Kern County Fair Part 2!

I talked about what I entered in the fair last time; here's something about what else the fair has. One of my family's traditions is to get kettle corn at this particular booth - it's absolutely, absolutely wonderful. I don't know what they do to it, but it's actually made in a kettle and the end result has some sort of sweet coating on it. The first time I tasted it - some years ago now - I actually didn't like it, cause it was so different from regular buttered microwave popcorn. It's grown on me now.

I also purchased a bonsai tree - a bonsai juniper, I believe. It's a little one, about the size of my hand, in a dark pot with a gray rock and little bits of grass - I have to keep it 'gardened.' I love bonsai plants in general, and it's fun to maintain a mini garden. Right now it's inside the house where it doesn't get any direct sun, and I'm supposed to water it every other day (I ran out of the house without watering it this morning, so I'll have to take care of that tonight), so I'm watching it to make sure it stays happy and alive. I lost one of these awhile ago, when I was still learning how to care for plants.

One of my favorite booths to visit are the glass-making ones. I love watching the glass-maker create intricate pieces of art. During this particular visit, I watched him finish up a tiny ballerina. Sometime, I'd really like to learn how to do that myself.

Kern County Fair Contests

Once again, I find myself on the fairgrounds multiple times throughout the week. I've been attending the Kern County Fair since before I started high school (excepting when I was away for college, in a different state). When I was younger, I stuck to showing sheep, but now I'm doing (and have done) poetry, baking, and crocheting.

I've actually only done poetry once, and won second place. In general though, my poetry isn't really weird enough to fit in with that sort of forum, so I haven't done it since. Maybe some other year :).

With baking, this was my second year entering the apple pie competition, and I tried a different recipe this year - but I think it needed to have more flour. Too juicy. Tastes good (both of 'em), but neither won.

This year, in addition to the pies, I entered the sugar-free dessert contest. My parents have Xylitol, a sugar alcohol, to replace sugar (which adds fat to our bodies), and sugar-free chocolate chips (sweetened with maltitol, another sugar alcohol). Using these, I made a Pillsbury chocolate chip crescent roll copycat (not my recipe). Now yeast - single cell bacteria - when combined with sugar and water, eat the sugar. It won't eat sugar alcohols. For this recipe, the yeast and sugar are separated. So this particular recipe works fine with Xylitol. Taste-wise, there's no difference when Ii use sugar versus Xyloitol, and cooked maltitol chocolate chips are the same as regular ones. I think they're tasty little things, though they didn't win :(.

As I've been creating more and more crocheted items, I decided to go ahead and enter one this year. My latest completed project is a dragonfly barrette - here's a picture.
It was a bit of a spur of a moment entry (I was entering online), but as cute as it is, I really was hoping for something. And apparently, someone agreed with me, cause I got an honorable mention !!!! (glee!!!!) It's also for sale on at etsy.woolranch.com, if anyone's interested.

On stage in October!

I think I mentioned in a previous post (or I meant to, anyway) that I'm in a play. Like, on the stage. In a theater.

It's called The Prince, and while I think the story itself is a little odd, I'm overly ecstatic about being in it. I've only got a small part as the Lamplighter (turning a light on and off on my tiny, tiny planet that's only big enough for one person), but like I said, I'm pleased.

I think this is the fifth play that I've auditioned for, and this was the first time I'd ever gotten a callback, (and from there, the first part I've ever had). I almost fell out of my chair when I saw the email offering me the part. Rehearsal is now in full swing (and I love my costume! - even if it's a bit itchy, it looks adorable) and we'll be opening on October first. Squee!

I said it was a bit of an odd story. The Prince is about a prince who lives on a planet all by himself until a Rose grows there. The prince is all confused about how she makes him feel, so he goes on a journey to find answers. He goes to a variety of planets (including mine) and finally makes his way to Earth. On Earth he meets several people, one of which is the person who is actually telling this story - an aviator whose plane crashed in the Sahara. The aviator used to draw, when he was a child, and when the 'grownups' didn't understand his drawings, he stopped drawing. Until he meets the prince.

The ending's the odd part, since the prince has to 'die' to go back to his planet. Or he doesn't; I'm not sure. Anyway, it's a kid's story, but there's parts only adults will actually understand, and a love story (I think, though I don't think that's the main plot), and it's probably more the aviator's story than the prince's. Anyway, it's a cute story.

As an Christian actress (not actor, I'm female, thanks), I'm poking my head into a world that a lot of Christian's have abandoned, and as such a lot of what's out there for me as options for me to get involved in isn't Christian in nature. I really, really wish there was more out there. A lot of shows (on stage and film) are filled with characters that I wouldn't want to play. Kinda stifles me. And training is interesting... if there's a Christian university with a theater major, I'd love to know about it.

3 weeks into the fall semester of 2011...

School's started - been 'started' for about three weeks now, actually. I did get the classes I wanted (slash, needed), so I'll be finished with what I need for my Computer Science AS. But I'm not graduating yet; I'm stickin' around for another semester at least.

I've been working on my theatre AA one class a semester. Next semester I can focus on it, and I only have eleven credits that I need (so four classes). If they're all offered in the spring semester ( and I have some leeway, it doesn't have to be four specific class) then I can graduate, if I want. But as I don't know what I'll be doing after that semester, I don't know right now when I'm going to graduate (taking to administration about multiple degrees and continuing after getting a degree is on my to-do list).

On a side note, I enjoy theatre much more than programming. And science research more than programming. It's funny - speaking as a science person - that theatre, which is in the arts, attracts and challenges me in much the same way as science. (But physics wins way over theatre in term of challenge. In some ways that's not a contest.) At some point here, I'll figure out what I'm going to do with my life. In the meantime, that'll be school, running my own business, and trying to get on stage.

Facebook Business Page

Naturally, of course, I didn't get half of what I was hoping to get done this summer. But I did get some. Part of it shows in my latest side-badge (gadget, whatever those are called). I've got a Facebook page!

It's for my 'administrative'-type part of WoolRanch (my business name) - transcribing, editing, and writing. Incidentally, the profile picture for that page is my general business logo - it's on my fiverr, etsy, and all of my other craft sites. If you've seen it somewhere else on the web other than here, let me know!

Anyway, about my FB page. It's still very very new - at the time I'm posting this I've only got 15 fans, very few posts, and the only interaction with my fans is with family members (not that that's not great, but it'd be cool to have someone that I didn't know beforehand on there too). I'm also not entirely sure of what to post where, but I'm figuring it out. If you've got tips and suggestions handy, I'd be happy to hear 'em.

...And this post was totally a plug for my FB page. But I'm so happy to have one!!