Estrella War 2010: Best one EVAR
Wow. Did I mention wow? War this year was by far the best one I've been to since I started going. So much happened.... so much it was insane. I ended up sitting down and talking with some uber-amazing people and really enjoying it AND I got to spend a week with my beloved Char. *sigh* I'm super sad it's over now, but man was that a head trip to say the least!
Attempted recap of the festivities:
Tuesday: Got to site bright and early. Set up camp fairly quickly which was a good thing. Once again "WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' BOYS!!!" was the mantra of the day (although Tamlin and Jakob were there, but they didn't count as boys). Char came and did a pretty good job with helping out. That night we hit up Aten Royal and hung out for a bit which was fun. Went over to Nightwolf afterward and just hung out talking and whatnot with people. Closed the night out pretty late as usual.
Wednesday: Viking clothes that day. I looked good :o) Started showing Char the ropes of stuff and whatnot. Didn't go wiggling that night; instead hit up Nightwolf and we sang and laughed.... a lot. My sides hurt from laughing so hard :o) Got lots of hugs..... kept warm at a fire and smiled and snickered and heaven help me but going to bed was something I did not want to do.
Thursday: English garb. I was pleased with how it looked. Michael Kelly (super awesome bard buddy of mine) and I sat down for most of the day and worked on the Clan Nightwolf song that Jonas asked me to write. Michael's from Canada and I only see him once a year at Estrella so I try to usurp as much of his time as I can. We kept bouncing ideas off of each other and before I knew it the time had passed and it was dinnertime. Changed into wiggle clothes, then Char and I went on walk-about and danced here and there some. I also went singing with Michael at Frog Daddy's camp, now renamed Terra Scorpia. We had a ton of fun singing there; a gentleman asked for Shanendoah and I sang it for him and he was in awe about it. Made me happy that I could do that. I ended up at Nightwolf and had way too much fun teasing people about stuff (note: Remember not to wear pigtails and say "yes daddy", it gets you in trouble). Steffan and I ended up on top of the pallace-aid (sp?) talking and spying on people. We had some cool conversations regarding life and other nonsense. Came down and stayed at the fire pit with Sagar and Michael some. There was much singing to be had amongst other things. More hugs and snuggles and keeping warm by a fire. I love campfires at war, and I love snuggles even more.
Friday: Busy day. Helped Dairine and Jakob with their class on Dutch Oven cooking. Showered which was a dream come true let me tell you. Then Michael and I finished up the Nightwolf song and sang it for Sagar, Jonas and Dug. Jonas LOVED IT. He was all "You captured the story. You did it." I tentatively titled it "Remember: The Nightwolf Song" but we'll see if it sticks or not. Michael and I hit up merchants row so he could sing for friends and we sang it together and man did it sound f-ing amazing. I'm stoked about it still now. Had to leave merchants and go get ready......... I was the MC for the night at the Royals feast. Patrick the Butcher was the first performer; he did "Here's a Health to the company" and ROCKED it let me tell you. Yonaton and Ilora did their Hamlet skit and it was hysterical to say the least. The Whiskey Bards were kind enough to allow me to sing 4th part with them for some of their songs and it worked out quite nicely. I ended the night with "Fairy Story" complete with Simon and Cosimo acting it out. It was pure brilliance. Kid you not. The royals were pleased and the Whiskey Bards were so proud of me :o) Went home and changed into wiggle clothes, then went to Nightwolf. I wasn't feeling the scene there that night so I headed over to Red Hands and Patrick (my rockstar 'cause he rocked it that night) sang "The Frog Prince" for me and I danced and danced and LOVED IT!!!! We had such a fun time rocking out that night.... as I was heading out Baron Christopher from Ered Sul pulled me aside and told me that he and his wife Baroness Miana were talking that night while they were watching me dance and that they both loved me because I'm able to go and play the SCA in the proper form, then I "turn to the dark side" at night and rock out as a jingle bunny. They loved watching me dance and they're so happy to be friends with me :oD Totally made my heart sing. Went back over to Nightwolf and just laughed and talked with people; I was on my own high. Sat around talking and giggling that night at the campfire and singing with Michael when he busted out the guitar. We had way too much fun with singing and I didn't sing nearly enough with him it seems. Surprised him that night which definitely made me smile some :o) Also got to talk with Sagar and he's an amazing guy. Seriously. I'm glad we talked some because I felt a little better afterward.
Saturday: Saturday was a crazy day of randomness. Wandered a lot. Hit up merchant's row a lot. Talked a lot with Char and we both over-analyzed things which is what we do. Talked some with Steffan and felt a little better. Got hugs from people and talked a lot with people. Had a good conversation with Michael about music and whatnot and felt a lot better. Helped with setting up the children's area for Ilora's vigil. Realized that I'm so not ready to have to deal with kids; I've got quite a few years before I do that. After dinner it was time for Known World court. Magdelen had asked me to do a "medieval cheerleading squad" for TRM in honor of Team Eduard vs. Team Be'la. I rocked it. Called up ladies to belly dance with me, then did what's called a hakka (sp?) where the Red Hands tribe played drums and I yelled over them. I finished it out with a deep backbend and it was just perfect. I was so excited, had such an adrenaline rush :o) Went home and changed, then headed out for the Odysseus show that Red Hands Tribe/Grand Alliance put on. Wow. Can I just say wow? That show was f-ing awesome. Seriously. They outdid themselves. They told the story of Odysseus returns with belly dancing and singing and drumming and homg it was breathtaking to say the least. Michael came late to the show and was really bummed that he had missed most of it, but man oh man. Owen, Isabeau and I saw the whole thing and it was impressive to say the least. Patrick my rockstar rocked that show like uber whoa. Afterwards Michael and I went campfire hopping and had a ton of fun singing together. I like to think we make good music together, but that's just me. Once again this was a night where I did not want to go to bed and went home waaaaaay too late.
Sunday: A slightly more relaxed day. I participated in the A&S display and had quite a few people come up and thank me both for the performing at the Royals Feast and for the show I did for Known World Court. Woot. Sang quite a bit; I was a 'medieval jukebox' and people seemed to enjoy that. I had one gentleman, Uco from Twin Moons, who came up to me and the conversation was as follows-
Uco- "You're Inara? Oh my goodness it's such an honor to finally meet you! I've heard so much about you!"
Me- "You mean I have word fame?"
Uco- "Oh, you have word fame. You have word fame. We just like to lurk a bit and keep quiet until the time is right, but yes, you have word fame, and you are awesome."
Being told that people know my name? HOMG that is what I call f-ing spectacular. I was shooting the moon at that point. People liked my cheese that Dairine and I had made, they enjoyed my singing, were impressed by my sewing and all in all made me happy. I also got to sing the SCA filk of "leaving on a jet plane" for Mistress Amy Marie and I was excited about that. Wandered a bit with Rabbit after the display; we went and bought anniversary gifts for one another. This year's Estrella was our 3rd year together. Craziness I tell you. Went home for snacks, then went to Atenveldt Grand Court. Rabbit sang with the Whiskey Bards for Ilora's elevation to become a Pelican. I cried so much, such happy tears. I was so excited for her. Eden got offered her pelican which was also totally awesome. This reign has been one of pure shock and surprise. I performed in the Family and Bawdy concerts and rocked it as Yonaton put it. People enjoyed themselves and I was quite pleased with that. Went to Nightwolf and shut it down, then Levi and I stayed up crazy late talking. Yet another person who I'm glad I got to talk to. I started thinking too much which happens late at night like that, but things were quelched after much talking and whispers and whatnot. Yay for fireside chats and hugs and being with people who are important to me.
Monday: Woke up early-ish and ran over to buy CDs from Michael and say goodbye. I cannot stand saying goodbye, so I tried to keep it light in an effort not to cry. Sucks a lot let me tell you. We tore down camp and were off site by 1pm which is damned good for us. I was happy. Went back and unpacked the trailer at Jakob's house then we divvied up food and I went home. Watched Gamer with Rabbit; weird movie but still pretty good. Went to bed about 8pm-ish, then slept until 10:30ish the next morning. I needed to sleep.
I've got a new Atenveldt song bouncing around in my head which I'm a bit excited about. I need to practice the guitar more; I only pulled it out twice and only played it once. Oh well. Have songs to learn and write and people to send songs to and just a whole bunch of excitement mixed in with sadness. This was by far the best was I've been to. Evar. Seriously. I'm on such a high from it that it's not even funny. I'm so excited, SO EXCITED. I had such an amazing time and I'm super bummed that it had to end. *sigh* I miss my friends and campfire singing and stories and I wish that people didn't have to leave. However, on an upside, Char is looking at moving back down to Tucson which is f-ing awesome; I'll have my bestie back! Then I'll have all my besties altogether in the same city :o) Happy times, very happy times. Glad I went and so glad I had so much fun. All the prep was worth it because it was a hell of a success. Can't wait 'til next year.
@~>~~
Attempted recap of the festivities:
Tuesday: Got to site bright and early. Set up camp fairly quickly which was a good thing. Once again "WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' BOYS!!!" was the mantra of the day (although Tamlin and Jakob were there, but they didn't count as boys). Char came and did a pretty good job with helping out. That night we hit up Aten Royal and hung out for a bit which was fun. Went over to Nightwolf afterward and just hung out talking and whatnot with people. Closed the night out pretty late as usual.
Wednesday: Viking clothes that day. I looked good :o) Started showing Char the ropes of stuff and whatnot. Didn't go wiggling that night; instead hit up Nightwolf and we sang and laughed.... a lot. My sides hurt from laughing so hard :o) Got lots of hugs..... kept warm at a fire and smiled and snickered and heaven help me but going to bed was something I did not want to do.
Thursday: English garb. I was pleased with how it looked. Michael Kelly (super awesome bard buddy of mine) and I sat down for most of the day and worked on the Clan Nightwolf song that Jonas asked me to write. Michael's from Canada and I only see him once a year at Estrella so I try to usurp as much of his time as I can. We kept bouncing ideas off of each other and before I knew it the time had passed and it was dinnertime. Changed into wiggle clothes, then Char and I went on walk-about and danced here and there some. I also went singing with Michael at Frog Daddy's camp, now renamed Terra Scorpia. We had a ton of fun singing there; a gentleman asked for Shanendoah and I sang it for him and he was in awe about it. Made me happy that I could do that. I ended up at Nightwolf and had way too much fun teasing people about stuff (note: Remember not to wear pigtails and say "yes daddy", it gets you in trouble). Steffan and I ended up on top of the pallace-aid (sp?) talking and spying on people. We had some cool conversations regarding life and other nonsense. Came down and stayed at the fire pit with Sagar and Michael some. There was much singing to be had amongst other things. More hugs and snuggles and keeping warm by a fire. I love campfires at war, and I love snuggles even more.
Friday: Busy day. Helped Dairine and Jakob with their class on Dutch Oven cooking. Showered which was a dream come true let me tell you. Then Michael and I finished up the Nightwolf song and sang it for Sagar, Jonas and Dug. Jonas LOVED IT. He was all "You captured the story. You did it." I tentatively titled it "Remember: The Nightwolf Song" but we'll see if it sticks or not. Michael and I hit up merchants row so he could sing for friends and we sang it together and man did it sound f-ing amazing. I'm stoked about it still now. Had to leave merchants and go get ready......... I was the MC for the night at the Royals feast. Patrick the Butcher was the first performer; he did "Here's a Health to the company" and ROCKED it let me tell you. Yonaton and Ilora did their Hamlet skit and it was hysterical to say the least. The Whiskey Bards were kind enough to allow me to sing 4th part with them for some of their songs and it worked out quite nicely. I ended the night with "Fairy Story" complete with Simon and Cosimo acting it out. It was pure brilliance. Kid you not. The royals were pleased and the Whiskey Bards were so proud of me :o) Went home and changed into wiggle clothes, then went to Nightwolf. I wasn't feeling the scene there that night so I headed over to Red Hands and Patrick (my rockstar 'cause he rocked it that night) sang "The Frog Prince" for me and I danced and danced and LOVED IT!!!! We had such a fun time rocking out that night.... as I was heading out Baron Christopher from Ered Sul pulled me aside and told me that he and his wife Baroness Miana were talking that night while they were watching me dance and that they both loved me because I'm able to go and play the SCA in the proper form, then I "turn to the dark side" at night and rock out as a jingle bunny. They loved watching me dance and they're so happy to be friends with me :oD Totally made my heart sing. Went back over to Nightwolf and just laughed and talked with people; I was on my own high. Sat around talking and giggling that night at the campfire and singing with Michael when he busted out the guitar. We had way too much fun with singing and I didn't sing nearly enough with him it seems. Surprised him that night which definitely made me smile some :o) Also got to talk with Sagar and he's an amazing guy. Seriously. I'm glad we talked some because I felt a little better afterward.
Saturday: Saturday was a crazy day of randomness. Wandered a lot. Hit up merchant's row a lot. Talked a lot with Char and we both over-analyzed things which is what we do. Talked some with Steffan and felt a little better. Got hugs from people and talked a lot with people. Had a good conversation with Michael about music and whatnot and felt a lot better. Helped with setting up the children's area for Ilora's vigil. Realized that I'm so not ready to have to deal with kids; I've got quite a few years before I do that. After dinner it was time for Known World court. Magdelen had asked me to do a "medieval cheerleading squad" for TRM in honor of Team Eduard vs. Team Be'la. I rocked it. Called up ladies to belly dance with me, then did what's called a hakka (sp?) where the Red Hands tribe played drums and I yelled over them. I finished it out with a deep backbend and it was just perfect. I was so excited, had such an adrenaline rush :o) Went home and changed, then headed out for the Odysseus show that Red Hands Tribe/Grand Alliance put on. Wow. Can I just say wow? That show was f-ing awesome. Seriously. They outdid themselves. They told the story of Odysseus returns with belly dancing and singing and drumming and homg it was breathtaking to say the least. Michael came late to the show and was really bummed that he had missed most of it, but man oh man. Owen, Isabeau and I saw the whole thing and it was impressive to say the least. Patrick my rockstar rocked that show like uber whoa. Afterwards Michael and I went campfire hopping and had a ton of fun singing together. I like to think we make good music together, but that's just me. Once again this was a night where I did not want to go to bed and went home waaaaaay too late.
Sunday: A slightly more relaxed day. I participated in the A&S display and had quite a few people come up and thank me both for the performing at the Royals Feast and for the show I did for Known World Court. Woot. Sang quite a bit; I was a 'medieval jukebox' and people seemed to enjoy that. I had one gentleman, Uco from Twin Moons, who came up to me and the conversation was as follows-
Uco- "You're Inara? Oh my goodness it's such an honor to finally meet you! I've heard so much about you!"
Me- "You mean I have word fame?"
Uco- "Oh, you have word fame. You have word fame. We just like to lurk a bit and keep quiet until the time is right, but yes, you have word fame, and you are awesome."
Being told that people know my name? HOMG that is what I call f-ing spectacular. I was shooting the moon at that point. People liked my cheese that Dairine and I had made, they enjoyed my singing, were impressed by my sewing and all in all made me happy. I also got to sing the SCA filk of "leaving on a jet plane" for Mistress Amy Marie and I was excited about that. Wandered a bit with Rabbit after the display; we went and bought anniversary gifts for one another. This year's Estrella was our 3rd year together. Craziness I tell you. Went home for snacks, then went to Atenveldt Grand Court. Rabbit sang with the Whiskey Bards for Ilora's elevation to become a Pelican. I cried so much, such happy tears. I was so excited for her. Eden got offered her pelican which was also totally awesome. This reign has been one of pure shock and surprise. I performed in the Family and Bawdy concerts and rocked it as Yonaton put it. People enjoyed themselves and I was quite pleased with that. Went to Nightwolf and shut it down, then Levi and I stayed up crazy late talking. Yet another person who I'm glad I got to talk to. I started thinking too much which happens late at night like that, but things were quelched after much talking and whispers and whatnot. Yay for fireside chats and hugs and being with people who are important to me.
Monday: Woke up early-ish and ran over to buy CDs from Michael and say goodbye. I cannot stand saying goodbye, so I tried to keep it light in an effort not to cry. Sucks a lot let me tell you. We tore down camp and were off site by 1pm which is damned good for us. I was happy. Went back and unpacked the trailer at Jakob's house then we divvied up food and I went home. Watched Gamer with Rabbit; weird movie but still pretty good. Went to bed about 8pm-ish, then slept until 10:30ish the next morning. I needed to sleep.
I've got a new Atenveldt song bouncing around in my head which I'm a bit excited about. I need to practice the guitar more; I only pulled it out twice and only played it once. Oh well. Have songs to learn and write and people to send songs to and just a whole bunch of excitement mixed in with sadness. This was by far the best was I've been to. Evar. Seriously. I'm on such a high from it that it's not even funny. I'm so excited, SO EXCITED. I had such an amazing time and I'm super bummed that it had to end. *sigh* I miss my friends and campfire singing and stories and I wish that people didn't have to leave. However, on an upside, Char is looking at moving back down to Tucson which is f-ing awesome; I'll have my bestie back! Then I'll have all my besties altogether in the same city :o) Happy times, very happy times. Glad I went and so glad I had so much fun. All the prep was worth it because it was a hell of a success. Can't wait 'til next year.
@~>~~