...and fruit flies like a banana! Greetings one and all -- it's been too long since i last checked in, but life in general has 'sped up' by several hundred revolutions since last I posted.

Much has changed in my life since last I wrote in these pages electronic. In early January, I was dispossed from my apartment in the early morning hours by a fire in an adjacent wing of the building. I spent a week with friends before I was allowed to move back in, but then had to put up with "repair crews" making noise at all hours, setting up an air cleaner right outside my apartment to run 24/7 for three weeks, and getting bug infestations due to all the dirt the fire produced. (Sigh!) Then it turned out I was highly allergic to the bug sprays the crews used, so I was out of my apartment for  another  three days. And they'll be doing two more spray treatments n the weeks to come...

That's the bad news -- the GOOD news is that Raymond and his fiancee' Darla have more or less 'adopted' me into their family, and I'll be moving in with them when Darla heads off to Graduate School to get her Master's/PhD to help out with caring for Ray.  We're hoping she'll be accepted unto the University of Louisville in Kentucky. In the meantime, I've started a stint as a Guest lecturer online at Wilkes University here in Wilkes Barre, and Ray and I have started a hobby business of sorts, called "Wolf And Faerie Meadery", brewing the sweet nectar of Honey Wine. To date, we have made a Green Apple Mead, a Blueberry-Pomegranite Mead, and a Strawberry-Kiwi Mead, all extremely well-recieved by those lucky enough to be invited to taste. (Grin!)

Winter Bells

It's an addictive little flash game. Nothing blows up or splatters, which I know will turn most people off it right there, but it's calming and mindless. Go play, and enjoy the weekend.

Okay, I'm back from FaerieCon 2009 and somewhat awake, so it's time for my annual report on the convention and the travels to get there and back again... (Now where have I heard that phrase used before?)

Friday, November 6th -- FaerieCon opens at 1:00 PM, but Raymond and I must wait for Darla to finishe her Friday classes before hitting the road. We plan on just jumping into the car and taking off, but, it doesn't quite work out that way -- there are a few last-minute add-ons that delay us until about 1:30 before we are on the road. We stop for gas, fill the tank, and are off -- only to hit a construction site on I-81 that slows us to a crawl for about 20 minutes, during which time we travel almost two miles... (Urrgh!!!) But the road soon opens up and we continue at a somewhat faster pace. After about an hour, Darla is feeling tired, so I slip into the driver's seat, and we continue -- for about another 50 minutes, whereupon we hit rush-hour traffic in Harrisburg, which once more slows us to a crawl. Luckily, that only lasts about ten minutes until we hit the exit to I-83 towards Baltimore, and we are once more moving at a reasonable clip. About an hour later, we find the exit to the hotel and convention center, and stop to get our hotel room before hitting the convention proper. Of course, by the time that occurs, it is six PM, and the dealer's room closes, leaving only the dealers on the main floor hallway open to enjoy their wares. However, since this includes such wonderful folk as James and Donny Corsentino and the Gypsy Nomads, it still works out well...

After about an hour's perusal of the dozen or so dealers, we head back to the room for a supper of sandwiches (packed in from home) and soft drinks -- and Darla must take off to head back to Wilkes-Barre for the night, as she is scheduled to take a placement test early the next morning.

That leaves Raymond and I to get ready for the Good Faeries Ball. Raymond opts for a Renaissance Look, while I don accoutrements of autumn Foilage to become an Autumnual Greenman... and immediately learn that even with my garb, "Fall" has well and truly begun. Leaves from the costume wind up scattered in my wake, one by one... (Sigh!)

The music, however, is fantastic. The Good Faeries Ball featured performances by S. J. Tucker (or "Skinny White Chick", as she was presented), Woodland, and Telesma -- all three were very well recieved, though there was some concern when Telesma's performance cause the light fixtures and floor in the lobby outside the ballroom to bounce and sway... but no problems ensuded, and I'm sure that by now, someone -- even several someones -- have posted videos of such on YouTube...

Other things that occurred during the evening -- Donny Corsentino had her pic taken by her husband as she sat in this greenman's 'branches' six feet in the air.. Toby Froud wandered about as an eight-foot tall bird/man... Dozens of tiny 3" tall fairies danced through the ballroom on the ends of wires held by several guests, lit up to glow in the dark... (Would that be a flock, a dusting, or a scatter? How does one refer to a group of faeries?)

Needless to say, to bed afterward, tired but happy...

Saturday, November 7th -- The alarm went off Wa-a-a-y too early, but I needed to be up and awake before 9:00 AM to attend the Breakfast mini-meet. Once there, we waited for other Enchanted Folk to show up, which they did -- but because she was feeling 'under the weather', Priscilla Hernandez was unable to make it. Of course, her health must come first, and while we were disappointed, we much rather she be able to perform for everyone, so I say she did the right thing. To those who did attend, my apologies -- my memory for names and numbers (which I usually remember to keep on a sheet of paper) just up and disappeared on me after the long weekend. I do remember the faces, though, so I'll be off to peruse recent blog postings to see if that will remind me... My apologies for that! (Can I blame it on not having enough coffee?)

The rest of the daylight hours are something of a blur to me, but I do well remember meeting up with Kim from Faerie Magazine, Linda Ravenscroft, Jenifer Carson, Jessica Galbreth, Jasmine Becket-Griffith, Diana Zimmerman, Lisa Steinke. Susan Schroder, Toby FroudScott Helland, Samantha Stephenson, Alba Garcia, Billy Scudder. and Mark Lewis. Of course, there were many, many more people, but i have to admit that all the artwork, the beautiful dolls, the many books, and hundreds of costumes did rather distract me. Still. a few things really stood out...

Alba Garcia was displaying her newest Doll, a beautiful ball-joint model that was well displayed as a representation of Boticelli's "Birth of Venus"... Susan Schroder displayed a beautiful new piece of revelers at a circle of standing stones (Which I just found online again as the 'cover' to the Fall Faezine!)... Trading jokes with Mark Lewis and Billy Scudder...Oh, and Darla returned to join us for the rest of FaerieCon.

The Merry Meet from 6:00 to 7:30 was somewhat marred by several attendees unable to find us -- the hotel restaurant staff didn't tell them where we had been placed on the "other" side of the restaurant... but those who did get there had a pleasant evening meal and good conversation. One tiny bit of business did creep into the conversation... (Okay, I shoved it into everyone's faces...) We discussed the possibility of raising funds to launch the second of Be's 'wishes' for Enchanted Folk, the Art Bus. I've managed to find a used school bus that could be retrofitted to meet the criteria needed to allow a small group to tour the North American Continent. We figure that if we can get every member of Enchanted Folk to donate the piddly sum of US $5.00 toward this project every year, we can be 'on the road' and touring by late next summer, displaying member artworks, enjoying concerts by member musical groups, and (GASP!) even showing a bit of profit to keep EF and the Art Bus on the internet and on the move! More details are available in the EF Group, "Making Wishes Come True".

After the Meet, Ray, Darla, and i returned to our room to 'garb up' for the Bad Faeries Ball. Ray decked himself out as a certain Romanian Count, Darla dressed up as a generic (and lovely) elf, and I donned all black clothing and antlers to stalk the unsuspecting...

The Bad Faeries Ball, with The Gypsy Nomads, Priscilla Hernandez, and Faun filled the rest of the evening. Musical performances were outstanding, and I'm sure everyone there enjoyed themselves immensely -- though it did seem that the Microphone Gremlins from last year decided to once more visit during Priscilla's appearance. Maybe she needs a can of Goblin Spray for the equipment? (Grin!) Just kidding, Priscilla -- your performance was spectacular!

Sunday, November 8th -- Morning arrived way, wa-a-ay, WA-A-A-A-A-AY too early, but that seems to be a standard for conventions like FaerieCon. Out of bed, showered, and on the search for coffee, we staggered out to brave the sunlight (Too bright! Too bright!!!) and the final day of FaerieCon. This was the day when we would empty our pockets of cash as we purchased the many items we had drooled over the day before. I truly was amazed at the variety of pretties that filled our bags -- and i want to give a special thank you to Jasmine and Matt for gifting Raymond with the print he had been searching for. It was a very generous thing for you to do to help make a "FaerieCon Virgin" happy!

The day seemed to rush by, and all too soon, the sun was setting in the West. We hurried around to make our final farewells to friends whom we probably won't see for another year, made a few 'last minute' purchases, and tumbled into the car for the ride home. I 'volunteered' to drive, knowing that Darla had already made a round trip on her own, and we set off. Traffic this time was very light, and about three and a half hours later, we pulled into the parking lot at home, unloaded the car, returned to our respective apartments, and collapsed...

And so, the saga of FaerieCon 2009 comes to a close. To everyone there, thank you for helping make it a wonderful experience once more. To those of you who missed it, well, there's always next year...

Bright Blessings and Kubiando!

I'm looking forward to seeing all the Enchanted Folk who are attending FaerieCon this weekend! Please remember to attend both the Enchanted Folk Mini-Meet on Saturday Morning at 9:00 AM in the Cinnamon Bun Restaurant onsite, and the Enchanted Folk Merry Meet Saturday evening at 6:00 PM in the Cinnamon Bun Bar and Grill onsite. There will be flyers posted around the convention reminding everyone of these happenings, so don't be late!

That's how long I've been a member here at Enchanted Folk. In that time, I've posted dozens of blogs, started four groups, tried to help many others, started several projects (and been given a few roadblocks to hurdle in the process), made hundreds of friends, been inundated with multiple magic wishes, sent over the rainbow countless times, and been buried in Fairy Dust. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.

Why? Because in this faeriespace on the internet, I've found friends who have become a sort of 'family' to me. We share interests, become enthused to work together on projects and bringing wishes to life, and support each other. This Faespace just plain makes me feel good.

I celebrated another Natal Anniversary yesterday, and started on another journey around the sun. And I recieved a lot of well-wishes from the friends I'v made, both here and other places on the internet and in 'real life'. For those -- thank you, from the bottom of my heart. It made me feel warm all over knowing that people do care...

I'm looking forward to meeting many for the first time in real life this weekend at FaerieCon, as well as renewing several acquanitances. My bags are packed, I'm excited, and I can hardly wait to experience the rush of 'coming home' that attending makes me feel each year. Thank you, all, for making that possible, just by being members here.

Bright Blessings and Kubiando!