More Fun at The Faire
No one gets why I do this. 
I've been at the Faire twenty years now. Twenty years. That is over half of my life! Can you imagine? I never can, and I have been doing it! But it is not the same as a fulltime job, it isn't the same as when I went through PSG, where there were people displaced from their job of twenty or thirty years. This is an annual thing that is every weekend from the first weekend in August to the last one in September (and Labor Day). Well, so what?
Ah, "so what" indeed!
I don't know anyone who does not escape to somewhere or something. A lot of people escape in alcohol, or drugs, or gambling every penny away, or illegal or illicit activities. Some people escape in tawdry affairs or turn into couch potatoes or maybe crime sprees. A lot of us try to find more exciting but less dangerous things to do, such as speed racing, sky diving, flying (an airplane, a hot air balloon, a glider). Some of us join first aid squads and revel in that sort of publicly conscious but bizarre sort of thing... or do something in the volunteer arena. And many have hobbies - writing, reading, studying something (or several things); pick your poison. We all have some place we go to repeatedly, I think. I love the beach, although I still have not yet gotten there; Luis loves Las Vegas (and would NEVER gamble all his money away - he is too "spending-smart" to do that (he hates it when I call him a tight wad. So I'm replacing it with the previously mentioned phrase.
It's all about marketing, you know...).
Since money seems to be a consistent issue with me (and it is, really, not just seems to be - again, marketing, I guess), I have every excuse in the world to go up there. I make money. I don't make a lot, granted, and I can't say that a fair amount of it doesn't go back into the pool of exchangeable money up in that fairgrounds. But I usually manage in some insane way to bring back more than I went up with (not every weekend...). And there is a huge trading factor invovled. David will trade a lot of goods with other vendors and if it is someone I'm interested in, I will get partially paid in goods. Also his goods - I suspect I own more of his jewelry than most people... he works primarily in silver (sterling silver, guaranteed to tarnish) and I purchase primarily silver! Works out nicely, eh?
He and his wife Dorita also make clothing and while I am not quite the weight I would like to be to wear the tops, I am fine with the skirts and I hope to get one of the filmy silk cloaks. I already have a heavy winter-weight woolen cloak that I adore (and spent a goodly amount of money to get), but these are purely decorative and fun. Luis liked it when I wore the cloak with nothing else - you can sort of see through it but things are not completely visible. And it feels just delightful. It is rare that silk doesn't feel great against the skin! So there is that as well.
I also have other loves, like the minerals I collect and the pottery that I purchase ad nauseum (this why we never have a big enough house - the two of us can fill it in no time!). I usually collect only practical items such as expensive pens, jewelry (in my case it is useful - I wear all of it and cycle it so that every item gets its day), CDs, DVDs (yes, I watch them over and over), books (yes, I read them over and over), mugs, ets. However, the minerals are not intrinsically useful items. I don't use crystals for anything: not for divination, trances, healing, channeling, whatever. I just really love the way they look. It is fascinating to see what the earth or Mother Nature or Gaea or whom ever you like to call it makes things form over time and with the elements. I have all sorts of quartz, calcite, a lot of flourite (not to be confused with flouride, what is used on your teeth), a lovely garnet ball, many labradorite (guess where that comes from...), and the list goes on. No, they are not locked up somewhere. They are dotted all over the house on anything that is nice enough to display them and not accessible to cats! The value is minimal other than to me personally. It's not as though I have diamonds.
Come to think of it, this is one of those weird areas where I am missing the "girly" gene. While there is no mistaking that I am female (at least, I don't think there is), I am not typical at all in that I have zero desire to own any jewelry that requires insuring it - in this my mother and I are very much alike. She owns no diamonds or truly expensive or rare stones and like me, she doesn't wear anything but silver. So we are cheap dates (I'm a cheaper date than she is, but still) that way. Luis once told me that he would not even consider an engagement ring that is not gold with a real diamond in it. I told him he was nuts. All I want is a heart-shaped garnet (my birthstone) with a couple of cubit zirconias (a very cheap sort of diamond by comparison) in a silver setting. You can probably get that for $200. It is silly to spend thousands on an engagement ring. It is supposed to be a token of your love, not proof that love equals money! You wanna blow the wad? Let's buy a house and have good, safe cars that are nice but not an outrageous amount of money for no reason other than the name Porsce or Lambourghini (did I spell that right?). And then the wedding - well, let's not even go there (there are several other posting that have my somewhat offensive views on what I think of spending an extravagant amount of money on that).
I've been at the Faire twenty years now. Twenty years. That is over half of my life! Can you imagine? I never can, and I have been doing it! But it is not the same as a fulltime job, it isn't the same as when I went through PSG, where there were people displaced from their job of twenty or thirty years. This is an annual thing that is every weekend from the first weekend in August to the last one in September (and Labor Day). Well, so what?
Ah, "so what" indeed!
I don't know anyone who does not escape to somewhere or something. A lot of people escape in alcohol, or drugs, or gambling every penny away, or illegal or illicit activities. Some people escape in tawdry affairs or turn into couch potatoes or maybe crime sprees. A lot of us try to find more exciting but less dangerous things to do, such as speed racing, sky diving, flying (an airplane, a hot air balloon, a glider). Some of us join first aid squads and revel in that sort of publicly conscious but bizarre sort of thing... or do something in the volunteer arena. And many have hobbies - writing, reading, studying something (or several things); pick your poison. We all have some place we go to repeatedly, I think. I love the beach, although I still have not yet gotten there; Luis loves Las Vegas (and would NEVER gamble all his money away - he is too "spending-smart" to do that (he hates it when I call him a tight wad. So I'm replacing it with the previously mentioned phrase.
It's all about marketing, you know...).Since money seems to be a consistent issue with me (and it is, really, not just seems to be - again, marketing, I guess), I have every excuse in the world to go up there. I make money. I don't make a lot, granted, and I can't say that a fair amount of it doesn't go back into the pool of exchangeable money up in that fairgrounds. But I usually manage in some insane way to bring back more than I went up with (not every weekend...). And there is a huge trading factor invovled. David will trade a lot of goods with other vendors and if it is someone I'm interested in, I will get partially paid in goods. Also his goods - I suspect I own more of his jewelry than most people... he works primarily in silver (sterling silver, guaranteed to tarnish) and I purchase primarily silver! Works out nicely, eh?
He and his wife Dorita also make clothing and while I am not quite the weight I would like to be to wear the tops, I am fine with the skirts and I hope to get one of the filmy silk cloaks. I already have a heavy winter-weight woolen cloak that I adore (and spent a goodly amount of money to get), but these are purely decorative and fun. Luis liked it when I wore the cloak with nothing else - you can sort of see through it but things are not completely visible. And it feels just delightful. It is rare that silk doesn't feel great against the skin! So there is that as well.
I also have other loves, like the minerals I collect and the pottery that I purchase ad nauseum (this why we never have a big enough house - the two of us can fill it in no time!). I usually collect only practical items such as expensive pens, jewelry (in my case it is useful - I wear all of it and cycle it so that every item gets its day), CDs, DVDs (yes, I watch them over and over), books (yes, I read them over and over), mugs, ets. However, the minerals are not intrinsically useful items. I don't use crystals for anything: not for divination, trances, healing, channeling, whatever. I just really love the way they look. It is fascinating to see what the earth or Mother Nature or Gaea or whom ever you like to call it makes things form over time and with the elements. I have all sorts of quartz, calcite, a lot of flourite (not to be confused with flouride, what is used on your teeth), a lovely garnet ball, many labradorite (guess where that comes from...), and the list goes on. No, they are not locked up somewhere. They are dotted all over the house on anything that is nice enough to display them and not accessible to cats! The value is minimal other than to me personally. It's not as though I have diamonds.
Come to think of it, this is one of those weird areas where I am missing the "girly" gene. While there is no mistaking that I am female (at least, I don't think there is), I am not typical at all in that I have zero desire to own any jewelry that requires insuring it - in this my mother and I are very much alike. She owns no diamonds or truly expensive or rare stones and like me, she doesn't wear anything but silver. So we are cheap dates (I'm a cheaper date than she is, but still) that way. Luis once told me that he would not even consider an engagement ring that is not gold with a real diamond in it. I told him he was nuts. All I want is a heart-shaped garnet (my birthstone) with a couple of cubit zirconias (a very cheap sort of diamond by comparison) in a silver setting. You can probably get that for $200. It is silly to spend thousands on an engagement ring. It is supposed to be a token of your love, not proof that love equals money! You wanna blow the wad? Let's buy a house and have good, safe cars that are nice but not an outrageous amount of money for no reason other than the name Porsce or Lambourghini (did I spell that right?). And then the wedding - well, let's not even go there (there are several other posting that have my somewhat offensive views on what I think of spending an extravagant amount of money on that).
So back to the fun that is the NYRF. This is my escape. No one expects me to put on a fake accent for them, thakfully (although anyone working there is expected to, it would not sound right and I usually cringe at the sorts of English "Cockney" accents people attempt. Clearly they've not heard a true Cockney accent. And the Scotsmen there are usually real Scots, from Scotland, so listening to them is like listening to one of our staff in the Golf department - that delightful brogue that only a highlands Scot can have. (I love listening to that man talk!)
The Scots there also wear the kilt in the true Scottish fashion. I will leave to that to you find out or figure out. And do I peek under kilts? Certainly when invited to do so! I'll even take pictures. I find the human body to be a lovely thing, all parts of it.
Men find me sexy there - not all, granted, but enough to make it stand out. Men are fairly easy game, however, being the visual creaters that they are, and so while the rest of the package may not appeal, they are all fascinated by the mammary display - whether they are breast men, leg men, whatever the case may be. It's nice to be noticed like that. And there are women at these things that are far, far bigger than I will ever be, and baring more than I am willing to until I get to that better weight! (More credit to them!)
And so this is my escape - and it will be for time to come!
Comments