I went to faire this weekend! I also drank all the wine. All of it.

See this? This is my drunk face:



So much wine, in fact, that when one of the Mediaeval Baebes remarked that she had seen me singing along in the crowd (or rather, mouthing the words under my breath-- competing with a performer is just rude), my response was "yes, I am a giant nerd." Awkward, thy name is Christina.

But it was a good day! Jason and I showed twelvepetals & her wife Jen around, saw the Barely Balanced acrobats (who were absolutely phenomenal), took in thatliardiego's magic show, caught some Cu Dubh bagpipes & drums, saw the Baebes twice, stood in some hellacious lines, and ate lots of things. My purchase of the day was a 2013 faire mug (which I immediately regretted because of course, 10 mins later I saw a GORGEOUS mug but could no longer justify the purchase) and a hip strap for it. And the new "The Huntress" Baebes double album, which features some of the most complex harmonies they've ever done. I am pretty impressed with it, and so far my favorite tracks are "She Moved Through The Fayre" and "Clasp Of A Lion / Phantom" with a special appreciation for the difficulty involved to sing "Dianae."

The last Baebes show also featured a little girl in the crowd who took the platitude to heart and truly danced like no one was watching. My god, my ovaries.

For the final Cu Dubh / Wolgemut show at the Boar's Head, the bands were encouraging dancers to dance, so lapinetrose & I threw down some ATS and people lost their minds. It's always cool to see faces when they realize that no, it's actually improv. And it's fun! Side note: I only saw one of the dancers Cu Dubh brought with them (Elizabeth) perform, and she was lovely. She also helped to confirm my suspicion that if you have an actual professional on the stage, the number of those attention-starved and under-clad ladies who watched a Shakira video and now think they're actual bellydancers decreases by an appreciable amount.

I did end up making the costuming work. The red and purple together was a little odd, but I think worked really well in person, and as a bonus, the velvet kept me sufficiently warm. I would still like to get a violet Ghawazee coat next year, though.

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These pictures were taken by twelvepetals / Vasilion Photography.

Now, to get my tush back to work. I had completely forgotten that I'm filling in more days than usual at Terra Firma this week, so I have fewer days than projected to finish up the update!

'Twas a busy weekend. Friday, we had plans, but ended up sleeping damn near all day. Our lives have been busy and stressful of late. Saturday was the Inappropriate Hafla, hosted by Kallisti Tribal. This one definitely set the bar. There were unicorns, a five minute fart joke danced by some of the prettiest girls around, Toya broke it down, there were giant purple penii eggplants, and, um, Verve looked like this:


A take on Old West pastiche.

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Also vended on Saturday. Made enough for J's birthday gift while we are in NC. We're getting massages. We need massages.

Sunday was faire and I saw a lot of people I love. I needed the influx of good energy. Truth be told, though I'm putting on a good show in public, I have been stressed to hell and back about Olive and how we're going to pay for all the medical care she needs, so a lot of times I feel much closer to tears than I'd like to be. It will all work out, it will. But in the meantime, I am really shaken up. Anyway, back to faire: saw music, danced a little, saw several dancers I wanted to pelt with the slingshot of shame for being rude to the performers onstage, at a big ol waffle, bought some oil. Forgot to buy the marshmallow honey. Did not take pictures.

Monday, we went to the zoo with my brother and his gf, 'cause my bro gets tickets through his work. The chimpanzees were playing. I sat and watched them the longest, and we got to see a polar bear feeding. Overall, by 4 pm, I had had enough of being on my feet for one weekend. We stopped at Target for some odds and ends (including some arch support inserts for my freakish feet), and then I came home and burrowed into book 2 of The Hunger Games trilogy. I'll post when I finish the trilogy (hopefully, on vacation, as I have precious little time this week), but for right now: they are crack. Terrifying, uncomfortable crack.

Now, to focus on getting orders out the door.

...and not just because I love Christina Ricci.

Look! I'm smiling for a picture! Imagine that!

Photo by Evan Oxenham - http://www.flickr.com/evanoxenham

Yesterday, J & I ventured to the Maryland Renaissance Festival, as I always do on my birthday weekend. I had two things in mind: shopping an dancing. And shop I did! I got lots of spices at Herbalist's Delight, as well as some Gingerbread Man tea. I picked up more of our favorite massage oil at Blessed Scents. I also ate decadently, which means today I still have a food baby goin' on. (New find: Scotch Eggs. YUM. Also, I want to write an ode to the cinnamon roasted nuts.) We took in some new-to-us shows. Fight School was fun; The Duelists were pretty much a 30 minute dick joke with some added gay jokes tossed in and I wish we would have skipped them. Aside from bumping into friends old and new (it was good to see you, hilandercs!) I also met up with marinatempest and her hubbins, as well as Miss kazoogrrl, one of my favorite dance girlfriends. The result was fun dancing shenanigans during the Rogues' last show at the Dragon.



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There are also vids-- I laughed because in one, Jason is trying to explain to one incredulous bystander that all the dancing here is entirely improv. In his words, she was all "dude, there is no way that's not choreographed!" Ahh, the magic of ATS.



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Lastly: I haz candy corn. Or rather, Brach's autumn mix, which has candy corn, Indian corn (basically, chocolate candy corn), and also those yummy caramel pumpkins. YESSSSS.

40% chance of thunderstorms all day long and not a single significant shower occurred all day long. There was a sprinkle that barely deserved the name around 11am and that was it. The humidity was killer and the sun was strong, but the day was absolutely fantastic. I saw the Baebes do all three of their sets, I danced some pickup ATS with the ladies of Lilâm (lapinetrose, damejenn, spurple30, and indagatrix), I went to the CDD and saw a lot of my favorite faire people, I bumped into friends and customers, and I partook of yummy food (macaroni and cheese on a stick-- who knew??).

The Baebes were great, as ever. Sarah Kayte, the new Baebe (replacing Claire Rabbit, who will be missed) fit in seamlessly. Esther's soprano 1 was jawdroppingly gorgeous. And how cute is Bev Lee?! I got to hear "Musa Venit Carmine" live for the first time (and Katherine noted that I knew all the words), plus they did The Snake again! I am sad that I won't be there today or at the House of Musical Traditions show tomorrow night. Getting married means that mad money is a little slim for a bit.

After the first set, I dropped the necklaces off with the Baebes, and told Katharine to open them later when they had the time. Lo and behold, firebirdgrrl sent me a tweet to tell me that they were ALL wearing them today! I hope someone gets pictures! ((ETA: firebirdgrrl just sent me one and it's included with the pics below.)) (Also, I totally danced around the apartment like a nerd). Also in the package: some yummy caramel cookies and a packet of appropriate BPAL imps (like The Rose, Eve, Lyonesse... you get the idea). So I also got some BPAL enabling in there, too.

Jason also raided Herbalist's Delight for their AMAZING spices. He got THREE brands of Bacon Salt-- jalapeno, applewood, and cheddar. As soon as we got home, we set out to see what we could put it on and started off with popcorn. DIVINE. (Also, as it contained no meat, the Bacon Salt was kosher. Brilliance.) I got a sampler of maple hot chocolate and some cinnamon sticks for tea. I definitely have my eyes on their tea. Want some Gingerbread Man very soon. We sniffed the latest yummies at Blessed Scents, where we get most of our massage oils, and we tasted honey from The Bee Folks-- and brought home some of their meadowfoam honey, which tastes like toasted marshmallows! Oh MDRF, you have the best shopping in the entire world. Would that I were rich.

Onto the pics and vids!


L-R: Emily Ovenden, Bev Lee Harding, Sarah Kayte Foster, Esther Dee, Melpomeni Kermanidou, director Katharine Blake

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Wonderful day. Thanks to everybody who shared it with me!

Virgo:: No more rotten dessert, Virgo. No more silky danger or juicy poison. No more worthless treasures or empty successes or idiotic brilliance. Soon all those crazy-making experiences will be gone, blasted, dead. By this time next week, the bad influences that were trying to pass themselves off as good influences will have fallen away in response to your courageous drive for authenticity. You will be primed to restore your innocence and play in places where purity is the rule, not the exception. Already, the wisdom of your wild heart is regenerating, giving you the strength to overthrow the sour, life-hating influences that were threatening to smother your spirit.

marinatempest and I have been getting back in the swing of things with rehearsals for the last month. It feels so good to be moving again, and I can't wait until there's a good improv-based tribal class in Baltimore that's accessible to me. I need the experience of group dancing on a regular basis-- it keeps me focused, it keeps me honest. Because I hadn't been doing a whole lot of leading while I was out in ABQ, my leading skillz got a little rusty, and I've been working on cueing and making my transitions more smooth (esp. since I hadn't been performing a whole lot of my Verve vocabulary and was all "oh crap, how do I cue that one again?"). But overall, things are good, and we've talked about maybe doing some performing after I'm done with wedding madness. That'll be nice, and I also like having a good long time to get back in synch so I don't look sloppy.

Anyhow, after tiring of much of the current fusion on the scene, I think I am finally buckling to go the mostly-ATS route. Or ITS, as it's being called. Traditional-- a shared language. I was a total magpie coming into bellydance, where everything was just so SHINY and NEAT, and now, a few years later, I want something grounded and earthy and you know, more tribal, less schtick. I am putting all the Fat Chance DVDs on my wishlist for after-Wedding funds, and I really want to do General Skills next year. Like, you guys. I'm even starting to like Helm. What is up with that? That's the direction I'm heading-- so I guess Uncle Rob is right up there. I am yearning for more authenticity.

After rehearsal today, we're having a costuming and munchies evening. I have a bra to decorate-- I'm taking all the decor off my old black bra and putting it onto the new bra-base I brought from Tadasana-- with the comfortable criss-cross back straps, so no more achy neck! I'm also going to play with fun new combos of color, since I've added a saffron-colored jaipur skirt to my wardrobe and can expect my red choli from L. Rose Designs any day now. I think I'm going really bright for the wedding itself. Reds and yellows and oranges-- a distinct departure from my standard black and burgundy Faire outfit or the olive greens I like to wear.

Speaking of Faire, I'm going on opening day. I'm excited like a kid before Christmas. I just did a rundown to see what I can do with my newly-short hair (grumble grumble) and am going through all of my shinies. God, I love faire. Lots and lots and lots. I'm practically bouncy. What's the 411 on CDD? I want to hug people! I want to dance to bagpipes. I want to listen to Baebes. I want to eat various foods on sticks! Granted, opening weekend is BOUND to be hot and sticky omg, but I would not miss it for all the world. I only wish I were rich so I could go every weekend. Alas, I am poor, and with the wedding coming up, I'll be lucky to go twice before the wedding on the 17th of October, where I'll be in bride-mode and not up for general carousing. So God, if you see fit to send me a windfall that's not ill-gotten anytime soon, I'd so appreciate it. Love, Christina

It's that curious time of year right between Beltane and Litha where it's bright and sunny and green and the entire Northern hemisphere is awake and active and, uh, horny. I miss my little stream in Pikesville where I'd wander into the woods and soak my feet and just relax. There's very little water to speak of here, and we plan to hike tomorrow either in the Sandias or up by Santa Fe-- there might be a waterfall involved? Anyway, at the end of June, I'll be in North Carolina and there will be an ocean and a big beach, and maybe even bonfires. I am really, really looking forward to that.

GRAH. I thought I'd be home for MD Faerie Fest (which is this weekend), but apparently not. I cannot wait for Faire season, y'all. I am seriously already having dreams about it. Tuesday, I dreamt that it was opening weekend and the Baebes were playing and I showed up and they'd completely moved the festival. It was in fact being held in Latrobe Park in South Baltimore, and when I finally got there I missed the music because I wasn't in garb yet. It was very sad.

I'd really like to just pay the faire the $100 and get married at the chapel there. My mom offered me a $1,500 bribe for not coming out to see me as planned, under the auspices of "going towards the wedding," and that'd cover a Faire wedding with a tidy chunk towards a honeymoon to boot. I could wear fancy BD clothes, he could wear his kilt, I wouldn't really have to worry about a guest list or a sit down dinner or formalities... Alas, Jason wants a tux or some such nonsense. Can I just say how much I don't want to do the whole white wedding thing? I mean, we talked it over and that seems pretty unlikely, but I want a big fun outdoor shindig thing with whacky hijinks that's only very marginally a wedding in that there are vows and rings. Plus cake. And garb makes me feel pretty. Ah well, we shall see. We're still talking timeframe, too. I'd like October 'cause a) I've always wanted an autumn wedding and b) our birthdays are in September. But with this job in NM being hella stressful, we've barely been able to talk planning. The only thing we've decided is that we'll likely use a UU officiant or ordained Pagan friend to have vague, nondenominational references made to a Creator of some sort. In any case, if we do pick a weekend in October, Aster and I have vowed to talk first so we don't do something stupid like get married on the same weekend.

Also, I'm starting to look for books to read on the way home... I read Palimpsest on the way here, and that worked because it was thoroughly engrossing, but I think I want some lighter reading on the way home. I've had twinges to pick my YA novel back up recently, and so I'm thinking a metaphysical YA series. LJS fen: before you suggest: no, I have not read Nightfall nor do I have any plans to do so in the immediate future. I'm holding on to those cherished characters from my childhood for just a little bit longer before they get total lobotomies. I was thinking maybe Cate Tiernan's Sweep series... I read a few in college and they weren't bad. Sort of a fictionalized version of Wicca. Opinions on how the story turns out (non-spoilery, of course), or her other series, Balefire? Or other suggestions in general?

Faeriecon pics taken with my old camera, and faire pics taken with the new. Please don't judge the camera just yet... I haven't quite figured out the settings and such just yet! I wasn't terribly diligent about taking pictures at either event; this year I decided to put the camera down and have more fun.

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Maryland Renaissance Festival, Oct. 18, 2008


The Mediaeval Baebes!
L-R: Emily, Bev Lee, Claire, Esther, Melpomeni, Katherine

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Chez Jason. I've thus far had a restful weekend-- Friday night we came home, grilled steak, and watched movies in honor of his birthday. We had a lot of grand plans regarding other birthday festivities, but the rain began to pour down, so instead we opened up all the windows and cuddled on the couch while the breeze came in. We ended up falling asleep earlier than expected. Oh the adventures of Maude and Claude, octagenarians extraordinaire.

Saturday, we got up for Faire and got going an hour later than expected simply because nothing in my costuming wanted to be easy. I hadn't planned out what I was going to wear ahead of time and was being terribly indecisive. I think it turned out okay. We got to Faire, and the first thing we did was get Jason a kilt. We went to Wolfstone and got a gorgeous tartan in dark blue, green, and black. When asked if he knew his family geneology, he said not yet, and I replied that if this was the wrong kilt, we'd just have to go through the terrible pain of buying him another. Because let me tell you. My man is fucking sexy in a kilt. I spent all day getting in semi-subtle ass-grabs. My libido, let me show you it. I then picked him up his last birthday gift, an "insolent minion" mug from Dancing Pig Pottery, and after all shopping swag was stowed away (hi wilhelmina_d!), we were off to wander. We caught London Broil, we caught Hack & Slash, and we caught the amazing Albannach. I have got to get some of their CDs. At Albannach, I bumped into indigatrix and lapinetrose for some improv dancing.

From there, it was off to O'Shucks to meet up with people for a birthday drink. I was lame and had water, as I was sweating so hard from the humidity and dancing. But Chris & Sarah, Jess (from college), deliriouscat & Shieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeela, Julie & Dan, thewhitedragon, and thatliardiego were there, which more than made up for my sobriety. We chatted and I had chocolate cake. thatliardiego amazed us with some of the most awesome card tricks I have ever seen. It was truly magical.

From there, it was off to the Rogues' last show at the Dragon... I did some dancing there, as well. One guy thanked me for doing real bellydance, as the "bellydancers" at faire tend to appear to be approximating the dance from Shakira videos. I mean, I'm all for dancing fun in all its myriad forms and RenFest costuming is generally a fantasy-inspired exercise-- jumping around and shaking your thang is totally acceptable. Even somewhat salaciously. But the bottom line, I think, is that everything has a time and place. Faire is a family event, an all-ages atmosphere, and I don't care if you're in a "pub," there are still little children running around and striptease-inspired dance under the guise of "bellydance" is not appropriate. Here endeth my curmudgeonly speech; lawd knows that one such dancer had already been giving me SupaStinkeye. For what, I have no idea; to my knowledge, we'd never met. Also? A shawl is not a shirt. Especially not thin, sweat-makes-me-sheer shawl.

J and I left at closing cannons after trying the wonder that is macaroni-and-cheese on a stick (YUM). I'm planning to go back Oct. 18th, but I may crave it before then and beg a ride a little earlier. I think I have to be a Fairever Pass holder next year.

We got home and showered off the crud (Brooke? Your Birth Right soap was Jason's absolute favorite gift this year, and he has stated a need to stock up on more). We finally got around to those other festivities before having some chocolate and whipped cream covered strawberries. Then I fell asleep on him while we watched Man Vs. Wild. Bear Grylls just loves to pee on stuff, doesn't he?

We were woken up by Kiah the kitty cat begging for breakfast. She's a really skittish cat, but seems to be finally warming up to me. She "talks" to me and rubs me when I walk through the door. This is the first time she's actually gotten up on the bed while I was in it, though. Now, I'm waiting for him to be finished with our breakfast. He just brought me chocolate coffee. :) Today will be commissions, commissions, commissions. So relaxing.