Weekend 6- Mixed Bag

This weekend had to be one of the hardest weekends to get through. For the most part I have no idea why, and have every idea why.

First of all- I'm tired. I haven't slept through the night all week (last night included). The only night I didn't wake up at 2AM was Saturday night. I'm hoping this week will be different. I'm praying this week will be different. I don't know why I can't sleep through the night. It's not like I'm not active during the day, I have a decent diet, I don't consume large amounts of caffeine or sugar before bed.

Second of all- We're past mid season and I know the Faire is going to be closing soon. I was looking around on Sunday and suddenly had de-ja-vu to my first Faire weekend. I only have three weekends left of what has been the best experience of my life.

Thirdly- College classes start again in two weeks. I'm looking forward to my classes, but not the environment that I'll be in.

Fourthly- I very dear childhood dress-up-dress of mine was partially demolished Friday night. I've had this dress since before I was 4 years old. It was my "pretty" dress, my princess dress, my garden dress. I'm not girly and I love this dress. I wanted to pass this dress on to my little cousin (the daughter of my aunt who gave me this dress). I think it's really important to pass things down and preserve history, especially family history. The partial demolishing seriously threw me and I spent a little while on Saturday hugging a stuffed sheep consoling my inner child while trying to keep in character. Thank goodness Anne Drew had an odd attraction to fuzzy animals and puppets.
Now that I actually write this out- it sounds really silly and trivial. I guess in times of upheaval and eustress and non-positive stress, these are the things that make you seriously unsettled. 

Mostly it's just this reason- I'm dreading living with the feeling of loneliness again. I haven't been lonely all summer, and I hate the idea that I'm going to be going to back to being just a face in a crowd, seeing true friends maybe once or twice a week. I could elaborate, but that would mean telling my life story getting all deep and emotional.

This weekend has some really good points, apart from struggling to keep going all day.

-I tried a lot of new foods. They were all delicious.
-I had some great interactions with children. I was able to coax a really shy little boy to come and play Towers with me. I also got to dance with a princess during closing gate. I had a few other adorable little ones interact with me, but those two were my favorite.
-I got some crazy responses from patrons about how to get a captain out of jail. Most of them would result in his death. For some reason everyone was fixated on the captain dying. I felt bad for the captain and really wanted to look at some of those patrons sideways and ask "What the heck are you thinking?"
-I broke a photographer! Multiple times! It was beyond hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing.
-I got broke by a parody of "That's Amore." I laughed so hard I cried.
-I almost hit a bulls-eye when practicing archery!
-I had an amazing conversation with a fellow cast member and a very fun dinner out with friends.
-I got/am getting jewelry from a pretty shop, and the owners are some of the nicest people ever!
-I found a hat that I will buy next week for a reasonable price.
-I had epic poke/tickle sibling fights with one of the towne criers.
-I had an awesome bit with some of the Draco Disciples.  

So the good moments outweigh the moments I am currently blaming on tiredness/stress. Let's just say that I called myself fat (which is something I strive NOT TO DO) and unintentionally may have insulted someone else because of my self hate comment. I also forgot that they had coal in Elizabethan England, and made blatant reference to Thanksgiving while on the street. I will make fun of myself for the later two things and make a lesson to myself out of the first. The first lesson is this, when I am tired I need to watch my tongue.

The Hat

Tonight's installment features the lovely Robertina, also known as Bob (yes like Blackadder)! I'm so glad I have a real Bob to interact with on the weekends. Every time I see her it makes my day a little happier because of all the havoc we bring to the captains, and the mirth we give to the patrons. 

Enjoy!

 

The Hat

Robertina handed Anne a hat. “Don’t ask where I got it, all right?” Anne inspected the oddly shaped cap. It almost looked like a question mark and flopped oddly when Anne shoved it onto her head.

“Will it be missed?” Anne adjusted the fabric and pulled the tasseled end over her shoulder. It was almost endearing in a completely mad sort of way.

“Only by the dead.” Robertina gave Anne a smile that said that more than the dead would be missing this hat. It wasn’t exactly the sort of thing you saw everyday.

“Robertina-“

“Bob in public, please.” Robertina shooed Anne up the stairs of the inn and into a room. “Can’t have the mates thinking I’m a girl, now can we?”

“How long have you kept it up?” Anne plopped into a chair, her feet were killing her in their new boots.

Robertina smirked. “From the crew or captain?” She laughed at Anne’s flabbergasted expression. “None but Hawkyns knows my true identity. He’s a good captain.” Anne noted the shine in Robertina’s eyes and wondered what exactly was so fascinating about sailors that made women constantly fall in love with them. Robertina couldn't have been more than a few years older than Anne.

“He might be my father.” Anne blurted. Robertina’s eyebrows raised most the way up her forehead.

“Do tell.” She crossed her legs and propped her head in her hands. “I want to hear everything.”   

The story of the Boots will be up sometime around 9pm methinks, mayhap a bit earlier.

Weekend 3 Part 2- Patron Sunday Torture

I now why none of the veterans really take a patron day.
It's boring.
It's tedious.
Yes you can go into the shops and watch the shows, but you can't play with people!!!

Thanks goodness my friend The Doctor was at the Faire with me because I would have gone crazy if I had been by myself. I think I did go crazy anyway. Being a patron has officially been RUINED for me by the magnificence of Street Cast.

After Saturday's episode of a classic "Hello my name is Anne I'm-fine-But-I'm-About-To-Keel-Over Drew." (Yes, I'm not using my real name, but most of you know my real name anyway). I think it might have actually been a good thing that I took an "easy day."
I hate easy days. Even though I got to do a few things that I don't really get to do when I'm on the Street.

I got to see Barely Balanced.
I ate some really bad-for-me Faire food. Yummy.
I got a henna tattoo. I love henna, and I really need to learn how to do it myself. 
I purchased a few clothing items that I would have a hard time justifying the purchase of as my character, like a bodice.
I also got to to into all of those lovely book stores and had to resist buying EVERYTHING IN SIGHT. There is still an owl hair clip that I am thinking about going back and buying really quickly before things start up next weekend. 
I spent a decent amount of time in the archery range practicing- and I have bruises to prove it! This will sound odd, but when I look at those bruises I feel like I accomplished something. I hit the bulls eye twice too! Only two days and I'm already hitting the bulls eye! 

On the other hand, whenever I saw a Street Cast person interacting with someone, I felt a deep pang of longing to be able to go and interact with the people. I had to resist the urge to start doing my street bits most of the day. It wouldn't have made a lick of sense because I was wearing actual girl clothes. I can't count how many times I was whining under my breath "I wanna play!"

Here comes the best part of my day.
I was dressed up in a semi-steampunk ensemble that was supposed to sort of emulate Kaylee Frye from the TV show Firefly. I was wearing a dress and had done my hair up in ribbons and was wearing make up. These are things that a good 90% of the cast has never seen me wear.
Some people didn't recognize me at first.
Some people just couldn't get used to the idea that I was wearing girl clothing. I've been wearing shorts and tank tops all season since I haven't seen much point in looking nice if I'm going to be sweating and under hot costumes all summer long. Plus, skirts are not that practical. They just aren't.

One cast member told me "You clean up real purty." Which sounds comical and it was, but at the same time the compliment was very sincere. I suppose it was my little duckling into a swan moment, but it's the first time that I have genuinely felt pretty for a while. Maybe it was the fact that I actually made people stutter and jaws did drop when people saw me, but it boosted my self esteem each time someone recognized me and did that little double take. The funniest part was with the people who just couldn't get used to the idea that I was wearing girl clothing. It made me feel real shiny inside.

I did take the day very easy compared to my usual Faire days. The Doctor was really tired from one full day of meandering around the Faire and complimented me on my endurance. I never really thought it took that much endurance before, but I guess that I must have a decent amount of it if one day of walking around can tucker out and Eagle Scout.

To be honest, even though I got lots of ideas for things that I will be adding to my costume wardrobe and prop box for characters, I was bored most of the day. Bored and restless. I felt like I needed to be doing something and couldn't sit still. I had a hard time going into shops because I've made a habit of not frequenting them too much. Then once I went into a few of them I never wanted to come out (books, so many lovely books).

Lessons learned- I can never go back to being a patron. Nor do I think I want to. I felt like I was on the fringe all day, looking in a world that was barred by a thin sheet of glass. I already have enough places where I feel that way, I'm not going to add another place to that list.