Patina is in the house! So exciting. Now it can sit there for a week while I do nothing with it.

I had ferreted out an old email contact (shit you not, an aol address, like a majestic dinosaur appearing out of the misty internet jungle) for the farm women's market, and lo, someone replied and said I can show up any wed, fri or sat and get an outdoor spot for $35. This is great, because I can fit that in whenever I have an event gap. It's in a bougie area with a lot of rich people so maybe it will be a good venue for me. It's also not hard to get there via public transportation - one long bus ride (if you catch the right bus) and a metro ride, and a short walk. Parking is madness around there so I may take the bus even if I do have the car. I really really hate paying for parking and the area is notoriously ticket-happy.

I applied for a small pop culture convention in June and got the acceptance. I haven't heard back on the bellydance event, or the local fInE ArtIsAn cRaFt fair thing. I got my website looking acceptable (sub optimal product photography aside) so if they don't like it they can sit 'n spin.

I was poking around looking for more conventions and I'm starting to think the horror conventions might be a better fit than the usual comic/sci-fi/fantasy/anime ones. I don't enjoy drawing IP, but I do really like drawing creepy weird stuff. Anyway that led me on a rabbit trail of weirdness and now I know there is a mothman festival in WV in September. I must vend at this event. Probably not this year because (theoretically) spouse will be in training and he couldn't come with me, and the mothman festival is an experience we must enjoy together. I bet the people watching is divine. Spouse is like, "But you hate moths?" and I'm like, "Yes, exactly. That's why it's perfect." I must vend at this event at least once in my lifetime. The absurdity is too delicious.

Spouse apparently has been having ongoing discussions with brothers/coworkers regarding the hayseeds talking civil war II he overheard at the farmer's swap, so he got some good mileage out of that event. I showed him the mothman festival website and I saw the wheels turning about the potential for fresh grist, so he's on board. That's why I like spouse - much like a cat, curiosity is his prime motivator. He's dismissive of cryptids, but think of all the interesting conversations he can eavesdrop on! Yes. This will happen. Like moths to the flame, we shall be weirdos drawn to gawk at other weirdos, and sell them cups. (But not this year.) Vending is awesome because 1) it's the perfect excuse to do things you might otherwise dismiss and 2) you get to really experience an event because you get a comfy front row seat all day long and 3) theoretically you can make money if you don't spend it all on treats.

I have been finishing some sewing work and I ended up repurposing the grey and white striped table topper because I wanted grey and white striped fabric on the shoe rack. This has led to a domino cascade of issues. I need a new table topper. I need it to be more masculine in style to counter the bright artsy colors of the table covering, so I don't scare away the penis-proud with my girlie boho vibe. I can't decide between navy and grey. Grey matches the tent but it's too similar in tone to the stainless steel and is dreary and boring. Navy doesn't match the tent. Fuck it, why don't I just get some thin plywood and make it like a faux bartop? That's what I really want. I want my booth table to look like a bartop, so dudes can imagine drinking cold beer from a stupid expensive beer stein, and all their buddies complimenting the wicked epic hand engraved battle scene while they listen to Sabaton. Dudes love handcrafted stuff too, maybe more than women. Forged in Fire exists, I rest my case. Also very large tattoos. Men absolutely appreciate handcrafted art - you just have approach presentation carefully so they don't get spooked away from the watering hole. They are flighty creatures, protective of their tender bits, suspicious of pastels. Have to be tricksy to catch them.

Plus I think a 2x4' sheet of thin plywood might be cheaper than a tablecloth. And I could carve patterns into it and/or my logo, and that would be super super rad.

I think spouse is getting mental fatigue from waiting for news on a training date. Apparently his packet has moved forward from some other step. He's just a little burnt out from months of anticipation. It's tough for me too, because I don't know if I'll have the car or not to get myself to some of these events I want to commit to. I can't expect spouse to take off random weekends for vending, like he did with the farmer's swap.

Sounds like when he's in training there may still be strict quarantine rules. Because the vaccine is considered experimental, the govt can't currently mandate that people take it as an employment condition. And people with the vaccine can still get covid and spread it to non-vaccinated. The agency has been very careful about covid, so spouse may still end up confined to the training area. It is difficult (expensive) to find people that the agency is able to hire. They want to get at least 20 years out of anyone who gets this particular job, so they aren't screwing around. Plus the massive disruption to the training schedule if a whole class gets infected. Very very expensive.

I have many interesting things to do today. I'd like to hit the farm women's thing next saturday, when the car will be available so I can check it out and see exactly what I need for next time. So I have a week and a half to make more product and play with the patina and whatnot. This is fun - I am having fun again. I hope I make some decent sales so I'm not just constantly yeeting money away for nothing, but I feel optimistic.