What Not to Wear... to the Renaissance Festival

My parents are visiting from England right now, for the Thanksgiving Holidays (yes, I know the English don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but I live in the U.S. and "When in Rome...." and all that)

Anyway, we spent Sunday at the Texas Renaissance Festival and had a great time. The weather was perfect, the food excellent, the entertainment... entertaining.

But I'm sorry, I just have to address the Festival visitors who insist on wearing costume to the event. Not all of them, mind you, many of the costumes were stunning.

And I'm not referring to the people employed by TRF as characters and vendors (at least I hope I'm not!)

No, I'm referring to the ones who make you wonder how they had the guts to walk out of the privacy of their house looking like that.

Now, I'm not a prude, by any means. I've sunbathed topless on the beach in Greece and the South of France (ok, so it was decades ago, but that's not the point). I think my complaint is more along the lines of "some things are just better left to the imagination."

So, without further ado - here is my guide on What Not to Wear to a Renaissance Faire.

1) If you're wearing a chemise and bodice as part of your "garb", please do us all a favor and wear them as they are supposed to be worn.

The breasts are supposed to be *confined* by the bodice, creating a *pleasing cleavage* above the line of the bodice. The bodice is not supposed to be tucked underneath the breasts, causing them to flap over the top of it like spaniel's ears. This doesn't flatter anyone and is quite likely to make my dad choke on his ale.

2) If your figure looks like you have five or six bicycle tires around your waist, please don't let yourself be seen in public in any kind of outfit that shows your midriff. Believe me, we don't want to see it.

This goes double for the women who wear the chainmail, midriff-bearing outfits. My dad burst out laughing at the back view of three rather portly women with flabby butts topped by spare tires, adorned in these ridiculous outfits (complete with thong underwear showing through). I think he might even have snapped a picture because no-one "back home" would believe him.

There you have it - quite a short list really :) I did consider trying to find photos on the web (at Webshots or somewhere like that) to illustrate these medieval fashion faux pas, but decided against it. However, I will post a link to my online gallery of Texas Renaissance Festival photographs from a couple of years ago. Sorry - no "chainmail chicks" there.

And Now for Something Completely Different...

Dancing With Your Horse

I've been riding most of my life, but seeing things like this almost make me just quit! How this woman is communicating with this horse, I don't know. But it sure is beautiful!

Not Your Run of the Mill Gal...

I've lost track of the number of times this has happened...

I listen to the radio and they are discussing something like "most people do this" or "in most cases... ". I sit in my car (I listen to the radio in my car mostly) and think to myself, "that doesn't apply to me."

Case in point -- This morning they were talking about cell phones, I forget the exact dollar amount, but they were saying that in this day and age the majority of people spend x amount (it was in the thousands, I think) on cell phones. This included purchase of cell phones, accessories, usage and airtime, add-ons like ring tones and mp3's etc. etc. etc.

OK, maybe I'm just strange but I don't spend anywhere near that amount.

First, I've had the same phone for two and a half years. I don't feel the need to upgrade every six months, to the latest phone with GPS technology, a camera and an mp3 player thrown in.

Second, I don't have a "plan". My cell phone is pre-paid (Virgin Mobile) and I get $15 worth of airtime that I must use (or lose) in 90 days. It automatically recharges every 90 days. I usually use about $2-worth of it, and only then because I want to keep the account active. I'm not even sure that I have to do that, I just do it anyway.

Thirdly, I actually keep my phone turned OFF in my purse. It's there strictly for emergencies, such as the time I was involved in a car wreck and needed to call AAA and my insurance company (it paid for itself right there) and another time when I found myself locked out at Dee's and called her for the access code.

The rest of the time, I'm either at home where I have four phones, or at work, where I have a phone. Why do I need a cell phone?

Does that make me wierd?

The Holiday Season

I love this time of year anyway, and this year I'm particularly looking forward to the Holiday season.

At Thanksgiving, my parents are coming for their annual visit from England and, in addition, Eric will be visiting from San Francisco. I was still suffering the after effects of my accident the last time he visited, back in September, so we're both really looking forward to this holiday visit.

We've all been invited for Thanksgiving dinner to Dee and Jim's, so my parents and Eric will get to meet them for the first time.

And then at Christmas, I'm flying out to San Francisco for a few days. Eric has booked a hotel room for the duration, which will be a little strange, not being "at home" for Christmas, but we'll be spending Christmas Day with two of his brothers and his aunt that all live in the Bay area. Since I met his mom, his sister and his other brother earlier in the year, that means I will finally get to meet the rest of his family.

With any luck, next Christmas will be our first Christmas as a married couple, and hopefully we'll be spending it up in the Seattle area, which is where we want to relocate to. I don't want to jinx anything though and will just say that contacts are being made and plans are being laid with that move in mind. Tons of logistics to deal with -- cross country moves are never easy -- but lets take things one step at a time...

Netherlands Horse Rescue

At the end of October, apparently there were some really bad storms in The Netherlands that caused a lot of flooding. 18 horses were drowned in the initial flooding and over 100 horses got trapped on a patch of higher ground which turned into a very small isolated island. They were trapped by flood waters for days while efforts were made to rescue them. Eventually the flood waters began to recede, allowing a daring rescue effort to be made.

I'll let you watch this amazing video. It's one of the most moving things I have ever seen.

Netherlands Horse Rescue