My Pennsic 2007 Diary Week 2

The Pocket Bard Goes to Pennsic

This is the second week of my Pennsic diary for 2007. Click here to return to the first week.

The days on this page:

Sunday, August 5

2.00 -- Independent
6.00 -- lunch
8.00 -- Vagabond
2.00 -- i Sebastiani
= 18.00
+ 269.85
= 287.85

morning -- Marauders

(Begin excited squealing:) I've got a silver armband! I've got a silver armband! I've got a silver armband from Cariadoc! Woot! I'm so very, very, very excited!

Okay, breathe. Calm down to normal levels of energy. In. Out. In. Out. Whew.

I've got a silver armband!

You see, last night there were no big circles, so those bards who tend to visit Enchanted Ground all decided to do it last night: Fiana, Dorigen, Anne, Maraha, Naga, Yohan, and a few others. I think we were about 12 around the circle. I decided to perform "The Tale of Reprobus," which had been my plan since I wrote it in December. It went as well as I'd hoped: my voice was clear, my timing was good, and I could tell people were engaged. I saw a few glimmers of recognition as I recited the story, and a few nods and smiles (among them from Caridoc) when I revealed the story was about St. Christopher. There were murmurs of appreciation, and then Cariadoc tossed me a silver bracelet. Squee! I admit I don't remember much of the tale or two after mine, I was that excited.

[Editor's note: Getting a silver armband from Cariadoc is kind-of the bardic equivalent of winning Crown Tournament. It doesn't happen often, and it means Cariadoc was really impressed with your performance.]

The circle was excellent, as always. The main theme of the evening seemed to be tales of religion or conversion or miracles, followed later in the evening by fables involving animals. I only did my one pieces, but it was enough.

The circle broke just after midnight and Naga walked me home. Whereupon I called Marc and shared my excitement.

And now it's morning again. It'll be a long, full day, but it should be fun. If it's not raining tonight, I'll bring out my wench garb. It's supposed to be blissfully cool today: 77F (25C), but it may rain. I can live with that.

So. Time to get dressed and get to it, then. Bye!

afternoon -- Marauders

We've got rain. Lots of rain. I checked out my tent: apparently I've got one small leak that's rolling down the mesh part of my tent... right on top of my pillow. Thankfully, I was smart this year and have a garbage bag draped over my pillow so it doesn't get wet. Yay for advance planning! On the other hand, if it's still raining when I go to bed, things may get interesting. Ideally, the rain will stop before that. Otherwise, I'll need to move my bed. It shouldn't be too hard, only annoying.

Before the rain, it was a pretty good day. It was nice and cool, which let me go out walking without suffering the obnoxious heat of the day. I gave Cariadoc my embroidered Enchanted Ground medallion I'd meant to give him last night, performed my new piece for Seamus and a few other Bardicci, and gave hugs to Dirk. I bought lunch for the second day in a row because I couldn't find leftovers worth stealing. Cariadoc also came up to our camp to talk to other people here, but I got to take advantage of his presence. I suspect he knows me by face but not by name. But I've got his armband -- ha ha!

I also went to a class on relics and reliquaries, which approached the topic from a completely different direction from my class. Interesting class. Well-presented.

Now I've got about 3 hours before there's anything I want to do. I don't really want to wander in the rain. It looks like Liam's got food poisoning, so there's no wedding party tonight. I'll have to perform their wedding poem at another time. If it keeps raining, I won't switch into wench garb later, as it's much colder in the rain than my normal garb. I'll probably hit the Bardicci, but I don't know if Brion's circle will be happening in the rain. I really hope it's not still raining when I go to bed.

I have no idea what I'm doing for the next 3 hours.

slightly afterwards -- same place

John bought me a book! A leather-bound, brown book, blank, which I think I'm going to use as my new bardic book. It's 8 gathers of 12 pages each, which gives me nearly 200 pages of write-able paper. Yay!

later afternoon -- Marauders

I spent the last few hours with Alethea and Caera at Your Inner Vagabond drinking hot beverages and chatting. I tried a new drink, which I believe is called a Sahlep -- it tastes like hot, drinkable French Vanilla ice cream. Very, very yummy.

Efenwealt's concert starts in a half-hour. Later is the Low Party at Bardicci and other stuff. The rain has stopped, at least for the moment, but it's still very muggy. Oh rain, you were supposed to get rid of the humidity, not cause more!

Wearing a heavy armband is taking some getting used to, but I shall prevail. If nothing else, I want to be able to gloat.

Now to Efenwealt.

late night -- Marauders

Efenwealt amazes me in his ability to make people laugh. He can take an entire audience of people, probably 80% of whom know all his songs, and still have them all rolling with laughter. Partly it's the facial expressions, partly it's the phrasing, and partly (I think) it's a skill so practised it looks completely effortless. Needless to say, I had a great time.

After dinner, Dolan came over to teach me two songs: "Fruit of the Yew" and "Strike the Drums." Partly through this, Fiana showed up and the three of us started talking "shop" (if you can really call bardic "shop").

Fiana convinced me to go watch i Sebastiani, "the greatest commedia del arte troupe in the entire world," and they very well may be. They were hilariously funny, and I'm so glad I went. It was a tale of two sets of star-crossed lovers in Ravenna, along with some other colourful characters. There was a whole lot of people crying out, "nooooooo...." and it worked.

Afterwards I stole one of John's umbrellas and trudged down (in the rain) to Casa Bardicci for the low party. It was raucous. It was bawdy. It was a great deal of fun. Captain Billy Bone-cracker (not, I hasten to clarify, Erwillian, but one of his alter-personae) picked me out to perform for the assembled rabble, so I did. I warmed them up with "Devilish Mary" and followed it up with my as-yet-untitled piece about the Bardicci. [Editor's note: I have since named it "A Warning to Thieves."] As I finished performing, one lord gave me a silver piece and Captain Billy slipped me a gold (very pretty) finger-ring. It's been a good 24 hours for gifts.

Shortly before midnight it stopped raining, and I hope it stays not-raining until at least tomorrow morning, preferably until the end of War.

I spoke too soon. It is now raining again. I shouldn't have written the last sentence of the previous paragraph. I really hope my tent isn't leaking. If it is, I'll be really pissed. Apparently it's going to be off-and-on raining until about 6 am.

G'night... I think.

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Monday, August 6

+15.00 -- class handouts
1.00 -- Independent
2.00 -- ice cream
= +12.00
+ 287.85
= 275.85

late morning -- Marauders

I woke up this morning in a foul mood. A combination of sleep deprivation (I went to bed around 3), shame at keeping people awake (a phone call at 2:30 -- the cause of the late bedtime), hormones, and water in my tent meant that I was very unhappy. Fortunately, all my gear was protected and I manoeuvred my bed out of the drips, but I was still emotionally raw.

I managed to pull myself together and teach my class, which was well-attended and actually a lot of fun. Between the two classes, I had about 55 students and made back all the money I spent on photocopies. Yay!

My phone is charging (it cut out 15 minutes into my conversation last night) and I'm now waiting for Morgana's storytelling class, which is in 20 minutes. There are actually a lot of classes I want to take today; we'll see how many I get to.

Thankfully, I don't think there are any big circles tonight, so I may just take it easy. It was still on-and-off raining a little while ago, and it's very hot and muggy. I should probably take off my wool tunic.

Now a baby is playing with my Cariadoc bracelet. There are worse uses. My bardic "stuff" necklace has been re-strung, and I drilled a bigger hole through the amber bead (my fingers are sore, but it was worth it).

I really should wash my hair: it feels really icky. But I'll hold off until it's less muggy and sweaty out. Also at some point, I should wash my shoes, but there's no point if it's still muddy out.

mid-afternoon -- waiting for class

It's been a chill day so far. I took a class on storytelling, which was supposed to be hosted by Morgana. Unfortunately, she's in the hospital (she's ok, I think), so Naga ran the class. Brion and Michael Alewright also showed up and critiqued a story I did. I really would like to get more into storytelling, as opposed to telling stories through poetry.

Otherwise, I haven't wandered too far afield. I visited Erwilian, but that's about it. It's just too hot and muggy. Wandering can wait until it's cooler out. Maybe if Liam and Alethea are both around I'll perform my wedding poem for them.

Now I'm just waiting for the A&S Ministers' meeting to start. I still have no idea what I'm doing tonight: there are no big circles, so I may head over to Enchanted Ground, Hedgehog (ie: find Michael), or just hunt around until I find people. Maybe Harpwood Hall will have something.

Ooh! It looks like there's food at this meeting! Yay!

after dinner -- Marauders

This afternoon, I had a bad hour. I sort-of broke down, crying for no really good reason. I blame hormones. In any case, it wasn't pretty.

But I pulled myself together, had dinner (tacos and chicken mole), and felt much better. I performed the wedding poem for Liam and Alethea, and it was very gratifying to watch them both blushing. I took a shower after dinner, and now I'm feeling nearly mentally balanced.

Apparently we're having s'mores and bardic here tonight, so now I've got something to do. I think I'll try to take a walk first and at least get some movement in to compensate for the excessive amounts of chocolate and sugar I've consumed today. I'm going to need to really start doing some exercise again once I get home.

So now, to dress and walkabout. Later, bardic.

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Tuesday, August 7

2.00 -- Independent
= 2.00
+ 275.85
= 277.85

morning -- Marauders

Evening was fairly chill. I did a brief wander around the Bog, including a stop at Bardicci and a chance encounter with Steve, who told me I should come by Seven Leaves today to perform my new poem.

Otherwise, I came back to camp to do a few hours of bardic. The theme seemed to be slow, pretty, and faery. We did a few rounds -- not all of them in English -- which sounded really pretty. I nearly ran through my repertoire of appropriate songs, but it was very relaxed and easygoing.

Got to bed around 1:30, woke up at 8:00. A decadent 6 1/2 hours of sleep in a row without interruption. Glorious!

Other good news this morning: I found my Bardicci ring I thought I'd lost last night. Yay!

Now the sky is completely overcast and it is very muggy. I'm hoping it clears up before tonight. It'll be a busy day: Bardic Swap Meet, Boreal Master Symposium, De Londres circle, Northshield circle, and Bjorn's bawdy bardic. I also promised Steve I'd come down to his neck of the woods at some point today.

I've been less active this year in terms of circle-hopping than previous years. I don't think I've been to more than 2 circles a night all War, and usually it's been one. Very, very odd for me. I suspect it may just be the heat during the day causing me to get tired earlier than normal. Last year I'd be out at 2:30 and still not tired. This year, I'm ready for bed at midnight. Stupid weather.

Also, I've been far less flirty this War; even far less huggy. I have no idea why. Probably because I've got a boyfriend.

The weather is predicted to be thunder-showers with a high of 32 (Celcius) and a low of 20. So: hot, muggy, and wet. I may just not wear my newly-washed shoes. Easier to wash my feet than my shoes.

Anyway, it is time to read the Independent, which arrived while I was writing.

late morning -- Marauders

Rain. Again. Apparently we're going to have really wonky weather for at least the next 3 hours. According to the weather websites people have been checking, there are chances of thunder-storms for the rest of the week until Saturday. I hope the week is dry, but I would definitely want my tent to be dry when I pack up.

I want something hot and sweet to eat or drink. Seraphina's got soup on the burner, which is awesome, but not sweet. Unfortunately, the Vagabond is a moderate walk away, in the rain, and I need to be back here by 1 pm for the Swap Meet. So... I don't know.

My heat rash seems to be annoyingly back. I'm not worried: it'll go away after Pennsic, and I don't wear anything that would reveal it, but still. Annoying.

I don't know what I'm doing for the next hour and a half before the Swap Meet, other than avoid my tent and the outside as much as possible. I hope the rain is over for the bardic circles tonight, otherwise I don't know where we'll sit. I'll try to get out to de Londres regardless.

... Rain. Please stop, rain. I want just one day (well, how about 6) of really awesome Pennsic weather: sunny and dry in the day, not too hot, and not too cold at night. Surely that's not too much to ask for?

On the other hand, I am very, very happy to have a communal pavilion to use, which is dry and spacious. This weather would be hellish if I had to stay in my leaky tent.

about an hour later -- same place

Correction: the word I was looking for before was "downpour."

shortly after -- same place

Oh yeah, and the dry communal tent isn't quite so dry no more.

slightly after 3 pm -- Boreal Master Symposium

The Bardic Swap Meet was lots of fun -- about a dozen bards and much fun. I got a very good reception to "Beowulf" despite not having my book. There was just enough time for everyone to perform before time was up. I need to learn Dorigen's "The Bard and the Innkeeper," which Fiana performed.

It stopped raining at some point while the Swap Meet was going on. So, after it was done, I decided to brave my tent and take stock of the damages. Things could have been far worse: there was water on the bed (but thankfully not the pillow, just the section with 4+ layers of wool and fleece), some of the coifs in my duffle bag were damp (foolish of me; I should have put a garbage bag over it. The situation has been rectified.) Also, most of the floor in my tent was standing water. The sheepskin was wet, but it can dry.

I love my Packtowel. I used it to sop up the water on the floor, rung it out, and repeated -- four times. I love microfibres. Not period, but so very useful.

Now, to listen to papers given to the Boreal Master Symposium.

after dinner -- Marauders

It has been a hot and muggy afternoon. After the Boreal Master Symposium I headed down to the Bog to perform for Seven Leaves and spend some time chatting with Seamus at Bardicci. On my way back, I caught the last hour of Efenwealt's concert and met Dunstan Leheryngmongere. We may be getting together at some point this War to swap bardic stuff and so I can help him with his French pronunciation.

Came back to camp very tired (probably mild heat exhaustion and dehydration) and headachy. While I was getting an advil, I discovered a colony of small ants are living in my tent. This displeases me. Anyway, I drank 4 mugs of water and had some dinner. I'm starting to feel better. Well, except for my hair, which is yucky again after a day of humidity.

Someone came up to me just before dinner, when I was still tired and out of it, and said, "you've had a full day." The thing is, my night is shaping up to be even fuller. So far I know of at least 5 circles (de Londres, Northshield, Bjorn's bawdy, Calontir, and Atlantia), of which I want to go to at least the first two. I should be out late-ish tonight. Sooner or later, I'll start moving, I'm sure.

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Wednesday, August 8

1.65 -- postcards
13.00 -- Independent subscription
16.00 -- CDs
5.30 -- Shut the Box
30.00 -- Caera's CDs
196.10 -- CDs from Efenwealt
10.00 -- t-shirt
4.00 -- cobbler
21.00 -- Morgana's CD
= 297.05
+ 277.85
= 574.90

morning -- Marauders

Long story short: uber-bardic night was rained out.

But who likes short stories?

So. Went down to de Londres, where the circle hadn't yet started. I milled about for a bit until Alaric called everything to theoretical order. I was the first person to perform: "I Charged the Calontiri Army." Gwen went right after me, but I think I held my own, thank-you-very-much. The circle went around in about an hour and I performed again: "The Derelict." Just after I performed, Michael Kelly came up and said hi. He went off and I settled back to listen to Gwen. Despite her awesomeness, mother Gaia is yet more powerful: two verses before the end, the heavens opened and it began to pour... again. True, the sky had been doing pretty lightening shows all night, but we had been hoping there would be no rain. Nature had other plans. People scattered. I felt really bad for Gwen, so I waited until the end of the song and then ran for shelter.

I didn't stay much longer at de Londres I thanked Alaric for the bottle of red raspberry mead he gave me for performing (yum!), utterly failed to find Michael again, and made my way back to camp. There, I dropped off the mead, grabbed my cloak, and walked in the rain -- now a light drizzle -- up to Northshield.

There, I found that the same thing that had happened at de Londres had happened at Northshield. There were precious few people left. And while I did a very well-received rendition of the "Boreal Army Muster" (so much that someone -- Ingbar -- asked me for lyrics), the circle was more-or-less dead.

I was on the verge of leaving (or at least trying to revive the circle) when we got word that another storm front was on its way, with huge winds and lots of rain. The sky was still doing pyrotechnics.

Northshield leapt into action to protect their main pavilion! Every man and every woman braced against a pole. The king directed his men in putting up the walls. Owen yelled out instructions. And then the camp held its breath... and then the squall struck. It was short but strong, and I feared for my own tent so far away. And then it was past, leaving only drizzle.

Maraha and I took our leave and he walked me part-way to Calontir. Unlike the other places, Calontir was in full swing and it was loud. I asked Dolan whether I could perform and he told me just to jump in: "there are two types of people: the quick and the silent." So after the next song, I pushed my way in to perform "I Charged the Calontiri Army" to much laughter. Actually, my voice was quite strong for most of the night; I was well-pleased.

Got back to camp, tried and failed to reach Marc, poured some tea but didn't drink it, and went to bed. There was standing water in my tent (of course), but the bed was okay. I crashed around 1:30 and only woke up around 7.

So far the sky looks moderately promising, but I've been told it'll be on-and-off rain for the rest of War.

Now, time for breakfast.

later -- same place

I have discovered a new addictive game: Shut the Box I must have a copy, my precious. Oh yes, I must have one. Next time, I think we're planning on anteing with chocolate.

afternoon -- Marauders

[Editor's note: a received a call late in the morning essentially telling me about some troubling (though expected) events in my mundane life. Because of these events, I decided to leave Pennsic early. The next day, in fact.]

I'm sad that I'll be leaving early, but most of what I wanted to do at Pennsic, I'll have done by tonight. The timing isn't horrific: if this had happened Wednesday of last week, I'd have been in a dilemma.

On the other hand, leaving tomorrow means that I've got all sorts of stuff to do today. I did all my CD shopping and, unless I buy 1 or 2 more tonight, will be going home with 17 new CDs. I will also be returning with a t-shirt, 4 new coifs (courtesy of John), and a medieval / Renaissance version of Shut the Box. I changed my money and sent some postcards, ate my last cobbler, and I've begun to say some good-byes.

I discovered the source of the ants in my tent today: left-over crumbs of chocolate from chocolate I had in my backpack about 6 months ago. Also, I discovered that my backpack is not, in fact, waterproof and everything in it (including my book and Independents) were wet. Ugh. On the other hand, it's been hot enough that my stuff should be dried out by now. I'll check later when I do some preliminary packing.

So. New plan for the rest of the day: say some goodbyes, eat some chilli, watch some performances (Caera, Teafort / Whiskey Bards, Heather and Friends), and maybe wander around midnight madness. Everything else is negotiable.

after dinner -- performing arts pavilion

Sigh. Of course.

I'd finished a very nice chilli dinner and was playing with Joy when John (or was it Cynric?) looked up and said, "looks like we're going to have rain." Now, I was about a half-hour away from packing up my stuff. I was even considering putting it in the car tonight, so that I wouldn't need to wait for it to dry off from the morning dew tomorrow. No sooner had he said this when there was a crack of thunder and the first droplets fell. So I grabbed Joy (or, rather, I didn't even bother putting her down), rushed to my tent, and did the fastest job ever of tossing anything non-waterproof under my bed. As I was finishing up and about to head back to the main pavilion, the sky burst open in yet another deluge. Remember that I was still holding a 5-month-old baby. A 5-month-old baby getting increasingly scared and upset that she's away from her mommy, in a leaky tent, with very loud rain on the roof. So she did what any sensible 5-month-old would do in such a situation, she started wailing. If I'd been alone, I would have just stayed on my bed and taken my chances. But, since Joy obviously wanted mommy, I snatched my cloak from the bed, draped it over us as best I could (read: not very well) and braved the downpour to get back to the main tent. Her mommy met us halfway with an umbrella and we hustled back to the main pavilion.

The pavilion was a hive of activity: people putting up walls, dumping water from corners, and all manner of other activities. And, just as we finished battening everything down through horrendous amounts of water, it stopped. It must have rained a grand total of 5 minutes.

I checked my tent: everything was dry or covered except my big cloak and the floor (and my small cloak, which I wore in the downpour). This does put something of a dent in my plans for packing, though, especially if the rain decides to come back. At the very least, my pack towel is getting wet again and I'm not taking down the tent tonight. On the other hand, my gear is dry, and for that I am very grateful. Though the inside of my left shoe is wet again, alas.

Anyway, there wasn't anything else I could do at the moment, so I went to go listen to Caera. Also lucky: almost all my stuff fit into my trunk on the way down, which means I can do a really shoddy packing job tomorrow, fill up the back-seat, and not worry too much about everything fitting.

Anyway. Now to listen to performers.

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Thursday, August 9

3.00 -- phone charging
30.35 -- gas
6.25 -- tolls
7.20 -- supper
= 46.80
+ 574.90
= 621.70

morning -- my tent

Of course the only morning this War where I woke up to rain is the morning I need to pack up. And of course my cloak is in the main pavilion, meaning that my tunic is going to get wet. Gaia is obviously testing my resolve. I want breakfast, and I really should get out of bed, but my bed is warm and dry and everywhere else... isn't.

And here I was hoping we'd seen the last of rain for a while.

after breakfast -- Marauders

Well, the rain has stopped. Hopefully it will stay stopped long enough for me to pack up everything. My phone is charging at Mystic Mail and I need to change my travellers' checks to cash, so it'll be a little while before I leave anyway.

So. My last night at Pennsic was actually pretty good. Caera's concert was pretty, the Teafort / Whiskey Bards were fun and funny, and the Heather and Friends concert was full of old favourites.

After, Grim and I went off a-wandering. We passed by Enchanted Ground and Bardicci, but no one was home. Instead, I heard the unmistakable sounds of Michael Kelly from across the street at Hedgehog. So I went to listen for a half-hour. Michael was lovely as always, I performed "Wild Eastman Spam" ("it's so bad but so delightful all at the same time," said one audience member), and Grim did a Norse-style version of Green Eggs and Ham that was hilarious. I asked Michael for a final request of "Homecoming Song," and I harmonized along with him. Then I hugged him goodbye and went across the street to Harpwood Hall.

There, I met Marian (Heather) and Simonetta. It was so good to see Marian again. We chatted and chatted, and I was on the verge of leaving when Garraed, Eleanor, Silence, and Vincenzo showed up. So I stayed. And chatted. And chatted some more. Sooner or later I went home and crawled into bed.

I have now been told that I've got a request for a story to explain Osidax's injury that makes him look good (as opposed to clumsy). It might give me something to do tonight in the hotel. Now I'm going to take advantage of the sun to start packing up a bit.

late morning -- same place

I am packed. All my stuff is in my car, including my tent (which will, alas, need to be set up when I get home). The weather was mostly dry -- only a bit of drizzle. My phone is charged and my money is converted. All I need to do now is get changed, say my goodbyes, and head out. I'm just trying to decide if I want to stay until 2:30-ish for scones. Or, rather, I know I want to, but I don't know if I should.

Two further tidbits: the bad news is that my overtunic (the one I've worn every night this War) has rips at the top of both gores, which will need to be mended before I wash it. The good news is that John bought me a mug! It's a great big ceramic mug with "Evil Overlord" written across the brim.

So, the final spoils count for Pennsic is:

Yay for spoils!

So now the question is whether to wait 3 hours for scones. I want something bready and dessert-like, and scones would definitely fit the bill. Also, I wasn't really planning on driving more than 5 hours or so today anyway. So I really would like to stay, and that would probably put me back home sometime tomorrow afternoon (assuming I drive from 3:30 to 7:30 today and 9-4 tomorrow). I'm not sure if that's early enough, mind you, but I don't picture myself getting back significantly before that, anyway.

So... yeah. Decisions must be made eventually.

early afternoon -- same place

I have napped. Or, more closely to the truth, I have attempted to nap and found myself tossing and turning for an hour and a half until the rain hit. Thank goodness my stuff is all in my car. With a little luck, my car is even where I left it.

Scones in an hour or so.

9:20 pm -- Friendy's, Geneva, NY

I'll write more about the ending of my day later, but suffice to say I've got the "Not At Pennsic Blues" (aka the "Con Bends"), and I've got them bad. I didn't make it as far as I'd wanted on the drive (I'm an hour before Syracuse), but I got really tired around 8. It didn't help that early on in the drive I was stuck in construction for about 40 minutes. Now I'm staying at an overpriced Motel 6 far too far from the highway (about 8 miles, but it feels longer). I'm having culture shock in my own culture. For the first time since last Tuesday, I'm not surrounded by people, let alone friendly people who all share the Dream.

If all goes well, I should be back in Montreal sometime between 1:30 and 3:00. I don't know if it's good enough, but I can't do any better without cutting corners in my own mental and physical well-being. Sigh. Time to eat.

11 pm -- Motel 6, Geneva, NY

Okay, I lied. I'm not going to talk about the rest of my day. It involved a lot of driving and was otherwise quite boring. I got a pang of deep emotion as I pulled onto the I-79 away from site and saw the cars in the parking lot -- the only part of Pennsic I could see from my vantage point. A few blinks, and even that was gone. I knew I was leaving Pennsic for good (or at least until next year), and that thought depressed me.

So instead of dwelling on my day after that point, I'm going to do my usual post-Pennsic brain dump. Here we go:

Though I was, of course, out and about this Pennsic, it seemed less full than other, previous ones. Whereas in previous years I considered it a poor evening if I didn't make it to at least two major events, this year I rarely made it to more than two. I blame this on two things: 1. I didn't walk much in the afternoons, and 2. I generally went to bed early, at least by Pennsic standards. (ie: 12-1 am)

The astute reader may realize both these points are related to the weather. This War, the weather varied between hot and muggy and rainy. This made it too hot (or too wet) to go wandering from around noon to 5, and it was also very draining, thus causing me to fall asleep earlier than normal. I don't think there was a single night when I was still energetic after 2 am.

The weather was just plain weird, I think. I've never seen that many thunderstorms in such a short period of time. And as I was leaving, apparently there was a hail-storm about 2-3 hours away. Hail! At Pennsic, in the middle of August! I'll definitely need to check with people who stayed on site to see whether it materialized.

The flip-side to the weather, though, is that it often reveals peoples' dedication to Pennsic. When the upteenth thunder-shower of the week started rolling in, I'm sure a few people left site to find a hotel. But most stayed, battened down the hatches, and helped their neighbours do the same. Yes, there was grumbling, but people really pulled together in adversity, which I think is great.

Changing tracks a bit, I really liked camping with the Marauders. Aside from the amazing central location (I can roll out of my tent and into the Performing Arts Pavilion) and the stellar and abundant food (courtesy of Seraphina), the Marauders are just really nice people. The attitude around camp was, for me, the perfect mix of responsible and casual. If things needed to be done, someone got up and did them: no fuss, not much nagging, no hassle. Food was served at 7, and people knew to be there, lest they be left with only leftovers. On the other hand, no one complained if you missed a meal (I didn't, but that's beside the point), and no one forced their campmates to be around at a particular time. But everyone was helpful and friendly. I'll definitely be camping with the Marauders next year.

Speaking of food, this has been my best-fed Pennsic to date. I ate so much. Between Seraphina's cooking, Marion's scones, and the copious amount of sweets people plied me with, I'll be surprised if I haven't gained weight over the last week and a half. It was worth it, though.

Continuing on the "camp" theme, I am going to need to give some definitely consideration to my tent. It leaked last year, and it leaked this year despite my water-proofing job after last Pennsic. On the one hand, it seems somewhat foolish to buy a new tent that I'll only use 2 weeks (and maybe 1-3 weekends) a year, especially when most of the days I'll be camping in it will theoretically not be rainy. On the other, it gets really uncomfortable when it gets wet. I'll have to think on this one.

Though I met a whole bunch of new people from camp, I didn't meet that many people outside it, especially compared to previous years. I met a few (it's hard not to), but nowhere near the scale of my first 3 Pennsics. I did, however, deepen many of the friendships I already had, especially among the Bardicci and the bardic community. I've decided Pennsics are cumulative that way: any new friendships tack on to existing ones. I can honestly say I have friends whom I only see 2 weeks (or less) a year, and that we just pick up where we left off.

In terms of bardic, it's been an interesting War. I took part in fewer formal circles, but the ones I attended tended to be of quite high quality: Enchanted Ground, Fiana and Morgana's party, De Londres, Haakon's, etc. On the other hand, I did a fair bit more of performing for audiences: for the Bardicci (eg: low party and Oma's tea), for the Marauders, with Michael Kelly, and at certain "circles" (I'm thinking of things like Calontir, where I swooped in, did 1 piece, and swooped out again). I was pleased with my performances, and I have the gifts to prove that at least a few others were as well. I wish I'd had another chance to hit Enchanted Ground, but I'm glad to have gone at least once (and, of course, to get my arm-band).

I didn't flirt very much this War. A few people even pointed it out to me. But in all honesty, I just wasn't interested. I didn't enter War thinking I'd keep the flirting low-key and tame (in fact, I thought I'd be back to my usual cavorting, and Marc had given his OK), but now that I've got Marc my heart just wasn't into anything but the most tame of flirts. This fact also contributed to making it an odd War.

My biggest regret is that I didn't volunteer at all. I usually try to get at least a shift or two at A&S point, but for some reason, this year I didn't do anything. I feel guilty about that, frankly.

So I suppose all that's left is to give a short run-down of some of my favourite moments from this year's War:

I'm sure there are more, but that's a pretty decent list, I think.

That said, I'm going to close this entry. If I think of anything else, I'll write more. If not, it's been another great Pennsic and I look forward to having lots more to write about next year.

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Friday, August 10

3.20 -- breakfast
29.60 -- gas
4.25 -- tolls
CAD 27.30 -- gas
= CAD 27.30; US 37.05
+ CAD 2.75; US 621.70
= CAD $30.05; US $658.75

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