March SHOULD have been more exciting, but Justin Beemer, my ratty ass BMW, broke down early in the BARF run, so I was largely home-bound. But, plenty of fun was had! Coviello and our den-mother Joey hit up the local hookah bar a few times, the fair was ROCKIN', and we even hit up Blue Man Group in Orlando!
The weekends were hot- which is fine, the weather is one of the many reasons I love Tampa- and the crowds were insane. The Beer shows here have been a LOT of fun, and we've had great moments- involving flashings, candy bras, tongue from a Strip club owner (he shoulda known I ain't that kinda girl) and one bloody chin. And that's only the stuff I remember. The Robin & Wolf shows have been great, too, with weirdo picks- a 70's porn star Robin, the 11th Dr., a pregnant Marian- and lots of twists & turns. I love this show!
The home life here in Lakeland has been fun too, with Ferris loving the backyard, me catching up on 'Archer', 'Adventure Time!', and '30 Rock' (lazy, I know). At one point though, I found myself watching the dog episode of 'Futurama' -if you don't know it, look it up, but suffice to say it's an incredibly sweet and touching episode- with Ferris snuggled in my lap. I wept openly. We've been frequenting the Hookah Palace downtown, and the owner there- Sol, a wonderful dude- got me in touch with a local mechanic who helped replace the water pump and thermostat in my car. I've also done some reading and encouraging my OCD, kinda, in that sweep-the-floor-4-times-a-day kind of way.
A few weeks ago, Cartee & I went to Orlando with two friends from fair for a Blue Man Group show. It was a great show, and I ended up a part of it! I was put into a paper suit and strung upside down and flung into a canvas. 'Twas awesome! from the show itself, we of course weren't allowed to take pics, but it was an awesome time! We also enjoyed killing time at City Walk outside of Universal for a while. Candy shop, Margaritaville- as a huge fan of Jimmy Buffet's novel 'Where Is Joe Merchant?' I loved the Lone Palm tiki bar...almost as much as I enjoyed the half price margaritas. 😀
It's great doing this show and reconnecting with other acts we don't see often enough: Acrobellum, The Washing Well Wenches, Manolete- and plenty others. Had a few great dinners out with Levi (Red) and his crew of color co-ordinated acrobats.
Pretty soon, we'll be headed to Dallas for the Scarbourough Fair. It'll be a long drive- prolly gonna have to break it in to 2 days- but I'm excited to hit some new territory, where I'll run into more old touring pals. It'll suck to say good bye to Tampa, but we'll be back in November for The Sarasota Medieval Fair!
I'm writing this entry after a long crash following a late night- but a good one. I realized the Tuesday before the BARF 2012 participant party that no Rescu Rally had been mentioned. RESCU is a very important organization to me, and anyone who not only tours, but works even just one Ren. Fest a year. RESCU Foundation is Renaissance Entertainers, Services, and Crafter's United. What they provide is a kind of health network for rennies, providing advocacy to reduce hospital bills, in times of dire need a fund to help pay those bills, as well as health screenings, CRP or First Aid training, and more. Rallies for participants are common across the nation, but this was the first held in BARF for many years. I was given amazing help from a few volunteers, and the fair was gracious enough to donate an incredible raffle prize, as well as their large souvenir booth. The rally was a success, and I somehow survived without an aneurysm, and I'm excited to keep working with the RESCU foundation in the future. Unofficially, we raised almost 3400 dollars for an amazing charity. The vendors & cast at BARF have been amazing! I cannot thank them all enough.
Well, I guess that's March. Ferris and I are headed back west soon.
