annierhodeisland

Godzilla and More!

Posted on January 10, 2016 by annierhodeisland

Last night Moonie and I headed to the AS220 Project Space to view “Toy Portraits” by Sandy MacDonald Studio, which is on display now through January 30th. He was so excited to see paintings of some of his toy friends!

It was so crowded, packed to the gills with art lovers and well-wishers, that we first ducked into the non-Sandy half of the project space to view works by talented artist Antoine Revoy. His whimsical illustrations featured interesting and colorful character concepts. Moonie really liked “Meteorites (Noah’s Ark)” – although he was a little concerned that the polar bears’ tummies looked suspiciously full.

But then we found a break in the crowd and headed in to see Sandy’s paintings in their own special little room. Oh boy!

PIN-WHEE-L

Posted on January 9, 2016 by annierhodeisland

My nude little dude loves color and movement and flowers. So colorful, moving flower-shaped pinwheels are sure to draw excited squeals as he runs over to hug them.

Unfortunately, he sometimes get a little too carried away with his hugging while the pinwheels are moving. During such times, I’ll generally hear a strange noise followed by Moonie very calmly stating, “Uh oh.”

Then I’ll tend to look over and see this:
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Marshall Stacks

Posted on January 4, 2016 by annierhodeisland

Last October, Chris Daltry of The ‘Mericans was looking for help from creative friends for a project. When I showed up to aid Chris and his artist wife Jennifer I also met two new people, J.J. and Renee, who’ve since become important to Moonie. It’s always nice to meet people through music or art, and in this case it was a combination of both!

The ‘Mericans were creating a set of Marshall stacks to decorate the walls of The Parlour, an excellent Providence venue that attracts fantastic local and regional talent, for an upcoming show where The ‘Mericans planned to pose as Spinal Tap. It turned out to be one of the funnest and funniest nights I’ve ever had, and you can catch a lot of their Spinal Tap set on YouTube.

But even better, the Marshall stacks that the Daltrys and Renee and J.J. and I helped make served not only as a backdrop that night (mostly thanks to Jennifer’s realistic touches – she is a talented RISD grad!), but for more than 14 months and counting. I get a little thrill every time I see photos of rock, folk, rap, reggae, comedy, and all kinds of other acts that have performed in front of our Marshall stacks over the past year-plus. The Parlour is in no rush to take the stacks down, and during dozens, maybe scores, of shows since 2014 I’ve overheard all kinds of people saying how great they look there.

Fast forward a year to November, when Renee called me and J.J. back together to make a new set of Marshall stacks, this time for The Wilbury Theatre Group‘s production of “Passing Strange.” I looked down and pint-sized Moonie was holding his paintbrush, grinning and raring to go.

So off we went to Renee’s.
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Masquerade Ball

Posted on December 31, 2015 by annierhodeisland

Although New Year’s Eve is a terrific occasion for masquerade balls, Moonie was ahead of the curve; he and I attended one last month for Sojourner House, a wonderful organization that provides all kinds of support service to victims of domestic assault and their families. Moonie couldn’t wait to get us tickets knowing they’d go toward such a good cause! He also stayed in his little Moonie workshop all day to make us matching masquerade ball masks.

In no time, my tiny handsome date and I were ready to rock!

As soon as we walked into the ball, Moonie was photobombing the decked-out guests, loving the wonderful atmosphere.

Snow PaTROLL

Posted on December 30, 2015 by annierhodeisland

Yesterday, Moonie got to wake up to the magic of snow.

Tickled pink – or at least pinker than usual – he jumped in, ready to make snow angels.

Unfortunately, they all came out as circles, not angels.

Must be all those cookies he eats.

Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!

Posted on December 25, 2015 by annierhodeisland

It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas!

Boy, has Moonie been looking forward to this day.

REALLY forward to this day.

Back Bay Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2015 by annierhodeisland

Between work meetings and book club and seeing friends and other stuff, Moonie and I have been visiting Back Bay a LOT these past few weeks.

And he’s loved every moment.

Family Bath Time

Posted on December 24, 2015 by annierhodeisland

I wanted to be at a fun bluegrass show last night but was under the weather. I decided a nice quiet bubble bath might help make me feel better and filled the tub, only to hear a little knock on the door.

“Moonie, I’m going to be busy for a while. Go tell the kitty some jokes, OK?”
(muffled little voice in response)
“Moonie, buddy, I can’t hear you through the door.”

In the blink of an eye, he’d opened the door and come in. I can never understand how someone three inches tall can reach doorknobs that are 30 inches tall, but I guess that’s part of the magic of being a troll.

“I said, can I take a bath with you?”
I looked up and there he stood and OH MY GOODNESS.

People. Friends.

He was holding his own little Moonie-sized rubber ducky.

Where do they even MAKE Moonie-sized rubber duckies?
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Mr. Owl

Posted on December 24, 2015 by annierhodeisland

Moonie made another new friend in our local toy store window: Mr. Owl. The two of them had a ball swapping jokes the other night.

Moonie: “Knock knock!”
Mr. Owl: “Whooooo’s there?”
Moonie: “Baby owl!”
Mr. Owl: “Baby owl whoooo?”
Moonie: “Baby, owl see you later!”

Mr. Owl: “What do you call an owl with a deep voice?”
Moonie: “What?”
Mr. Owl: “A growl!”

Moonie: “What do you call an owl with a carrot in each ear?”
Mr. Owl: “What?”
Moonie: “Anything you want! He can’t hear you!”
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Tuesday Open Mic

Posted on December 24, 2015 by annierhodeisland

Every Tuesday, Rhode Island musician Joanne Lurgio hosts an open mic at Pub on Park in Cranston. Moonie and I checked it out last week, when Moonie’s pal Marc Douglas Berardo was slated as the feature act.

It didn’t take long for Moonie to ask MDB to make him a cape out of a napkin (he likes when people fashion him clothing out of found objects). He giggled delightedly as MDB gently blew air, making his long cape flap.