Time!

2012, when I made this, was a Big Year

There's really nothing left to do to get ready for the Jell-O Art Show but get dressed in one of my several costumes and get in the car. I go early to help get things set up...last year I swept the gallery floor. Even as a Queen I am always about pitching in. I thank Mom for that, for giving me three sisters and a brother so there was always lots of work to do, and people to harmonize with while we did it. I know Saturday was always cleaning day as in so many traditional familes, but that is a tradition I dropped like a hot potato. I don't even always do it on Sunday, since I try to have a day off after Saturday Markets and certainly will need one after the Jell-O Art Show. I suppose I should have trained my kid better though. I hope he does housework.

I dreamt last night I had a pet baby tiger with a broken tooth that I had neglected to get fixed. I was feeling awfully guilty for having such a big pet and then not being a responsible pet owner, and my son was standing there judging me (not something he really does much). That was coming from his wife, (who also does not judge, though she is a pet rescuer,) but anyway, I knew full well the time had come to sell the tiger despite how much it purred when I petted it. I was (and always am) much harsher on myself than any judge could be. This dream probably came from a little pep talk I gave a new Radar Angel in the parking lot last night after our dress rehearsal.

She just joined us, bringing lots of skills at stage management, choreography, and a general enthusiasm that is priceless, not that any of us lack that. She was so upset she had come late to practice and felt unprepared. We sometimes forget to explain our habits, so well-worn after so many years of this, but we always have our last rehearsal the night before. I was the only one who brought snacks last night, mostly because Indi is gone for the weekend and won't be doing the show. It's a real tragedy for our continuity and I know both she and I and several others will be feeling actual heartbreak tonight, but the show goes on and there will be a next year. So there's that, and these new people who haven't ever made Jell-O Art and have not even been to a Jell-O Show before. Fortunately most of us are more-or-less seasoned at most of our roles, but we forget to say some of the things. Indi never forgets.

I'm still new at a few things, being the Queen for one. It's only year three for me to be her and be in the show and give a benediction and multitask like mad, though I have brought Jell-O for all twenty-seven and made t-shirts for it since 1994. I took my carful of props over and today in a bit I will take my carful of Jell-O and ruffles and do what needs to be done. I can't do what Indi does but some of it comes fairly naturally. I can talk about Jell-O Art without a thought. I could tell our new young Angel that although we work hard to make the show clever and polished and remember most of our lines more-or-less accurately, it's Jell-O.

The whole point of choosing Jell-O, in my opinion, is that it is beautiful, ubiquitous, and accessible. Everybody can find the Jell-O aisle and buy it, make it, love it or hate it, and make it into art. Everybody. It takes no special talent at all, or even skills. You just open the box and mix it with water. All the rest comes from within, and it is limitless and laughable. There is no good or bad Jell-O Art! There is not evaluation on your piece or your participation or your singing or your dancing or even your ability to show up on time.

We are the most forgiving and supportive kind of organization ever. Okay, not always, as we are humans and we complain and say nasty things from time to time when we are not thinking as clear as Jell-O. Life gets murky like what happens when you mix chocolate milk into the green gelatin thinking it will look prettier. But when you get up on the stage with the Radar Angels, particularly at the Jell-O Show, all you feel is love. Everybody in the room is looking to you for a laugh, a tear, an entry into a private joke, a chance to sing along, or just a tenuous smile within their particular grief. It is so very simple to express yourself through Jell-O.

They surprised me with a Title

This is what I always say and what I will say in my off-the-cuff speech I decided not to prepare much for. The Jell-O Art Show is in the moment, the moment you bring to it. When you bring your joy, it adds to all the other joys of Jell-O and there we are in the happiest mix. I think that is why it only goes for three hours. No one wants to watch it all melt and get moldy and be like a repeat of some bad TV and not be the peak experience it is. Everyone wants a brief respite from all care, a celebration of spring, a romp in the new grass and a bite of beauty and delight. Even the chocolate-covered Brussels Sprouts taste good.

If all the Jell-O jokes have been told, so what? It's Jell-O. If someone falls down on stage and misses their cue, so what? It's Jell-O. I told her to laugh and keep going, whatever happens. I told her although it matters so very much, it also does not matter at all. It really doesn't. All the Jell-O is never all the Jell-O. There is always something that will amaze even me, veteran of all the Jell-O Art Shows and taster of all the Tacky Foods. I always have a huge grin the whole time, and if I don't, it's just because I took off my glasses and forgot I can't see very well without them. If I don't recognize you, just come over and fake-insult me and I will pretend to cry. I tend to get pretty over-excited and up in the air about three feet above the crowd, but do know that I return all the love over the next few days and you can always come and collect if you didn't get enough.

It's Jell-O Day. It's way better than my birthday. Maybe it is my birthday. I think I am turning one. It's too much trouble to make a cake, let's just make some Jell-O. Then, let's put it up on a pedestal and take it really, really seriously. After that, let's throw it out in the yard for the slugs. Want to?