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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

holoblomo day 23: dum de dum dum dum


note: “holoblomo” stands for Horribly Local Blogging Month, my response to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) that happens every November. The NaNoWriMo challenge asks writers to compose 50,000 words in a month; I chose 10,000 as my goal. Enjoy.


So here we are.
Tomorrow morning, I will be on the Sesame Street float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the 13th time. I am currently slated to be performing (via lip-synch, of course) Cookie Monster for the third year in a row, unless something changes between now and then. 
And if things do not change (though again, they might), this makes me the luckiest girl. When it comes to the parade, Cookie is the one you want to puppeteer. 

Puppeteering on the float is many, many things. It is fun, exciting, exhausting, exhilarating, cold, awkward, and often a little painful, all at the same time. We’re not in the ideal body positions, and there are a lot of people crammed into a very small space, not to mention the fact that we are bundled up in our winter woolens. So which puppet you are assigned can make the difference between discomfort and joy. 
I love all of the characters. I love all of the puppets. But Zoe, with her skinny neck and body, does not fit over a jacket sleeve. Neither does Grover. In these cases, you wind up wearing half your coat. Bert and Ernie fit over sleeves, but have other problems... Ernie is very wide and has trouble sharing a float window (as does the Count), and Bert’s torso is too long for my forearm if my elbow is bent, which it sometimes has to be since the windows are low.
Ah, but Cookie. Cookie fits over my jacket. Cookie is flexible, and not too heavy. Cookie can hold his head in his hand, drumming the side of his head with his long, furry fingers, as if bored (dum de dum dum dum), giving me a little rest... since my right hand is in his head and my left hand is in his hand.
Plus, Cookie is just plain fun. I am forever blown away by his design, and just how much character shines from this simple lump of fur with the big mouth and two googly eyes. The crowd loves him. He can wave, he can play peek-a-boo, he can blow kisses and salute... or continue to sit there bored (dum de dum dum dum). Little kids and their parents alike are thrilled by him. I am too. 
So if you watch the parade tomorrow, and Cookie looks less than enthused (dum de dum dum dum), know that it’s not because he’s not having any fun. It just means my arm needs a little rest. 
That is, unless they put me on Ernie at the last minute. Ernie’s never bored... which means I could be very sore on Friday.
And that’s 10,282 words. Half of the HoLoBloMo challenge has been met. Whoo-hoo!
Yes indeed. Welcome to me. 

2 comments:

  1. Well, congratulations on meeting your half challenge. And have fun at Macy's Thanksgiving Parade!

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  2. I know I'm almost 4 months late with this comment, but I wanted to tell you that the year I moved to New York and attended the Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time, I cried at the sight of the Sesame Street float. Despite years of watching the parade on the television growing up, I was not expecting the float. I cried, jumped, and squealed like a child, as did my roommate. That was my childhood rolling by waving at me... Although I've lived here several years now, it's still one of the floats I take pictures of when I choose to attend.

    (And, yes, it's once again the middle of the night and though I should be asleep, I've found my way back to your blog. Hey, at least I'm not supposed to be studying track notes this time...)

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