[hair/pictures] sometimes I wanna say / baby won't you braid my hair
I came, I saw, I braided.
Continuing in last year's tradition, I went to Arisia to deal braids. I again had flasher's lovely artwork to decorate my walls, and this year, I added in some chainmail jewelry pieces, the hobby I picked up last summer, as well as a few smaller things. I had modified my display book slightly and printed out some colorful braidy flier advertisements, and was ready for the onslaught of braidees.
Or so I thought.
I did a poor job of bookkeeping; I estimate I braided for about 20 hours over the course of the con, doing about 40 braids, with about 80% of that happening on the weekend proper. I got pictures of most, but not all of them (which will make their way to flickr eventually). I had made back all my con-related expenses by Saturday afternoon. And I had a great time doing it all.
Unfortunately, standing while braiding someone in a chair all day, leaning over slightly, then combining that with the mediocre hotel beds and not-my hotel pillows meant that my foot were sore and my back was distinctly stiff and crackly by Sunday afternoon. And not enough free time to go track down someone for massage. Fortunately, I don't think anything got significantly pulled, and a night (sleeping like the DEAD) back in my own wonderful bed has helped tremendously.
I braided a bunch of different people; some of my friends, several children, a few guys, the requisite person with disgusting hair, and a couple people who had great hair and wanted (and got) awesome, unique stuff. Like this beard braid. I french-braided from the top of his head, down his sideburns, and ended with a long tail down beneath his chin. When we left Monday, he still had it in. Woo! During my break on Monday, I took the opportunity to practice some more lettering on the original hair-symbol-pusher: left and right.
Outside of braiding, there was this con thing going on, although I regret to say I didn't see a whole lot of it (seems like my membership money is practically wasted. sheesh). I slipped into a couple other dealer's rooms, although apparently missed some beautiful hairsticks which were sold on the other end of the hallway. I made it to two parties, both of which I had a good time at, although might have been more enjoyable if I didn't have to worry about getting up in the morning. I even saw PotC: World's End with shayde, which was fun, even if the movie was a little brain-numbing (someone tell me why they got married?). I got to play with a bunny for a bit. I even got to poke my head into Fast Track, which really impressed me and made me very sad that the jboys couldn't be there with me. Maybe some year I'll manage to bring them.
And while my chainmail didn't do as well as the braiding, it was a very nice addition, attracted a lot of attention, and even sold several pieces. Enough that I feel justified in ordering more rings, so I can keep playing with it. Maybe I'll even get a web site up for it one of these days.
But all good things must come to an end, and boy am I thankful. By Monday, I was pretty much wiped, and the sore back didn't help a bit. I got dropped at the airport early and took a short nap on the seats, then spent the rest of my travel time catching up on my reading which I'd totally failed to make time for over the weekend. My house and cat were both happy to see me (or something like that), and tonight I'm enjoying relaxing with blankets and a book (and my laptop) and trying to be nice to a newly-developed mild sore throat. Bleh.
After this, I have no big plans on my calendar for another few months, and right now, I'm totally happy with that.
Continuing in last year's tradition, I went to Arisia to deal braids. I again had flasher's lovely artwork to decorate my walls, and this year, I added in some chainmail jewelry pieces, the hobby I picked up last summer, as well as a few smaller things. I had modified my display book slightly and printed out some colorful braidy flier advertisements, and was ready for the onslaught of braidees.
Or so I thought.
I did a poor job of bookkeeping; I estimate I braided for about 20 hours over the course of the con, doing about 40 braids, with about 80% of that happening on the weekend proper. I got pictures of most, but not all of them (which will make their way to flickr eventually). I had made back all my con-related expenses by Saturday afternoon. And I had a great time doing it all.
Unfortunately, standing while braiding someone in a chair all day, leaning over slightly, then combining that with the mediocre hotel beds and not-my hotel pillows meant that my foot were sore and my back was distinctly stiff and crackly by Sunday afternoon. And not enough free time to go track down someone for massage. Fortunately, I don't think anything got significantly pulled, and a night (sleeping like the DEAD) back in my own wonderful bed has helped tremendously.
I braided a bunch of different people; some of my friends, several children, a few guys, the requisite person with disgusting hair, and a couple people who had great hair and wanted (and got) awesome, unique stuff. Like this beard braid. I french-braided from the top of his head, down his sideburns, and ended with a long tail down beneath his chin. When we left Monday, he still had it in. Woo! During my break on Monday, I took the opportunity to practice some more lettering on the original hair-symbol-pusher: left and right.
Outside of braiding, there was this con thing going on, although I regret to say I didn't see a whole lot of it (seems like my membership money is practically wasted. sheesh). I slipped into a couple other dealer's rooms, although apparently missed some beautiful hairsticks which were sold on the other end of the hallway. I made it to two parties, both of which I had a good time at, although might have been more enjoyable if I didn't have to worry about getting up in the morning. I even saw PotC: World's End with shayde, which was fun, even if the movie was a little brain-numbing (someone tell me why they got married?). I got to play with a bunny for a bit. I even got to poke my head into Fast Track, which really impressed me and made me very sad that the jboys couldn't be there with me. Maybe some year I'll manage to bring them.
And while my chainmail didn't do as well as the braiding, it was a very nice addition, attracted a lot of attention, and even sold several pieces. Enough that I feel justified in ordering more rings, so I can keep playing with it. Maybe I'll even get a web site up for it one of these days.
But all good things must come to an end, and boy am I thankful. By Monday, I was pretty much wiped, and the sore back didn't help a bit. I got dropped at the airport early and took a short nap on the seats, then spent the rest of my travel time catching up on my reading which I'd totally failed to make time for over the weekend. My house and cat were both happy to see me (or something like that), and tonight I'm enjoying relaxing with blankets and a book (and my laptop) and trying to be nice to a newly-developed mild sore throat. Bleh.
After this, I have no big plans on my calendar for another few months, and right now, I'm totally happy with that.