Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 16:25:48 -0700
From: "Garth W." <steeld-AT-shaw.ca>
Subject: Re: PUPT: right on Q - or not


Mary,

If I was in NY I would love to meet you at one of those "venues that offer adult
beverages".

But I live far from NY and also, I am otherwise engaged.  Still, it's a nice
thought.

Take care and good luck in NY.

Garth Willis


---- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mary Robinette Kowal" <maryrk-AT-earthlink.net>
To: <puptcrit-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2004 2:09 AM
Subject: Re: PUPT: right on Q - or not


Since I've had several people try to cheer me up and tell me that I'm a good
puppeteer, I thought I'd clarify my "What have I been doing with my life."

I shall attempt to add the vocal inflection and body language that would have
come with that sentance if you, gentle readers, were present. "If it's so
frickin' easy to train someone to do puppets then what the heck have I been
doing with my life?  I mean, hello?!?!?  I'm a product of training.  I'm good at
what I do and it didn't come easy.  Now someone has the nerve, the gumption, the
demeaning arrogance to tell me that it's easy?!  Are you going to tell me that
they're cute too?"  You see what I meant when I said that it made me cranky, but
that really defensiveness was a large part of that.

Truly, if I did not believe that I was good at what I do I would have stopped
doing it for others.  I played violin for seventeen years, but no longer play
for any more than my own pleasure because I can tell that I will never be better
than a very good mediocre.  I don't like to suck at things.  It gets in the way
of cockiness.

This is all the more embarrassing because I find myself returning to familiar
ground for arguement, when I really started this thread because of the epiphany
that I'd had about taking other disciplines as seriously as I take my own.  It's
just so much easier to stand on the soapbox of "puppets are better than..."
because I know all of those arguments.  Most of the people I know are
puppeteers.  When I talk to people outside the field I almost inevitably get one
of a couple of comments: "Puppets?  That's so cute."  "Puppets?  Have you seen
'Being John Malcovich'?" "Puppets?  My uncle has a puppet."  "Puppets?  You can
make a living at that?/What do you really do?"

So when I'm talking to my friends I'm preaching to the choir, and when I'm
talking to someone new I'm trying to convert them.  It is rare to have a serious
discussion about the art of puppetry with someone who is not intimately
connected with it.  I was so excited because I'd had a moment of realizing that
a lot of the problem was that I wasn't raising my own head from the control to
look around.

The fact that it's 4am are going to cause me to end with that.  It all makes
sense now, but I've been on planes all day so there's no telling what I will
think of this post tomorrow.  For those of you who know me, I just flew into NYC
from Portland.  I'll be here for three months and would love to explore venues
that offer adult beverages.




----

Mary Robinette Kowal
Other Hand Productions
http://www.otherhandproductions.com


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