![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
raganiLong day....
It was the first day for me working the Marin County Fair this year. I actually took time off from work in order to do this fair since I made good money on the full day I worked last year. The first day was rather slow, which I attribute to it being a week day, although it was kids under 12 get in free day, so there were lots of kids. Sadly they do not usually have much money to spend and so they tend to be spendthrifts about everything (I was at that age, so I can't really blame them).
Oh, what am I doing at this fair? Well, henna art, of course (if you had not already guessed). It is a little different from the Renaissance Faire experience since this is a very modern setting, with carny overtones. I am the second henna artist for an Indian woman who runs an import company with her husband. This year they only have a few items for sale, and the booth is mainly focused on doing henna (and her husband is not here to help with the money so we have to keep track of everything ourselves).
I brought my design books with me last year, and again this year, because there are a lot of designs and I am very familiar with the selection. It is also a larger selection than what she has to offer, which is good since there are at least two other henna artists at this fair. I find it funny that this woman who has been doing henna for many more years than I (and in fact was one of the people who taught the woman who wrote the first henna book that I ever got) is not comfortable doing any of the designs of creatures. I teased her today about not doing anything with a face. She is, however, great at doing the traditional henna designs, which does not surprise me. I was flattered that an Indian woman who stopped by the booth while her children verbally accosted me ("We call it mehndi!" "Are you Indian?" "We do this at home, see?" hand raised to demonstrate "I want a heart." "I want a flower.") complimented me by saying how good I was at drawing henna designs. She seemed surprised, since I am not Indian, that I am as good as I am. In retrospect I find it ironic since what I am excelling at, compared to the Indian woman I am working with, is the non-traditional designs (not that I am not good at the traditional designs, just in comparison).
One of the fun things about this fair is that there are fireworks every night. The booth I work at is situated so it is not too difficult to see the fireworks display. By the night of the 4th, it will be old-hat and almost not special, but since they are smaller shows than one might get in a big city show, it is like I get the entire big show spread out over 5 nights. The have live music playing on a stage in the afternoon/evening and tonight was a Village People cover band that had much of the audience dancing along with them to YMCA. I have not seen the deep-fried Twinkie vendor yet, so that might be a guilty indulgence I skip this year, which I am sure is for the better.
Now for some sleep!
It was the first day for me working the Marin County Fair this year. I actually took time off from work in order to do this fair since I made good money on the full day I worked last year. The first day was rather slow, which I attribute to it being a week day, although it was kids under 12 get in free day, so there were lots of kids. Sadly they do not usually have much money to spend and so they tend to be spendthrifts about everything (I was at that age, so I can't really blame them).
Oh, what am I doing at this fair? Well, henna art, of course (if you had not already guessed). It is a little different from the Renaissance Faire experience since this is a very modern setting, with carny overtones. I am the second henna artist for an Indian woman who runs an import company with her husband. This year they only have a few items for sale, and the booth is mainly focused on doing henna (and her husband is not here to help with the money so we have to keep track of everything ourselves).
I brought my design books with me last year, and again this year, because there are a lot of designs and I am very familiar with the selection. It is also a larger selection than what she has to offer, which is good since there are at least two other henna artists at this fair. I find it funny that this woman who has been doing henna for many more years than I (and in fact was one of the people who taught the woman who wrote the first henna book that I ever got) is not comfortable doing any of the designs of creatures. I teased her today about not doing anything with a face. She is, however, great at doing the traditional henna designs, which does not surprise me. I was flattered that an Indian woman who stopped by the booth while her children verbally accosted me ("We call it mehndi!" "Are you Indian?" "We do this at home, see?" hand raised to demonstrate "I want a heart." "I want a flower.") complimented me by saying how good I was at drawing henna designs. She seemed surprised, since I am not Indian, that I am as good as I am. In retrospect I find it ironic since what I am excelling at, compared to the Indian woman I am working with, is the non-traditional designs (not that I am not good at the traditional designs, just in comparison).
One of the fun things about this fair is that there are fireworks every night. The booth I work at is situated so it is not too difficult to see the fireworks display. By the night of the 4th, it will be old-hat and almost not special, but since they are smaller shows than one might get in a big city show, it is like I get the entire big show spread out over 5 nights. The have live music playing on a stage in the afternoon/evening and tonight was a Village People cover band that had much of the audience dancing along with them to YMCA. I have not seen the deep-fried Twinkie vendor yet, so that might be a guilty indulgence I skip this year, which I am sure is for the better.
Now for some sleep!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-07-02 12:18 pm (UTC)