Today's rambling: The Romantic Exploits of Berry
Written on August 20, 2001 at 2:18 a.m.
while feeling a bit

My two new dwarf hamsters squeak a lot. When one of them steps on the other (who was buried under the bedding), the buried hamster will pop up and start squeaking angrily, as if to say "What's your problem, stepping on me while I'm sleeping!!!!" And if one of them just generally irritates the other, then the irritated hamster will squeak a lot. They sound like squeaky dog toys. I'm starting to like them more now, but I still miss my two little babies. :(

Saturday, Tiff and I went to the Renaissance Faire, as I mentioned in my previous entry. It was hot that day (hot for me, anyway), and I think it was rather humid, too. Though I can't stand heat anyway, so it probably didn't even have to be humid for me to be uncomfortable! At any rate, I'd worn that broomstick skirt I mentioned before, and the 3/4-sleeved shirt I'd bought with the skirt. I brought another shirt, because I suspected I probably wouldn't be able to wear the new shirt very long, and I was right. I'm very picky when it comes to shirts, because certain materials and things make me really uncomfortable.

I lasted 'til 4 o'clock before I had to go out to the car and change, though. That was...*counts*...six hours! I didn't make it that far without wanting to change, however, hehe...but in the end, I asked Tiff for her car keys and hurried out of the 'shire' (as it's called) toward the car. I didn't figure there'd be any people out there because our parking space was far out and most people would be in the Faire still, but when I got there, there was another family coming behind me! They were in the same row as me, but thankfully they were far enough down that I could sit in the car and change shirts without being seen. Whoo, go me, stripping in public! *giggles* ;) I can only imagine what sorts of people are going to find my diary now through the Google search! :oP

Anyway. I have to confess that this trip to the Faire was nowhere near as fun as I'd hoped it would be. I went in September the first (and last) time I'd gone, so the weather was fairly cool. And I didn't get to really buy anything, which was a bummer because I love souvenirs, hehe! But nothing I'd seen really caught my eye, and because I didn't have too much money I was thinking "Okay, I can't just go buying impulsively! I'll look first and then buy later!" which kinda impaired my buying ability, hehehe...

And, I didn't get to interact with any of the actors! When we first got there, I was pretty much trying to avoid all the actors, because I was shy and self-conscious and all that. But a little while later, I was all ready to play along and stuff...but no one approached me, and even though I was mostly over my initial shyness, I wasn't so UNshy that I could just go strike up a conversation on my own! ;) And it seemed that the actors were mostly going after kids and younger guys...I was completely looked over, just like the first time I visited! :( Though actually, the first time I went, I asked Shakespeare about 'Hamlet' and asked the Village Idiot for a picture, hehe....The Village Idiot was much cuter that time than he was this time around! :oP

My two favorite characters this year were the McManly Brothers...or the 'Duo of Woo', as they called themselves, hehehe...The first I saw was Duncan, who performed in "Whose Jest Is It Anyway?" though I'd seen him just a few minutes prior, walking down the path with this really big (broad?)sword braced against his shoulder...one of the girls made a comment as he passed, and he turned and replied, "People often say that my departure is as good as my approach, but I never knew what they meant," or something along those lines. Very funny, though. ^_^

The second brother, Connor (don't know the exact spelling...have to ask Tiff, since she has the program, hehe), was hilarious. Tiff and I went to their show (I can't remember what it was called...something about 'woo'), and they were teaching all of us how to woo (y'know, pick up guys/girls). So they picked people from the audience (girls and guys) to be the 'contestants', and Connor started things off by demonstrating a few 'common woos'. You would have had to have been there to get the humor of it, but it was SO funny! When they first told the audience that we'd be the ones doing the wooing (hey, that rhymed), I got all nervous like I used to do in class when the teacher told everyone that they were going to have to play along or whatever. But by the end, I almost--almost!--wished that I'd been picked! (Ah, there go the Amazing Squeaking Hamsters again)

It really sucks being shy, because underneath it all I really love to do stuff like what I mentioned above. No, not wooing! Just acting and generally being silly and making people laugh. When I was in kindergarten and first grade, I remember I used to LOVE getting up and acting or whatever in front of people! I loved making everyone laugh, and I loved the attention I got from it (hehe). But now I've become so shy and self-conscious that it really impairs any hidden desires to be on stage! I think, if I lost weight and looked nice, I'd be much more outgoing and stuff. Everyone thinks I'm crazy when I say that (as if getting skinny can make a person outgoing), but if all that's holding me back is awkwardness about my figure, then why can't losing weight make me a more outgoing person? *shrugs* I dunno, I haven't had the willpower thus far to get slimmer, so I suppose I won't know if it would make me more outgoing! ;)

ANYway, I got off track, hehe...Aside from the 'Duo of Woo', there was this other guy called Lord Percy Fancypants, or something along those lines (I only remember the Lord Percy part, hehe). If you couldn't tell, he was a little...erm...happy. ;) Tiff and I encountered him talking to a little girl. "Say 'hel-LOOOOO'!" he said exuberantly, to which the little girl giggled shyly but was otherwise silent. So he said it again, and she finally said 'hello' back. "Now, every time you see me, you have to say "Hel-LOOOOO Lord Percy!" and I'll say "Hel-LOOO!" back!" He was my third favorite character, hehehe...

And then, of course, the Queen. I don't know, I always imagined that the women acting as Queen Elizabeth should be a little more reserved, but she was going around being generally very giggly and whatnot. I overheard her at one point saying "I'm the future queen, and if I want to act like a giggly little girl, then I shall!" (And she proceeded to bounce up and down and giggle.) So I guess that was that. If she wanted to act like a giggly girl, no one could say otherwise!

I found another reason why my hamsters squeak at each other. It all concerns their wheel. If one of the hamsters tries to get in the wheel while the other is there, and then tries to go another direction or something, the first hamster will squeak angrily. They're like little kids or something. "No, I had it first!" "Let me play with the wheel!!!"

BUT, back to the Ren Faire! Later that day, Tiff and I went back to the Scriptorium (kind of like an abbey or whatever...it sold books and other things that, back in Renaissance days, would only be found whar the monks lived. ;) Yeah. So I went in and took a quick look round (not realizing that Tiff couldn't come in because she had a smoothie and drinks weren't allowed inside). There was this guy in there wearing Scottish clothing (just a guest, not an actor), and he was rather cute. *giggles* Anyway, I went back outside and took Tiff's drink so she could go inside, and I bided my time by looking at these weird sundial thingies and trying to avoid this girl who looked an awful lot like Gretchen (someone I used to be friends with but just kind of stopped talking to). A couple minutes later, I peered back inside the building (I was in view of the doorway the entire time), and that guy was looking out...I swear it looked like he was looking at me, but I won't presume such! Not seeing Tiff, I turned around and walked to the end of the front porch-thing, leaning against one of the stone pillars framing the entrance onto the porch.

Just a minute or two later, that guy came outside and approached the pillar opposite from mine, which I thought was just too cool. ;) He had a walking stick-sort of thing as part of his costume, and he was just kinda idly hitting it against the pillar, almost fidgety as if he didn't know what to do. I continued to stand there, wondering if I should just say something but not knowing what TO say. So he wandered over to the sundial things that I'd been looking at, and his back was toward me. I glanced at him, then glanced away, only to see the Gretchen look-alike coming toward me. So I turned the other way (facing left now instead of right), and I think he looked over at me, hehehe!

At any rate, he stayed out there the entire time I was there, until Tiff came back outside. We walked off, and when I turned around to look at the guy one last time, he was gone! Ah, Tiff, I wish you would've stayed in there longer, LoL! Maybe he would've talked to me! ;) Then again, if I could have thought up something interesting to say to him...

That was about all the interesting stuff of the day. On our way back from the Faire, we took a wrong exit and drove all the way up to Harrisburg! I got worried when I saw the Middletown High School, because I recognized it from trips with Mum to Virginia (we travel along that road every time we go to VA). "Does any of this look familiar to you?" I asked, holding back a giggle. "Because I think we're going toward Harrisburg." And sure enough, the next sign we saw was for Exit 19, the one we wanted was 21, and we'd just come from 20! We had a good laugh over that mistake (I jokingly offered to show her the way to my relatives in Virginia)...got our road trip after all!

Speaking of road trips, I had a dream last night that had Tom Green in it. *shudder* I HATE that guy. But he was actually nice and un-obnoxious in my dream, so it was all good. And it's not as if it matters if he ever found out someone hates him, because I'm sure he could care less. He's that obnoxious. Hehehe....

I think Mel's going to turn into one of those trashy biker chicks with the leather studded belts and too many tattoos to count. Either that, or just a general fashion nightmare. That latter phrase, coming from me, is odd because I don't usually care much about fashion. But anyway, she's just doing (and wanting to do) stuff that's got a serious cringe factor attached! Mum says that maybe this is just Mel's way of dealing with everything that's going on in her life, and I was like, "Well, I'm going through a situation that's pretty much as bad as hers, and you don't see me going out and getting multiple piercings and stuff!" To which Mum replied, "You're also more mature than she is. She acts like a baby because she's been babied her entire life."

Ah, words of wisdom! Being an only child, I've definitely been spoiled, but my father was so strict (when he was home, which during my formulative years was often) that I got out of my baby phase fairly young. Not that I don't have lapses into it every so often. ;) Mel was the youngest kid, though, so her parents (especially her dad) just pampered her. I was jealous way back when, now I'm just like, "I wish you'd been dirt poor so maybe you'd be more tolerable!" *smiggles*

I think that's the end of this particular entry, however. My fingers are starting to get tired, and I can't think of anything else that absolutely needs to be written down. Except that maybe, in March, I'll be flying out to Arizona to go to the Renfest with Laura! That is...if you really still wamme to, Laura? *giggles*

(By the way, if you didn't notice by now...there really weren't any romantic exploits in this entry, hehe...I just liked the phrase, after seeing it on someone's blog. *hees*)