Hmm…. which to tell you about. Tempest Build, Day Four or that I actually had a social life?

We’ll go with social, because that is rarer in these parts.

Friday night, our friend Jonathan invited us out with him to see Aimee Mann’s Christmas show. Now, I sort of vaguely knew who Aimee Mann was, but not really. I was exhausted and left to my own devices would have stayed home, but I like Jonathan and this was a really nice thing that he did for us. So I leave the studio with all its tentacles and head to midtown.

The show was in the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center, which is a gorgeous space. Turns out that Aimee Mann does a variety show, with guest musicians, comedians and a little mini-mockumentary. It was so much fun. I had a blast and was really glad that Jonathan had invited us.

Yesterday was all Tempest, all the time.

Today, we went to Jonathan’s tree-trimming party. He does this fun thing where he hangs Polaroids of his guests on the tree. Lots of good food and interesting conversations. It felt really, really good to take the day off.

I just saw the news that Lazytown won the BAFTA in the International Children’s category. Woot!

INTERNATIONAL

FAIRLY ODD PARENTS - Butch Hartman, Gary Conrad (Frederator Studios for Nickelodeon/Nickelodeon UK)

HARRY AND HIS BUCKET FULL OF DINOSAURS - Kristine Klohk/Helen Cohen/Graham Ralph (Collingwood O’Hare Entertainment/Silver Fox Films Ltd/CCI Entertainment/Five)

LAZY TOWN - Magnús Scheving, Raymond P Le Gué, Jonathan Judge (Lazy Town Productions for Nick Jr UK/Nick Jr UK)

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS - Paul Tibbitt, Steve Hillenberg (United Plankton Pictures Inc for Nickelodeon/Nickelodeon UK)

We just learned that Lazytown has been nominated for a BAFTA (British Academy Children’s Film and Television Award)

The winners will be announced at the ceremony on Sunday 26 November 2006 at the London Hilton.

INTERNATIONAL

FAIRLY ODD PARENTS - Butch Hartman, Gary Conrad (Frederator Studios/Nickelodeon UK)

HARRY AND HIS BUCKET FULL OF DINOSAURS - Kristine Klohk/Helen Cohen/Graham Ralph (Collingwood O’Hare Entertainment/Silver Fox Films Ltd/CCI Entertainment/Five)

LAZY TOWN - Magnus Sheving, Jonathan Judge (Lazy Town Productions/Nick Jr)

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS - Paul Tibbitt, Vincent Walls, Alan Smart (United Plankton Pictures Inc/Nickelodeon UK)

Sarah, Jonathan, Emily, Jodi, Sam and their friend Amelia came for dinner tonight. It was so nice to do some serious cooking, which I haven’t done enough of lately.

Menu

Cabbage and Apple Soup
Orange, Cranberry and Spice Walnuts on a bed of Spinach
Mushroom Risotto served with Sesame Broccolli
Daim Icecream

I was lying on the floor assisting Thor during a big shot. I heard Jonathan shout, “Head, Mary, head!” I could not figure out how my head could possibly be in the frame, since I was lying on the floor, when a cart slammed into the top of my head. Ow. I’ve got a lovely goose egg right at my hairline, but am otherwise fine. Fortunately I seem to do my best work with a mild concussion. (I’m kidding, Mom. Don’t worry.)

I went with Jodi, Sam, Sarah and Jonathan to a Independence Day party on a rooftop terrace on Broadway and Chambers, overlooking town hall. We were level with the fireworks. When they began it was really amazing, but quickly became comic. Because we were so far off the ground, we wound up getting all the smoke from the fireworks, so we frequently couldn’t actually see them, just muli-colored clouds of smoke.

It was still fun.

Rob went down to Bethel Heights yesterday and wound up staying overnight because they wanted him back this morning. I knew that would happen.

I took advantage of the reversion to my spinster days to continue reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel which I’m very much enjoying.

Today after solving a puzzle with three-year old Jonah, I went into the city and had lunch with David. Then I met with Emily about Arabian Nights. From there I went to dinner with Jonathan.

All in all, a very satisfying day, but I’m worn out. Tomorrow I go to Princeton.

I went to Lewis and Clark College today to meet with Jonathan Gibson, who has written an opera called Carp and Diva. I will be building the carp. Afterwards, I biked over to meet Rob and Wayne at the tennis courts and then we came home.

I had a couple of funny moments on the bike. I bought new clips for the pedals, which hold my feet firmly in place for improved efficiency. I haven’t used them before, and there’s a special way you have to remove your feet or you stay firmly afixed to the pedals. It’s very, very easy to take your feet off, you just twist your heel out. But if you aren’t used to it, you can fall over when you come to a stop. Which I did. I didn’t hurt myself, since I was warned that it would happen. I just pitched over on the ground and laughed. It confused the pedestrians I think.

Here are we are, dolled up in our finest. That’s a real bowtie Rob is wearing, not a pre-tied clipon.

Now, my dad had asked for pictures and names of people so that he could keep track of who’s who. Here are my some of my co-workers.

Dana and Mark Reed

Jonathan (director) and Thor (puppeteer for Ziggy)

Magnus and Heidi(his wife)

Sarah (puppeteer for Trixie)

And finally, we’re so cute I’ll show you another picture of us.

I mentioned that Jonathan and I did the Golden Circle tour yesterday. We started at Þingvellir.

I know that you’ve seen lots of landscape photos, but it still amazes me how much it can change with the seasons without trees as the indicator.

Of course, I guess snow on the mountain is dead giveaway that it’s colder.

Even so, the moss and lichen has a more subdued quality. Things seem more ethereal now, but that might just be because I’m looking at a hobbit hole.

We passed a turf house on the way to Geysir.

We also got to visit with a herd of horses. We pulled off the road to take some photos and they all wandered up to visit with us.

This particular horse fell in love with Jonathan and followed him like a dog.

When we got to Geysir it was still light enough for photos, which it wasn’t when I went there with Mom and Dad. I didn’t get a good photo of the geysir, but I did get a nice photo of this pool This photo is not color enhanced, it really glowed this unearthly blue. It looked like a UV light was under the water somewhere.