On Friday Gordon's oldest Daughter, Liz, tied the knot with her nifty fiance, Jeremiah. They'll be having a nice wedding ceremony next Spring, but it turned out to be a wise financial move to go ahead and get married before the end of the year (some tax thing). Gordon is very happy: he now has a very cool son-in-law! Liz's sister was able to make it down from Arcata, so Gordon & Liz's mom had a nice time seeing their grandson. For Gordon it was the first time, so especially nice for him as we probably won't be seeing the baby again for awhile (Humbolt County being a bit off the beaten path for us these days among other things).
Saturday we went in to San Francisco for the Dickens Fair at the Cow Palace. I figured I'd better go this year, as we'll probably be moving north sometime before the next one. It was really nice! I was pleasantly surprised. Gordon went as a sailor (I went as a fishwife; first time I've had 19th century clothes on since Gordon and I and a former friend used to model for the San Francisco Academy of Art College about six years ago...). We ran into some soldier friends, and also Col. Wm. "Buffalo Bill" Cody AND the singer Jenny Lind! Score! We actually had tea with Cody & Lind (our friends Patrick & Julie) at a very nice tea shop.
The Dickens Fair had about the same ratio of flakes & nuts to quality re-enactors as the Ren Faire, but for some reason the goofiness factor seems a lot lower. It probably has something to do with the fact that it's easier to throw together 19th century clothing than 16th century clothing if you don't have much of a clue. A shabby attempt at 19th century women's wear just becomes "streetwalker", whereas a lame attempt at 16th century clothing runs the gamut from "fairytale fantasy" to "Victorian bondagewear" to "Celtic knightmare". It just seemed as though it was a lot easier to absorb the atmosphere and play "let's pretend" than at the Ren Faire, where your bubble is popped every time you turn around, whether by some guy in a Conan costume or the fact that for some reason it's 95 f in Merrye Olde Englande. I'd go again for sure!
Modelling update: For those who never attended SFAAC, Gordon and I did NOT model in the buff, fer goodness sakes! When I said "19th century clothes" that's what I meant. We also wore 14th, 15th, & 16th c clothes. We modelled for the illustration classes.
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