Gratuitous Fun from the Maryland Renaissance Festival

We had a blast today in 1514. We saw Macbeth performed in 19 minutes (with an under 20 minute guarantee), hysterical performers dueling with swords, and an elephant! I never did get that glass of mead, but they make it at the winery near my house, so it's not like I'm never going to get any ever again. They had every type of food you can imagine served on a stick. Except soup, but that was served in an edible bowl made from bread. Cheesecake on a stick! Omnomnomnom!

So here's a little peek at our day. Enjoy!

Henry the VIII and Catherine of Aragon. Lovely.

I covet this hat. This is Helper Monkey's arms. He was a very helpful monkey today.

See, this hat is perfect for me.

This is a t-shirt that I was going to buy for Helper Monkey. He must have this. I was out of cash by that point, and I wasn't about to wait in a 50-person-deep line to use the ATM. If anyone knows where I can buy this shirt, I will love you forever. Thank you!

Lulu perusing the selection of Dragon Snot. Seriously, that's what the sign says. Note her fez, because fezzes are cool.

Speaking of cool, I wore my TARDIS t-shirt, and had about a thousand compliments. I've never gotten more than one or two remarks in a day on it anywhere else. This proves once and for all that I am truly a geek, and at home amongst the nerdiest people. I'm pleased. We're a nice bunch, if a little odd.

The main event is the jousting. For those who didn't know, jousting is Maryland's official state sport. Weird, huh.

The main culinary event. Best. Food. Ever. So not kidding.

So there you have it, the highlights of our day. :) Hope y'all had a nice weekend, too!

The Long and Winding Road, or how my 11-year-old knows more Beatles songs than I do

The Helper Monkey found this cool graphic online this morning.

by Viktor Hurtz

And yes, it's worth blowing up to gigantic proportions like this. Each image is the title of a Beatles song. How many can you guess?

Well, today I learned that my kid can guess more of them than I can. She's 11. Which makes me proud, and a little sad. I stink with names/titles/etc. I can sing the tune that goes with most of the images, but getting the title right escapes me sometimes. But I knew Lulu would be a champ at this. She's in her room right now, in fact, listening to the Beatles. They're her favorite band of all time. Well, them and U2. I will accept your congratulations on this fact right now. No Justin Bieber in this house! :)

After five minutes on research into this image, though, I discovered the artist is running a Funded by Me campaign to get his posters printed. If you have $30 to spare and a love of good music, please check them out. They are amazing! He has different bands to pick from, everything from Elvis to Iggy Pop. He's only raised $610 of his $3500 goal, so go check it out. If I didn't already blow this month's budget by fixing Helper Monkey's Jeep, and blow next month's budget shopping for a new TV, I'd sign up for one of these in a hot second. (also, Lulu's birthday is next month, so for friends and family scratching their heads, this might be a great gift idea, wink wink nudge nudge. Oh, she also wants a Fez, because "Fezzes are cool," according to Doctor Who.)