RISE UP SINGING!
Gee wouldn’t that be a great name for a song book? LOL
Back from Uprising and what fun it was! I hardly know where to start. Truthfully, I am so bad at starting, I left for Idaho about 4-6 hours late on Tuesday and ended up driving most of the night. Thank goodness for books on tape or the boredom would be excruciating. And I am a natural night owl, so it wasn’t much of a hardship. Curious thing – there are no rest areas on I-15 between Montana border and Pocatello. Does that seem right to you? Needless to say, I didn’t party Wednesday night but slept soundly. zzzzz
The new site for Uprising is flatter and easier to get to. After a couple of years of Mudrising, the warm sunny weather this year was very welcome. Garath and Epona helped me set up the new pavilion. It’s big! It has tall walls! It has many many pounds of canvas! The ground was soft and the stakes took a good deal of finessing to get everything upright. But it is lovely and went up quite smoothly with minimal “darn we should have done x first” moments. Yay. Thank you milord! Your assistance and that of your lovely daughter in set up and tear down was greatly appreciated. It was worth every cookie!
And there I am – wearing my new bodice and silk chemise.
Some of my favorite Uprising experiences were repeated. Byron brought by one of his famous hedonistic handmade chocolate cherries. Mmmm yummy, if only it could last longer. The stars every night were really spectacular. I know, I’ve seen all of them before, growing up in Montana, but I forgot how many there are and how thickly they populate the Milky Way. Sigh. I want to go. Unfortunately, I somehow left without the usual camel from the Henna Gurrrrrllllzzzz (hope I spelled that right). I am bereft! Besides much metal on heads and beautiful garb, Uprising brought New and Wondrous Things. Sometime on Friday I witnessed a strange and horrifying site. I was told this is the Pink Valkyrie and entourage. You be the judge - new - wondrous - strange - horrifying - just plain wrong? Is anybody still surprised my head buzzed and I forgot things? I mean really – pink?
I took new cloaks and bodices with me and sorted and counted and helped people try things on. I had bodices to lace and cloak clasps to sew on but didn’t get around to most of that until late Saturday. Somehow the Japanese and Chinese items were put on sale and folks took the opportunity to outfit themselves. I had interesting conversations about Samurai and Japanese wear through history and learned to tie hakama (finally!). At least three Samurai warriors left looking mighty fine and more than one maiden donned brocade.
Country Rhoades sponsored filking and campfire companionship each night. There are some fine voices in Artemisia! The entertainment was poignant, mournful, bawdy and funny in turns, as filk should be. I didn’t get names for all the entertainers, so will not try to list them. I would like to point out that “Black Widows in the Privy” did not make it easy to see to needs late at night. We did some rhyming and ended up with an unusual idea for a t-shirt. Email me for the complete rendition of "See Jane". We drank some Copper Camels, tried some wonderful homemade mead and sampled sinfully tasty black raspberry tequila. What was also really wonderful was a session in human touch I, well, received is a weak word. It was all very public and fully clothed, but thanks to the Spanish gentleman for a truly unique experience. And for letting me practice my own technique. Mmm. The filking also morphed into some Gordon Lightfoot, one of my old favorites, so I came home and rooted out my CD’s and am listening to him now. I love beautiful voices.
Saturday night was windy windy windy with more than one of us up in the wee hours checking pegs and ropes and not getting much sleep. On the plus side, I was up early and packing and tearing down well before my natural inclinations would have gotten me out of bed. Garath and Rusty helped dismantle and load. Thanks Rusty and John and (blank) Jennifer? See you next year.
Did I mention there was a lot of canvas? And it was windy? Dropping the roof was more than a little exciting and nearly resulted in airborne Artemisians. On the plus side, that same wind pushed me north and homeward with some of the best gas mileage ever with the trailer in tow. I stopped at Jan’s café in Lima, Montana for lunch and yummy homemade sour cream raisin pie.
In July I think I am going to have a couple of contests and give away some gift certificates. Be sure to check back here to find out how to win. My mind is tending towards a poetry contest and some photo identifications.
And now for something completely different! Spamalot is going to be Denver in the fall and we have tickets for opening night. Rose – you rock! It opened in New York City a mere 10 days after I was there buying fabric and the poor scheduling by the producers really irked me. But now all will be redeemed and much happiness is in Ritzville tonight.
June 30-July 1, Saturday and Sunday – Seams Like Magik at Ye Merry Greenwood Faire in Richland Washington. Come check out the new bodices, restocking on white chemises (there weren’t any, fancy that), some new linen things, lots of boots, the carousal of cloaks, summer weight kurtas and flirty embroidered skirts. Of course returning engagements for breeches, pirate shirts, goofy hats, parasols, fans, Irish dresses, and more.
See you there!
Jane
posted by SeamsLikeMagik @ 9:54 PM
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