Getting Back to Blogging

It's been four months since my last post. I got the feeling I was mostly talking/writing to myself with this blog. That may be, but this evening a friend in the Circle of Merry Folk on Tribe.net posted about a site called National Blog Posting Month. I checked it out and decided to join and start blogging again. Maybe I'll still be talking/writing mostly to myself, maybe not. We'll see (or I'll see if it turns out I really am only talking/writing to myself).

Briefly, here's a little of what I've done over the past few months:

I made a couple of additional trips to the International Rose Test Garden. I've put up quite a few items featuring photos from all the trips on Zazzle, so you might want to check out my Zazzle store by clicking the link over there on the left.

I finally decided to camp out at Faerieworlds this year and got a camping ticket just before prices went up a bit. I think they only went up about $5, but why pay more? I found out about the Circle of Merry Folk (COMF) on Tribe.net and joined. It was a good move. I got to know some folks online, then met them at Faerieworlds.

Faerieworlds turned into quite a big deal this time around. They changed the location of the event from Secret House Winery in Veneta to the Mount Pisgah Arboretum just southeast of Eugene. It's much closer to I-5 and much easier to get to. I took a trip in early July to the new location and got some photos and shot a short video where I stood at the edge of the main event field and panned from left to right. The COMFy folks appreciated it. I signed up for a storytelling workshop with Mark Lewis, one of the emcees at FW. Then I volunteered so I could camp a day early rather than drive down for the workshop, drive home, then drive back the next day (cheaper than a motel, but a lot of driving).

It was extremely hot during the days before Faerieworlds, and still very hot during the event. I ended up making an extra trip because I got to the site Thursday morning (July 30) and just before I would have been able to go in and set up camp, I realized I'd left my two wizard robes at home. So I made the extra trip after all, but still got back to Eugene in time for the workshop.

I also got involved in an independent film project started by a woman from New York who was inspired by Faerieworlds. I had a small part as a wizard, and since I use Spoonerisms as part of my persona at Faerieworlds, that was incorporated into the script. I only had a few lines. It was a very interesting thing to do, but I ended up missing almost all the daytime events on Saturday.

It was great to have folks to talk to during my time at Faerieworlds. There was a COMFy kitchen area set up. I contributed a bunch of paper plates to the effort, so I didn't end up spending much on food at the event itself. I ended up sharing my chair with Jason from Los Angeles, another new COMFy person. It was his first time at any kind of festival and he really liked it. On Friday I shot pictures of the opening spiral dance by getting right inside it, so I got lots of good shots.

Other events included a new Renaissance faire, Canterbury, in Silverton, about an hour south of here. I went for one day each of the two weekends and took pictures, including a bunch of Alexander James Adams. After Faerieworlds I went to the Washington Renaissance and Fantasy Faire in Buckley, WA east of Tacoma. That faire got cancelled last year due to local politics in Mason County, WA. The new location is in Pierce County where the faire was formerly held, although the site is not that near the old site. This past weekend, the 19th & 20th, I went to the Portland Pirate Festival both days and met up with a few COMFy folk. On Sunday I was part of the setting of a new Guinness World Record for the most people gathered in one place dressed as pirates. There were 1,651 people who registered.

I also took a few day trips. I went up to Mount St. Helens and the Johnston Ridge Observatory, then I took another drive up to Windy Ridge on the east side of the mountain another day. That trip was combined with a drive up to Mount Rainier, which isn't that far away, but I'd never been before. It was kind of a brief trip there because going up to Windy Ridge took longer than I'd planned. Another trip took me down to Sisters, Oregon and then over the McKenzie Pass along a back road that goes through a lava field from an eruption that took place about 1,000 years ago.

During July I pretty much stopped doing stuff on Squidoo, although I did create a couple of Faerieworlds-related lenses. After over a year and a half, I realized I'd put a lot of time and energy into it, but I certainly wasn't making much money. I have literally thousands of links to Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, plus a bunch of links to CD Baby, on those lenses and results have been really disappointing. I never made more than $40 in any one month, and most months it's been a lot less. Making all the lenses was interesting, and I did make them on subjects I'm genuinely interested in. I just thought with all that there'd be more activity. The lousy economy may have something to do with it, but still, it hasn't been terribly rewarding. It doesn't help that I really suck at promoting stuff.

So, I'm back to blogging. I'll try to post something every day, even if it's just something I've seen online using StumbleUpon. Usually there's something interesting seen using that.