Sep 13, 2010 11:59
So yesterday we went to the NY Ren Faire, a somewhat large event of that type. We had a lot of reasons for it to be a really good time - we had freidns down with their kids, it's a huge place with a zillion things to do, the weather was supposed to be overcast but decent, and Becky was super excited about it.
It ended up being a mixed experience. Instead of mild weather we got cold and wet, and I was under dressed (yeah, it's my fault, but it doesn't make any more fun of an outing). I popped something in my lower back Friday night and was bothered by it all day. Becky was good most of the time - sat enraptured by the living chess game, shrieked with delight on the crow's nest - but when she was bad, she was miserable, and Zack basically wore poor Laura out. I was impressed with some of the performers - Robin, Marian, Tuck, and Will Scarlett did a great job meeting us as we were wandering around and charming Becky (and terrifying Zack). They were patient, funny, and went to great lengths to try to get Zack to come out from behind Laura's legs.
So why am I so ambivalent about Ren faires? Is it the constant hucksterism? I'm not a person who likes to be hard-sold. If I come into your shop, ask me if I want help or have questions once. Please don't hover. Please don't make suggestions. It's not what appeals to me. I understand that at Ren Faires it's part of the schitck, but that doesn't mean I'm more willing to accept it.
But I think my disconnect with Rens is that I always feel like an outsider not in on the joke. Obviously the performers know each other and there's tons of inside jokes between them, and from the few I've known they tend to party hard when the days are over. So am I picking up on that they're performing for marks, such as it is? And in that vein, do we put out that vibe doing OW?
I hope not, I truly do. We are certainly guilty of having fun between ourselves and indeed Scaz has chided a group of us for 'self-masturbatory roleplaying' (at which we were only somewhat guilty - at the point he said that we realized the participants who had been right there with us had headed off to bed, but before that we were establishing characters as much as goofing around) and any OW person can immediately pick up on one of a thousand running jokes right away - but are we as excluding as I feel of the staff at Rens? Or do I just feel the outsider because I'm not dressed at a Ren?
Wow. ramble-y. The end product of writing something stretched over 4 hours at work, the train of thought wanders down many different tracks. In other news, I took 2 days off (!) and Laura and I went up by the O'kulpells. Our intention was to get a tour of Boston but we didn't even set foot in town, instead settling for having a great time with our friends. I am evidently the worst Lunch Money player ever, but only at closing the deal, since everyone loves beating on my theater major. We spent all Thursday and Friday laughing. Friday we went to see Peg run Finn, which was cool and unusual. When they finally went I was watching Finn and the excitement was easy to see on him, but then Laura nudged me and told me to look at Peg, who was simply radiant as she ran with a huge smile on her face. She seemed so happy. It was nice to be part of that.
We had a great time with the Rothauser clan plus Kisha as well, including a really fun game of Munchkin (which I'd never played before). It took a while, but at the end everyone was 9th level and all blocking cards were exhausted keeping Greg and myself from reaching level 10, allowing Laura to take the win. And now I'm back at work, with much confusion and a balky back and nagging my friends again to sign up for OW (which will be fruitless, no doubt, as I'll hear 'next year, I promise' numerous times). Ugh.