Since Peter is out of Town and at SDCC

Posted By: Kathleen DavidPosted On:

I present our annual ask the wife thread with a  bit of a twist.

You can also ask Ariel questions and for the first time,  you can ask Caroline a question.

A few rules:

If I deem a question inappropraite, it will not be answered. I ask that you limit yourself to one question per person (being one for me, one for Ariel, and one for Caroline)

I will not discuss politics or religion so those are  both off the table.

If the question is in the fuzzy NDA (Non-disclosure Agreement) area then I will not answer the question.

If I don’t answer your question please don’t take it personally. A lot of times why I couldn’t answer it becomes clear about a year to two years later.

So there ya go. Ask away.

108 comments on “Since Peter is out of Town and at SDCC”

  1. If you could ghost write any PAD project, past or present, what would you choose?

    1. Hard question to answer. Peter does use me as a sounding board and does use some of my ideas in his work. We have a couple of things we are mulling over to doing but none I can really talk about now.

      Honestly I don’t think there is any of his stuff I would re-write. I believe in him as a writer and enjoyed his work way before we got together.

      Would I like to try my hand at an Apropos short story? You betcha.

  2. From your own perspectives, how easy and/or difficult is it being the daughters of a well known person, and do you have any plans to follow in your parents footsteps?

    1. (Kath here:I had to explain what well known means and she has no opinion. Remember sitting next to her father while he signs books is something she has done since she was a little baby so to her it is part of life.)

      Caroline says: I’m going to be a Super Model Vet when I grow up.

    2. Everyone asks me this. The fact is I don’t know what it’s like not to have a father that is well known. Sometimes its really cool like at conventions and when I freak people out and other times its really weird when guys my age freak out and ask me questions I’d rather not answer and run away. But I love it and wouldn’t have it any other way.
      I am not planning on following in his footsteps though I do like to write. It’s not a career path that I think is good for me. I prefer writing for fun and would not like to make a career out of it.

  4. Hi from Comic Con!

    Kath, Ariel and Caroline, what superpower would you want to have?

      1. I found that phrase intriguing enough to google, but nothing turned up. I’d love to hear where she learned the word anodine, and how she connected it with unicorns.

      2. From Merriam-Webster Online:
        .
        anodyne
        (noun)
        1. something that soothes, calms, or comforts
        .
        2. a drug that allays pain
        .
        Combined with the varying legends that claim a unicorn’s horn can heal injuries, neutralize poisons, purify fouled water, etc., it makes perfect sense.
        .
        (Comics geek moment–I actually knew what “anodyne’ meant before I looked it up, thanks to the X-Men & Alpha Flight mini from years ago. Madelyne Pryor briefly became a healer known as Anodyne thanks to the manipulations of Loki.)
        .
        .
        Chuck

    2. Hmmmm…..That’s hard to choose. I would say that the ability to stop and start time might be good but then I would just die all the sooner because I have lived longer than it seems.

    3. Right now while I’m packing and getting ready for college I think the power of being super organized would be awesome.
      Also the ability to pull money out of my butt would be cool.
      Another cool power would be the ability to fit into any size clothing and make it fit me correctly. I love stuff that’s never my size. Like Caroline’s friend with the kitten boots or clothing from hot topic that fits Caroline.

    1. Depends on the conditions of the race and where it would be held. Remember Flash is the fastest man ON EARTH.

    2. OK I agree with Kath. Though the fact is if you move super fast on water you can go over it. Anybody who has watched The Incredibles knows that. So it might be a close one. I say the Flash cause Superman would superhear someone and danger and go off to save the day rather then do a silly race.

  6. Where did I put those cookies I hid so no one would find them and steal them?

      1. There were only I can’t find them. I think maybe a dog from South Africa took them.

    3. I STOLE THEM!!!
      MWAH HA HA
      ** Picks up cookie**
      **Eats** OM NOM NOM
      mmm cookies

      1. That’s okay. I just found one of the bag of Reece’s Pieces I hid last week. With me this kind of thing happens all the time. Right now I’m missing two bags of cookies, three bags of candy, one Red Dwarf Disc set and 1/3 of a pair of sox.

  7. If you would choose for any of PAD’s books to be made into a film, which one (or few) would that be?

    1. I think Tigerheart would be a good film but I would love to see the Fallen Angel or Apropos on the big screen.

  8. Caroline: Can you tell us about the last book you read?

    Ariel: Did your bowling injury heal OK, and is your game back where you want it to be?

    Kathleen: I seem to recall that you’re a D&D fan. Have you tried the latest set of rules? If so, any thoughts about how the latest compare to the prior version?

    2. I haven’t read through them yet but I tend to play very old style D&D if I am going to play.

      From what I understand from people I trust, they managed to make it more complicated and simplified things all at the same time.

      So I stick to the rules I grew up with.

    3. My bowling injury healed but my coach told me I started gripping the ball tighter now which is a major pain. My game isn’t where I want it to be… but that could be due to the fact that I always am finding something wrong.

  9. Mrs. David – So just why is it that PAD gets to go to San Diego and YOU don’t? Something fishy there, I’d say!

    Ariel – Kinda curious – do you bowl lefty or righty? What average are you carrying? And what ball do you usually use?

    Caroline – Hi! Do you like to read your Dad’s books most, or are there others you like better?

    I remain,
    Sincerely,
    Eric L. Sofer
    The Silver Age Fogey
    x<]:o){

    1. Eventually the family will go out to San Diego but honestly it is way too big to take Caroline to at her age and know that she will have fun. DragonCon is slightly different because it is easier to get her together with her little friends and my parents live down there so she spends time with them. I don’t know if we will be coming to NYCC this next year either due to the sheer size.

    2. I like some of my Dad’s books but I really like books I can read all by myself.

    3. I am a righty.. in case you are wondering dad is a lefty. I carry a 180 average during non competitive play. High School I was about a 185. I have in my reguler arsenal some kind of NV (Its purple and gold), a Clash (Blue and yellow/white), A Venom (Orange and Black), and a Pink Plastic ball that looks like a cross between Cotton Candy and Bubble Gum.

  10. This is a question for each of the 3 ladies; what is your favorite thing that Peter is currently writing?

    And I know this is bending the rules a bit, but since I saw Ariel take an interest in the “baby” cover to X-Factor #39 at the New York Comic Con; Ariel, did you wind up reading it, and if so, what did you think of it?

    2. Ah see there is a question I can’t answer for about 6 months to a year since I read things way before the public does.

    3. That my dad is currently writing… hmmmm.. See I like stuff that he’s working on or that hasn’t been signed yet. I am with Caroline for ones I can tell you about.. Ben 10.

  11. Mrs. David – Here’s a philosophical question I gave to my students last night (I teach Sociology part time at a local college):

    Let’s say someone offered you $300,000 for you, free and clear. However, for two years you cannot (a) work, (b) volunteer, (c) home school your kids, and (d) your spouse can’t work either. So for a solid 730 you and PAD would have to be together and you couldn’t do anything that even resembles work (even writing; a couple of students said they would write their autobiography…that’s work).

    Would you?

    For the girls: Do you like any of the MMORPGs out like World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Wizards 101, Toontown, etc, etc, etc?

    1. Dashiell-
      I would have to pass because it would mean two years of not making puppets or dolls or costumes either which I can’t do. And Peter not writing or working out something in his head for a story is not happening. Writing to him is like breathing it just is. Puppetry is the same for me.

      1. Thanks for the response. It was the same for a lot of my students- work was so ingrained in their being they couldn’t do it.

        It allowed me, in class to demonstrate:
        (1) the Protestant work ethic, and
        (2) how we tend to collude work with that which we enjoy (which people couldn’t do even 60 years ago, to a great extent)

        Thanks for the response!

        Dash

      1. Okay, Im like thirty(covers mouth) and the Bear Town site looks interesting to me. (Just looked) Is that sad?

    3. Umm.. I don’t really play them that much cause the computer doesn’t like them and I hate when it freezes. A few of my friends have WoW addictions. I do online typing roleplay sometimes and wish I could do more. It’s like writing improv. I also play Dungeons and Dragons sometimes.

      1. Stellar- I did an entirely online D&D game two years ago, and in my regular D&D game, we use Yahoo Messenger to commo with the DM (he’s 3000 miles away from us, so we have to conference call in).

        Nice. Thanks for responding.

    4. Curiosity question: how is work defined in this question? Because what is work to some is pleasure to others. What about hobbies and interests real life has no time for? For example, if PAD actually wrote the Tarzan/Phantom crossover, I can’t consider that work since he’d never be able to even share it, much less sell it. It would be purely for his own enjoyment, so I can’t see how it would be work.

      It’s an interesting thought question you pose, but I’d like more clarity on how work is defined here. 🙂

      1. That’s a good question. Work would be defined as “that which could, even in the abstract, produce a means of fiscal support”, which is why I nixed the use of writing one’s autobiography. See, many of my students said they would write it because they had the time, and even if it had no value on the market, I saw it as “work”. The same as volunteering. If it was said “you couldn’t work but you could volunteer”, people would jump at it.

        I wanted to make a loaded question that made someone choose between a TRUE life of leisure (which we tend to associate with the ‘upper’ class) and a life of working.

      2. Hmm. That definition seems too constrained in my opinion. Even sitting on the couch watching movies nonstop could be a source of income- as a movie critic. Cleaning my house is work. Even brushing my own teeth is work since dental hygienists get paid to do just that. Hair and makeup? People get paid to make people look their best. A flower garden might provide a source of income if one sold the flowers. Eating leads to food critic or cookbook author….

        Is there anything that wouldn’t be classified as work in this context? I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m just really curious. I enjoy exercises like these.

    1. I think it is alot of fun and the direction is totally off the wall and silly. It is very silly…

  13. I am not ignoring questions. I am answering them in the order that Caroline seems to want to answer them. I promise to get her opinion on some of the others later today.

    Also Ariel hasn’t seen any yet but will get her answers out later today as well.

  14. To Kath the Wife
    Since spoilers are out of the question, then what is your fav story that Peter won’t write? Either because he doesn’t like it enough or wasn’t allowed to write or was canceled because continuity forbade it.

    1. I’ll go with the story he wants to write but can’t because of all kinds of copyright issues. He would have liked to write a Tarzan/Phantom crossover.

    2. OK, I know this wasn’t my question but I say Little Mermaid!!! I miss that one. I want more Little Memaid comics!!

  15. To all three ladies, if I may:
    .
    Which country, that you haven’t already visited, would you most like to travel to? (And has PAD expressed any past views on the matter?)
    .
    Thanks for the thread!

    1. Since I have visited a number of them, my choices are a little more limited. I would like to go to Australia and New Zealand at some point. Both Japan and China would be neat.

      Caroline says “Japan or Ireland or England maybe France.”

      1. Correct answer! Australia it is!
        .
        C’mon down to Oz – we’ll look after ya!
        .
        Cheers 🙂

    2. Umm.. I actually just got clearance to go to Ireland for my birthday at the end of this summer (Dingle if anyone is wondering) for a school trip. So that’s one.

      Another is England. And another though I think I should learn the language before I go is Japan. I really want to go to both of those places and am REALLY excited about Ireland.

    1. I pretty much do. Or I have Peter read to me if it is his CBG column or a short essay.

  17. All three ladies: what hobbies/crafts, if any, do you enjoy? Kath, aside from puppetry, what crafts do you pursue? (If they’re related to puppetry, but can be enjoyed in their own right, that counts.) Ariel, what are your hobbies aside from bowling? Caroline, do you like to make stuff with your hands? If not yet, what kinds of crafts would you like to do later on?

    1. Kathleen: I make dolls, ATC (Artist Trading Cards), ATD (Artist Trading Dolls), mask work, and costuming.

      Caroline: I love to draw and play with playdough and clay. I make stuff for my animals with clay and let it dry. I want to sew but not yet. I like to cut out paper dolls too.

    2. I like doing crafts. I know sort of how to crochet but can only make a chain and my knitting is poor if I can remember how.. me and yarn don’t like each other. I can sew and like to embroider sometimes if I find a cool pattern and have time. I am actually currently very much into duct tape though right now its mostly duct tape flowers. I also know how to make bracelets. I LOVE Duct tape.

      My other hobbies are reading which I do alot of, playing with duct tape, going to concerts (mostly local) or listening to music,hanging out with my friends, singing and acting, writing and having fun in photoshop though I don’t have it right now. I also like to bake though mostly mixes.

  18. For everyone: What’s your favorite song to dance to? And (this may be the same answer) what’s your favorite song to dance like crazy to?

    1. Ben 10 (the theme to the first series) and that song that the president played in Aliens vs. Monsters (Axel F. from Beverly Hills Cop)

    3. (How do you JUST tap your feet to Time Warp??)
      I love to dance to music and dance randomly so there is no real favorite. I crazy dance to Boom boom boom by the Venga Boys, Time Warp, and Paradise by the Dashboard light.

  19. Do you have any dream puppet or doll projects you hope to accomplish at some point that you haven’t yet to have the time/resources to do?

    1. There are a couple I would like to do.

      My current dream costume would have to be the Storyteller from the Jim Henson series the Storyteller which would include the Dog.

      I want to make a set of Scary Godmother puppets and I have the permission of the artist to do so.

      And then there is that old Neil Gaiman project that I have the go ahead on that I need to revamp.

      1. All three of those sound AMAZING. “The Storyteller” is quite possibly my favorite Henson project of all time, so this definitely caught my attention!

    1. Hmm hard to say since I have enjoyed so many of them. But I think Tigerheart holds a place very dear to my heart.

    3. I’ll make my Top 10 (in No order)
      1. Ben 10
      2. Tigerheart
      3. Knightlife
      4. Mascot to The rescue
      5. The Spider Man Kelly Kulick
      6. Little Mermaid
      7. Spike Comics
      8. The Super Girl Issue with that kickass girl on the skateboard (I want a copy)
      9. Space Cases
      10. Certain But I Digresses

  21. Here in Atlanta we have the center for puppetry arts. What’s your favorite puppet “museum” and/or center that you have visited?

    1. It would have to be the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. I have had so much fun there. I enjoyed the time that I worked there in the museum and on a couple of shows. I have very fond memories of it.

    2. That place that had the puppet show with the snowman. It was fun.

      (Kath says “That’s the Center for the Puppetry Arts and Ludwig’s Lovesick Snowman’)

      1. I know which one your talking about! I think. My fiancee (now my wife) went to that show (all about the weather) earlier this year. If you went upstairs to make a sun puppet I hope yours turned out better than mine!

    3. I have only been to the one in Atlanta and a very small one near here but Atlanta was awesome.

  22. Kathleen, do you have an e-mail address I can send these two pics I took of PAD with John Barrowman to? 🙂

      1. Okay, with the Barrowman question, I have to ask: Do you get BBCAmerica and, if so, did you watch “Torchwood — Children of Earth” and what did you think of it?

        (And, if you follow it via DVD, don’t worry, it’ll be out next Tuesday.)

        Kim Metzger

      2. Thanks. I’m going to try to send them along now, but the internet service at this hotel is miserably bad.
        .
        Unfortunately, the second photo is a little blurry; I couldn’t tell for sure until the photo was downloaded onto the computer.

      3. Kim-
        We don’t, much to my consternation, get BBC America. Cablevision sometimes just stinks. We have a lot of sports and shopping and we have the BBC News feed but not BBC America.

        We do have Children of Earth and I plan to watch it with Peter when he gets back home.

      4. One thing: DON’T watch it with Caroline. This is MUCH darker than Torchwood has ever been. Near the end, Jack has to do something horrific. And, in the last episode, there are scenes of the British army doing something that has probably caused nightmares in adults. I will say no more.

    2. REAL!!!! Mommy why did you ask me such a silly question? We’re all real here even the cats but not the stuffed animals and the puppets.

    3. I’m actually a stuffed toy with the buttons that make me say different things.. Ok I’m totally joking.

  24. Kath,

    Okay, I figure I’ll ask a couple of questions. Thank you for the opportunity, BTW. 🙂

    1. Have you gotten to see the fourth season of Doctor Who yet and if so what did you think? On a related note, has Peter ever had the chance to write a Doctor Who novel, or is that pretty much exclusively for British writers?

    2. What is the best way to critique something, like a book or a TV show, and do it without hurting the writer’s feelings? (I’m not planning on criticizing something PAD has written, but since he’s a writer and you’re a puppet maker, I figure both of you have had experience with this.)

    1. 1)I have seen the Christmas Special and the Easter Special and I think both were good but I am getting sense of waiting rather than progress. The Doctor seems at loose ends.Both Peter and I wrote short stories for the Big Finish anthology Doctor Who: Qualities of Leadership but not a whole novel.

      2)There is no real easy way to do this honestly. I have learned how to over time but I am rather blunt that if something didn’t work I tend to tell the person but I make sure to add that it didn’t work for me but it might work for someone else. I have had to reject a lot of manuscripts as an editor and I try to find one thing I did like and give at least one constructive criticism so that they know that I read it and I did think about it. In person is harder than on paper for me. I can remember Richard Pini asking me about something about Elfquest and I said that I had found it interesting. To which he said You and I both know what that means and you are just being polite. Since we had been friends for years, I felt comfortable enough to tell him what I had and hadn’t liked.

      1. The Doctor seems at loose ends.
        .
        I think you’re still going to feel that way after The Waters of Mars, the next special.
        .
        But having been at the DW panel yesterday when they showed the first teaser for the two-part finale, the wait may have been worth it. Well, if RTD’s writing for these episodes are anywhere near as good as what he wrote for TW: Children of Earth. 🙂

  25. Questions for all three David women 🙂

    What is your favorite musicals 🙂

    Until later
    John

    2. Wow. Hard one.

      I’d say it is a flip of the coin between Avenue Q, Phantom of the Opera, and Sweeny Todd.

  26. Kath: if *you* had your own column in an existing publication, what publication would it be and what the title of your feature be?

    1. I had to go away and think about this one for a while because it has so many possibilities.

      I can’t say which Magazine but maybe the New Yorker or even Entertainment Weekly and have a column about puppet happenings and the art of puppetry today. Call it No Strings Attached.

  27. Ariel’s comment got me thinking:

    Everyone asks me this. The fact is I don’t know what it’s like not to have a father that is well known. Sometimes its really cool like at conventions and when I freak people out and other times its really weird when guys my age freak out and ask me questions I’d rather not answer and run away. But I love it and wouldn’t have it any other way.

    Then let’s get specific. Whenever you’ve had to provide a parent’s note for something (school absence, field trip permission, or whatever), has your father ever indulged his creative nature?

    J.

    1. Actually, I’ll field that one.
      .
      I haven’t done that in a long time. Years ago, Shana was absent from middle school for a sick day. So I wrote her a note that said, “Please excuse Shana’s absence. She was simply exhausted from a long night of driving around in the Batmobile searching for crimes to stop.”
      .
      We got an angry call from the principal later that day. She’d been convinced that Shana had forged the note.
      .
      No sense of humor.
      .
      PAD

      1. That’s actually a smidgen disappointing.
        .
        No Gamma Ray poisoning?
        .
        No allergic reaction to Retinax 5?
        .
        Not even a Boogie Fever?
        .
        I guess when you’re dealing with a sick child, one’s focus can (and should) stray…
        .
        Cool note, however. I bet that heathen of a principal threw it away.
        .
        J.

      2. That principal must have known Shana to be a very creative child. In my teaching days I would have rejoiced to have a student come up with such a fanciful excuse for missing class. The coolest one I ever heard was from a 12th-grader who wanted to go register to vote, and she was probably telling the truth.

  28. To both girls:

    What has been your favorite cartoon or comic book, among the ones that your dad has NOT worked on?

  29. I’m just croggling at the fact that Ariel is going to college. I was here when Peter was canvassing for name suggestions, something fannish, but wouldn’t get her outright laughed out of school. (I’m betting your middle name doesn’t get used all that often in non-fannish circles…)

    I remember meeting Kal-El Bogdanove when he was like three – he’s like a Junior at college now.

    I can account for maybe a tenth of my time in the years in between, and that’s with no chemical habits or anything.

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