter cut the umbilical cord and I said to her, "Welcome to the world my Baby Girl."

Later that evening it was just the two of us and I heard for the first time that happy sigh of contentment that I have heard so many times since then. Holding her for the first time was something I will never forget. First time she really breast fed was a highlight too.

2. Other than the Frouds, who has most influenced your own work?
Jim Henson, Dave McKean, Walt Disney, Jon Ludwig, Bruce Schwartz (the puppeteer), Julie Taymore, Janie Gieser, and more doll artists than I can count.

3. What is your favorite musical, and why?
Ooooo hard one but I have to go for "Phantom of the Opera" with "Pirates of Penzance" being a close second. Yeah I know that Phantom is supposedly evil because it is such a moneymaker and made other musicals and companies go for the BIG EFFECT but there is something about the basic story and the poignancy of the music that I still love to this day. The opening chords still stir strong emotion with me.

4. What got you into theater? What made you choose stage management?

Well the puppet stuff has been going on for years but my formal entrance into theater happened because I broke up with my then fiancée and a buddy of mine was tired of seeing me mope around the college campus. So she drug me along to a meeting for crew for the first show of the season and I ended up running lights for "Everyman". The second show (Distraughter & the Great Panda Scandal) I was the assistant stage manager and on the third show (Hecuba) the stage manager I was assisting quit and I was the only one who knew what was going on so the Equity cast voted to make me the stage manager and told the director that that was the way it was going to be. From that point on I was a stage manager. Two people John Purcell and Brenda Bynum recognized early that I was a natural as a stage manager and encourage me to do it. So I did and even went to Yale for the master's program in stage management. Out of all the jobs I have done outside being a puppeteer it is the one I enjoy the most and feel the most secure in.

5. What do you like best about living where you do?
I like living in a small town where a lot of people do know your name but being close enough to the big city (New York) that I can visit there anytime I really want. I get the best of both worlds in that.