Archives for category: Social Network
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Devil makes a stand

January 25, 2013 //
5

devil makes a stand

Devil visited me last night to borrow a box of matches. No idea what he needs them for, Dedes shouldn’t play with fire. They are not water tight and I am pretty sure they burn quite well to boot. Hesitantly I gave him a box, but while I was looking for them, I asked him what his opinion is about the feud that is brewing between Minor and Detail.

“Ah, girls….” he said. “Look at their history… Detail and Chance are half-sisters, Detail is a solo mum and now Minor is giving her mother grief. You get the picture? You better stay out of it!” he advised and it looked as if he wanted to leave. But then he stopped and turned around. “You know what annoys me the most about the entire story?”

“No, but you will certainly enlighten me” I answered expectantly.

“What about Rob? Has anybody actually ever spoken to him? How do you know he is not fair-minded! Everybody just assumes he is a bad boy…  How come?… Is it his hideous handkerchief?” He got his own hankie out and tied it around his face. “Imagine… One day someone decides all Dedes with horns are bad, what would happen to me?”

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Categories Art, Fun, Life, Relationships, Social Network

Here comes Chance

January 24, 2013 //
2

minor and rob-2

Chance kept her promise and met up with her niece Minor. After a long warm hug, they sat down and Minor immediately started spluttering on about her mother Detail. She plainly doesn’t understand her anymore. She has become increasingly short-tempered and the most infuriating is that she seems to be able to listen to everybody else and give good advice, but not her own daughter. All her friends come flocking to her and pour their hearts out, but when it concerns her own daughter, she is incapable of listening, let alone  understanding. She constantly pesters Minor to let go of Rob, the scoundrel.

“Mum, just doesn’t know Rob as I do” Minor said. “He has a heart of gold and he really loves me.”  She showed this photograph and Chance agreed they look like a lovely couple. Then Minor went on to tell her aunt that Rob hadn’t had a good start in life. He is not entirely sure where he comes from, so there they have something in common: Minor doesn’t know her father. But unlike her, Rob just fell in with the wrong crowd. Yes, he has done some naughty things in the past, but he wants to change and she, Minor, is the one who can save him.

“Can’t you talk to Mum?” she beseeched her aunt in the end.

“Mhm, I would love to, but you know as well as I do, if I say something, the shit would really hit the fan. Wouldn’t it? This would infuriate Detail even more.”

“I don’t know what I should do. I am at my wits end” Minor said resignedly. “She just doesn’t want to see my point of view. Maybe I really should elope with Rob. That’s what he wants! Start a new life somewhere else, where nobody knows us.”

“No, you can’t run from your problems, Minor. It would break your mothers heart and it will take years to mend.”

“I don’t care!” Minor responded huffy. “She doesn’t love me anymore.”

“Now, that is not right. On the contrary, she loves you too much.”

“So, tell me, what shall I do then?”

“Whatever you do, don’t burn your bridges! And don’t deliberately hurt in anger. Maybe write a letter to your mother. Explain to her how you feel. She can read a letter in her own time and take in what you have to say.”

“A letter? You mean on paper?” Minor exclaimed… “Can’t I just send her a txt?”

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Categories Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

Detail at her wits end

January 22, 2013 //
2

minor and detail

Detail is at sixes and sevens at the moment, and this is a state she can’t cope with. She needs to be in control. Outwardly nothing much has changed between the two of them. When they are out shopping together, Minor follows her mother with a sour-face and when they bump into acquaintances, she waits patiently until Detail has exchanged the latest news. This is a feat on its own as Detail is as sweet as ever and interested in other people. She always wants to know more and her conversations are never short.

But when they are at home, we hear plenty of screaming matches with high pitched voices, followed by prolonged silences. It must be clear – even for the most dull-witted of the Dedes – that something is going on.

I asked Detail what Philosopher said to her on Saturday, very dispirited she replied: “Pretty much the same thing as ArtistatExit0 said in his comment to the post. In a nutshell, they think making mistakes is a necessary, yet painful, part of the learning process. There is absolutely nothing I can do about it, except to be there when Minor needs me. But why can’t she learn from my experience?”

And then she went on to tell me how much she sacrificed for the girl, she always wanted the best for her and what a lovely girl she was when she was little, then she always listened. Now as a mother, she could throttle this Rob, Minor calls her b o y f r i e n d, he must have seduced her daughter, even drugged her, why else wouldn’t she  listen anymore. Wouldn’t you think, she would know by now that her mother always knows best…

It was a barrage of words, unedited and difficult to make sense of.

“I just can’t take this anymore” she said to me in tears. “I don’t want her to make the same silly mistakes I did. I wish I had listened to my mother!”

“If you had listened to your mother” I said, “you wouldn’t have this beautiful daughter of yours! Would you?”

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Categories Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

Detail wants to talk

January 19, 2013 //
2

detail

Oh, it is Saturday and I don’t need to get up at an ungodly hour. When I finally got up, Detail had laid the breakfast table and it smelled wonderfully of fresh coffee…. that is what I call bliss!

The Dedes are not early risers and not many were around. It was still nice and quiet. Devil was of course there –  he doesn’t seem to sleep at all – and also Detail who arranged this wonderful surprise. Last, but not least, there was Foreign Correspondent, who seems to be everywhere lately.

We had just sat down when Devil launched into telling us about the Facebook page but I rudely interrupted him: “Please, not on Saturday, and particularly not when I am having my breakfast!”

“But it is important to me!” he exclaimed. “Join the club” Foreign Correspondent said, “I have to talk about my German translation as well. You know I don’t think the summaries are working… I have to do a daily translation, otherwise it is too confusing.”

“It’s your gig” I said, “you can do what you want, as long as you do a good job” and bit into my croissant. “Aren’t you interested in what we are doing?” Devil asked. “Of course I am, but there is a time and place for everything. And Saturday breakfast is not for facebook or German translations!”

“You really should ask our readers to join us on Facebook. Only when we have 25 Likes can we claim…”

“Devil, please!” I got quite annoyed and slammed my croissant on the plate.

“That is such a male thing” Detail started now. “I lay the table and put on a nice breakfast because I want to discuss something and you guys just jump in, invite yourself, and hog the conversation straight away.” Devil and Foreign Correspondent looked at her in surprise. It is unusual for her to be so straight forward.

“So what’s your problem then?” Devil asked annoyed.

“I can’t talk about it now!” she yelled and jumped up. “I’ll go and see Philosopher. He is the only Dede one can talk to!”

And so, what started out as a lovely breakfast was spoilt for every one. The three of us continued in silence, but we had rather lost our appetite.

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Categories Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

Devil on Facebook

January 18, 2013 //
4

devil on facebook

Mouse hasn’t quite recovered yet. She decided to make herself scarce for the time being. Devil had a long conversation with her yesterday, and he reported back to us – while she has stopped crying, she is not ready yet to face the crowd again.

“So what is happening with our Facebook page then?” Socialite asked, more interested in publicity than in Mouse‘s wellbeing. “It is still half finished, isn’t it?”

“Don’t worry” Devil said, “I have offered to take care of that and I kept the ball rolling.” And then he showed us what he had done with instructions from Mouse. He is feeding the blog straight into Facebook. The others were reasonably impressed, except for Foreign Correspondent who had to point out that Mouse accused him of rehashing this blog on his German site. “So, what are you doing on Facebook then? Isn’t that just another form of recycling?”

“I am going to put some background images up. Like us in context. You know, us hanging around the house and things like that. And I will show some images from the studio – Dietlind permitting of course! We could have our beauty competition, once I figure out how to do it. Don’t worry, Foreign Correspondent, it will be different. But give me time! You know I am a bit of a Luddite.”

They were all very excited about the prospect of communicating with friends once they have some. Then they looked at me and Devil asked: “Why don’t you have a Facebook page? You could share us with your friends.” I shook my head. “As if I didn’t share you with my friends already!” I said, reminding them that there is not only this blog here, but also a book and postcards and a calendar. And I can’t stop talking about the Dedes anyway. “I am starting to drive my real friends bonkers” I said with a smile. “No, I won’t have a private Facebook page!”

What the Dedes are doing is their thing. I won’t interfere, but I am starting to worry about the time they spend on the computer. I hardly have a chance to use my own laptop. First there is Mouse, who does all her administration on the computer, then Foreign Correspondent who translates the blog into German and now Devil started this Facebook thing. I wouldn’t be surprised if L’Artiste wanted to have a LinkedIn presence next.

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Categories Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

Breakdown

January 17, 2013 //
5

skeleton

Mouse finally had her break down everybody was waiting for. Yesterday, one could hardly talk to her without her bursting into tears. She is obviously overworked. But asking her what the matter was made it even worse. I have learned my lesson in the meantime and leave her alone on days like this, it will pass! I will approach her again when she has calmed down.  Even though I know this is not the best thing to do, on days like this you basically can’t win. Talk to her, she cries. Don’t talk to her she says, nobody loves her. Thankfully she doesn’t have these days very often.

Last night she went to visit her bosom buddy Skeleton Edeltraut, who lives with her partner Monster under my bed. Wednesday night  is Monster’s night out. He meets up with some monster mates at the local for quiz night and a beer. Skeleton Edeltraut doesn’t like to go to the pub and hang out with Monster‘s mates, but doesn’t want to be at home on her own either because she has a stalker. Puppy Lou is in love with her, ever since he first laid eyes on her. I can understand the attraction for a young dog. She on the other hand is just plain scared of his attention, which of course I can understand as well. Have you ever seen how a dog treats a bone?

Personally, I am okay with my skeletons (the rest of her family lives in my closet), as long as they don’t bother me. But I wouldn’t seek them out and that goes for Monster as well. But Mouse is a regular visitor at their place. Last night they must have had a good heart to heart. They kept their voices down, but between sobbing I could hear fragments like “… just too much…” “…everybody relies…” “… take it anymore….” I didn’t try too hard to listen in on their conversation. I know it will blow over and she will be back to her normal self. I hope it will be today!

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Categories Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

Topsy-Turvy

January 16, 2013 //
4

fc and mouse

It’s all happening at the moment. First of all, the problem we had with the blog images seems to have dissolved into thin air. Yesterday morning, Mouse was close to a nervous break-down after she had spent almost the whole night on the computer trying to solve the problem together with Foreign Correspondent. You know how it is. When there is a technical issue, you really want to nail it, don’t you! When the posted image still didn’t show up in the Reader yesterday, she was hyperventilating. I was worried she might have a heart attack. Finally, she threw her hands in air and admitted defeat.

However, by lunch time she checked the blogs she is following in the Reader and she couldn’t believe her eyes. There they were, the Dede blog images. All of them. The two from yesterday, the day before, even last weeks. So, remind me again, what was the problem? It seems to have been a WordPress glitch and Mouse and Foreign Correspondent now believe it might have something to do with the size of the original images. The images I give them to put up are sized to fit into the width of our blog column, not  a single pixel larger, and WordPress obviously makes them even smaller to display in the Reader.

They told everybody what they had figured out, but the Dedes weren’t interested in the detail. They were just pleased that it finally seems to work.

This gave Foreign Correspondent the confidence to put up his introductory post on the German Blog dedepuppetsde.wordpress.com. So it is all go now. “And we even have a follower already!” He was really chuffed when he reported back to us. “We also had a comment from Monika-Maria, congratulating me on my new job and what a great idea it is to have the German translation.” He could barely hide his pride.

Mouse was a bit touchy. “So what?” she said. “You are only rehashing what we do on our English blog. And if I hadn’t done all the hard work here for nearly a year, nobody would have looked at yours today.”  She tried to down-play his success. I was genuinely surprised by her reaction. I thought these two were getting on well, after their unexpected bonding exercise of trouble-shooting. Then it occurred to me there might be professional envy at play.

Mouse thrives on the admiration for her work and so far there has been absolutely no one who could hold a candle up to her. Then out of the blue Foreign Correspondent shows up and in next to nothing he gets something off the ground, no fussing at all. Uh, that must have hurt.

“And by the way,” Mouse continued with the snappy tone, “I have started on the Dede puppets fan page on facebook… We have been discussing it for so long. This is just ridiculous. I can’t wait until we all agree… I could wait until the cows come home!”

“So how is it going with this one?” Socialite pricked up her ears. She was always keen on a facebook page. “Not so well,” Mouse admitted quietly. “I shouldn’t have said anything yet. I have to get my head around this first. After all, I was very tired last night from all the trouble shooting the night before. So, please don’t look at it yet!”

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Categories Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

A little trouble shooting

January 15, 2013 //
4

mouse fixing

I asked all the Dedes individually what they thought of Foreign Correspondent’s performance and whether we should go ahead with his proposal. Most of them couldn’t care less as long as it didn’t increase their workload. The one who really had to think hard about it was Mouse, as she does all the work around here. When she realised there was something going on, she watched Foreign Correspondent closely, but couldn’t fault him. He is a professional. Over the weekend he translated all the background information and recreated the blog in German, so he could start as soon as the Dede Committee gave him the green light.

Foreign Correspondent had also been watching Mouse and last night he approached her. “Do you think we could fix the problem with the images?” he asked “I don’t want to start posting when this problem isn’t solved.”

Mouse was taken aback at first. She felt he was making demands, despite him being the newbie. In her opinion newbies have to keep their mouth’s shut, just watch and slip into place once they had observed enough and found their own little niche. They are not supposed to make suggestions, not on the first day at least… Unfortunately, Mouse herself knew something wasn’t working correctly, but she pretended she didn’t know. “What’s wrong?” she asked with a surprised tone in her voice and a tad defensive.

“When I first look at a new post, the pics are crunched up in tiny little boxes” Foreign Correspondent described the problem. “I have to double click first to see them in full size and they don’t show up in the Reader either.”

Mouse admitted that she has had the same problem, but initially thought it was just a little glitch with her computer. She thought she had fixed it when she double clicked on it and the visitors wouldn’t have a problem. Indeed, she had asked some people and they were totally unaware of the problem she was talking about, while others said they had also experienced it.

“It all worked a breeze before, until the WordPress people made changes to the library module” Mouse explained. “I don’t know what I can do about it. I’ve tried virtually everything!”

“I’ve noticed” Foreign Correspondent answered. “Now I can’t even double click anymore.”

“I am at the end of my tether. I even sent a support question to WordPress, but have had no response yet. It might have something to do with the template I am using, maybe I have to change this.”

Foreign Correspondent suggested I should give him a lift to my office, while Mouse stayed at home and made changes. Then he could use the computer at work to check whether it worked or not.

When I went to bed last night, Mouse and Foreign Correspondent were busy skyping and changing things, but without the usual screaming and cursing. I don’t know if they have fixed the problem or not.

We will see when this post goes up.

It would be great if readers who have had this problem could let Mouse and Foreign Correspondent know if it has been fixed. Or if not, does anybody have an idea what’s going on? Your help is very much appreciated!

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Categories Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

Decision making

January 14, 2013 //
6

fc presenting

Last night the second post of the Dede story was launched at ||:VEGGIETORIA:||. For the Dedes it is an absolute must to watch, just like a riveting mini series on TV. As I had them all in one place, I told them what Foreign Correspondent and I had nutted out recently. Surprisingly we received very mixed reactions. I was so convinced they would be excited and I realised  I don’t know them  as well as I thought I did.

The main reservation was that the Dedes believe most Germans speak better English than they let on. They wouldn’t need the extra summary. Foreign Correspondent just stood there and smiled, but he didn’t try to convince them of his plan. In the end Devil’s Advocate said: “Can we discuss this later? I want to know what Miss Viwi has to say today!” And he invited Foreign Correspondent to take the floor.

Foreign Correspondent stood there calmly, looking very credible, and started his speech: “Thank you Dedes for giving me the opportunity to talk to you tonight. I believe you would like to be known to a wider audience. Is that right?” He paused for effect, and all the Dedes obediently nodded their heads. Then he continued. “I can help you to achieve this and I would be delighted if you would accept my proposal. ” He took charge of the computer and switched to Miss Viwi’s page.

“First of all, I want to thank Miss Viwi again for her kindness in publishing a series about the background of the Dedes. Let’s see what she has to say:”

{dede puppets | second act}

[The book:]

hermits-web-cover

‘Hermit’s web or the few friends I need, I hand-craft myself’. The story of this book introduces the first fifteen Dede characters.
dietlind: „The idea for the story was conceived when someone I didn’t know invited me to become friends on face book. Not only was this person a stranger to me, I don’t have a face book page. So I go on and tell the world that I have enough to do with my real friends, my Dedes. The book is written in easy-to-understand English, similar to the blog.  

[the blog]

dietlind: „I started the blog shortly before the book was launched. An artist friend of mine had advised me to document the entire process. A year on, I am really happy I have heeded this advice. The thought of selling [the puppets ] has disappeared into thin air and the blog has definitely strengthened the relationship between the Dedes and myself.

group pic top left to right.: Detail, Snippedy, Devil, Mouse and Socialite || below left to right: Monkey, Pig, Professor, L’Artiste Dede, Foxy Lady and Fairy Godmother

miss viwi: So you can’t imagine selling puppets?

dietlind: „Not at the moment. In particular not those that appear on the blog and there is no way I could part with the first ones, the ones from the book. But at one stage there will be so many, and I should be able to let some go. I can envisage, though, creating some puppets specifically for an exhibition and to sell them before I get used to them, before I come up with their character traits.“

[Exhibition]

Exhibitions are a relatively new subject for the artist, she never considered it with her previous work, but  „The Dede puppets are a category of their own, they really want to be seen.“

Apart from a few low key photographic exhibitions, the puppets were on show at the book launch.

book launchBook launch April 2012, Auckland, Visitor examines L’Artiste Dede (Foto: © Sonya Roussina)

An installation by the artist Dietlind Wagner had been selected as a finalist in New Zealand’s prestigeous  „Wallace Art Awards“. The installation of five dede puppets was exhibited in a gallery in Auckland.
Further solo exhibitions are planned for 2013.

dietlind: „I also had two workshops for Senior Citizens and would love to explore this area further. Hand puppets are often used in therapy with kids, but I am convinced they could be equally useful with the elderly.“

—

The  interview will continue next Sunday 20/1/13, at 8 am CET at |:::VEGGIETORIA:::|.

P.S.: If you have any queries, wishes or comments feel free to write in

“Good, good” Devil said. “Now, Foreign Correspondent, this was a very literal translation. But you have to prove to us that you can summarise, if we are to give you the responsibility of looking after the Dede’s German blog. So how would you summarise what Miss Viwi has said?” Mouse turned to Devil and gave him a hi-five.

Foreign Correspondent was unfazed and said: “In brief, Dietlind loves us all. And all of us, who are currently in the room are safe. She won’t sell any of us. She believes the blog strengthened our relationship, but she also knows we are attention seekers and she would like to comply by presenting us to the non-digital world in exhibitions and workshops. If you have any queries, leave a comment or send an email!”

“I hope your German summaries are a bit more comprehensive, but I would say give it a go!” Devil concluded.

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Categories Art, Books, Fun, Hand Puppets, Relationships, Social Network

Foreign Correspondent

January 13, 2013 //
7

foreign correspondant

Today is Sunday again and the Dedes are all curious about what the second installment from Miss Viwi on ||:::VEGGIETORIA:::|| will be like. I am pretty sure they will be hanging around the living room tonight again so they don’t miss the new post.

Miss Viwi’s series got the Dedes thinking. We got a few comments lately from German speaking readers and friends who said they use the Dedes to brush up on their English, but sometimes they are not sure about the meaning as the blog is quite colloquial. During the week this fellow introduced himself to me. He claimed to be a foreign correspondent. I didn’t believe him at first, he looks more like a tourist to me, but then he put forward his ideas and I changed my mind. He seems to know what he is talking about.

Here is what he suggested: He is going to scan all the posts on the dedepuppet blog and will write a summary twice a week in German. These summaries will be posted on dedepuppetsde.wordpress.com, not on this blog here. There will be no new stories on the German blog at all, as all the Dedes are in New Zealand, so new stories can only happen here and they will continue to happen in English. Of course Foreign Correspondent will report back to us if any interesting comments are made.

I haven’t put it to the Dede committee yet to find out what they think, but Foreign Correspondent was proactive and translated the site anyway. He says he wants to be ready to roll as soon as he gets the go ahead. I said he should hold his horses as we will put him to the test when Miss Viwi’s post needs to be translated again. So tonight he will be presenting his proposal and translation to the Dedes.

What do you think?

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Categories Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network
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