Random Observations

1) We missed quite the drama while we were on our little trip to Dallas to the State Fair of Texas! "Our" lake filled up so fast, beginning on the day we left, that it is now 146% full, ergo flooded. It has started abating this morning, and I'm sure the home- and business-owners are eager to get to cleanup. The lake has been more than 20 feet below full for the entire summer. It crested at 23 feet above full, most of it  in about three days. To put it into perspective, an NPR headline read that Lake Travis had taken on more water in one week than the city of Austin uses in FOUR years. Further, a gentleman on NextDoor said that, not accounting for the water lost via Mansfield Dam (which was releasing 11 millionish gallons of water PER MINUTE last night), the lake had taken on a gross of 253,433,873,760 gallons of water last week (just based on levels retained in the lake).

2) We go to the fair for a couple of main reasons: a) fair food, b) Little Hands on the Farm and the animals, and c) the butter sculpture. None of these disappointed, though a slight change in LHotF made it less kid-friendly, as far as I'm concerned. First, the food:

A cotton candy taco. The cotton candy was marshmallow-flavored. Waffle cone shell, plus marshmallow drizzle and crumbled cookies, with two Pocky-stick-kind of things

Fried Hill Country: mozzarella with basil, green tomato slices, battered and fried.
Field greens below, Texas honey/balsamic vinegar on top.

Fried shepherds pie with gravy, and fried green beans.

These were hearty and delicious, especially on the chilly, rainy day. But I enjoyed the beans even more.

Fried s'more. Pretty self-explanatory.

But it's not just the million dollars you spend on fair food that's awesome. The State Fair of Texas has a Go Texan! pavilion with samples. Among them are:

"I can keep this?!"

Toffee!

Ice cream float with choice of root beer or Dr. Pepper. Hmm, Texans are weird. #teamrootbeer

There was also beef jerky and cheese, local honey, and coated nuts, among others. Man, I love "free" food.

Okay, yes, you pay an admission to get into the fair, and that includes all of the shows and exhibitions. But there is never any reason to pay full price. During the week, there are daily discounts (don't go on the weekends; just don't). We chose the day to support the North Texas Food Bank. We each took 4 cans of food, and got in for $4 each (as opposed to $16). Seniors are free on Thursdays. There are some food specials on Thursday, too, but you're limited to the offers, and we like to select our treats.

This was Mal's first year to do Little Hands, and he enjoyed it.

In the past, you'd get paid at the farmer's market and immediately trade your "money" for something like a granola bar or packet of crackers. This time, it was a coupon for free ice cream that was outside of the building and around the corner, plus Mal didn't want ice cream, so there was no way to get his treat and save it for later.

They've moved the farm indoors, along with putting the animals in the same building. I thought the change was a positive one, overall.

That baby, though!

Ce-boooooooooo!

We'd picked a hotel that was close to a Dart light rail stop in Irving, so we were able to take public transportation down for cheaper than it would have cost to park. So it was a great little trip to take on a budget.

Oh, and butter.

I've never noticed it before, but the sculpture had a few blooms of mold on it. I think today is the last day of the fair, anyway, so it'll all probably get fed to pigs or something now. I just Googled it. I didn't find it, but in Ohio, it gets recycled into things from tires to soap. Also, I learned that a vegan is the sculptor for Texas, and has been for several years. Interesting.

3) I think my son is on a 25-hour schedule. Every day, he goes to sleep a bit later. Last night/this morning it was 1 AM. I DON'T LOVE IT.

4) We have tried A LOT of the meal prep delivery services, and after the initial welcome discount, I cancel because it's too expensive. Most are around $10 per serving, and, I'm sorry, I'll just go eat at a restaurant if I want to spend that kind of money. We've been doing Every Plate for a few weeks now, though, and really enjoy it. It's only $5 per serving, which is closer to what I spend on groceries, especially if you account for the unfortunate food waste which makes me wish we had animals or a compost heap.

If you try it, and you should because you can save $20 off of the first couple of deliveries, which means the cost is more like $3.50 per serving, just know that their average 10 minute prep time is only accurate if you have a cooking companion or if you have expert-level knife skills and a really good set of cutlery. I cook full meals at home 4-5 times per week, and it takes me about 25 minutes to slice and dice the produce. The finished product is awesome, though, and I like that I didn't even have to do active ordering and arrange for delivery. Also, it's refrigerated, so you don't have to be home. Oh, also, they do charge something like $7.99 shipping, whereas other companies ship for "free," but the cost per serving is still a LOT lower with Every Plate.

***I have other random thoughts that I'll share soon, but I'm going to get ready for church and just pull Mal into the car and go, because we need a bedtime closer to 10 than 1, so it's time to start the pain of waking that kid up earlier!

2013 Brony Fan Fair

Daphne and I attended the second annual Brony Fan Fair. It's still going, and will be held tomorrow, too, but I don't think our schedule is going to allow us to attend anything... Although, since D said she wishes it would never end, we might find an hour or two to sneak over in the early afternoon (I did just finish baking a pie I could have made tomorrow just in case we have the time and energy).

If you've never been to a fan fair, or a convention, of a festival, or a con, or whatever you want to call it, you might be tempted to take one look at the rabid fandom, the panels, the cosplay, and the merchandising and think, "Well, now, really... that's just taking things a little bit too far."

Now, it's true that today, I saw literally thousands of people who were all dressed in appropriate costumes, who had shelled out a ton of cash to be here today, who were parking and lining up and hanging out hours before the festivities started, and who are getting ready to scream and cheer and drink too much, and fangirl out to the max. And I'm talking about the UT fans I passed on the way to and from the Brony Fan Fair. The game doesn't start for 40 more minutes, but they've been parking and walking and buying and eating and drinking and hanging out in our neighborhood all day.

So, it really doesn't matter to me if the object of affection is football (which I don't get) or Star Trek or anime or My Little Pony (which you might not get): There is something extremely comforting about gathering with your own people and geeking out over something you love together.

Amelie Belcher, who hosted a couple of panels on the various generations of ponies, said (and I'm paraphrasing), "Where were you people in 1992? Back then, if you liked My Little Ponies, you kept it to yourself." This is how I felt about "Scarecrow and Mrs. King." I didn't know anyone who liked it as much as I did, and absolutely no one who wanted to talk to me about it, to discuss some of the more subtle undercurrents, to theorize or vision cast... I felt like an island.

I absolutely loved seeing teenaged boys walking around wearing ears and wigs or hoodies with pony heads. How can anyone not feel completely heart-warmed by an environment where everyone can be themselves and be understood?

There were six year old girls, and there were sixty-year-old men. The most beautifully-dressed lady I saw was probably in her 70s (I didn't get a lot of pictures because there were picture-free zones and I was trying to be respectful): She had her long blonde hair braided into a crown using her hair as one strand, and then a gold and a blue long run of fabric for the other strands (a lot like this, only more queenly), then she had on beautiful turquoise and gold robes.

About 50% of people were in cosplay on Friday, and more today. Of the rest, some had on fan shirts, and others, like me, were just boring. I love cosplay, though. It's so much fun. Dressing up as Tonks for HPDH2 was amazing, even though it ruined my hair for two years... AND if I'd taken the class on mane styling that they had yesterday, I would have known not to bleach my hair. So even though I'm not necessarily a Bronie, I did enjoy the Fair and learned quite a bit.

There is no shortage of hate for Bronies in the "real" world, just like people thought (think?) that Star Trek fans were geeks who needed to get a life. For some reason, it's socially acceptable to fawn over sports, they even have bars for that kind of thing! And it is a completely inconsistent mindset, to assume that organized sports deserves a rabid following more than any other pastime. That's one reason I'm really glad that there are cons like this one: EVERYONE is a "freak." And when everyone is a freak, then no one is a freak. Attendees are accepting, gracious, and appreciative of each other. (I know there are moments of extreme stress, too, - like when schedules are off or room is limited and the line is long - but this is overwhelmingly the atmosphere.)

As for me, I feel like these are my people, Bronies or any other fandom. I like people who dress up. I like people who are comfortable enough with who they are not to care very much about someone else thinking they're weird or immature or interested in something that is not gender-appropriate.

So maybe trying to get back there tomorrow isn't so much a favor for Daphne...