Special Events

You all know the fairy tales about the good or evil queen, the good or wicked witch, the evil stepmother, the poor mother, the absent mother, the good daughter, the fair maiden, the bewitched maiden…but what about the forgotten queen? You may not have noticed her since she never sat on an official throne. Yet … Continue reading »

All I need is the opportunity to dress up and I dive in. The latest cosplay inspiration was for a fundraiser at work. Although the theme was “steampunk,” I find any excuse to carry my sword; hence my vampire slayer character. I searched two Goodwill stores before I found something that looked like a corset. … Continue reading »

For the third year in a row, I volunteered at the biggest art festival held in Austin. Unlike last year, I had the second shift in the “Artist Hospitality” tent, which meant I didn’t have to do a lot of heavy lifting nor any set up. I just strolled into the tent, located much closer … Continue reading »

For the second year in a row, I contributed to a museum art fundraiser, where a local art supply store donated a 11 x 14″ canvas, 3 tubes of acrylic paint and two paint brushes. Anyone interested in participating, picked up the supplies at the museum and returned a decorated canvas a week before the opening … Continue reading »

I got the creative, money-saving idea to make my next costume for the Austin Writers Roulette “Walk in Another’s Shoes” event. At the time, I hadn’t received my federal refund to rent or buy used outlandish shoes. So, I brainstormed wrapping my boots in decorated cloth. Foolish me actually thought the decorating would take more time. … Continue reading »

I hardly ever pass up the chance to dress up. So, when one of my coworkers solicited volunteers to help her run the Literacy Coalition information table at a local comic book convention, I got very excited. Now, this wasn’t the BIG, internationally famous comic book convention, but since it would be the first one … Continue reading »

For the second time ever, I attended a professional football game. One of my sisters had graciously invited my other sister, her son, our father and me to use four of their Redskin season tickets. Normally, my sister cheered for the Redskins…except for when they played the Cowboys.  I’d attended my first pro football game in … Continue reading »

This vacation started off a bit rough. The mid-morning flight I’d booked to fetch me from Austin to DC had been cancelled by the time I arrived at the airport. I only had three options to arrive in DC much later on the same day. This began my warped sense of time. Once I reached … Continue reading »

One of the deciding factors to relocate to Austin when I completed my 8-year self-imposed exile from the US was the mild winters. That paid off once again this past Saturday. Low 70s weather in mid-December found me outside, participating in a marimba demonstration.  I’d volunteered to work the Sustainable Food Center’s information table at … Continue reading »

Once again, the great city of Austin managed to pull off a retro experience.  This time, the drive-in movie. I met a few meetup friends at the urban drive-in movie for a double Halloween feature: “Scream” and “Freaks.” We were the first ones there; so we moved all the comfy reclining lawn chairs to the … Continue reading »