Puppets

Okay, I'm already getting addicted to blogging.  Since the title of the blog is Culture Nerd, I figure I should include some more artsy stuff in addition to my recipes.  Today I will be helping to make giant puppets for a program at the city zoo.  If you had asked me a year ago, I probably would never have guessed I would be making puppets, but it is actually really fun.  I volunteer for a small arts organization in town, and they have a puppet festival every year.  Through this, I met some puppet people who make giant paper mache  puppets -- the puppeteer wears the puppet sort of like a backpack, with a big pole sticking up out of the back to hold the head up above his/her head.  Fabric hangs down from the paper mache head to hide the puppeteer from view, and make the body -- the puppeteer has sticks on the inside to control the puppet's arms.  I am looking forward to making more puppets today because it is so fun to be creative with other people, and it is an excuse to play with paper mache, which honestly I probably hadn't thought about since the 3rd grade.