Day in the Life of an Idiot

Actually, I'm sure the judges at the State Fair aren't stooooopid, but the fact that they did not ribbon this gorgeous rag rug is, well, a sign of some sort of deficiency, I'm sure:



It was really hard to photograph decently because of the way they had the rugs displayed. You remember how you used to buy posters in those racks, where you'd flip through? That was all the rugs. They were all so tightly packed that there was no way for me to stand directly facing the rug. So, you get this funky angle.

People are asking on Facebook what Shawn makes her rugs out of. My answer: "Rags? I mean, Shawn goes to the Good Will Outlet and buys a cart full of interesting cast off clothes, bed sheets, etc., (usually cotton, but my grandmother used anything) and cuts them into strips, and sews them together into a long ball of fabric.  Then we use a floor loom (Newcomb Fair Loom) to make the rugs."

I took this picture on Friday when I went to go see Mason's robotics demonstration. I happened to catch the very first demo, so most of the robots weren't actually up and running. Mason emcee'd for his team and did a great job. He seems to have inherited my ability to talk off the cuff in public, which is... well, a mixed blessing, since it means people always look to you whenever something like this is needed. Mason is, unlike me, NOT an extrovert (he's an extroverted introvert, VERY different,) and so he came home completely peopled out and EXHAUSTED. In contrast, I would have come home bouncing, asking, "When's the next one, I want to go MORE!!" 

But, after watching the demo and stalking the competition in the Creative Arts Building, I wandered around a bit. I'm not much of a State Fair person. The most fun I had was texting all the crafty people I know in my life with pictures of the blue ribbon winners in their area--I know someone who makes lace, another person who does wood burning, and a third who builds model rockets. I kept snapping pictures and saying, "You should enter at the Fair! You're way cooler than this!!" 

In the education building, I talked to the guys at the ACLU booth and stared curiously at the "Optimist Club." I have to admit that I didn't go talk to the Optimists, because with an innocuous name like that, I had a little trepidation that they might be a stealth religious group. I have since Googled them andI am still not entirely sure. But, I was feeling wary because I'd already gotten cornered by an evangelist at the bus stop on my way to the Fair.

Sometimes being a former Unitarian (who is also a Gryffindor) is difficult. It means when people ask me things that I know are traps, I walk in anyway.  

Her: Nice day.
Me: It's gorgeous. (It really was.)
Her: The Lord made it so.
Me: (Already disappointed in the direction this conversation has veered.) OH. Yeah, fine. I suppose so.
Her: I know He did.
Me: Yep.
Her: Do you know that Jesus is real?
Me: (Resisting a "well, actually," that involves Biblical history, but still tripping down the primrose path, anyway,) I have heard something about it.
Her: Are you a sinner?
Me: (Laughs) Oh, yes, probably.
Her: Do you know where sinners go?
Me: The State Fair?

Which was probably not what I should have said, since I was then "graced" with a whole bunch of "This isn't a joke, ma'am," talk and questions about what I believed in. I finally had to say, "Look, it should be clear that I really do not want to talk about this right now." To which, she FINALLY took the hint and turned her attention to the next person willing to meet her eyes.

It must be that time of year because I had one come to my door a few days ago, too.