Dancing through life...

This was a really low-energy year for me. I don't know if it's a medical thing (I've lost between ten and fifteen pounds since Christmas, but I'm nowhere near what I would consider "in shape,") or an emotional thing (there's been a ton of drama and discussion regarding the potential casino, along with some other changes that have been made,) but I've been having trouble tapping into the somewhat-manic energy that usually drives me to Be Bubbles and Sell All of The Things.

Still, when I ask myself if I should perhaps consider retiring, the answer is a resounding "HELL no!" I am still having fun, I'm still making good money, and I still love what I do. If any of those things ever changes I'll revisit the issue. Until then I'm going to keep doing what I do, Lord willing and if the creek don't rise.

I'm also thinking that maybe, when I am old and the days of being Bubbles the Rose Fairy are naught but a fond memory and a series of amusing photos, I shall write a book about all of the weird shit that happens to me at faire.

Notable things from this season:
-Starting my very own harem
-Receiving a pin which reads "Twitter Fairy" from a dear friend
-The long-hoped-for return of Heathyre Feathyre to our shire
-POWERED BY MONDO ZIFFLE
-The addition of painted roses to our wares on Labor Day Weekend
-Trying to convince Leonardo that my hands are the right hands for his siege engine
-Getting 500+ likes on my FB fan page
-Being gifted a Barbie doll that looks JUST LIKE ME by the Commodore and Macko
-The slightly tipsy and very lost dudes who found me not once, but twice opening weekend and tipped me quite nicely for figuring out where they wanted to go and taking them there. (They were looking for the "Bad Ben" show. I took them to "Ded Bob.")
-Parents who got WAY more excited about seeing a fairy than their small children did
-Greg and Becca telling me the "Is that like a Bubbles rose?" story (C&P'd from my fan page: "Two of my long-time customers told me a story this weekend that I just *had* to share with all of you: They were at the faire without their little one, and they purchased a rose from Yours Truly, of course. Upon their arrival home, their adorable four year old son asked, "Is that like a Bubbles rose?" Mom replied, "It's not just LIKE a Bubbles rose, it IS a Bubbles rose, and it's for you!" The kidlet's eyes lit up, and he said, "Thaaaank you, Mommy and Daddy!"

That right there? That's why I do this job. ")
-The little boy who decided that fairies being from a different, magical land meant that I was from Texas
-The gigantic Glow Cloud (ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD) which graced us with its presence at the end of a rainy day
-Finally getting to bust out my Victorian-style outfit at faire
-The Tiniest, Cutest Barbarian playing in alllllll of the mud puddles
-Barbarians in general. Ugh
-The last of the major creepers finally getting the boot
-Messing with Woodchuck via anonymous roses accompanied by Weird Al lyrics
-The Captain Brendan Bull memorial

I'm sure there's much, much more I'm forgetting, but this will have to do for now.

"I Want to be Sedated" by the Ramones

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothing to do
Nowhere to go
I Wanna be sedated
Just get me to the airport
And put me on a plane
Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
I can't control my fingers
I can't control my brain
Oh no oh no
Just put me in a wheelchair
And get me to the show
Hurry hurry hurry before I go loco
I can't control my fingers
I can't control my toes
Oh no oh no

Business has not been wonderful in terms of rose selling so far this year. The weather opening weekend wasn't wonderful, and even though Saturday was pretty nice, the weathermen had been predicting THUNDERSTORMS AND DOOM for most of the week, so no one showed up. Sunday was verrah nice, in terms of weather, but the people seemed to forget their wallets at home. Even though I haven't been hitting my personal goal I've still been top seller, so I guess there's that. We have a really nice crew this year; I like all of the people I work with. It's pretty awesome.

This past weekend was one of the strangest I've experienced in quite some time. Saturday, I was petting the macaw (whose name is pronounced like "Gonzo," but with an "ah" at the end,) outside of the animal exhibit. She hopped up on my arm, and I thought, "Hooray! She likes me!" She started giving me soft little parrot kissies, and I thought, "Hooray! I have a new friend!" Then she chomped down on my bottom lip. Hard.

Evidently, parrots do such things to one another in order to show affection. I, however, do not have a beak. I have delicate soft fleshy bits.

Fortunately, my new buddy did not break my skin. I was really hoping that my lip would get all nice and swollen so I could tell people that I had been in a fist fight, and they should see the other guy! Alas, that did not happen. I'm still waiting to see if I get radioactive parrot powers. So far, nothing. I'm going to be *really* annoyed if I went through all that pain for nought.

Sunday, although it was busier, was MUCH slower in terms of sales. It was completely bizarre. I have never had to work that hard for so few sales with that many people there.

At one point, I was standing at the Moon Dancer back carts chatting with some folks, when a rather large individual dressed as Death approached. He was wearing a big red cowl, a skull mask which concealed his entire head inclusive of his eyes, and his nails were painted black. I did my little "fairy defies Death" act, and ran off to try and move some of my stock.

He followed me. Slowly but surely, he followed me until I ran into Knightly Endeavors. The KEGs and I watched him slowly amble past, and I ran off in the other direction.

I didn't think anything of the encounter, figuring it was probably some random patron who was a little bit *too* into playing a character, until later when I heard from Colin that Death had handed him a little note with a time written on it. At this point I decided that Death was probably some kind of creeper, and that security should be given a heads up.

Colin and I went off to find a security guard. He was about ready to beat the everloving snot out of someone. Eventually, we ran into Big Tom on the other side of the faire. We gave him the scoop about Creepy!Death, and he said he'd keep an eye out for him.

Later on, I was in Greenfield Common when I saw Nick over at Matty Groves. I figured I ought to give him a heads up about Creepy!Death as well, so I headed in that direction. As I was walking, I saw Bud Stud Eric making a bee line for him. We arrived at the same time, and as I was telling Nick the story, Eric pointed and said, "Yeah, he's right over there." Nick said he'd keep an eye on him, and I headed over to Lunde's.

Death followed me. Nick followed a ways behind him, but I didn't know that at the time. Eric followed Death. As I arrived at Lunde's a patron purchased a rose from me. During the entire transaction Death loomed over us. The patron kept giving him the side-eye, and called him creepy. Once the patron's money was safely tucked away I ran into Lunde's. Colin came out looking like he was ready to beat someone into the ground. (For the record, he probably could.) I was getting ready to tell Geoff that I was going to run and get security because a fight was fixing to break out when Nick arrived.

I saw Colin being ver stern with Death. I saw Nick being very stern. Then...laughter? WTF? Colin came back into the booth.

"It's OLAF!"

"Excuse me," I said, as I ran out of the booth to kick him in the shin and call him an asshole.

I went back into the booth to retrieve my basket, and Olaf followed me. He lifted his mask, and said, "I was following you because I wanted to buy a rose!" I berated him a bit more for scaring the shit out of me, sold him a rose, and had a good laugh about the whole thing.

Many people were concerned about the situation with Death, so I ran off to allieviate people's fears. As I was relating the story to a group of folks at the Blue Boar, I noticed a certain individual staring at me.

Most of you reading this will know that as Bubbles the Rose Fairy I do not speak, particularly not to drunken patrons. This particular drunken patron shows up about once a year, babbles at me about how pretty I am, how he loves me, how he's a lawyer, how I shoud be with him, etc. I tolerate him, and others like him, because it's generally not worth the trouble to get them to cut it out. I remind them that I'm taken, relieve them of some of those ever-so-heavy dollar bills, and then promptly forget about them. No big deal.

Later on in the day, I saw a family with three small children dressed as Link, Zelda, and a chicken. I immediately decided that the ENTIRE faire needed to learn of their existance, so I ran off towards the Blue Boar to spread the news.

Upon my arrival, I was accosted by the aforementioned drunken patron. By this time, he was WAY past merely drunk, and well into completely smashed. I don't speak drunk fluently, but from what I could tell, he was REALLY angry that he had seen me talking to other people when he's been coming to the faire and seeing me for seven years and I've never spoken to him. Nogga was walking by with Jax just as I was pounced upon by this idiot, so I grabbed him in case I needed an adult. The drunkard was going on and on; I wasn't going to talk to him, but when he started spouting off about how I need a "real man," I'd had enough.

I told him that I've been with my boyfriend a lot longer than he's "known" me, and he is a real man, and I didn't want to listed to any more of his nonsense, so I was going to go do my job. Of course, THAT exchange took about five minutes, because the jackass just would. Not. Shut. Up. Once I got away from him, I boogied on up the hill to the table where Damien and some others were sitting.

I expressed my need for an adult, and we all watched the drunked idiot stumble away with his friends. Kelly Rose informed us that he had just been cut off. Damien decided to run around to all of the pubs and make sure they knew not to serve this particular individual any more booze. I hugged Nogga for being my adult, and went about my business.

Not half an hour later I was approached by Nick, who asked me what happened at the Blue Boar. I told him the story, and he said he'd keep an eye out for the guy. I rounded the corner by Moresca, and lo and behold the nitwit was there with his two friends, harassing ANOTHER girl.

I waved down two other security guards, who had a bit of a chat with the fellow. They asked me if I wanted him thrown out, and I expressed my distinct desire that he not be allowed to imbibe any more alcohol. They told him he could stay as long as he didn't bother anyone any more, especially me.

He didn't so much as look in my direction for the rest of the day, but all of the craziness completely threw off my mojo. I feel like with the crowd we had, I should have had much better sales. I also completely forgot that I was supposed to be alerting everyone to the presence of Luke, Zelda, and the chicken until after they had gone.

Going out to dinner with good friends made me feel loads better. Getting free scones from the Chocolate Cafe on the way out of faire was also a bonus, even though Trouble Kitten 5000, aka Puck, found them in my basket at some point during the night and made quite the mess in our dining room.

This past weekend I decided that henceforth, whenever some random creeper tries to take my photo at NYRF, I am simply going to stick my finger up my nose. This decision was prompted by too many years of having to deal with people who are incredibly rude in their attempts to snap a picture of the cute little fairy. A recent example involved me having to turn my back on a guy who was trying to take my picture while I was about to sneeze.

I imagine that there are some people out there who would like to know how NOT to be that random creeper, or (as they are refered to in some circles) a Guy/Girl With Camera.

Basically, it comes down to this: Obey Wheaton's Law.

More specifically...

People are not objects to be photographed. That potted plant may not care about constantly having cameras pointed at it, but a person will. You need to take their feelings into consideration before taking the lens cap off. Hell, I've been shooting Elmo and Zoe (Rich's mom's cats, for those of you who may be new here) since they were kittens, and sometimes they just don't want anything to do with the camera! Which brings us to our next point...

Show some damn respect. If someone doesn't want you to take their photo, don't take their photo. If you've taken a photo of someone and are asked to delete it, apologize, delete the photo, and then (this is important) do not bitch about being asked to delete a photo on FaceBook. (Or anywhere else, for that matter.) The world does not revolve around you and your camera. People have a right to tell you no, and you need to respect that. Don't take an attitude with people who don't want to be photographed. Your rights are not being infringed upon.

Do not interrupt someone while they are going about their business. In addition to the man who tried to photograph me mid-sneeze, there was a guy who interrupted a sale to try to get my picture, and another who interrupted a personal conversation I was in the middle of. I was taught when I was very small not to interrupt people unless it was an emergency. Your photo does not constitute an emergency.

If you want to take a photo with someone, ask! This should be very obvious, but unfortunately it isn't. It has only happened to me once or twice in ten years, but a friend suggested I add it here because she encounters this problem fairly frequently. It is really incredibly rude to just stand next to someone, put your arm around them, and have your friend snap a picture. If you do this, do not be surprised if the person you're trying to photograph refuses to be in your picture.

Introduce yourself to the people you want to photograph. Again, they are people, not objects. They might be more amenable to having you take their picture if you say hello, tell them why you're taking pictures, and most importantly, tell them where the photos will end up. Several years ago, I had a problem with a gentleman who was selling prints of me on the internet without my permission. If I have to explain to you why that's not ok, you probably should put your camera away until you figure it out.

If you act like a creeper, people will assume you are a creeper. This is strongly related to the above point, but I think it needs to be said. If you act in a suspicious manner, if you are using a camoflauge lens, if you are primarily interested in taking pictures of young girls, do not be surprised when people assume you're a total creep, and treat you accordingly. Unfortunately for you, once people come to the conclusion that you are a creep, there's really no going back after that. You're branded for life.

In conclusion, unless I know you to be a person who follows the above rules, you will be unable to photograph me without my finger in my nose. For the record, Lars was so tickled by my new plan that he asked if he could take a such a photo. Lars most definitely does NOT fall into the Guy With Camera category.

so I was unable to post this this morning.

"I Want to be Sedated" by the Ramones

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothing to do
Nowhere to go
I Wanna be sedated
Just get me to the airport
And put me on a plane
Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
I can't control my fingers
I can't control my brain
Oh no oh no
Just put me in a wheelchair
And get me to the show
Hurry hurry hurry before I go loco
I can't control my fingers
I can't control my toes
Oh no oh no

I never posted my season totals from NYRF 2008!

Total roses sold 2007:
1772

Total roses sold 2008:
1722

Down by 50.

Average roses per day 2007:
104.2353

Average roses per day 2008:
101.29

Down by 2.9453.

At the beginning of last season, I thought I was going to do much worse than I actually did. What with gas prices the way they were this summer, I don't think I did too terribly.

Now, because I am a giant dork... ( Line graphs! )

I had so much fun this weekend that my brain still hasn't finished processing it. Must do again! (With less rain next time, 'k?)

My new best friend is Mean Bean Java Monster. My hands are shaking pretty badly right now, but at least I'm maintaining conciousness.

Yeah...I am SO not getting anything done today.

Three of her animals are still missing. She won't have electricity until 10/6, and there's between twenty and thirty thousand dollars in damages to her home.

SHE DOES NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT THIS WEEKEND. Understood? Do not. Mention. It.

Just buy stuff. Buy lots of stuff. Tell everyone you know to buy stuff.

I guess I've been spoiled by the beautiful weather we've had this year, but I'm really not looking forward to the weather they're predicting for tomorrow.

Generally, I relish the chance to run about in the rain, giving wet fairy hugs to all and sundry. However, starting tonight, and ending tomorrow evening, we're supposed to get five inches of rain.

Go get a ruler and take a look at how much water that really is.

Despite the shitty weather, I shall persevere! I will wear my cloak, my cotton skirt, my bloomers, and my thigh high socks if need be. (It would be a good idea to pin my wings to my cloak tonight, wouldn't it?) The roses WILL get sold, if there are people there to sell them to!

Tonight, the plan is to pop into the mall on the way home for sneakers, hair spray, and hair ties. Then at home I shall have a bowl of mango granola (OMG SO YUMMY) while paying bills. After the food is eaten, I shall tidy up a bit, including taking care of the mess on our porch/driveway. (Rich-this morning it appeared that the spider is indeed deceased. Shall I destroy the web this evening? I'll use the old broom.)

After the chores are finished, it will be time for a Karma bubble bath, (can you believe I haven't tried that yet?) with some Doctor Who on the laptop. Maybe I will do some yoga before that.

Then, early bed time. I will need to be well rested to take on tomorrow!