The Jell-O Art Show Show, not as it appeared.

Such a beautiful sunny day yesterday, keeping so many of my people in their gardens and back yards, or biking with their families, allowing them only brief moments inside, which may or may not have included dropping by MKAC for the few short moments that I have focused the last two or three months of my life upon. The gallery was filled, but maybe in my quest to keep the secrets of the My-i-electronic stew of the show covered tightly, I forgot to make sure you knew that this was something not to be missed. Even the little bit of repartee with Slug Queen Sadie was priceless and not graceless as I had feared. She's so wildly talented. 

I will try to deliver a pale substitute elixir, but those twenty minutes are here and gone now, as ephemeral as the wobbly items that graced the pedestals. So, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome something sublime:

iJell-O Script version #165b:

Here we are after 25 years of the Jell-O show, checking in with the Radar Angels as they make their Jell-O Art.         Let us go to their “site” and see what is streaming...

Picture that iconic album cover, loosely interpreted with a bit more fluff and glitter, including people with Jell-O on their heads, and shiny gold lame. (We missed you, Gil.)

We're Radar Angels one & only Lonely Facebook Band  

Stand back & let the evening jell...Bumpbumpbumpahdumppahdump

 Yes, the whole songs, with a band, maybe not quite the original lyrics, possibly a few more kazoos than the Beatles recorded. You might know how this goes from previous shows. The sight gags here involved oversize thumbs, from texting all our friends, you dig?

I’m going berserk, ( I ) just can’t communicate this way 

I’m going berserk, texting what it takes just a minute to say

Musical transitions occur between the five songs, leading you gently through our narrative. Comedy skits, written by the participants, attempt to connect you with what is coming next, not that you will feel prepared for these types of surprises. Soon you see three hot *girls* letting you know that

Friday night is Facebook time!

Rumbeando, escalada, try to keep up here as it goes viral. Likety like it!

Oh look, I’m a hottie-oh a lookie oh a lookie at me! Lookie at me!

Then prepare yourself for the ordinary disappointment which suffuses the virtual world. Unfriended by your second cousin in Louisiana. Not invited to the dang event! Sitting in your kitchen on Grinning Singles not finding anyone in your age group who looks the least bit appealing and is also not pretending not to be married. You have been there, and this you know because the entire audience responds with the most empathetic groans and moans to our heroes.

Will you “LIKE” me? (Thumbs up, then down.)

Will you be my “FRIEND”? (Thumbs up, then down) Would you like to have a loving “CHAT” with me? (You guessed it, no way.)
Must have been those velour pants, with the expectant junk (actually we didn’t even consider that sight gag, too obvious, not family friendly. We like a modicum of decorum. We used a tiny violin.) Anyhow, he can’t get a Real Connection.
They tried and they tried. You know this song and dance:

When I’m browsin’ on my phone

You know I’m feeling like I’m so alone

But I keep surfin’ more and more

I’m losin’ my imagination

Need some physical sensation

I can't get no, oh no no no.

Hey hey hey, that's what I say

Well, as you might imagine, we did have a compassionate and nonviolent response for him, poor fellow. Him and the hot girls, who also posted the mostest but still couldn’t get anything real. We responded the best way we could imagine, by feeling. Feeling gooey.

Hello humans,
Where ya goin?
Time to watch your flowers growing.
Time to touch, to dance, to be
Doot-in' doo-doo,
Feelin' gooey.
No me mails to read,
No you-tubes to view,
I am the real me and you are the real you
We are sharing our lovely gelatinous goo 

We love Jell-O

All is gooey. 

And then, as everyone begins to make Jell-O art in their aprons and wings, and the website for the Jell-O Connection loads, and we forget to use all the many carefully constructed and brilliantly designed props like a spinning hourglass, made by someone who had no clue how many things you can’t do in a 20-minute show, (*taking a curtsey here for the meticulous and clever set design and execution, however misguided and borderline obsessive*), and fog and bubble machines do get turned on, as far as I know, and:

Crickets and frogs begin to fill the swampy site with sounds. A fat frog who looks very little like Kermit steps up to the mic and appears to eat it, surrounded by fairies and elves. He/she warbled and croaked out this little ditty:

Why are there so many questions about art?

What’s on the artists’ minds?

Artists have visions, sometimes delusions

Art leaves you nothing to hide

Here on our website, we’re going to show you  (and here, not to be obtrusive, I must tell you that the fat frog stripped off his/her painfully and (borderline, whatever) cleverly constructed concealment to reveal, yes, you guessed it, The Queen of Jell-O Art herself! In costume! And let me tell you I had about six layers of costumes on...that was interesting.)

The Secrets of all Jell-O goo:

Today you can find it, the Jell-O Connection The artists, the Angels, and you. (She sang this, on the mic, in front of thousands, or dozens anyway, of our area’s finest art patrons and lovers of all things Jell-O. I know you sent your representatives to see this personal transformation, since after fifty or so years of saying this was something unimaginable, I became one of the *performing* Angels. But I’m interrupting her song)
We say that every wish can be made in Jell-O if you have the right recipe 
Here on our website, we have the apps you need, 
and we give our secrets FOR FREE!
It’s so amazing, the joy you’ll be raising, 
See what it has done for me! (Songwriters can get away with a little self-indulgence, if they are still in their first innocent year of queendom, so I put this line in, and took it out, and put it back in, with appropriate gestures. Apparently it worked.)

Today you can find it, the Jell-O Connection,

the Jiggle, the Angels, and You. (Repeat three times and hit those high notes, though not those ones in the soprano range that you wished you could hit like you did in the bathtub. Maybe next time.)

Big finish, as everyone steps in from wherever they were (your narrator had some peripheral vision problems, you might say, as she pretty much saw no one else, in her incredulity that she managed to finish her song with no tears or all those other unrealized fears, mostly by not looking at any of her loving fans in the audience or anyone else in the real world…)

We’re Radar Angels Lonely Facebook Band,

We hope you have enjoyed the show, etc. (Royal wave, the wrist action, etc. Remember to bow to the band, and yes, you do have to leave the beloved stage, new diva.)

Wild applause, a few tears, euphoria, many levels of gratitude all around. Take some pictures, pack up all of that Jell-O and those new artifacts for the Jell-O Art Museum, and go have a cast party. It's over. Sent into the Jellozone, never to be repeated, but legendary, and nowadays probably available online in a few weeks. You get 15 minutes plus, thanks to youTube, which only has 5 billion users or so. But that isn't all that interesting. Go check your Facebook.
 

We did more singing. We expressed our thanks and looked at our unbelievably cute pictures on a big screen. We went home and tried to sleep, and I can report that I cannot remember the last time I lay in bed, surprised to find a smile still on my face long past midnight. I’m still smiling, though I doubt I will be able to do a single productive thing today (Wait, what? This isn’t productive?)

You just have no idea how may blogs full of insights and powerful, life-changing realizations I could put here if any of us had the attention span necessary. I love being almost 63, and being able to say that I did something I never knew I would love so much as this, and feared so long as this.

Working in a group of highly creative, giving, brilliant individuals making something from thin air, germinating ideas, embellishing, discarding, being diplomatically critical, being dependable or not, committed in varying degrees, terrified, reluctant, exhilarated, satisfied, perfectionistic and realistic, and getting together repeatedly to focus on something so ephemeral, this is an amazing, and probably fairly common occurrence. Stepping out of the safe background into the maelstrom of risk, taking part, participating in something outside your own little world of safety, this is an everyday action.

Board and committee meetings are something like this, minus the singing and dancing maybe. School projects. Opening days of Saturday Markets. Every busker knows what I just learned. Laugh if you will at old people who state the obvious. Every learner is a curious, semi-aware newborn puppy at some point in their process.

Performers do this, playwrights, chefs, teachers, activists, students, parents, Jell-O artists, lots of people do this. I am happy to say that nothing in my life so far felt like a Radar Angels production, so fully engaging all of my talents and gifts and passions, filling my days and thoughts, leaving me so ecstatic. And yet, it is something so very unsubstantial, so unremarkable, so ordinary and insignificant to the larger worlds that go out from me in this kitchen with this old and clunky laptop. I get that. Do not feel guilty for missing my stage debut. Watch the video someday.

I am here to tell you that you already know the secrets of all Jell-O goo. You feel something, a fear perhaps. You are drawn to it, and repelled. You are terrified and intrigued. You are compelled, however long it takes, to move into it, and through it. You saw those Radar Angel-type people in your neighborhood, you wanted to join them, but you were not asked, or coddled, or that properly nurturing person in the interface did not see that you needed nurturing. I’m sorry. Do keep trying.

Fears are there to be conquered, though it matters not a bit to the larger world if you do so, except maybe on the grand scale of collective consciousness it does matter, a lot. Who knows?

Jell-O Art Show is over for this year. Next year is a very long time away, and a 26^th anniversary is not too significant. Fifty, now you’re talking, but that would make me 88, and that is a challenge I don’t have much control over. But I urge you to save the date. That one will be huge.

Thank you all, my fellow Angels, the ones who skipped this year as well, because you are still in it. You are here with me, humans, from frog to queen as if it were as easy as stripping off a converted Ducks graduation gown and a decorated baseball hat or two.

You’re all Queens, and Kings, fairies, whatever you want to be, because the secrets of all Jell-O goo are that there are no rules, no winners and losers, no criticism, no rejections, no judgments, no negativity or violence at all. That is the world we are making.

That is the world we are living in. That is the world we have chosen. We are so happy to share it.This world is collaborative. And gentle.

Time to stop trying to rewrite and describe something not describable, and uneditable.  I have to go cry it out now, and then scrape the Jell-O off my kitchen floor. There are a few things to do before next Saturday, my next public appearance. I hope if find it every bit as heart and soul-warming as I expect to. Maybe see you at that one. Love you.

Mwuah!

All at once!

So, so, way too busy. Jell-O Art Show in less than two weeks, then just a week to prepare for Opening Day of Saturday Market, with all of the attendant details that come with the family reunion that launching a community event will be. We have a huge family, because it includes every person who happens by as well as those who intend to be there. 

It is not easy to focus on any one thing, and I keep getting distracted with the upcoming future events of OCF, and of course, now, the wedding. I have been delegated to make some Jell-O Art for the bride and groom and of course I have an elaborate plan that I cannot begin. 

I also have a big and growing pile of work, the kind I make money from, which is a delightful change, although I don't quite know how I will fit it in. I am hilariously devoted to my highest priority, the Jell-O Art Show, and that is just the fact of my life. All else pales.

And anyway, I can't do much about most of the other things, and my living room is full of Jell-O, posterboard and markers, so I might as well keep doing it until it is finished. I don't want to drop too many things off the list, especially my own exhibit. So maybe sleeping and eating drop off the list...reading already has.

But I thought I would say hello. Market people, just keep working, and hope for good weather, but we will all be there whatever the weather for the first selling day in months. Try not to worry about things that aren't really in front of you. Whatever happens with the city and the county and the farmers and the developers and all of that, we will still do what we have done for over forty years (!) and show up with our handmade wares and our smiles. Those things will settle out around us and we will still be smiling, I am sure.

Country Fair seems like a big deal and it is...but again, it will roll on like it has for years and despite changes, will be dependably ours. Some things don't change as much as others. We love our *unique retro-hippie atmosphere* and will preserve it because it is us...I doubt I could really project much else at this point.

Except maybe *unique retro-hippie Jell-O Artist mother-of-the-groom* complexity. I'll still look the same, maybe more worried and more smiley. Dancing all the way....

Weddings and Lists

My son is getting married! I'm getting pretty excited about it, and had a laugh on myself yesterday when I noticed the visual representation of my response. We haven't even met to discuss their plans, and preferences, and ideas, and dreams, and what they actually want, but that didn't stop me from doing what is pictured here.

My dependable organized self started a list, with a calendar, and every little detail I could think of, in sort of priority order. With a big space at the bottom labeled "My role." None of these are filled in, because I am telling myself very strongly to keep quiet until asked! This is not about me! They get to design and choose the wedding they want.

My equally dependable creative self just drew out a monogram for them, practically without trying. Their first initials fit together unusually well. The two of them fit together unusually well, too. I think they will have a very successful and happy marriage.

And I'm sure their wedding will be perfect for them, and I will be able to juggle this desire to keep everything in neat lines and columns. I recognize this pattern of control, this desire to make sure everything in my life is neatly ordered and archived.

In all of my organizations, I quickly volunteer to chronicle their meetings, to take notes and compile them, to keep everything on paper and filed in an organized fashion. It's something that feels good to me. I presently take minutes for four groups, and have taken on that role in the Jell-O Art Show as well. It's not just that it feels good, it is that I have this skill set and am happy to offer it to those with whom I am trying to create something. All of them also feed my need to be visually creative, making things for them to sell, things for them to save, things for them to marvel over. I need to see things on paper, in the real world. I love words and letters and love translating ideas and events into clear language. I want to pin down all the details.

It's such a strong life pattern that I usually don't even notice it. It's just what I do. I don't resist it.

In the case of my son's wedding, however, I feel like I have done my work for now, and can now wait for them to express themselves in their fashion. I'm resisting as hard as I can all the emotional stuff surrounding weddings that I am sure it is my duty to impart and maintain. The traditions. The rituals. The trappings of convention and the thwarting of that.

I myself have never gotten married. I was in one 10-year-plus relationship, the one that generated this young man, but we didn't formalize that commitment with a public declaration. There was never a good reason in our minds, and looking back, I see that we didn't have the emotional commitment, though we are friends and all that. The situation was really more about me having a child, which of course I am extremely grateful that we did. We were good partners, but it never felt like we were really building a life together forever.

My son has been here to surprise and delight for 23 years, and this is just another delight. I don't really care about any of the details on that list. I just want them to mark the special day, to celebrate their special type of courage and dedication, and to have the wedding that makes them happy. Whatever I can do to make that happen, as easily as possible, I am here to do.

So I have a list. I expect other people have lists, or items to put on a list at least.I hope they do.

 They want to have their wedding at the Fair, which is a sweet tradition and perfect for them. They met through Culture Jam, an OCF program, and it is certainly part of their beings. John has been home at the Fair all of his life. It represents some of our happiest family times, and we feel very attached there.

Of course I am kind of busy at Fair, selling my wares, but I think I can fit this in. Because it is not my party, and I don't have to be responsible for all or even any of the things on this list (though no doubt I will be, for some.) And really it won't take that long, if we are organized and ready. I hope I will be free enough of work for that stretch of time that I can fully experience it, and concentrate on the joy, the beauty and promise of it, and pack a lot into that momentous occasion.

I'm mostly afraid it will be over too fast, and I'll miss it. I'll put my customers first and my drive to make money and keep that giant aspect of my life under control, and I'll fail to really live inside this happening. It's my only son's wedding. It's a big deal to me, on many levels. First thing I did was call my own Mom, and her advice was good.

But for now, it's just my job to think and feel and do what I need to do to prepare, so here we are. I write and draw and write about that. Since it isn't about me, I want to get all of my stuff out of the way, so I can concentrate on listening to them and hearing what they are willing to tell me. I have to strike some level of being maternal that will fit what they want and what they need. I get to provide something, but I don't yet know just what it will be.

But I do like something to look forward to. Weddings are the fun stuff. You get weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, and funerals. We're having way too many funerals these days. It's no wonder I am so excited about this wedding. To Life!