The Yeti\’s Cyber Smithy

I am a proud Rennie, U gotta problem wit dat buddy?

I am a proud Rennie, U gotta problem wit dat buddy?

Aw what the hell? In another forum, the coordinator of one of the Pagan Pride events in Arkansas is running her mouth about me again. Now wait. I know the whole thing has gotten boring and you are probably thinking, this is going to be stupid. But I assure you this is entertainment.

A few weeks ago, I was caught on cameras sitting on the roof of my smithy at the Ohio Rennesance Festival yelling: “Shinny Things”. You might recall I posted a blog entry about because I thought it was a hoot.

http://ajdrew.blogs.pagannation.com/2007/10/01/why-i-cant-cheat-on-my-wife/

For those of you who do not know, merchants / crafters at Renaissance Festivals typically own their own buildings and always run their own business. We are not employees of the Renaissance Festivals. Instead, we rent the land the way one might rent space in a shopping center. As such, we follow rules established for the Renaissance Festival the same way you would follow rules for the shopping center if you were renting space there. One of the rules is that you are in character (hence the funny clothes). One of the suggestions is that you hawk. Proper hawking not only helps establish the atmosphere of the event and enhances the emersion experience of the patron, but dramatically increases sales.

Well, I can’t sell. I am not a sales man at all. In fact, I feel rather guilty if I try to sell something to a person. I am a blacksmith. My end of my business is producing goods. So when it’s time to generate business / draw folk into the booth so the sales people can take over, well I gotta use my other assets. In this case, the assets being used are those of a loud mouth clown.

I built two platforms, one on either side of the booth, each right over the check out / final sales area. I haven’t made the handrails yet, but they are in the works. I think about $2000.00 in labor and lumber will be in the project when it is done, so it isn’t something that was created whimsically. Although there is still much work to do on both my smithys (or is it smithies?), I take great pride in my ability as a disabled man to build such things.

So with the platforms in place this year and foot traffic into our booth waning a bit a few weekends ago, I climbed up onto the roof, took my perch with a huge sword and started screaming “Shiny Things”. I think I also managed a few “Free Bodice Checks!”, but had to stop that as the patrons started playing along just a wee bit too much for a family show. So back to “Shiny Things”. Everyone had a great time and a friend caught it on camera, posted it on Youtube, and then I made a joke here about how I could never cheat on my wife because there is always a video camera.

No problem right? Well, evidently I don’t even have enough common sense to know when to be embarrassed. I thought it was such a hoot that someone (I know it was a friend named Missy) posted it to Youtube that I put it in my blog. Evidently many self appointed leaders in the pagan community have sticks up their ass.

After posting a link to video, Deb Ravenswood (coordinator of one of the Arkansas Pagan Pride Days) announced:

“THIS is your leader…..follow the man on the roof. “

And then went on running her mouth.

I have said a million times, I am not your leader I am just a blogging blacksmith. But ya know what, Deb’s comments have made me reconsider my stance. Do I want you to follow me on to the roof? Well, if that is a metaphor for recovering from an injury, changing your occupation, learning a new occupation, and starting to provide for your family again after just a year and a half from an event which changed your life and destroyed your business, yep you can follow me onto the roof.

That’s right Deb. I am a Rennie and I am a proud Rennie. U gotta problem wit dat buddy?