It’s been a long time! Join me as I discuss what I’ve been up to and what we have in store next for Lounging with LannaLee! I maintain my veneer of positivity, shout out to Kitty Critic, and lead off with a freudian slip. Have a new day job and new apartment, but the Lounge, it’s eternal.

In case you were wondering: here is the first episode of Kitty Critic, featuring Lounging with LannaLee Alum, Samuel James:

In Lieu of a proper lounge, I chat with myself about wanting to do all the things, Wicked Twisted, Twisting balloons, having a bad clown day, Orange is the New Black and Outlander, and being stubborn.

[Recorded 6/11/2014]

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Idamae Lounged with LannaLee and got a couch!

I Lounged with Idamae last May in LLL063 Idamae Peacock/ida mishaan: Love and Loss and Life and Death.

Ida and I catch up a year later to talk about the artistic process, ecstatic painting, tattooing, graffiti-based art, religious kitsch, and Maya Angelou. We riff about swearing, character assignation, and being cool. Ida gushes about working with metal and a magical vibrator. Ida talks about courage, love and how she is using art to get her heart back. And she answers 10 questions.

middle aged and unashamed of her youthful forays into unlistenable music, unfathomable make up, and ridiculously high hair. now a twenty year veteran of tattooing in all it’s majesty and ridiculousness. dalliances that involve exotic spices, rubbing diverse meats, and laughing until her sides hurt, are what fills her soul. advocate for the earnest and hopeful, champion of the willing. now armed with magnum sized sharpie, glitter, and silver tongue…

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Flip Lounged with LannaLee and got a couch!

Recorded in the aftermath of Huzzah! the Historical Wargaming Convention for New England, Flip brings the Bance! We talk about board games, clowning, balloon twisting and how to make the world a better place. Flip dishes that he met his wife Deb while playing Magic The Gathering. We chat about Flip The Table, playing HeartThrob, VHS tape games, and what BANCE really means. We commiserate about getting pulled over in our clown costumes, and reminisce about wearing our costumes in public. Flip talks about working as the Easter Bunny and tells me why he takes funny business seriously. And he answers 10 questions.

Since his application to Starfleet as the first Jedi/Robot Lion pilot was denied at the age of 12, Flip Florey went on to greater things. Such as balloon twisting, clowning, boardgame evangelist, podcaster and student. Long time friend of the one and only Lanna Lee and fellow enthusiastic cat lover, Flip Florey is one bad bald dude that can’t dance and dreams about hunting down a copy of Vanilla Ice’s Electronic Rap and Rhyme board game one of these days.

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Julie and I chat about unschooling, living vicariously through Facebook, and living a life of happiness. We talk about living in Maine, and rural life. Julie tells how her art projects Chicks in Hats and The Adventures of Claudia started, and she dishes about etsy. Julie encourages you to find your path. And she answers 10 questions.

Julie lives in rural Maine with her husband, her two free-range children, her dog, cat and pet chickens. Her passion for photography developed at age 11 when she received her first camera, and she’s been taking photographs for over 30 years.

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Laura Lounged with LannaLee and got a couch!

Laura pours her heart out in this refreshing and honest conversation. The week before Mother’s Day Laura and I sit down at The Red Barn to talk about giving until it hurts, filling the soul first, and how she leads from her heart. Laura talks about growing up poor, her lowest of lows, and how she came back from depression to be the happiest she has ever been. To make the world a better place, she encourages everyone to join the Random acts of kindness crusade. And she answers 10 questions.

Laura Benedict has utilized her business in Augusta, the Red Barn, to help raise over $700,000.00 for local organizations and individuals in the community during the past four years. She has been so successful in raising money that other non-profits often ask for her advice. More recently, she received a letter from the Attorney General’s Office to “stop operating as a charitable organization” because she had raised over $35,000.00 in a calendar year, prompting the application of a license to continue raising money for charity with the current Maine law.

The letter and incident received press coverage through out the entire state of Maine, and was even picked up by the Associated Press and the Non-Profit Quarterly. Legislators from all over Maine offered to help by submitting an amendment to the Charitable Giving Act, which required for-profit entities to have a license if certain thresh holds were reached. There should not be a limit to what a for-profit business can do to give back to their local communities in Maine. So, an amendment was submitted by Representative Lori Fowle and passed unanimously in the House and Senate, Governor LePage signed the amendment into law shortly after.

Laura is one of ten siblings and knows what it is like to struggle; she has turned her experiences growing up into her passion for giving. She knows without the compassion she received from other individuals growing up, she would not be where she is today.

Laura Benedict not only gives financially, but she has also built a community of giving through her business. This is perhaps her most significant accomplishment because she has inspired so many others to give back to their own communities.

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Todd Lounges with LannaLee and gets a couch!

Todd and I sit down to chat after helping build a 5-story balloon sculpture and reminisce of our days twisting together in Boston; back when I was a clown and he was a law student. Todd tells me how we can make the world a better place and he solves my performance anxiety. We are too loud for Suzanne, and won’t let Mike in the room. We talk about “Lawyer school” and how Todd created Manager Sal. Todd dishes about twisting balloons at the White House. And he answers 10 questions.

Todd “Twistin’ Todd” Neufeld is a professional balloon artist in New York City. He has been featured in many TV shows and magazines, at the White House, and most recently, on an episode of Lounging with LannaLee.

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Phileas lounged with LannaLee and got a couch!

Phileas Flash gets deep in this fantastic conversation. In the aftermath of creating a five-story balloon sculpture, I hunker down with Phileas Flash and he tells me how we should make the world a better place. We discuss how balloons are like life and life is like a tapestry (or a river!) Phileas encourages everyone to believe in ourselves, follow our dreams and support people in their dreams. He tells me how we went from being an actor, to Ringmaster to magician and balloon artist, and became a world traveler (From England, Phileas has lived in a tent in France, performed in Egypt and the Dominican Republic, and he now lives in Canada with the love of his life!) Phileas tells us to Pass it forward. And he answers 10 questions.

Phileas Flash (aka Rupert Appleyard) is a British entertainer who has been creating large scale balloon sculptures internationally for the last ten years. Largely self taught, his distinctive style and freestyle methods have pushed his creations to the forefront of balloon art, with images of his signature pieces being seen and shared all over the world. He loves performing and the combination of art and entertainment puts his work in hot demand both in Canada (where he now lives with his wife and two dogs) and internationally. In 2014 he released his first instructional DVD ‘The face of things to come’ which taught a pattern for building his signature balloon face. 2014 is bringing him all sorts of exciting opportunities, he was recently featured in Balloon Magic Magazine as a spotlight artist, has been featured for the third time by internet sensation George Takei and is at the forefront of the Random Acts of Balloon Artistry movement (dedicated to spreading happiness through balloon art).

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Kelly Lounged with LannaLee and got a couch!

In the aftermath of building a 5-story balloon Jack and His Beanstalk at Balloon Manor 2014, I sit down with Airigami’s artistic director, Kelly Cheatle. We talk about the artistic proccess, and how Kelly says we can make the world a better place. Hint: Don’t be a Jerk! Kelly talks about how she started making incredible, large-scale balloon sculptures, and encourages us all to open a door for someone, literally or figuratively. And she answers 10 questions.

Artist Kelly Cheatle has been fascinated with micro art since the age of 10, when she read an article about scientists etching miniature angels on the head of a pin. Since then, she’s created miniature, wheel-thrown teapots and highly-detailed crochet sculptures – both small enough to sit on a penny.

Kelly received her Design degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a minor in Illustration and a major interest in every studio elective she could find. Her diverse knowledge of traditional materials and image-making techniques has given her an appreciation for texture and dimensionality, even in digital formats.

ln 2001, she founded Greener Pastures Design & Illustration, and her graphic work appears nationally. When given an opportunity to work with balloons during Balloon Manor 2006, she was excited about a new medium for creating artwork. Now, as a partner in Airigami, her design sense and illustration background have helped to take it in new directions, including designing inflated fashions that have appeared on runways in Rochester, NYC and Las Vegas.

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Balloon Manor: A Very Tall Tale of Jack and His Beanstalk TimeLapse

Balloon Manor Media Gallery

Painting with Balloons: The Swing

Oreogami:

One more solo pod before we get back to proper lounges. I pick up where LLL083 – LannaLee’s Existential Angst left off, give you an update of what’s been going on, and get you (and me!) pumped up for next week’s podcast, which will feature Kelly Cheatle from Balloon Manor.

Talking about depression, Balloon Manor and hair dye.

[Recorded 04/15/2014]

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