A Mommy and Caroline Day

Since Peter and Ariel were off at the state championships, Caroline and I were left to our own devices. One thing that Caroline had wanted to do for a couple of weeks now was to go to the Atlantis Aquarium in Riverhead. We have been bringing her there since she was almost two years old. She loves just sitting and watching the fish or the seals or the sea lions.

We got there and lucked into a prime parking space. It was around lunchtime so most of the people were in the cafeteria leaving the exhibits open for us. There were quite a few people there which is a good thing since I would hate to see this facility disappear on us. We walked past the various tanks looking at the fish and other marine life they have on display. We were sitting at the large tank when a shark then went by us with his mouth open upsetting Caroline, who use to just love to sit and stare at the sharks. That was my cue to get us some lunch.

After lunch Caroline played with the other kids in the Atlantis “dig” site (playground) for a while. We visited the snow monkeys who were rather agitated about something. We watched the penguins being fed and sat and watched the sea lions swim by the observation window. On the drive home Caroline declared that she wanted to be a vet and help all the animals in the world be healthy and happy. I told her that was a good goal to have. I could so see her as a vet.

We both went to bed early since we had been up late the night before and didn’t take a nap in the afternoon. Good thing too since we lost an hour last night due to Daylight Savings Time which I am against. Ariel had light when she was going for the bus. Not much but the sun was starting to come up. Now she has to go to the bus in the pitch black since the sun won’t be up for another 30 minutes or so. Caroline’s body clock is really set for standard time. It is going to be fun getting her to go to bed an hour earlier and get up an hour earlier. My personal body clock is set to standard time as well and it hates DST with the passion of a thousands suns. I got up with Caroline at 8:30 this morning (which was 7:30 yesterday).

Just to finish the story, Ariel’s team placed 6th out of 10 but Ariel did her best and worked through the adversity of some serious hand cramping. We are very proud of her and her efforts this bowling season.

I am grateful for places to take Caroline where we both have lots of fun.

Writer's Block: Close Encounters of the Celebrity Kind

[Error: unknown template qotd]

Wow. There is a loaded question for me. I think it is kind of who you view as a celebrity.

I have a lot of friends who are celebrities in various fields.

I know the Indigo Girls from college. After we would get done with whatever show we were doing at Theater Emory, we would head off to wherever the Indigos were playing and support them. I still have their first vinyl 45 and album.

I went to George Takei and Brad Altman's wedding. I have known George and Brad for a number of years now. I first met George at a convention in Chattanooga when I was subbing in for someone for the Mighty Rassilon Art Players. We got a meet and greet with George and Nichelle. Then years later Peter introduced me to George and Brad.

There are entire casts of science fiction shows that know who I am through my husband.

In puppetry, I met Jim Henson a couple of times. He recognized me after a while but he had a really good memory for faces and names. I worked with Jon Ludwig who is a fracking genius. I have met some serious powerhouses in the industry who's names mean little outside it.

I have a lot of friends in the comic book and book industry. I knew Neil Gaiman before he was NEIL GAIMAN. Terry Brooks is a sweetheart as is his wife. Marv Wolfman is a great guy and a wonderful person to go out to dinner with. Chris Clarmont is a lot of fun to talk with. I count Harlan Ellison among my close friends.

Then there is my husband who is very well known in several circles. We met at an SF convention when he bought a Klingon puppet from me.

My list could go on and on to include bands I met when I was working various shows.