Bonding weekend
Ymir: A longer than usual drive for a local event, but the new event site was well worth the drive. Best event site I've seen for this Barony. Beautiful 4-H camp with lots of great rustic indoor space, with flat well-drained ground. Great vibe. So many old friends came out of the woodwork to attend. It had all the warm fuzzies of Ye Olden Tymes (late 80's/early 90's). I would have happily stayed to the wee hours, but Gary was with me and was ready to call it a day by 2PM, having come mainly to see Signy's squiring to Cuan. It bugged me to benefit from the hospitality of Houses Tremayne and Honey Badger and not being available to help with tear down. I also hate that I missed Artus' viking funeral. In future I'll drive separately unless I have options for catching a ride back.
Castle Carnevale: I'm 100% positive that this will be my last time attending any Castle Carnevale events. My quick return from Ymir gave me plenty of time to unpack from the event, throw together an outfit and make the drive out. I was greeted at the ticket booth with a rapey $50 door fee. I've paid at the gate for this event before, but it was never this steep - nearly double the pre-paid price. The quality of the live bands and DJs seemed to have dropped a lot and there were very few vendors. Fabulous site, but even more crowded than usual. Lots of drunk. Lots of "Whoo!", "Hey. HEY! Wassyoname?", "Beads fer Tiddies!", "You look like a SNACK," etc. Also "BeetlejuiceBeetlejuiceBeetlejuice!" at least six times re: my outfit, which made me smile. I did meet a few nice people, and some friends were there, but yeah. Not going back. I'd trade it any day for the the feeling I had at Ymir or the warm fuzzies after a goth night at Arcana. At Castle Carnevale I feel like an attraction at a zoo that serves alcohol.
Connections: In addition to reconecting at Ymir, I met five ex-colleagues for dinner at Brier Creek. Took forever to get a table, orders taken and food served, but that gave us more much needed bonding time. Nice to see that the emotional connections are stronger than ever.
Misc: Got some errands done, including returning some stuff to the store rather than losing the receipt and being stuck with things I don't need. Had some nice bonding time with the dogs, and a good catch-up chat with the Domie. Also got a decent start on a book of Esoterica that I bought over the summer. I'd been afraid that it had been a frivolous impulse purchase, doomed to gather dust on a shelf, but it turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.
Now to focus on work...
.
Castle Carnevale: I'm 100% positive that this will be my last time attending any Castle Carnevale events. My quick return from Ymir gave me plenty of time to unpack from the event, throw together an outfit and make the drive out. I was greeted at the ticket booth with a rapey $50 door fee. I've paid at the gate for this event before, but it was never this steep - nearly double the pre-paid price. The quality of the live bands and DJs seemed to have dropped a lot and there were very few vendors. Fabulous site, but even more crowded than usual. Lots of drunk. Lots of "Whoo!", "Hey. HEY! Wassyoname?", "Beads fer Tiddies!", "You look like a SNACK," etc. Also "BeetlejuiceBeetlejuiceBeetlejuice!" at least six times re: my outfit, which made me smile. I did meet a few nice people, and some friends were there, but yeah. Not going back. I'd trade it any day for the the feeling I had at Ymir or the warm fuzzies after a goth night at Arcana. At Castle Carnevale I feel like an attraction at a zoo that serves alcohol.
Connections: In addition to reconecting at Ymir, I met five ex-colleagues for dinner at Brier Creek. Took forever to get a table, orders taken and food served, but that gave us more much needed bonding time. Nice to see that the emotional connections are stronger than ever.
Misc: Got some errands done, including returning some stuff to the store rather than losing the receipt and being stuck with things I don't need. Had some nice bonding time with the dogs, and a good catch-up chat with the Domie. Also got a decent start on a book of Esoterica that I bought over the summer. I'd been afraid that it had been a frivolous impulse purchase, doomed to gather dust on a shelf, but it turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.
Now to focus on work...
.