Imagination Unlimited~ The Jim Henson Exhibit

The Skirball Cultural Center in LA has been hosting a fun new exhibit this summer centering around the works of Jim Henson! A small fact about me is that I absolutely adore puppeteering/muppets! (I may have a custom muppet in my ownership and created my own a few years ago;;) So, hearing that this exhibit is showcasing near to me, I had to see it in person before it moves somewhere else.

The Jim Henson Exhibit condenses and showcases Jim Henson's Work and process of creation from the start of his career, and though different chapters of his life. On display are diagrams, sketches by Jim Henson and his creative crew, muppets and various props from multiple Jim Henson properties.

To greet those at the entrance is the actual and iconic Kermit the Frog. I was already emotional knowing that I would see these muppets in person, so embarrassingly I did tear up slightly encountering Kermit. There’s something quite precious meeting these creatures that played such a big part in my childhood. Moving on to the next section, Sesame St., was even more amazing!

Encountering the Sesame St. muppets and taking a peek into their creation was wonderful! Seeing how something so simple like ping pong balls and felt could create such memorable-lifelike  childhood friends just awed me. I could almost believe that magic exists and that these puppets could come to life at any moment!

 

The Slimey the Worm set up genuinely surprised me at the sheer size of the sets the little worm used, also at the actual size of the worms~ I asked my puppeteer friend who accompanied me to help show the true scale!

The next section of the exhibit is devoted to The Muppet Show~ It housed some of my favorite muppets like Scooter, Beaker, and Dr. Bunson! Not to be a broken record, but it was absolutely wonderful to meet them in person! Again, I couldn’t believe how simply they were composed but how effectively they sell sentience!

Something absolutely wonderful to see in person was Miss Piggy’s iconic gloves! Also seeing some of Miss Piggy’s props which I wish to own for myself~ Fun Fact; Frank Oz, the voice of Miss Piggy is also the voice of Sam Eagle, Animal, Cookie Monster, and Fozzy Bear.

The final section of the Exhibit covers other properties created by The Jim Henson Company. Titles with creatures and props featured are; Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and The Muppets 3D.

The Dark crystal had a larger presence of puppets and props displayed, the fabrication of the creatures For the film were very different and amazingly detailed in comparison to Henson’s previous creatures and definitely was wonderful eye candy! There were so many different textures and little intricate features that add to the additional visual depth of each character!

The Skeksis was one of my favorite pieces on display! Even though the Dark Crystal wasn’t one of my favorite films, I have to say that the Skeksis has to be one of the most beautifully crafted creatures!

Sadly, the photos of my favorite film Labyrinth, were corrupted. From Labyrinth, the costumes and mock up of the sets were on display. Seeing how the sets were created and the beautiful layers of the costumes fueled added adoration for this film. It is a bit disheartening to not be able to share more of the Labyrinth displays, but I was lucky enough to salvage the main piece, Sarah’s masquerade ball gown!

Though, the exhibition was a bit small, it was definitely worth visiting! The exhibit seems to be touring worldwide so there is definitely opportunities for those interested to experience it in person!

<3CarisseIris

Reset & Refresh~ Prepping for a new semester!

So, I’m no expert in school prepping or being well organized. Probably, far from it. Three semesters in, I do feel slightly better prepared in what works for me! So, I would like to share how I jump into a new semester, resetting myself so that I come at any new chapter in my life feeling like I am prepared for a good time and in a way that reduces my stress and distractions.

I like to set aside some time if possible, minimum 2 days, to knock off any tasks that I’ve put aside (probably due to procrastination) and to prepare everything for what lies ahead.

I’ll make a list of what then needs to be done: 

The first tasks I like to tackle are the most daunting ones on my list. For me, those were cleaning out my old room, getting rid of the old furniture, and organizing my junk trunk.

Following those tasks, I then focus on cleaning everything! I love that step because cleaning helps calm me down and releases my stress. I deep clean everything and everything! Then I move on to doing all my laundry and making my drawers neat and tidy. (If I notice clothing or items I have had no use for or that don’t bring me any joy then I can also use this time to compile items for donation.)

I feel it’s especially important to have nice clean bedsheets, as it just feels so great waking up in a clean bed on the start of a new journey!

The feeling of having everything in its place and nothing to worry about really helps to feel like I have nothing holding me back, and clears my head so I can focus on what is most important, in my life that would be school.

On a more specific note, since I use my iPad for my schooling, I accumulate many files and use up a lot of my storage. I like to go though all my digital files and emails to clean out any clutter sitting in there! It may be a bit underrated but my future self always is thankful for this step when I don’t need to stress about running out of storage space!

Then, before classes start, the day before, I like to charge all my devices that require charging and replace any batteries that I fear might be running low on power. It helps to relinquish any anxiety that may sit within me that I could be left unprepared for any situation that might pop up in the following days.

During the time I reset, I like to build an outline for the routine I want to have, or strengthen/improve my current daily routine. So, during the few days prior I like to try waking up and sleeping at the times I want to have ingrained in my schedule. It takes a couple weeks for a habit to fully solidify so I like visualizing and concentrating as much as I can on the routine to try retaining as much of it as possible down the road. 

In regards to my routine, I’ve been consistently waking up at 5 am, making my bed and exercising well before 8 am, so I feel like I hav e a good head start on the routine I want to have come the start of my semester. So, It will be a test on my consistency and trusting the plans I laid out for myself.

Knowing that I have everything planned out, eases any apprehension or excuses that I may create for myself and refocuses my energy to be spent on what I deem as important!

I don’t think I get any extreme anxiety, but I know I am a ‘type A’ personality~ so if things don’t go perfectly I tend to get overly self deprecating. Planning things out and making sure that I create the best chance for myself to work to my full potential helps me wake up on the morning school starts feeling great and hopefulness that the coming months will work out just fine!

If anyone reading this post needs help with a jump start or might need any aid in releasing a bit of apprehension when starting something new, maybe this exercise might be just the thing to help guide the way! 

Please feel free to use the above outlines I created for your own use! 

School starts for me in a few days. I completed my reset a bit early, but I can still fine tune my routine!

I’m going to try up keeping my blogposts during this semester! So, there might be some more growing pains, but hopefully I can pursue this and grow a bit more as this year progresses!

<3CarisseIris