I survived the Rossini Festival

It was touch and go there for a while, though.

I was only scheduled to demonstrate spinning at the Tennessee Valley Handspinners Guild booth from 12-2, but I ended up sticking around for another two hours to talk to my friend Lori (who was demonstrating 2-4pm). I also kept hoping someone would buy something of mine so I could then afford to go buy something else. Probably food. The Rossini Festival was absolutely packed and I'd guess that 9/10 of the booths were selling food.

I walked around at one point to look at everything, and it took me half an hour to make my way just a few blocks, it was so crowded. Oddly enough, despite it being the Rossini Festival, I saw and heard nothing about Rossini. It was the same last time I went, the first year it was open--and it was pretty small then, and much more opera-oriented than it is now. This isn't a complaint, mind you, since I can live out my whole life without missing anything by Rossini (Verdi, now, is a different case). The festival reminded me of the midway of a fair, without the prospect of vomit-inducing rides or fancy chickens on display. It wasn't much fun without money, although I did like the performers I passed.

I had my picture taken a lot while I was spinning. One guy gave me his card with the URL written on the back so I'd be able to find my picture, and dammit if I don't look like an utter tard. Here's Jon Gustin's page--scroll down to find me at the spinning wheel.

East Tennessee in April is ravishingly beautiful, incidentally. I parked at the World's Fair Park and walked downtown so I wouldn't have to deal with traffic or pay to park, and I enjoyed the walk almost as much as the festival. The Rossini Festival was moved up this year so it would fall during the Dogwood Arts Festival, and I think that was a good idea--even if they did put our booth in the windy mouth of Union Ave, where no sunlight penetrated the gloom, so that we could look out on sunny Gay Street at people wiping sweat from their foreheads and eating Italian ices, but we were wrapped up in shawls and shivering.

I did truly intend to do my planned revisions when I got home, but I was so worn out that I thought I'd lie down and rest for a while first. I showered and got into bed at 6:30, and three hours later I staggered out of bed wondering how it got so dark so fast. I tried to start the revisions then, but I was too groggy to concentrate and ended up going back to bed, where I slept like a rock until 7:30 this morning. I guess I needed the sleep, and now I'm rarin' to go.