07 November 2005

Spending the Night at the RenFest

Well my friends Kelly and Nat got married this weekend.

Facts:
  • Kelly honored me by making me his best man (that’s twice now, and I insist it to be my last)
  • Kelly and Nat forced my wife and I to stay the night at the RenFest camp grounds
  • Nat forced me to wear a kilt to the wedding
  • Kelly peer pressured me to go “regimental” i.e. no housing for my boys
  • Beer that looks RenFestivalish that you buy from Spec’s is horrible, horrible stuff
Okay enough facts.

I will tell the truth here, last week I wasn’t super-happy about having to camp out at the RenFest campgrounds the day before the wedding. But since Kelly didn’t get a bachelor party and Nat didn’t get a bridal shower, I thought the least my wife and I could do to was to accommodate their request. Plus, back in the corners of my head I thought it might be fun.

Like all new events, it was both fun and not-fun. That said, it was about 3 times more fun than not. So I will probably try to camp out there more in the future.

The people Kelly and Nat hang out with are great people – a little caustic sometimes – but so am I, so I felt at home. I wish I knew them better. All of them have been friends for a long time so it’s hard to not feel like an outsider. If I go again, I’ll probably try to bring more people I know and be a little more self-sufficient – that way I don’t feel so much like a hanger-on.

I have never been camping where there are a lot of amenities. I normally go hiking/camping where all the do-dads are real, real rustic. Everything you use, you carry on your back. It was nice to have a cot to sleep on and a port-o-potty to use.

There was a guy there that made some kick-ass pork chops. It’s hard to describe a really good pork chop. But trust me, they were good.

Going to the RenFest in costume is hard to beat. All the times I have been there out of costume, I feel like I have been cheating. I think you appreciate and are appreciated more if you are decked out in old-fashioned clothing.

I had a great time.

I was a bit apprehensive about wearing a kilt with no underwear. But I did it anyway. During the fair I had to go take a whiz. Do you use a stall or a urinal? I chose urinal – but I was cheating a bit – there were little walls separating the urinals from one another. That way some stranger didn’t have to witness me grabbing the front of my kilt, lifting it and then peeing with nary a stitch of cloth on me from the waist down to my socks.

I did discover one of the drawbacks to not wearing any smallclothes – and men that read the little quips over the urinals in truck stops will get this more than others – it’s a rhyme.
No matter how much you shake
No matter how much you dance
The last drop always winds up down your leg
[Make your own segue here]

My step-brother has given up on women. He has just had enough. He is starting to get a pretty bad opinion of relationships and whatnot. He seems a decent enough guy. He’s smart, has a good job, and he’s pretty tone. So I don’t know what his deal is.

Now I have seen this comment made by characters on TV shows and the movies, but I have never actually met someone say that they are through with women. I don’t think he means it – but who knows?

He fussed about the lack of decent/available women all through the night. For some reason, bitching about women in front of a camp fire seem like the right thing to do. It must be some primordial instinct to fuss about the opposite sex to flickering flames of heat.

2 comments:

Celtic Gypsy said...

KELLY, choose for the guys to wear the kilts. I did not care what you all wore, as long as it was period. I was in charge of the women's clothes...which I think I did a very good job. Chainmaille dresses and (black & burgundy) ladies dresses is what I picked out. I do think that the guys looked good though. Plus, I heard a rumor that you are planning on keeping and using the kilt again.

obiwanchunn said...

Yup, the kilt and I get very close during your wedding. So it will be worn again eventually.

It makes for better copy if I say you made me wear it, though.

Having the Groom make me wear it makes me sound like I *want* to wear it. Bride's have more power.