Back from Wicked Faire
I have just had the most amazing day.
I spent most of yesterday at the Wicked Faire in Somerset, with my friends coyotegrrrl and spiritonparole. I wasn't sure beforehand if I even wanted to go. I'd never been one for Ren Faires or similar entertainments, and the organization of this faire was such that I wasn't sure even a week beforehand what would be going on there or even if the convention would happen. But the convention proved me wrong. Disorganized as it was, Wicked Faire was full of such awesome events, vendors, and people that I'm now wishing I'd been able to spend the entire weekend there instead of just one day. Although looking back on everything, it's hard to believe that all that happened in just one day.
I saw bellydance performances by Desert Reveries and Troop Nimidae, salacious folk songs by Flirts of Fancie, and listed to and laught at Lilith Lore's twisted storytelling. I saw an amazing burlesque performance by The White Elephant Burlesque Society - standing room only in an overpacked show room, my legs were sore, my ears half-deaf, and my feet pins-and-needles afterwards but it was so so worth it. I danced a bit at the Unbirthday party to the music of Coyote Run. I'm still a terrible dancer, yet nobody cared and I had fun.
I brought the robot as requested by everyone who knew it, walked it around and entertained many people. Reactions at Wicked Faire ran a lot more towards "That's adorable" than "Kill it!" or "That's creepy, get it away" than at Gencon. Over the course of the day the robot stripped two gearboxes. I was able to replace them and keep it going, but it reinforces the lesson that the Hitec HS-5645MG servos have a flawed design. They always break in exactly the same place. The Towerpro MG995 servos I tried earlier had terrible position control and motors that burned out, but really robust gears in comparison. I might be able to put together a hybrid servo using the control boards and motors from the Hitec servos and the gears from the Towerpro servos. Needs some tinkering.
coyotegrrrl and spiritonparole gave me a joint birthday present - a set of clip-on magnifying lenses for my glasses. They meant it as a piece of costuming gear, which it will be, but it will also be incredibly useful both for my hand-made electronic jewelry and for my day job, whenever I need to inspect near-microscopic solder joints for flaws. I have such awesome friends.
My electronic jewelry business got a real kick to get going at the Faire. I brought three of my little glowing pendants to show off - one finished and polished one, and two working but less-finished, slightly rougher models I built this week. coyotegrrrl also wore the one I gave her. I had people throwing money at me, begging me to sell even the unfinished models to them. I ended up selling the finished one and one of the rougher models for a really ridiculous amount of money I'm astonished anyone would pay, and had many more people saying that they would have done the same if I had more models to sell. My wife's face when I came home and dropped a wad of cash in front of her was a sight to see. I'm aiming to have at least ten made in time for the Steampunk World's Faire in May, and have set up an Etsy profile page for online sales.
So to sum up: Yesterday was the best day I've had in a long time. Wicked Faire was amazing. I've opened a lucrative side business selling steampunky electronic jewelry. And my friends are awesome.
I spent most of yesterday at the Wicked Faire in Somerset, with my friends coyotegrrrl and spiritonparole. I wasn't sure beforehand if I even wanted to go. I'd never been one for Ren Faires or similar entertainments, and the organization of this faire was such that I wasn't sure even a week beforehand what would be going on there or even if the convention would happen. But the convention proved me wrong. Disorganized as it was, Wicked Faire was full of such awesome events, vendors, and people that I'm now wishing I'd been able to spend the entire weekend there instead of just one day. Although looking back on everything, it's hard to believe that all that happened in just one day.
I saw bellydance performances by Desert Reveries and Troop Nimidae, salacious folk songs by Flirts of Fancie, and listed to and laught at Lilith Lore's twisted storytelling. I saw an amazing burlesque performance by The White Elephant Burlesque Society - standing room only in an overpacked show room, my legs were sore, my ears half-deaf, and my feet pins-and-needles afterwards but it was so so worth it. I danced a bit at the Unbirthday party to the music of Coyote Run. I'm still a terrible dancer, yet nobody cared and I had fun.
I brought the robot as requested by everyone who knew it, walked it around and entertained many people. Reactions at Wicked Faire ran a lot more towards "That's adorable" than "Kill it!" or "That's creepy, get it away" than at Gencon. Over the course of the day the robot stripped two gearboxes. I was able to replace them and keep it going, but it reinforces the lesson that the Hitec HS-5645MG servos have a flawed design. They always break in exactly the same place. The Towerpro MG995 servos I tried earlier had terrible position control and motors that burned out, but really robust gears in comparison. I might be able to put together a hybrid servo using the control boards and motors from the Hitec servos and the gears from the Towerpro servos. Needs some tinkering.
coyotegrrrl and spiritonparole gave me a joint birthday present - a set of clip-on magnifying lenses for my glasses. They meant it as a piece of costuming gear, which it will be, but it will also be incredibly useful both for my hand-made electronic jewelry and for my day job, whenever I need to inspect near-microscopic solder joints for flaws. I have such awesome friends.
My electronic jewelry business got a real kick to get going at the Faire. I brought three of my little glowing pendants to show off - one finished and polished one, and two working but less-finished, slightly rougher models I built this week. coyotegrrrl also wore the one I gave her. I had people throwing money at me, begging me to sell even the unfinished models to them. I ended up selling the finished one and one of the rougher models for a really ridiculous amount of money I'm astonished anyone would pay, and had many more people saying that they would have done the same if I had more models to sell. My wife's face when I came home and dropped a wad of cash in front of her was a sight to see. I'm aiming to have at least ten made in time for the Steampunk World's Faire in May, and have set up an Etsy profile page for online sales.
So to sum up: Yesterday was the best day I've had in a long time. Wicked Faire was amazing. I've opened a lucrative side business selling steampunky electronic jewelry. And my friends are awesome.