pyroguysr's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPENING WEEKEND @ MDRF *yawns and stretches* OK, first weekend of the Maryland Renaissance Festival is over and... We had a record opening weekend! YAY! Anyhow, I scribbled down some notes and now I'm going to try and recapture some of the "magic" of it all... I know I'm gonna fail miserably, but I'm still going to try... It was an amazing thing to watch over the past few weeks. When we first arrived, the buildings were weathered from the long winter and the wet spring. Mud had slid down the hills and into the shops. Several places were dug up as the festival owners tried to comply with the assinine, political, bureaucratic nonesense that is issued by the Anne Arundel County Board. They were told to put in more septic tanks... one for each food vendor. Sheesh... as if one large one couldn't do... no, they had to be separate smaller ones. So things got dug up. Concrete got planted... then everything got buried, tamped down and covered with mulch. Pretty pretty... What was nice to see was the place slowly coming to life over the past few weeks... signs being repainted, wood repaired, booths being filled, familiar faces appearing, hugs being distributed and friendships being renewed. You could feel the excitement building in a palpable sense. While we were working on the booth, we got to witness the evening rehersals for the various stage acts going on. One company is doing Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" and it was fun watching the dancers, etc, piece together their individual routines... and then watch as it all "came together" the last two nights. We built a table and some benches in the back that work really well and provide us with a nice, comfortable view. The only bad thing about the week is how dangerously close to absolutely fuckin broke we got. I mean, I don't have much anymore as it is and... well, lets say I just got VERY creative in my shopping and managed to buy a large london broil for just over $3. I made two meals with it. Yes, I went on a "poor college student" diet... got very creative with Ramen soups... FINALLY! Opening Day! The cannon went off and the gates opened... a half-hour earlier this year... but boy what a day! First, this cute lil red-headed wench comes up to me and asks me where the White Hart Tavern is (right around the corner from us) and she tells me she is a "trash wench"... naturally, I curl my moustache in a most manly manner and tell her, "Good! I love my wench's to be trashy!" LOL... Poor girl blushed... of course, she was only about 12 or 13... The day went on and I ventured out with the Zard under my arm (a large dragon that we make) and I was making my rounds, trying to get lil kids to hug the dragon and trying to drag kisses out of the older ladies. The Zard has these huge, blue eyes, so I bat my eyelashes and call out to the ladies that walk by: "How can you walk past these bee-YOU-tee-ful blue eyes and not want to give him a hug and a kiss?" They usually stop and then relent, giving it to Zard. I then look hurt and say "Um, I meant ME!" LOL It was hot... and HUMID... did I mention how hot and humid it was? MAN it was hot and humid. You would break into a sweat by THINKING! Anyway, I walked around and one of my fav rose sellers, Joy, came up to me (the other fave rose seller being my former landlady, Mistress Tiger, the Evil Rose Kitty). Now, last year, Joy was having a hard time selling roses. She's cute as a button, but had no sales pitch, no act... she just asked you if you wanted to buy a rose. I taught her to flirt last year. *grins* She was a quick learner; she flirted with me the next time she saw me... in front of her mom! *laughs* This year, Joy came up to me, rubbed against me suggestively and licked my ear before whispering "Do you want to buy a rose, baby?" I had to laugh. And guess what? I found $6 in my pouch that I'd left in it from last year!!! So I sent a rose and gave Joy a huge tip! She's such a cutie. A friend of ours nicknamed "Gumby" (long story) agreed to help us out in the booth. He and I worked together well. When folks would stand outside, (especially males with their females) he would go (in a loud stage whisper) "Pssst! Come in here" They'd come in to see what he wanted and he'd tell the ladies to go talk to me... then to the guys, he'd say, "Nothing doth say 'I diggeth this chick' more than her own personal dragon!" We got lots of laughs with that one... plus we'd fan them with our fans and tell them we were the only shop in the shire with the latest in medieval air conditioning. I think we sold two or three expensive dragons by handing out water, fanning the customers and making them laugh. Then came the massages. Gumby is a soon-to-be Reiki master and I don't do a bad job myself. We got one woman to come in with her boyfriend/husband. By the time Gumby and I got through with her, she was a giggly, glutenous puddle atop our counter and telling her guy that she wanted to take us both home with them. He didn't quite see the humor in it, so Gumby went over and began to massage him, which mellowed him out as well. *laughs* Later, the lady came back with two female friends (sans their guys) and asked us to give them all massages. We complied and they truly enjoyed it, rotating from his chair to mine. Afterward, there were kisses all around, as well as groping hugs and suggestive remarks... *laughing* One of the married ones asked if Gumby was "single." I asked what she meant by that, because, well, there is 'single' and then there is 'single." You see, Gumby wears this little rainbow piece of chainmail...* Then my trashy... I mean, my "trash wench" came back... I gave her a wonderful shoulder massage because she'd been working hard all day. She told me I was "nice." I returned that I was "the biggest perv at the Fest" and I think I freaked her a little. I assured her I was mostly harmless, though and she relaxed. She even tried to tip me! I told her "no, I got paid by the positive vibes you gave off" I think I frightened her away though. She wasn't back on Sunday... then again, neither was Joy. Some kids only work on Saturdays, though. On both days, I got visited by the Brownie Goddess. She gives out sweets she bakes to all the performers and new kids because, when it's hot like this, they forget to eat. It gives them a bit of a sugar boost and then they realize they are hungry. We ate at Ground Round on Saturday, sitting with a couple members of the Pyrates Royale (a fun Renny band) and had a wonderful time. (They actually began to perform a tune at the White Hart that I suggested called "Bugger Off"). Sunday, we went out for Korean food. I'm sorry, I'm just not into it. It was interesting, but not what I was hungry for. SO, all in all, it was a wonderfully successful weekend. We had our best opening sales amount ever. I got to talk to Wenchy on Saturday night (I spoke briefly to her roomy on Friday! LOL) and I'll try to call her tonight as well... if she's not out partying her arse off again! Anyway, that was the week that was. Now I'm in Raleigh again until Thursday, when we head back up to Baltimore. I'll be offline for a longer while then. I love you all! * If you gals see a guy wearing either "rainbow" chainmail or a blue feather in his cap at a Renaissance Faire, it will be rather difficult to seduce him... unless you offer up either your husband, brother or boyfriend... if you get my drift. 8:51 p.m. - 2004-08-30 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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