ceolnamara and I arrived on Thursday afternoon. At the gate, there was confusion about the price, and we were charged $100 per person. This was later remedied, but it still left a sour taste in our mouths. We rolled down the hill and got setup with romandruid and waited for everyone else to roll in. I dropped by and said "Hi" to romandruid, Skip, and a few others, and then got drafted into doing Nemeton work. Honestly, I really didn't want to do any of it, but once I got into the swing of things, it was pretty easy, and it was actually a lot of fun. I ended up working with Liafal moving stones from the pile and using them to fill in postholes.We stopped when it began to rain, and went back to camp. By then, CedarLight Grove had shown up, and was getting their fairie mound ready for camping.
I stopped in for a few minutes, and got to say a round of hellos, and meet some new people (such as
acousticdream and moonstone1220). Following that, I had to head out (unfortunately quickly) to go see more people. This would be the tone of the entire weekend.I got back to the campsite in time to catch Lees and Jim setting up. We chatted for a while, and then I got pulled off again.
perlgirlju, kassandrak21, and Sky showed up a bit later, and we got them set up.That night there was an opening ritual, in which tokens were blessed. This ritual was a rather run-of-the-mill thing, and those who happened to miss it didn't miss too terrible much.
Kirk, Gaand and
qorinda didn't come in that night (which I was sad about), neither did beautycorrosion and m3ch, also which made me sad (since I was especiallylooking forward to meeting beautycorrosion). kallisti also didn't get there that night. Explore, who I was also expecting, hadn't arrived yet.Well, they all arrived the next day, some earlier than others.
I was sitting in a meeting on something (there were lots of meetings, and they were all on *something*, but I can't remember what I attended, and as I never actually held a schedule in my hand, I don't know exactly what I went to when), and I looked over toward the end of it (maybe "Grove Building" by
gothicdruid?), and there I saw this bald hottie setting up camp. I knew who that had to be. Plus, the guy she was with looked kinda like the pictures I'd seen of m3ch. That was beautycorrosion.I'd been carrying my bag around for the past 24 hours, wondering when I'd get the chance to put my vicious plan into action. I knew I couldn't do anything until she showed up, so I simply lay in wait, knowing that she'd be there eventually.
Exiting the workshop (after concealing my desire to bolt straight over for two reasons: a) it would be terribly impolite, and b)
gothicdruid was giving a genuinely interesting workshop), I walked straight over to where beautycorrosion was chasing Raa-Raa (their kid) around, and produced my brilliant plan.(Some background. Every day, I sit, minding my own business, doing Real Work (TM). Around 11:30, as I'm ignoring everything, I get this IM, often with an opening line like:
"AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"
or
"Monkeys!!!!!!!!"
or
""La la la, the bitch is back." Damn Elton John songs stuck in my head! *shakes fist*"
or
"And the black sheep go.. la la la laa-laa-la-la, la la la laa la la."
or
"And then the GOddess came down and said "There shall be Wiccans!"
Thunder crashed.
"And they shall be crucnhy in milk!""
No, I am not making that up. There is often much fist-shaking. Does she do that to anyone else, or am I the only lucky one? Anyway, we talk nearly every day over IM, our conversations just getting stranger from there. At one point we were talking about Wellspring, and about how if we ever managed to meet, we'd probably just be struck dumb with shyness, and that we wouldn't be able to communicate without IM to help us through. We postulated that we would simply sit 5 feet from each other, never making eye contact, and only talking if we could find a way to IM each other.)
I walked up to
beautycorrosion and pulled out the trump cards: my pre-made IMs. I'd written out exactly what I wanted to say. I stood there holding the cards until she looked up at me, and then ran through them. This is what they said:Chronarchy: Hi, [name withheld]!
Chronarchy: Since I don't have the ability to send IM's, I figure I can write them out.
Chronarchy: However, we know I'm lazy, and we know that I can't predict what an Imp will say next, I'm giving up.
Chronarchy: Unless, of course, you want to wait for me to write things out. . .
To which she asked if she wanted me to speak at all. (For clarity's sake, her name was actually in the space marked [name withheld].)
Well, we managed to converse verbally for a while after that, after which (and you'll notice a pattern here), I had to go do something else.
I dragged as many people as possible back to see
beautycorrosion and m3ch give a presentation on [something I can't pronounce or spell], which is a vedic ritual all about boiling milk the right temperature or else you (or your wife) will die. I still can't wrap my brain around doing that every morning before sunrise and every evening after sunset. I'm amazed.On my way back to my tent, and then back over to the pavilion, I was called into the CLG fairie mound by
satikat, who accused me (rightly so) of ignoring my harem. We chatted for a bit, and then I (you know the drill by now) had to leave. I caught up with qorinda for a bit, and with Kirk, and then had to move on again to something else.Later that night was a Norse Blot that was kind of, ah, strange. I'd asked
beautycorrosion and m3ch to come hang out with us, but by the time they got up, the area around us was full. Instead, I listened to kids scream for a while during the rite, and this prompted a thought:Can we please teach children that, if they're going to be in a ritual, they need to treat it more like a movie than a playground. Screaming children do not honour the Gods. Laughing children, yes. Screaming children, no.
Thank you for your attention.
Now, after the blot, I got to hang out more with
beautycorrosion and m3ch. beautycorrosion says that m3ch was displaying some jealous tendancies around me. I didn't see it, but I still think it's a bit funny. I tried some interesting drinks, and mentally smacked myself when I offered some alcohol to beautycorrosion because I should have known better. I also gave her a present, Bubba Ho-Tep because she has a love of Bruce Campbell as well, and we must stick together on that.romandruid also hung out with us, as did aislinggheal. We all talked for a while, standing next to the fire. I also got some more of that Bowmore Whisky I liked so much at Trillium. It was a good night.I went down and hung out in a hot tub for a while after that. Yes, people saw me nekkid. I was amused to find that several people deny looking, and more amused in that I believe them, for I wasn't looking either.
On Saturday morning, I went to a GSP meeting that covered not nearly enough info. I was disappointed by that, but it was okay. We still had some good discussion. I slept through a potluck breakfast that morning put on by the Eastern IE Kin, which wasn't too cool, but I couldn't get myself to move.
I got a shower and hung out a bit more between places. I did that so much that weekend that I didn't manage to get nearly as much done as I wished. I went to the Seer's Guild meeting, which I was decidedly non-fascinated by, despite wanting to know about their SP. I need to get around to joining the Guild, and maybe having some investment, because if I do that, I'll be much more interested in their SP.
For lunch that day, we had the Dance Guild potluck.
beautycorrosion and m3ch hosted that, and 10 of us showed up, including Raa-Raa. We sat around, a few of us having rum and coke, talked, and got to know each other better. Hopefully, the LDG will take off nicely. I certainly think we have a very good group that represents ADF well.After lunch, I laid down for a while. I got up that night in time for the bardic circle, at which Ian and Liafal were given the title "ADF Bard Laureate". The evening was passed nicely giving and getting hugs.
m3ch did an awesome set with some cool looping, if indeed those are the correct terms. I recently saw the video of it, and it was very good. Near the end, most of my harem had left, and I got up on stage a few people later. I was sad to see my harem walk away before I got to tell a story, but I did get to tell it. I'm looking forward to the video on that.The next day, Sunday, was full again of meetings and workshops. My Gods, the number of potlucks that weekend was astonishing!
satikat and I sat down with the Clergy Council and went over the CC Study Program. Most of our suggestions seemed accpeted, which made me very happy. We'll see when the stuff finally comes out.I spent time between people, trying to keep my sunburned legs out of the hottub, and generally having a good time. That night, though. . . Wow.
The main ritual, in which
romandruid was consecrated as a Dedicant Priest of ADF and the image of Mananan was installed was simply amazing. There are no words to describe it, but I understand that it will be on DVD, and I look forward to that (Thanks to m3ch and beautycorrosion).After the rite, our Grove called Jenni back up onto the mound, near the altar (we were going to do this during the rite, but we were forgotten). I said some things that I don't remember, mostly because I was speaking extemporaneously rather than from a script, and then pinned a new brooch on her: a crane. Tears went around, and we all had a good hug.
That night, I spent part of the evening with
satikat, sparkliedragon, moonstone1220, and uberrod in the hot tub.You know, it's amusing that every time I get near a bunch of women, another man shows up. *rolls eyes* Not that I begrudge
uberrod's attendance, but I have to admit, me and three women in a hot tub is better than me, three women, and a guy, at least in my book.About a half hour before we got out, a strange guy got in with us. Well, I thought he was strange. We got out, feeling generally refreshed after a couple hours in the hottub and a series of back-rubs, and I headed back up to my camp. I sat out for a while with my Grove and the PSA people who showed up, and relaxed.
The next morning, we got up, and said good byes. I swung by
beautycorrosion's tent and offered to help them, but m3ch said they were good, so I gave a hug to beautycorrosion and wandered off.I said good-bye to my harem, and lamented that I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with them. It was so true.
As we were getting ready to go, though,
m3ch came down, bearing blueberry muffins. I took them greedily, and we hugged. Apparently, beautycorrosion was a bit angry she missed that. :)Finally, as I was about to get into the car,
sparkliedragon came up. She wouldn't tell me what she wanted, so I went for the stand-by: a hug. This resulted in the fruition of her evil plan, and I was suddenly covered in glitter. Revenge will be sweet, though.After that,
ceolnamara and I rolled into the car (me leaving a trail of glitter), and we drove home.Basically: the weekend was great, except for one thing: I never got to spend enough time with all the cool people I wanted to.
Methinks I have to road trip to see people individually for a while. That's the only way to solve this. Even people who I don't spend so much time with commented on how little time I was spending with others! As much fun as I had, it just wasn't enough.
But I did have fun, and it was especially good to meet some members of my harem that I hadn't met yet, and
beautycorrosion in particular.To those who were there, thank you for a wonderful time. I go to these things to meet people and to enjoy their company, and you all provided that. Thank you very much.
