Watch this...

Eating Elizabethan for a week. Absolutely awesome.

Get up that hill

There's no way around it. This season, most recently this Pennsic War event was pretty brutal. I feel like I have been stumbling around, unable to get a solid footing. And when I thought I was on solid ground, something would rush up and smack me. Car problems, friends and acquaintances telling me of rough times, health problems, divorce, job loss.

And business? It was down almost 45 percent. That's a huge fucking drop. Then there were the rains and the inevitable mud. What else, oh yeah; my goddamned nemesis Beverle parked her ass right across the street from us. The single worst vendor I have ever known. A liar and a cheat. Kicked out of six different Ren-Faire's. Yet she somehow suckered some poor merchant to give her some space to set up her crap. Swell.

My chief minion Lindsey, who I love like my own kid has been a bit of a fuck up recently. I won't go into details. She's hit a hard patch like the rest of us.

We left Pennsic after the usual dark-thirty loadout. Rossana in a grim mood because Pennsic doesn't feel like Pennsic to her anymore (and that hurts to hear) only to have a full day of rain the next day at Great Lakes with accompanying shitty sales. The vendors at the show are now being cited by the local town for not having a 'local transient vendors license', something we don't fucking need under Ohio law but still threatens the livelihood of everyone working the show. Everyone is on pins and needles. Rumors run rampant.

Then we got the cherry. Russ shows up. He's an on site EMT. He tells us that his brother Hoss died at Pennsic that morning.

I've known Hoss for something like 7 years now. He was overweight, crude, politically incorrect, a know-it-all and an overall great guy. He took shitty care of himself but once threatened to kill a guy who accidentally cut the power to his camper where he kept his dogs diabetes medicine in the fridge. I talked with him Friday morning as we rushed around getting ready to pack up. Russ claimed he wasn't broken up about it, that he and his brother were just on polite terms. But he was seething. Hoss was told by EMT's on site at Pennsic three times that he was having a heart attack and he refused to go to the hospital. You just couldn't tell Hoss what to do.

At this point I just wanted to go home. But we couldn't. Sunday was the hottest day of the summer so far as I could tell. And the longest. We rolled in at about 11pm last night but we head out Wednesday morning for GenCon, which I pray isn't bad.

At Pennsic our camp it at the bottom of a hill. And every day you have to climb that hill. I've been doing it at Pennsic for something like 24 years. This year it took more, much more to get up that hill. It's not that I'm in bad shape. It was just the weight of all the things around me, pressing down. It would be easy just to stay in camp. A lot of my friends do. They seem content with that. But I can't. And this year once again showed me that stopping is not an option. Gotta keep moving. I've gotta get up that hill.

I never thought I'd be happy to see Winter and the end of a season.

Please stop being stoooooooopid.

There are certain advantages to being a self employed member of the Merchant Class. I tend to awaken late (if at all), my off season schedule allows me to travel to strange and exotic lands and showing my "Member of the Merchant Class" ID card allows me to get out of some very sticky situations involving the disposal of dead hookers.

But one thing that we are at the mercy of is Other Peoples Stupidity. This year, it was looking like the last weekend of the Great Lakes Fair would overlap with both the opening of the Michigan faire and GenCon. This is what we in "the business" call "teh suck" as it means I either split my stock 3 ways (with too little stock at all three shows)or split it two ways and leave my minion Jesse with at Great lakes to sell pictures of corsets from and empty booth. But wait! A ray of sunshine. A fellow merchant tells me Michigan moved back its opening one weekend. Sweet! This means I don't have to pack up Pennsic frantically, unpack, repack for two events, leave Ohio, drive up to Michigan, set up a booth, leave stock, and then drive to Minneapolis. Horay for sleep!

But wait! The contract for the Michigan fair arrived today, with a prominent sticker declaring the earlier starting date. The contract within also confirms the earlier, more sucky date. This begins a small flurry of mental activity, as we will once again have to make the grand tour of middle America AND rob one of my booths to satisfy the hunger of two big shows. There's nothing for it, we just have to bend over and take it.

By sheer chance I called the Michigan Ren offices to let them know that their website was incorrect and that they might want to fix that. 'No, No' I am told "the dates on the site are correct'.

"But by contract says otherwise, and my contract trumps a pimply 17 year old part timer on the phone."

"No, the Craft coordinator didn't have the correct dates and is now working to correct the mistake."

Now I know the craft coordinator has a lot on her plate. But really. The one thing you should really have a farking grip on is the dates of your event. Some merchants are on the road constantly, getting mail very infrequently. And contradicting info will surely mean that at least ONE merchant is going to be VERY pissed when he opens his booth on Sat Aug 15 and NO ONE IS F@CKING THERE. It will happen, of this I am sure. Some of these guys leave one show and roll in the night before the next show opens, working all night to prep their booth and set up stock.

I'm glad I won;t be one of them.

At long last...

Last season they did a lot of location filming at the Michigan Ren Faire for the movie "All's Faire in Love". It looks like the trailer is out and it's getting a distributor.

It's weird seeing a place you know in movies. Some of the humor is pretty stupid. The lead actor also annoys the hell out of me. I mean really, I just want to punch him in the face. Take a look...

Oklahoma = Fun

I almost forgot that I shot this short bit of video while we hunkered down during the great dust storm that was the Norman Oklahoma show. We were assaulted by this piece of trash for literally 10 minutes. Then the wind kicked up again and blew it, and a small child, to god only knows where.

Ouch

With regards to Oklahoma one COULD use the term "The less said about this the better" but that would be a cop out. The show was brutal. Cold, hot, dust, wind, wind, wind, more dust,tent damage...Ask me about it someday and I'll lay out some of the fun details in epic style.

But we made money. Not as much as I'd like to be frank, but its only a three day event. I'd go back. Rossana? I don't think I'll broach the subject for good 8 months.

The cherry on this cake was our return drive. After tear down and pack up we could only drive about 4-5 hours. We stayed at a motel that usually exists only in movies. Our room was entirely Elvis themed with posters, faux platinum records and purple satin sheets. Breakfast was at a diner that time forgot. Good food served by people who still believe Eisenhower is President.

But the charm of that bubble in time had worn off 13 hours later as we trudged up I-71. Somewhere south of Rt 250 Rossana hit a patch of black ice. I was asleep in the back but you wake up pretty fucking fast when the swerving and screaming starts. Three violent swerves in as many seconds and we struck the guard rail sending me across the van along with assorted luggage. There were two things that kept us from getting seriously messed up. Luck was one. There was an off ramp to the right of us when we started to loose traction. 20 feet more and we would have rolled over, Rossana's great driving was the other. By the time we hit the guard rail we were almost perfectly paralell to it. The impact mashed up the side of the van but didn't harm the wheels, doors or any windows. After making sure we were still cabable of driving we crawled home, getting in at about 4am. I seem to be the only one who took damage when I hit the door of the van. My right forearm hurts like hell. We also broke a mirror.

All in all, not the best weekend ever.

Looking for a job?

We just finished ChattaCon, which wasn't gangbusters but it did make a profit and get us into the selling mood. While driving home Rossana and I discussed an idea we've kicked around before of bringing in another sales person to handle shows that we can't get to for whatever reason.

So here it is, do you want COOLEST JOB in the WORLD? We're looking for someone to travel to shows in the Midwest to tie up hot chicks in corsets. (Sounds great, right? Well there are some caveats. Read on)

• We want someone who has some experience with one or all of the following type of events: Renaissance Fairs, the SCA, Science Fiction conventions or fetish shows.

• Must be able to travel. Some shows will be one day, others a weekend and some will require being gone from Thursday till Monday with driving time. We will cover travel expenses.

• Must be friendly, personable, and able to interact with a WIDE range of people.

• Must be able to schlep (carry) our stock and all sales equipment. Corsets can be heavy.

• Non Smoker. Clean driving record. Non-drinker preferred.
  

• Must be able to do simple bookkeeping.
  

• Must have reliable transportation. (And must not be a sub-compact)

• Computer literate (can email, IM etc. Photoshop and others skills a plus)

• Sewing skills a double bonus
  

• If female, must be willing to wear our product for duration of event

• An Ohio resident would be nice, but isn't required
  

If you're still reading, I am impressed. We will train you to the best of our ability, but you need to have some innate salesmanship skills. Above all you need to be honest and trustworthy. Our company has a very good reputation. We pride ourselves on good customer service.

What does this dream job pay? I can't give you a definite answer. I can say that there is a base pay with a bonus for meeting certain sales numbers. Also, you get to make money for attending events you have paid to attend in the past, which is pretty cool. We're hoping line up at least 2 shows a month, but more are possible in the summer months


If you think you'd like this job send me an email at steve.pack@gmail.com with your experience, and a photo if possible. I'll get back to you with more details. If you know someone who you think might be right for this job, please forward them this message.

The Feast!

My wonderful mum gave Rossana and I a great gift this year. Tickets to the Trinity Church Boars Head Feast. Trinity really is a lovely church. Situated downtown across from CSU. I used to go visit it during my brief time college experience. Not as large or grand as some of the Cathedrals I've had the pleasure to see abroad, but it has a great design. Clean lines and not tarted up. A place of peace.

The meal was very tasty, and served promptly. The entertainment was passable and the company was pleasant. When I was asked what I did no one seemed to believe me. I even met the head priest and the director of the church. I didn't push it by telling them that I'm married to a witch and live in a hobbit hole. Weird overload and all that.

If you have a chance to attend I highly recommend it. Costumes are optional but make it more fun. No utensils, hands only.

By the way, this was a few weeks ago not long after Rossana had undergone foot surgery. The weather was brutal that night. Ice everywhere and her foot bound up, just off of crutches. And she STILL looked good. Check out the few pics I managed to grab.

Fear not citizen!

Remember, if you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide. Sure we placed 53 peaceful anti-death and anti-war protestors on a TERRORIST WATCH LIST, but that doesn't mean we did anything wrong, does it?

To sleep, perchance to dream...

It's over, the month from Hell. Great Lakes, to Pennsic, to Great Lakes for teardown, home for 1 day and then off to Indianapolis for a week. Very tired.

This was a roller coaster ride. Pennsic was great, but it was camping for two weeks and for the first time, it was work. Sure, helping run Hell Nite and other events was like work, but my livelihood didn't depend on it. When we got back to Great lakes it rained the last weekend. And when we packed up? There just wasn't enough room for everything to go home. We have to go pick some of it up tomorrow.

We dropped off stock to Michigan Ren without incident, but we arrived at GenCon with a LOT of stuff supposedly "in the mail" to us. Most of it arrived. Then, my wallet went missing. We tore apart the room, which was the ONLY place it could be before I reluctantly called the credit card companies and bank to report the loss. It then proceeded to turn up 12 hours later in my wife's corset. When we got back home I learned that my bank did'nt cancel the most important check card. Swell job guys.

GenCon was a big hit sales-wise. We carried the new brass goggles, some steampunk airship academy t-shirts I designed, and some nifty gothic clothing from a company called Eternal Love. In fact, things went so well we were literally tripping over each other in our cramped space. I have bit the bullet and decided that next year we will get a double space. It's a big expense, but I think it will help us get seen.

Michigan did outstanding its opening day, and then went into the toilet the second. Weird.

And then there's the big news. Great Lakes is being shifted back one week next year. This means it will overlap the opening of Michigan AND GenCon. This is being done because the owner of Great Lakes isn't making much money on the 4th of July weekend. People are off doing family things. So he's decided to screw EVERYONE. There was no warning about this. Rossana only noticed it because she actually reads contracts and other documents. I am furious. I've been with this show for over 12 years but I am willing to just walk away if they do this. Screw them. My only major headache is that I JUST bought a fucking booth that I spend a good chunk of time cleaning up and painting. I think I can sell it but it would have been better if I had started that process during the season for exposure.

Pennsic could easily replace Great Lakes and I'd get 4 weeks of my life back. I don't want to give up Great Lakes, but I simply will NOT take their bullshit. It would be damn near impossible to have decent stock and staff for three events.

Sigh.

I'm glad to be home. I spent a few hours trying to put away all my tools and clean up my shop a little. Everything is a mess. My office, the garage, my shop even the yard still has traces of the party left over here and there.

At the starting gate...

Tomorrow is thew last day we'll be home for a while. After tomorrow we leave the cats in the care of our sitters and head off to work Great Lakes AND Pennsic. I am apprehensive about doing Pennsic as a merchant. In the 20+ years I have been going it has always been my vacation. I started going when I was 16. I've never missed one. Eventually working in medieval clothing became by job and I still went. Due to overlapping schedules the last few years I have had to leave Pennsic to go and do a Ren Faire. And now? I leave a show, to go do a 2 week show. When I get back from that I'll run up to Michigan to drop off stuff for a show and then go do a show.

Wow.

We did this last year and it somehow all worked out. Except that last year Pennsic was still my vacation.

I'm feeling bad because I won't be able to hang out in my home camp of Pentwyvern as much. It's changed a lot over the years, but I still consider it home. It is an old and comfortable pair of shoes. But working the show means I can't help as much with set up or other camp activities.

On the other hand I helped build our camps shower trailer, ran a chair making day at the house, helped design and build our awesome siege tower and helped create and run Hell Nite, our massive and very fun camp party.

I should feel fine about taking time off from camp stuff. But I don't. Then there's the fact that Pennsic last year was BRUTALLY hot. We are still in a war and the economy is in the shitter. I hear rumors about a 17% drop in attendance. Gas is $4 a gallon. People are stuggling just to get to the event. Will they buy?

Deep breath.

On the up side, I will still be at Pennsic. This is where my friends are. It is still one of the coolest events around, and I have attended my fair share of events now. If you're at war and have a few minutes, feel free to stop by ther booth. I promise I won't try to sell you anything. (Although I can't promise you won't buy anything).

Catching my breath

The Bag End bash went of pretty damn well. Well, except for the torrential rainstorm that hit mid way through the day while we tried to play frisbee hack. But the weather soon cleared up and we were able to hack frisbees as well as enjoy the fireworks.

I want to thank everyone for coming over and bringing such great food. It was great to see some friends that I haven't seen in quite a while.

Just before the party my Dad came for his annual visit. This was canceled last year when he broke his neck in an accident. I am happy to report that he again rode him Honda PC800 down from Boston without too much trouble. Grimm was also in town building a trailer for Pennsic and even Ander came by to work on a camp chair.

No rest for the wicked though. It was off to Columbus for Origins Gaming convention (during which Wellington got a metric ASSLOAD of rain. Our house was fine but there are signs of the storm all around.

Back at home we only had a short rest before heading out to Geneva to prepare for the Great Lakes Medieval Faire. It was a frenzied 2 days of painting, cleaning, planting and more. Our new booth now has a proper changing room, a real storage area and a fresh coat of paint. All in all, it looks remarkably the same. This was a rather disappointing realization, but everything behind the scenes is in much better shape now.

The show opens this weekend and there a lot of activity on the site. Apparently Larry, the owner of the show bought out a lot of equipment from the now defunct Geuoga Lake amusement park. There was even a rumor he was building a roller coaster (Thanks god that wasn't true.) We didn't have time to look around, maybe tomorrow when we start setting up and primping the booth.

Hack wheeeze cough

Back from Biloxi but sick as a dog. CoastCon was a bit of a letdown. The convention center isn't done with renovations, attendance was a bit light and no one had any damn money.

But I'm still glad I went.

I wanted to see Biloxi again. See how it was faring. I got a chance to drive around a bit and I must say that things are looking pretty good on the surface. The mountains of debris are gone. The uprooted trees, boats and smashed houses. There are empty concrete slabs along the coast, but there is also a flurry of building. Oddly, the coast looks better without the squat barge/casinos.

I drove by the stadium where I worked witht he Salvation Army. They are still there. Dedicated folks those guys. When I went by the church where we had stayed with Hands On USA there was no sign of them. Packed up and helping out elsewhere I guess.

There was no time to get to New Orleans. And If there had been I might have been depressed by the lack of progress.

While in Biloxi I stayed with Vlad and his lovely wife, which is always a hoot. We ate well and told stories of Pennsics past. I would like to have stayed another day down there but Lindsey had school projects and I had to start work on the new booth at the Great Lakes Faire. Rossana and I made a good start. Raking up and clearing out the last remnants of the old RenBoots stuff. Technically this booth has the largest sales area of all out shops! There is painting and carpentry and decorating to do but we have time for that. I can't tell you how nice it is not to have to tent a show. It's a pant to set up, keep dry, take down and store a tent.

With the better weather the house can be tended to. Rossana had trimmed back the grape vines and I have started to gather up lawn debris. Lots of house projects to do. And never enough time.

Technology...is there anything it CAN do?

Back on the road at the North Carolina Ren faire. This is the show we specifically bought a GPS unit for. This expensive bit of technology frankly has NO idea where the hell anything is. We justhad the unit repaired and I'm beginning to think that it was a waste of money. Of course, this area DOES have a lot of construction. We had to hit Walmart for some lights. My iphone got us the address.

But when we got to the area the store was literally hidden behind some low hills and scrubs. Bonus? NO SIGNS. I understand cities not wanting large ugly signs soaring into the sky. I do. But NO signs? We only found the place by sheer chance.

I would hate to be a business in this area. You could be giving away free bars of gold with complimentary steak diners and blowjobs but there's no way anyone will ever find you in this place of madness.

Other than that, all is well. Setup went fine. It will be cold tomorrow. Well, 60 degrees. That is considered cold around these parts. In Ohio we go out and play water polo in the freshly thawed lake. Go figure.

Related to absolutely nothing, GO SEE 'DOOMSDAY". It totally rocks. Don't think about it too much. Just enjoy the pretty pictures. Double bonus? The use of Frankie Goes to Hollywoods "Two Tribes" during a car chase straight out of Mad Max 2.

I loose...

Well it looks like we won't be at Gulf Wars this year. (GW is the third largest SCA event around) Apparently we aren't good enough. We were good enough for four years, but in a terse email we were informed that our products didn't meet with the SCA pre-1600's time frame. It is true, our most popular selling corset is a Victorian pattern. We use period colors and material styles and make matching skirts, shirts and more. They look good. Also, many women wear then under their more period garb. We do make a more period design, but it doesn't as well because it's A) Not as pretty and B) Not as comfortable to wear.

I appealed to the Autocrat (the person who is in charge of the overall event) and asked for some leeway. But he seemed to have no testicles and meekly agreed with the period nazi who is in charge of merchanting. They claim that they are 'tightening up their standards' and I wasn't the only one who was reviewed. Really? I know at least one other merchant who sells stuff out of period and they haven't been given the boot. I think I will be sending my spies out to check on this situation to see if indeed anyone else is missing this year. I really suspect the reason we weren't asked back is that we had an argument with the Merchantocrat about a sheet wall she insisted we erect behind out booth last year. It was a stupid demand and we objected but in the end gave in. I try to be as polite and accommodating as I can.

And where did that get me? Hell I'm one of the most honest merchants I know. Really. I take my business very seriously. I bought a very nice tent to do this event specifically. I built a more period portable rack last year for this event. Meanwhile merchants who buy crap from China set up in barely disguised carports. Ahhhhrg.

I love the SCA and I have many friends in it, but sometimes people get way too high and mighty. It shouldn't bother me. There are other more profitable events I could do that don't involve two weeks on the road or camping. But I AM bothered. To be frank I take it as a personal insult. We own booths at three large Renaissance Fairs but aren't good enough for this event. Bah.

Someone comes to town, someone leaves town...

I've been in a pretty up mood of late. My brothers wedding was great and I am very happy for him. I've been helping a friend work on his place and putting my shop back in order which is a kind of Zen meditation. I'm not selling, not pushing anything. I'm enjoying the long Fall weather. But yesterday I got the news that I was hoping I wouldn't get. John Parker, the Glassblower at the Ohio Ren fair, passed away.

There's really no way to describe what a unique and cool guy this was. He was more active and full of life in his 70's than many people one third his age. His place was the heart of the show. There was always something going on there. He hosted potlucks, had music night, let people try out the pipe, had a million funny stories and genuinely loved life. He took shit from no one, especially the owner of the show.

And of course, he was a great artist. I am really gonna miss him.

Here's a pic I found of Parker in a rare moment of non tie-dyedness

Fracking whiner...

That would be me of course. I've barely moved in two days. I flip between cold and short bursts of fever where I sweat profusely. All the while generating huge amounts of lung butter and snot. The drugs seem to do nothing. I am getting very little done.

And then I remember my friend Patrick, who is undergoing Chemo and another friend who suffered a fucking stroke a week or so ago.

So at this point I will shut my damn pie hole about how bad I have it. I don't have it bad at all. I have a frackin cold.

My only worry now is getting stock and whether I'll be well enough to work this weekend. In my eighteen or so years doing this I haven't missed many work days. We can't afford to. The last time was food poisoning at the SCA event Gulf Wars. That took me out for two whole days and had me at half capacity the rest of the time. On the other hand I don't want to make my minions (or customers) sick. I have to go to Michigan, there's no avoiding that. But if I'm not better I might just hand the show off to them and keep resting.

Really Freakin tired...

The labor day weekend was, from a business perspective, ass-kickingly good. I think we broke our record up in Michigan. Ohio was slower, but was hampered by limited stock. Every one of my minions worked their asses off and it showed. I simply could not have done this by myself. Period.

The down side was that for whatever reason, I simply didn't sleep well at all. And by Monday I was dragging something fierce. I couldn't keep up. My throat was raw and my eyes hurt. Then I started getting call from Lindsey. Corsets were coming in with popped stays, corsets only a year old and gently worn. I had two customers with complaints up in Michigan. The cherry on this crap sandwich was a report that one corset came back because it had NO stays at all on one side. They hadn't popped out, they'd just not been inserted to begin with! Statistically, this is a really small number of corsets compared to what I sell every year, but I like to think I'm selling quality and durability.

I had to call Thomas, who was down at DragonCon (grr) and let him know that quality control needs to be reviewed. Seriously. I know it's not his direct fault, but he's the one I can talk to so he get to hear me bitch.

Oh, and the scratchy throat has now apparently blossomed into a cold. Joy.

Did I mention the tornado?

When we left for Michigan on Friday we were running late. It always happens. You forget stuff, the phone rings the cats need to be fed. Whatever. We weren't worried because we set up the tent at Camp Jellystone near the Michigan Ren last week and all we were going to do at the site was drop off more stock.

As a result of leaving late we caught the Detroit traffic and by the time we'd gotten past it we ran into the "Thunderstorms" that weather.com had said we would experience. What this turned out to be was a blotting out of the sun and a wall of water that slowed us to a crawl for a half hour. This was actually a good thing. When we arrived at the campground it appeared that a tornado might have strolled right on through. Power was out and trees were knocked down everywhere. Several camping trailers had been hit by falling trees and half the tents in the little rennie camp area had been destroyed or knocked down or flooded. Honestly, it looked a lot like Biloxi again. We rolled in just as people were coming out of hiding to check on things. Luckily, no one was hurt, which is amazing as several people rode out the storm IN their tents. Our tent was hit by several branches which bent one support and tore a small hole in the rain fly. But we were still standing and dry.

People at the camp wasted no time. Chainsaws appeared and limbs were dragged into huge piles. Everyone chipped in. Within an hour our area was relatively tree-free. I was also a filthy mess. I offered our tent to anyone who needed crash space and we spent the night with our friends Monkey and Diane near Detroit. Power was still out at the camp on Saturday night but we stayed there anyway.

I took a few pics with my phone camera but they just don't do the damage justice.

The fair opened despite the weather, having suffered no great damage from what I saw. And we proceeded to have one KICK ASS weekend in sales. The vibe at the shop was great and the team worked very well together, including a new minion named Michele.

The New addition to the family...

And here it is. Our new booth at the Great Lakes Medieval Faire. Obtaining it was an adventure fraught with stress and worry but in the end we got a good deal and a good booth.

Let the feast of a thousand geeks begin!

Day Two of GenCon. The biggest gaming con anywhere. How's it going? well, its not the feeding frenzy I was hoping for. But its still pretty good. I had dreams of screaming corset groupies grabbing fr any corset they could get their grubby hands on, clambering for any product we could throw at them. The money would pile up on the floor in heaps. After the show, I would make snow angels in it.

Alas, it has not gone quite that way. I'm still not complaining as sales are strong. The event site is MASSIVE. Lots to see. Many shiny objects to distract. I bought another swords, because, well...I have a problem and can't say no. I tried to cover myself by handing it to Rossana and saying I got it for her (it did fit her hand well) but she could see right through me.

Not a lot of pictures yet, but tomorrow is the day of the costume contest. I have my camera at the ready. There is a pc gaming section demoing Crysis, which looks very cool. No other cool clothing vendors that I've seen so far.

Last night the wifi went out in the motel. A call to the front desk informed us that it was a problem with AT&T. Apparently they were having trouble keeping up with 60,000 geeks trying to such down gigabytes of porn on free wifi connections. Go figure.

The city of Indianapolis is creeping me out. It's clean, well laid out, has friendly and courteous drivers and good signage. What the hell is wrong with these people?

Gotta sleep now. The big day is tomorrow.

Its go time

The party is almost here. We're down to the last few projects. I am very glad of this, because I feel like I have been in a perpetual state of filthy for the past 30+ days. Seriously. I have been covered in some kind of filth, paint, stain, mud, mortar or glue for over a month. I have destroyed two pairs of pants and three shirts. Rossana has worked even harder than I have and Lindsey has helped out with all kinds of no fun projects.

The end results though, are pretty impressive. I won't post any pics until after the party. It should be big. Today I hit the fireworks store and again I was UNSUPERVISED. I went way overboard this time. Really. This show will be amazing, but I'm going to need to put out a donation jar to try and recoup the large chunk of change I dropped on this fantasia. I have no ability to say No to things that go boom.

It will be great to see my friends. Sometimes this is the one time a year I get to see some of these people. After the party I'm going to visit my Dad up in Boston. Then it's back to work. Great Lakes Medieval Faire opens soon.

Pics of Paradise

Remember how I said that Arizona was one stunning looking fair? I took pics of the best looking booths for inspiration. If you want to see what Rennie Paradise looks like, here you go:

Arizona Ren Fair Booths