Fri Oct 6: Tacky Garb and Blender Party - We usually have a big camping trip about this time of year, called "Great Western War" or abbreviated GWW. Unfortunately, there was a huge electrical accident out at the site this summer, rendering the site unavailable. The event staff tried valiantly to get a new site in time, but there are a lot of details to coordinate for a site this size, for attendance in these numbers, and sadly it couldn't be realistically done this year. Huge hats off and applause for all the work the site staff put into all this, but it couldn't happen.

So, in place of the big camping event, people all over are holding their own replacement and consolation parties, workshops, get-togethers, and sometimes even camping trips. My roomie is off camping up north with friends right now, but before going, she and I hosted a party on Friday night.

In honor of some silly costuming parties that happen in life, we made the theme of our party "Tacky Garb" ... and additionally the drink theme was "Blender Drinks" in honor of the new blender we purchased for our kitchen (with the year-old house-warming gift from Brian & Morgana that we had never spent). The tackiness of the garb was truly terrifying and spectacular. I'm actually debating whether the photos get loaded or not, the costuming was so scary. *hee hee* Of course, to my non-SCA friends, maybe some of the in-jokes are lost. And actually my roomie's garb was only frightening because she's so well-dressed and impeccibly researched most of the time. "Just good enough" and "mis-matched periods" shows up at events all the time, and so it's only tacky when you know her personally. (Okay, it's tacky anyways, but we don't tell newcomers that they're wearing something tacky. We just help them get better at costuming.)

The scariest thing about my outfit? I actually *own* tacky pieces that can be put together in such a horrible combination. Yoikes.

The party went magnificently, and even the clean-up this morning took almost no time at all. And it turns out that my roomie has added a verse to the household song for me, that includes reference to my "washing dishes" and serving "coffee so delicious" that truly made me squeal with delight. (Saul actually liked my happiness at the verse almost more than the verse itself!)

Melissa was the perfect bartender, mixing drinks by request, and adapting to so many allergies or requirements that everyone had more than enough to sample, drink, and enjoy. With or without alcohol, with or without fruit, dairy, chocolate, you name it, she found a way to make it. I do have to apologize for being out of vanilla, not owning cayenne pepper, and being low on mixers, but it was my first blender-drink party, so now I know more about shopping for it. *grin*

Sat Oct 7: Some Small Administratia - I spent a little time this morning experimenting with an RSS feeder on my computer, so now the journals I follow that have feeds are all logged in again. (For the uninitiated, an RSS reader checks a website like a journal or a blog to see if there are new entries, and then gives you a link or a preview to click on to see the entry.)

Not everyone likes to get an email each time a journal is updated. Or some journals do not have a subscription option if you *want* an email. Some journals allow you to have an RSS feed link that someone can add to an RSS reader. So, if you are one of these who would like to have an RSS feed, here it is:

Add my RSS feed to your RSS Reader



And now I'm off to another "not-GWW" party. This one is being hosted by the Crimson Spade.

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Tom. You bring a lot of joy into the group. I'm really glad you're part of Mina's life.