I apologize for the long delays in my blog updates, I’ve been so very busy and I’ve found that a lot of the every day things are covered in my Twitter account, I need to make more of an effort to keep updating my blog!

On the 6th MPsy and I made our way to the Dickens Festival in Riverside. It was a rainy day so we had to stop by Walmart beforehand in our 19th century garb, it was great! We ran into a bunch of our steampunk friends and I met some of MPsy's friends who were a pleasure to talk to! There were lots of booths to buy items from, performers reciting Dickens literature and musicians playing many different tunes! The Downtown Riverside area is so beautiful, so many great locations to take pictures and explore. MPsy and I were even interviewed on camera about the event, exciting! A lot of joking was going on about how people still mistake MPsy and I for boyfriend and girlfriend (to which we always comment that my fiance would have something to say about that) when we’re two close platonic friends with a love and interest for steampunk. The world became a little bit smaller when I ran into a girl called Sarah who I used to hang out with at Mr. Red’s house in Baldwin Park circa 2005! I was very happy I came, it was our first year here and I enjoyed myself very much, I am looking forward to coming again next year!

We did get a lot of great pictures, there will be more once MPsy posts his:

MPsy as the bummy snake oil salesman

Myself dressed as a reformed tart/nun haha! Interesting note: the dress came from the lovely Ms. Sheyne F.!

In the center, Cindy and some of her friends from the sewing circle she belongs to!

Val, another member of the sewing circle

Jerry and Cindy, what a handsome couple! I was looking forward to seeing Cindy’s dress, she gushed about it for a long time and it came out wonderful!

A vendor who's hat advertised for absinthe!

Street minstrels

The children! So adorable in their old century garb!

Ghost of Christmas Past seeks recruits

Actors reciting some of A Christmas Carol

Merry making!

Scrooge on his soapbox

This made my day: This gentleman had his little furry friend held close and with a tiny top hat!

"This is not a rat!" he said. "This is Jules Verne, who's had an accident!"

A strangler or string salesman? You be the judge!

Showing off the gatling gun of yore, this thing was incredibly loud!

Downtown Riverside had many beautiful and historic buildings to explore:

The only bad thing about this outing for me was the fact that the contacts I wore scratched my left eye as I was wearing them. That along with my allergies made me miserable the last half hour of the festival. When I took them out, my eye was red and irritated. I got home and had dinner with my parents and I was miserable the entire time. We went to CVS to get eye drops and allergy pills (and got some snacks for Super Bowl and the Repo! shadowcast rehearsal the next day). The drops did not really help but the allergy pills did! I went to sleep with a patch on my eye to prevent me from touching it in my sleep. It hurt so badly I could cry.

When I woke up in the morning, my eye was puffy, red, irritated and hurt badly. It was so puffy, I could see some of the little vessels on my lid and the layers of my eyelashes were quite defined. I was frightened cos I thought of infection, damage, anything that might have been possible. My mom drove me to the hospital were I was seen by a doctor. The doctor put a dye in my affected eye to see if there was any damage to the cornea, which thankfully there wasn’t any! As a bonus the dye left me crying bright yellow tears for a bit! O.O After some prescription eye drops where retrieved we made our way to the 1pm mass. We’ve never been to that mass as it’s the English/Tagalog mass but we missed the 10am mass and I really don’t like going to the 5pm mass. Also, I had to leave around 5pm for San Diego Repo! shadowcast practice. I wasn’t feeling well at all so I slept before I left. I was able to drive thankfully!!!

Getting to practice went well, I was freaked out at the location because I’m scared of heights and driving on steep streets. Guess where the practice is? Yep, but I got through it alright! Most of the cast was there, I met a lot of the new members and we got a LOT of scenes done! Some where amazed that I drove down from the LA area for this but I don’t mind cos I’m dedicated to this cast and I’m very happy to be apart of this new group!!!

This past Thursday I found myself in San Diego once again with MPsy to take part in Chrononaut. We were actually on time this week, it was exhilarating! The theme was The Lace & Brass Ball and since we were there early, I got to participate in the one-step dance lesson! The Repo! booth was next to ours once again and we managed to raise twice as much money as last month for the cast! Jerry was there working his magic behind the camera lense and is helping MPsy with his own photography ventures. We hung outside the venue for a while until a guy who REEKED of weed started talking to us and falling over people’s cars. Weed is not kind to me in any way, I do not enjoy being around it, the smell makes me sick. Anyhow, we had a good drive home, brainstorming about things for Manticore Society. The next morning I was suffering cos I only had 4 hours of sleep and had a full day of work ahead of me but I was still happy, I like my San Diego adventures so! I just need a better car to make these trips, I don’t want to have to keep borrowing my mom’s car.

My ensemble for the ball. I didn't have much time to prepare after work, I looked a hot mess by the time I got to Chrononaut

Obscure Discoveries booth

Miss Amy and her lovely hat and corset posted at the Elective Surgery table. We had delicious cake!

A lovely couple that had come out for the ball! Free roses were given to all the lady patrons

Ingred, after the dance lesson

Here's Cindy again, with a friend, in another one of her creations!

Andrew, our Clockwork Knight, did shed his armor for the softer side of steam!

Amanda was just darling!

MPsy in his usual pose of importance

More couples!

You had to see this costume in person to get the full effect, it was fantastic

There is much much more to be covered, do see my next entry! :D