miscellany

- I wore a *gasp* short sleeved chemise (with elastic!) for the first time ever this weekend. I know I should feel horribly guilty, but hey, it was free!

- Late Sunday, when it was slowing down, I was singing Gamen/The Vulture (in English), and a patron walked by, stopped and listened, and said my singing gave him chills. He came back five minutes later and told me that, no, seriously, I should send a demo CD to American Idol. Heh, so much for keeping my ego in check. Now I need to learn *how* to sing, instead of just doing it, and how to blend and all that shit.

- I'm camped next to the same group of girls I was camped next to in Arizona. Yay, this'll rock!

- I'm making more money here than I thought I would. Woot! I'm getting dental work this summer!

- Every time I saw a flower person walk by I would miss my boy. *sigh* I miss my boy....

- I saw spanishbubbles on my trip here. That was awesome; it's amazing how you can not see someone for two years and pick up right where you left off (except for understanding lawyer-speak. Sorry, babe! I now understand how you felt when I'd talk about taxes!)

- If I seem to be posting stuff for the edification of all of y'all who read my journal, and it's not interesting, feel free to be like, "Hey, Deb, but what about Insert-Subject-Here?"

- It was awesome to see iarroganti again! Um. And gem_handler, and doveshadows, and dancingbearkat, and other familiar people too, but iarroganti was an unexpected surprise.

- I figured out why there's so much more dancing here than at other faires! It's because there aren't any dancing stage shows - no Morris dancers, no Royal Scottish Country Dance Society folk, only a few lone belly dancers.

- Ah! There's a picture of me from first day! Wow, but I look bad....

Camping, Security, and other Faire admin-type-stuff

The camping here is the most expensive I've ever heard of: $150, with only $25 refundable at the end of the run.

On the plus side, however, the showers on site are free, which I would say is worth a good $50 or so, so that puts it more on par with MN's fees.

The showerhouse is the best I've seen at a ren faire, considering it's really nothing more than a glorified 10'x20' shed. The stalls are seven feet deep, giving you space enough to strip, prep, and shower, all without having to do any of that in view of others. There are 4 or 5 stalls per gender, each with a nice shower organizer, a chair, and a couple hooks to hang stuff from. The showerhouse is kept pretty clean.

Security here is the most lax I've ever experianced. I've been asked for my pass twice, at the patron/participant perimeter, at close. I haven't been asked while entering or leaving the site at other times, or while trying to enter the campground. Someone suggested it's because the previous Security Director, a real hardass, retired. All in all, I like the more relaxed approach.

The passes are made of *paper* and are over twice the size of a credit card. How lame is that? I give an unlaminated pass a lifespan of two weeks, max.

The campground is really nice. It's maybe a bit smaller than the AZ campgrounds, but with lots of shady trees instead of cactus and little woody shrubs. You're permitted to park right next to your tent, and anyone can dig out a (small) firepit if they want. The campgrounds are fairly big and rambly - I give myself a week to stop getting lost in them.

My last post today, *really*

Heh, it's so easy to post when I write them up ahead of time....

But seriously, this is more personal rambling. Doubt that m/any of y'all'll care, feel free to skip it.


What with the Hell Week from Arizona, arriving on Friday night, and barely getting my tent set up before I went to sleep, I didn't have any time to brace myself for getting ready for a new faire, with a different plot and a different cast. Add to that that my previous time here was spent as a visiting entertainer, but that now I'm approaching it from more of a crafter's angle, and it left me feeling quite off kilter.

I feel like I've regressed several years in my interactions. I've always had slow responce times, but in-character conversations feel more awkward. I haven't the faintest idea how to respond to flirting (not that I ever have, with the more recent exception of during dancing), and I feel utterly tongue-tied when someone kisses my hand. (Oooh, someone bowed over my hand, but didn't kiss it! That was so cool!) I did manage to say a couple things that proved there's *some* sort of brain inside my skull, but nothing I'm overly proud of.

Meh. So, I guess, I need to work on character development, and figure out if the young noblewoman Corinna bears any relation to this strange Corinna who works for a living, yet has opinions on fine Italian dancing.

*exhasperated*

Fine, fine! Are you happy, gem_handler?