Puppets...and Stuff...

Before I begin, yes, this is the five hundred word start to my paper. And yes, it’s also my updated proposal. I don’t know if they’re supposed to be one in the same, but I can already see the change in direction with my writing. That’s the point, right? But, I digress. I’m not sure exactly where this idea is going or what the finished product is going to even remotely resemble, but I’d like to make a puppet and write about it…and stuff.

Puppets? Yes.

Let me explain. I just had my prescription for Percocet filled because of a slight re-fracturing of my knuckles, settled down on the couch and browsed through the Netflix movie selections while waiting for the painkiller induced euphoria to kick in. A furry little red creature with wide, excited eyes, a bulbous orange nose, and an endless grin plastered on his face caught my eye, directing me to the title above him. Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey was splayed in thin, white and orange lettering across the top of the page, and I looked to the description…

“Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, this documentary follows the career of puppeteer Kevin Clash, the soft-spoken man behind the furry red monster, Elmo.”

I’m sold. I clicked play faster than you can say, “TICKLE ME ELMO!” and spent the next hour and sixteen minutes glued to my computer screen. When I finished, I lay back in bed and thought how interesting it would be to make a muppet. That’s when it hit me.

I’m going to make a muppet, and I’m going to document it. The final piece will be, tentatively, divided into a few sections:

·         The introduction, I guess. I’m not even sure what that means anymore. I suppose I could talk about the history of muppets and Jim Henson and whatnot.

·         The building process. I’ll delve into mechanics, as well as the emotional and creative aspects of the process, using interviews hopefully.

·         The identity of the puppet. This will focus on the puppet itself, who the puppet and what part of me and my personal life and personality the puppet embodies. Interviews will hopefully be used for this as well.

·         Puppet in action! Hopefully, I’ll find some form of audience, hopefully a group of children, and try and brighten their day with ray of happiness in the form of a talking piece of foam and fleece.

·         Conclusion…kinda…sorta… Explicate the experience as my own puppeteer journey, of sorts.

This is clearly nowhere near even being a complete idea, but I think I’m really onto

something. I will use puppet builders, puppeteers, and children for interviews. Secondary sources are also endless. There’s an endless supply of muppet movies, muppet books, muppet documentaries, muppet-building guides, you name it, and it’s there. I know this is going to change, and I’m excited to see where it leads. Time to start building… 

EXTREMELY Abstract Proposal

1.      What is your project?

I currently have two ideas that I can’t decide between, so I’m basically relying on discussion in class to guide me toward one. I either want to highlight one of my Navy SEAL father’s war stories, or delve into the life and work of Norman Keith Collins—the tattoo artist infamously known as Sailor Jerry.

2.      What process will you use for primary research? (Who, where, what, etc.)

For the Navy SEAL combat story, I suppose I’ll just interview my father and a few of his buddies, if they’re still alive. He’ll be in Afghanistan for a few months, so I’m prepared to spend countless hours on the telephone. For Sailor Jerry, I am going to try my hardest to get to people who know him, interview tattoo artists who carry on his work and/or people who have his tattoos, and maybe even do a little primary research on myself in the form of a brand new tattoo…

3.      What directions do you imagine your secondary research going?

Books, movies, maps, stories, whispers, rumors…secondary research is relatively broad. It’s too soon to really tell right now.

4.      Why is this an interesting subject for you?

Naturally, I’m interested in what my father was doing while he was away for an average of nine months of every year. He’s done some incredibly brave and extraordinarily interesting things, and I’d like to really dig in to that. As for the Sailor Jerry idea, I was damn close a few nights ago to getting the hula pin-up girl tattooed on my forearm in my rum-induced drunken stupor, and to be quite honest, the idea hasn’t fully escaped me. I’ve always been tentative about tattoos, as to whether I want to commit to one or not, and maybe this will serve to sway me one way or the other.

5.      What questions do you have about the topic as you enter it? (These are important because they will help shape what you do at the beginning, but they will almost certainly change as you work on your project.)

Why do you do what you do? Why did he do what he did? Why? Why? Why?