Comfort And Joy

[ladysprite]

OVFF was everything I hoped for, everything I needed, and everything I wanted.

It's funny - when I'm not there, and especially when I wind up missing it for a year, I always wonder why I ever go. I'm not a musician - I can't play a single instrument, and my singing is.... best saved for the extremely patient and tolerant, and that's when I'm having a good day. I'm not one of the Cool Kids; while I have a few friends there, I'm not at the center of anything. It's not my heart-home, it's just somewhere I wound up hanging out while I was in grad school.

But then I go, and suddenly none of that matters anymore. I'm in the arms of my friends, and listening to music that makes me laugh and makes me cry and makes me dance around like a dervish, and the guitars and drums and joking and hugging and stories of everything that's happened in the past year or two or three fill me up and I can't imagine ever thinking that this isn't where I belong.

Even the flights out and back were alarmingly cooperative - other than a brief delay on the first leg, triggered by the president's arrival at Logan Airport (not the airline's fault, and hey, we got to sit on the runway next to Air Force 1), things were pretty darn close to on time. Our 3-hour layover turned into lunch with an out-of-town friend, and then we were back at my otherhome Ohio, and I was surrounded by old friends, and spent most of the rest of the weekend that way.

There were concerts full of amazing music, including one song that I had been seeking out for over 16 years, but didn't know the name of to look for it, and another that made me fall flat on my backside laughing so hard I couldn't breathe (admittedly not the hardest task, but still.....). There was yarn-shopping and yoga, and there were pepperoni rolls from Great Harvest, and lunch with a friend that I never quite get to spend enough time with. I had my picture drawn, taking me yet one step further in my quest for immortality, and balanced a sword on my head, and was even conned/wheedled/charmed into dancing somewhere near the front of Stuff, proving that maybe I've actually learned something in my months at Middle Eastern dance practice. I spent too much money on music, and I don't regret a bit of it.

I'm home now. I went to work this morning on far too little sleep, and now I'm trying to beat recalcitrant butter into something resembling cookie dough and figuring out how to make tiny, removable pastry hats for quail eggs, and I'll probably remain sleep-deprived and questionably nourished for the rest of the week, but it was worth every minute and moment of it. Is it really going to be a year before I can go back?

Oh, and apologies for the obscureness here, but braider, I remembered the other two -

3) "If I can't sleep with you, can I at least tell my friends that I did? I think it'll improve my status...."

and
4) "Hey, it's time to schedule our yearly I-hit-on-you-and-you-turn-me-down backrub session. How's tomorrow afternoon sound?"

Comments

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

*grin* Damn, sounds like a blast. Really, really wish I could have been there.

So what were the "seeking" song and the "can't breathe" song? You can't leave us hanging like that. (I'm betting the latter was a Kanef. He does that.)

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

Grad school can suck sometimes - but it's utterly worth it in the long run. I can sympathize, though.

The long-lost song turned out to be 'The Lightsailor.' I first heard it at Worldcon when I was in high school and fell in love with it instantly, but was way the heck too shy to ask any of the performers what it might be or who they were.

The utterly hilarious song was, as you guessed, one of Bob Kanefsky's - he wrote a parody of Arthur Curry that just hit me in the right place (I had, admittedly, been softened up by sleep deprivation and circumstance, but it was still pretty damn hilarious).

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

it's utterly worth it in the long run. I can sympathize, though.

Yeah, well, next year maybe I'll be able to make it. Bore you to death year, and all that.

he wrote a parody of Arthur Curry

Ah, yeah, he posted about that. Heh.

[mneme]

Your Middle Eastern (and the rest of it, truly) dancing was lovely!

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

I love Folk, but I have never really got into Filk - it is a genre I know next to nothing about.

Great (3) and (4), even without context....

[z-gryphon.livejournal.com]

3) sounds like something I might've said, an embarrassing number of years ago. :)

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Looks like you had a wonderful time. I'm enjoying the experience by proxy.

3) and 4) just made me smile.

[jtdiii.livejournal.com]

but what were 1) and 2)?

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

I second the motion.

[gmkieran.livejournal.com]

wonderful to have shared the weekend with you!!! *hugs*

[moiramisu.livejournal.com]

What is OVFF?

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

Ohio Valley Filk Festival (http://www.ovff.org/) - it's a con in Columbus that I started attending when I was in vet school, and have just stayed in love with.

[braider.livejournal.com]

Were both from A, or just the second of the two?

By the way, I'm surprised to hear you think you're not one of the cool kids. I always thought you were. There are several groupings of cool kids, after all.

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

Were both from A, or just the second of the two?

Both from that selfsame source. :)

By the way, I'm surprised to hear you think you're not one of the cool kids.

I'm not a performer. I'm not very well-known; I tend to be more of a background person. I don't mind it; especially this past weekend I had some serious and positive realizations about where I fit when it comes to music and song and dance. But thank you for saying that; it means a lot, and it's something I need to think about and remember....

[braider.livejournal.com]

You've always seemed to me to be part of the fabric of OVFF. You're definitely part of the dance scene, and you're just... a presence there. You're part of what I expect when I think OVFF. *shrug* For what it's worth.