Leavin' on a jet plane.../RenFaire

OK the day is finally here. Wheels up, as Therese puts it, in like 6-1/2 hours. Which means I'll be leaving my apartment in about 4. But I'm not too stressed (though I am a little), because I'm getting lots of stuff done. Paid some bills, doing laundry, cleaning CPAP machine. Next up: checking train schedule so I can figure out exactly when I'm leaving here - yes, I am one of these frugal sorts who saves a bundle by taking the LIRR from Flatbush to Jamaica and then hopping on the Train-to-the-Plane. One of the times I went to Spain I didn't allow enough time, and when I checked in at JFK, they had already given away my carefully-chosen seats! so ever since I am a little more cautious to get to the airport on time.

Tomorrow and Sunday, the trip is going to get off to a rollicking bang (if that makes any sense) as I attend the Tampa Renaissance Faire with my many Faire friends. I am surprised by how many people don't bat any eyelash when I mention that I like to attend Faire. I guess it's because everyone knows that I'm passionately into Renaissance music, so they figure the two go hand in hand. But let me give you a little background and tell you about what I'm going to be doing the next couple of days - I want to do this partly because I know the weekend is going to be so busy, it's likely that the next time you hear from me is sometime next week.

For a long time, I actually had a purist's scorn for things like RenFaire. In college, a couple of the performers in our Early music group were into re-enactments and jousting and stuff, and I thought it was corny, and just an excuse to get drunk and have lots of illicit sex. So for a long long time I never even considered going to RenFaires myself.

Then I met my friends Steve and Vanessa, and during a conversation about me visiting them in Tampa, they convinced me that the ideal time to come down would be during the RenFaire. I couldn't give them some speech about how I was above it or something - they were my friends, and they were totally into it! So I just decided to give it a shot.

Well, that first weekend, back in March of 2008, I did feel out of place. And many of Steve and Vanessa's Faire friends ignored me because I wasn't a hot young thing. But I had enough fun to want to go further with this whole RenFaire experience. I actually bought a simple outfit while I was there that first weekend - a puffy shirt, burgundy vest and billowy black pants, with a simple belt. But I knew I wanted to get something much more stylish so I could really look the part if I was going to come back again.

Sure enough, the three of us decided to attend another RenFaire closer to my neck of the woods, in upstate NY, at Sterling, the following summer. Again, that was fun, but all three of us felt out-of-place, since we didn't know anyone, other than our actor-friend, Jim Greene, who plays the rat-catcher Emrys Fleet. But it whet our appetites to do more.

And since then, I have done more. I bought a few more things before attending Tampa again last March, and even more clothing in time for last summer at Sterling. This time at Sterling we stayed for two weekends, and did some fun activities in the week in between, like a trip to Niagara Falls. I had found a couple of great websites for buying Medieval and Renaissance clothes, www.revivalclothing.com and www.historicenterprises.com, and had bought tunics and hats and colorful tights, and I was really looking the part of a Medieval farmer.

After Sterling, I went to my local RenFaire, Tuxedo aka the New York Renaissance Festival. It's a one-hour bus ride from mid-town Manhattan, and they have package deals where you can buy a roundtrip bus ticket and admission to the Faire. I ended up going to Tuxedo I think 6 times before their run was over. And I discovered that a musician friend of mine, Krista Patton, plays bagpipes there and has been doing it for like 20 years. She couldn't believe she saw me there, and I had the same reaction when I saw her! But I didn't think it was as big a deal as she thought. At this point, I don't care who finds out what I do on my summer vacation, lol.

In fact, I even went to a cigar lounge once to meet friends dressed in my Renaissance garb. On Labor Day Monday, Tuxedo had a special extra day of Faire, so I went. At the same time, my friends Ade and Mo wanted to meet for a smoke, and we found out that the best place to go to that day would be Carnegie Club on 56th Street. So I got back to NYC from the Faire, hopped on the subway, and went straight to Carnegie Club to meet them. The people at the lounge didn't bat an eyelash to see me, but Ade and Mo were very amused.

This fall I made a determined plan to acquire more of the really fancy stylish clothing I've been eyeing on the internet since day one. So I now have a nice Tudor outfit from www.moresca.com, along with more hats and a beautiful brocade doublet from www.revivalclothing.com. I'm psyched. I'm going to look great this weekend in Tampa!

And I know just what I want to do. I want to see Johnny Pheonix's danger comedy, the Washer Wenches and Emrys's Rat Show. And I'm going to puck at least once each day (more on that later), and attend the Renaissance Smoker at 4:30 where for $10 you get 2 local cigars, 2 draught beers, snacks and entertainment from a bunch of actors, all while smoking and drinking with your fellow Faire attendees. And of course I will hang out a lot with Steve and Vanessa, as well as Schizoid Chris and her husband Ken, Sarah and Soleste and Handsome Rob and Sped and Bernard and any number of other people.

OK, so let me explain pucking a bit, and then it's off to make my last couple hours of preparation, eat some lunch and scoot. Pucking is a game kind of like golf. Instead of hitting a ball, we fling stuffed rats. Emrys referees the matches, but in gentlemanly fashion, you are responsible for keeping track of your own score, how many strokes it takes you to get from the start to whatever the target is. And since we play on the grounds of the Faire, and our target is often a booth or something, we have to deal with avoiding patrons, etc., all while trying to fling a little bit of cloth stuffed with rice while usually at least a little bit under the influence. It's fun. I can't say I'm any good at it yet, but I enjoy playing.

OK, till next time, this is Charming Karl (my Faire name) saying goodbye!