I’ve always liked going to ren faires ever since I was introduced to them. Something about the way the world allows me to have fun.

A few weeks back, I introduce two new friends to the wonderful world of Ren Faires by taking them to the New York Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, NY. To save a little on getting there, we decided to take a ZipCar and let me tell ya… that was a great idea. Although the traffic around the City may argue, I found it a wonderful experience to be able to take a car to the faire grounds at any time and leave at any time and to just have fun with friends in a clear comfy environment. Alright, I confess my drive through the city did mar the experience because I got caught in hours long traffic jams when the drive should’ve been only a couple hours.

Despite the timing, once we did arrive at the faire my friends went nuts photographing anyone in costume as they passed them all through the parking lot and ticket booths. We wandered the ways of faire and even took a tour by a native ‘Optimist’. She walked the entire pathway backwards.

After a rather exhausting (for me at least) we ended our day with a relaxing Dexter Tripp Thrill Show (“It’s like playing frisbee with a narcoleptic dog!”) where we laughed until our stomachs pained us.

They took photos and they both say they had an excellent time. I wish I could go out there one more time before the season ends, but I know that is a far away dream.

What is your favorite Ren Faire? What is your best memory? Do you perform at Faires? Comment with your link and I will post them once I find they are real links

We have joined a website called WePay. It’s pretty awesome in that it allows groups of people to collect and distribute money all in a single location without having to go and get a new bank account somewhere. The site allows users to sell tickets, send bills and to accept donations. We don’t have anything to sell tickets for yet, unless we make or acquire something that would be worth a raffle campaign. Instead I am thinking of selling items and possibly services. My friends and I must consult a bit, but I am really interested to find what people would buy from us.

I intend to use Etsy.com and eBay.com, possible Half.com. So that would be Art, Items and books. But there are many talents amongst us. Websites, Art, Digital Art, bracelets of various sorts, trinkets and necklaces, knitting, crochet, foods, etc.

Also, if you choose to be generous, or have any requests, you can also donate to our cause by clicking this button:

I believe you can state why you are donating. If you are requesting a service, be sure to add your email address in addition to the request. I cannot refund anything, there are fees on incoming monies and they don’t give me anything other than your name when it comes in. Except whatever you type.

So here is the really big question: What would you pay for? Please leave a comment telling me what you would pay for, what you know I can make and would be worth my time, or inexpensive fund-raising ideas.

It’s been a few weeks since I talked about my friend who re-sparked my interest in magic. It seems it is still within my interest.

About a week after my friend–let’s call him Stanley–taught me the trick I have been trying to get him to show me, he decided I should learn a simple manipulation.

Ok, let’s cover manipulation first. Manipulation with cards is when the entertainer makes cards dance in his hands to the appreciation of his audience. Usually this manipulation is paired with magic tricks. Entertainers have been using the combination of manipulation and magic in different venues for years. You’ve all seen it, here is an example of a card manipulation performance:

I am not working on anything so fancy. I am working on basics… though it is a little fancier in some ways.

Stanley did the one thing that would insure I would learn manipulation though he didn’t know it at the time. While we were talking and after I handed the cards to him again, he showed me a simple trick then put cards into my hands and made me try it. If you don’t get what it was that did it, it was the making me try it part.

I didn’t get the trick down at first, but I caught on fast and the next day found me doing that trick with both hands while waiting in a subway station. Stanley didn’t know it at the time, but he had just started something that would last a while.*

When I was at work the next day, my lunch break consisted of searching for Card Manipulations and basic magic tricks. What I found was pretty interesting. I saved a small playlist of basic flourishes and a few fancy card manipulations.

The next time Stanley and I met up, he was shocked and amazed by the–admittedly minor–progress I had made. It was hard work for me. I had recent slammed my right hand into a metal pole and moving the fingers in such elaborate ways forced it to work in ways it wasn’t ready to endure. I was stubborn. There were a few things I couldn’t really capture, so I handed the deck off to Stanley who showed me what I was missing and gave me a challenge to complete.

The time after that, my cards, which were regular paper cards and not actual professional playing cards, were dull around the edges and the paper wasn’t snapping and basically they got limp. I hadn’t completed the challenge yet and he was pressed to show anything useful with the current deck. It was my Birthday too, so I didn’t push. I resolved to get something useful.

The next day was an early day because of a holiday. I contacted Stanley to find out if he would be available to go to his suggested magic shop with me and we went. Sadly I didn’t have much in the way of cash or money since payday was still around the corner, but I did have enough to buy a deck of cards. We had some time, so I suggested visiting the other store I had found on a Google search. He had never been there and it was close. We went.

He nabbed my new deck of cards (It wasn’t hard, I was offering!) and tutored me in a few things as we walked through early evening crowds. It made the walk way interesting. The second shop was more visually stunning with other street magic and entertainment, such as juggling, stupid gross tricks, like plastic dog pooh, and normal real magic supplies. I decided there was nothing for me there and ended up buying us both a set of cards. Which were pulled out and manipulated on the trip back the way we had come.

I don’t know if he thought I was serious or not. I didn’t even know if I was. I ended up with two decks of cards: Ellusionist’s Arcane (white) and Theory11′s Guardians. Both caught my attention and imagination, but I decided the Guardians were more hearty and able to stand up to frequent use.

Each day during the holiday weekend, I pulled out the cards and practiced what I was learning. It was something to do and something I found easy enough to do on subway platforms and sitting on the trains. By the time Stanley met me again, only four days by my count, my deck was already looking ragged and used. My pocket was really hard on the poor things. In a week they looked used, in two weeks they looked well used. It was getting a little hard to cut the cards in my new fancy way without dropping them on the ground.

A few easy weeks after Stanley first went with me to the store, I handed him my well used deck. Unbelievably, once he warmed up a little and dropped cards a few times, he flawlessly performed tricks with the ragged card. Another lesson, even bad cards can entertain. Not long later, the outer box fell apart and that was the death of the rest of the cards as I used my pocket and several cards got ruined. I was playing without a full deck of cards. It was only a month or so of life.

To my amazement, this card manipulation thing has lasted a long time. Stanley knew I was serious when we both stepped on a train and while we were talking, I pulled out the cards and started warming up.

Am I any good? Not yet. My fingers don’t move smoothly and still drop a lot, but the manipulation is helping that smashed hand and I am at the point where I am getting bored with what I know already. In my experience now is the most crucial time. If I can get past the boredom and keep up with the basics, it will be all the better as I try to learn more.

I’ve had a few stumbles and I have a few issues I need to address, but that will have to be in another post. I would like to write more about Magic and manipulation of cards and coins, but I need to know what people would like to know. Please comment and let me know what you want to know, or comment with suggestions, websites, books or videos that you used to help you.

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*The trick he taught me was a simple one-handed cut called The Charlier Cut. There are numerous videos out there that contain the Charlier, but all of the vids dedicated to it are tutorials. Grab a pack of playing cards, don’t worry if it is incomplete, and do the tutorial along with the video… perhaps I can be your own personal Stanley!

Why Halloween? I was rumaging through some old notes and I wanted to eliminate some papers and transfer it to digital. I happen to like this story, which I wrote long hand and dumped in my files.

Each Halloween, my father’s office had a themed party as many do. One year, my father was one of the 102 Dalmations and he and his department paraded for fellow office workers to “Who Let the Dog Out?” Another year, they did the Addams’ Family and my father did and uncanny imitation of ‘Uncle Fester’. My father then decided in 2004 to dress as a famous and popular singer.

He spent a couple weeks putting the costume together in his free time. He didn’t do any sewing or anything, but he did go shopping and searching for the correct components. On night before the day of the event, he refrained assistance and put he costume together for the first time. I was busy at the time and didn’t realise what he was doing until he walked into the room and made me do a doubletake. The black wig was long and shagy, the black makeup was actually pretty precise for someone who doesn’t do make up and the whole outfit was amazing. He got compliments and suggestions from us and then set it up for the next day.

I didn’t see him as he went out the door to get to work. When he returned for the night, he brought with him a few interesting stories. He won in two categories: Best Original and ‘Most Like…’ in addition, a second costume he bought and loaned to a co-worker won Most Silly. Of course, I was not really surprise the giant Whoopie Cushion would win that.

My father told how he wore his costume to work and entered the building complete with gait and movements of Ozzy Osbourne. A man in the office approached my father and asked, “Was that you crossing the parking lot?” My father answered in the affirmative and the co-worker replied, “Oh Good! I was afraid old Ozzy was here to collect his debt!”

When the presentation time arrived, he entered the floor with Snow White on his arm. As he reached the center of the room, he stopped and looked at Snow White with a slightly confused look, “Uh… uh… uh… .Sharon?!” he asked, affecting the speech of his character. He caused a riot of laughter from all in the room, including his companion. My father’s Ozzy Osbourne was a hit that lasts to this day. The resemblence is a bit uncanny and each time he dresses as Ozzy for Halloween, I am taken aback.

Recently, he showed me his work ID and it sent me into howls of laughter, that I actually ended up on the floor laughing. For whatever reason, he was allowed to use his Ozzy photo as his official ID.

Do you have any silly costuming stories to share? Post a comment and let me know.

Lately, my favorite kind of cooking starts with olive oil and spices in the frying pan. Eggs? Sauteed onions (and other available veggies) and herbs with eggs scrambled on top. Rice? Sauteed onions, garlic (and other available veggies), spices and rice. Delicious. Pasta? Sauteed onions, garlic, italian spices, other available veggies, then tomato paste/sauce on top… on top of pasta. Chicken breast? Sauteed onions, garlic, spices… and then in goes the chicken breast with vinegar and other interesting spices. Yes, and I do have sauteed onions, usually with sauteed mushrooms, all on their own as a topping or addition to things like potatoes, roasts and rotisserie chickens.

Basically, if you walk in when I am sauteeing something, you never know where its gonna go and I love starting things that way.

I have a wonderful cookbook called ‘Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone” (Broadway Books, 9780767921220). I am nowhere near a vegetarian, but the tips and recipes offered in this cookbook are well worth the lack of meat. Actually, there are many recipes that either go extremely well with a meat dish or can be easily modified with meat. The best part of this book is how it is organized. The author chooses a vegetable type, tells you what it is, what it is good for, how to clean, store and cook with it, and then continues to give a range of recipes from basic to complex with each vegetable as a central feature. I have been introduced to a few exotic vegetables and given a load of information about veggies I thought I knew already. This book has taught me how to sautee well and how to make soups and dips and pancakes. In addition to veggies, there is also information about grains and pastas as well. The author offers tips and serving suggestions in the margins, as well as suggested substitutions. There are also beautiful full color photos of some entrees and sides as well.

My copy of the book is always out, I have a few bookmarks at favorite parts and it is starting to look well used. I used to follow a different recipe for pancakes, but once I tried the suggested recipe, I will never go to another. They are delicious as all get-out. When I have a random ingredient and I am wondering what to do with it, I will look it up in this book and more often than not get an inspiration from the preparation section if not an actual recipe I can use at the moment.

If you like cooking and don’t want to look through a hundred different books for tips, tricks and recipes, this book would be an excellent resource for cooking, cleaning, preparing, and storing fruits, vegetables, grains, breads, cereals and condiments of all makes and kinds. When they say Cooking for Everyone, I do believe they really mean it.