sistawendy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sistawendy) wrote2019-07-29 01:16 pm
sistawendy) wrote2019-07-29 01:16 pm
Nun raves in the woods.
Why have I been so quiet the last few days? Because I was in a place with no cell service, namely the Cascadia Festival, which had been on my bucket list for years. Like so many festivals around here these days, it was at the Masonic Campground (?!) about 90 minutes' drive northeast of Seattle, which is a beautiful wooded site in the Cascades.
I left work a couple of hours early on Friday, finished packing, and bopped on up there. Arriving so late in the day was my first mistake: I got the least convenient parking, and since I was looking for a spot to pitch my tent in the twilight, I could have picked a better spot, as well. Moral: at the very least, take the Friday off and go early. Diesel Bleeper got an early arrival pass and showed up Thursday, but at Burning Man that's for people who are building stuff, so I dunno.
Then there was the problem of getting all my stuff - and remember, I'm used to Burning Man, so I pack a lot of stuff - between the bad parking and the bad camping spot, a distance of at least a quarter mile. At one point, when I reached my car, I had to refuse the offer of help from a drunk dude who was clearly interested in me. He became less interested when I mentioned my girlfriend. It's nice not having to lie about being a lesbian sometimes, and it's also nice that low light apparently makes me look more like a girl.
On way back to camp, a strapping gentleman and his girlfriend gave me and my stuff a ride on the tailgate of his pickup - only to have to pull over for half an hour to make way for emergency vehicles. Still, it was mighty nice of him to drive me to the center of things and help me carry my stuff.
I did get to hear my sister in transness Brit Hansen blow up the dance floor in the lodge, i.e. the only indoor stage. She was working CDJs & mixer like fiend. If you want to hear what it was like, she played some of the same tracks on her show for KEXP's Expansions show last night.
I had trouble staying awake past 0100, even with the help of caffeine; the lovely folks from Nectar in Portland drove their coffee truck all the way up. Speaking of substances, I only brought a third of a 750ml bottle of sake. Sobriety my have colored my view of the whole affair.
I have to say, though, that compared to Critical or The Thing In The Desert, there's not a whole lot of interest to me to do during the daytime. There was some shopping, including some beautiful stuff that was way more than I wanted to spend. Le sigh.
Excellent eye candy: unreasonably attractive younger women who do a lot of yoga & dancing and have even less modesty than I do. Ahem.
Saturday I got to see Lusine, local techno luminary with an airy, cerebral sound, at a stage with some really sweet Funktion sound. Promoter Michael Manahan seems proud if it, and rightfully so.
As I nommed some OK poutine, I got to chat with Riz Rollins, who was able to answer a "Whatever happened to" question that I'd had for years. I fondly remember grooving to DJ Eddie, mka Eddie Nonong, in the late aughts. It should come as no surprise that Riz knows Eddie. The latter has been raising kids and selling records at the Silver Platters in Sodo. (Riz busted my chops for not shopping there. It's not too convenient for me, a mostly-carless north ender, but I'll do it.)
Highlight of the festival: Sunshine Jones, who I'd never heard of. His vibe is old school, Black-church-on-Sunday house, only with some west coast acidic flavor. I got the ecstacy while stone cold sober, baybee. The lasers hitting the fir trees through the wood smoke were a nice touch.
A lot of the fun was running into people: Diesel Bleeper, Riz, Grenade in a mustache, et al.
No one offered to help me load out Sunday morning, so I walked a few miles, half of it laden with stuff. Uff da! I'll tell you what: I slept pretty well last night.
Lessons learned:
ETA: Grenade told me she knew I was at Cascadia because unbeknownst to me, I had introduced myself to her campmates because they had a wonderful Trans Pride Cascadia flag. They later described me to Grenade as "kind of Goth". Shallow fashion details: black patent 20-eyelet docs (perfect for the rain & mud), black & white floral Bombsheller leggings, black ruffly overskirt fromcupcake_goth, hoodie with tails from Mishu, studded leather collar, black lip paint from Lime Crime. I do love to Goth up and go to raves.
I left work a couple of hours early on Friday, finished packing, and bopped on up there. Arriving so late in the day was my first mistake: I got the least convenient parking, and since I was looking for a spot to pitch my tent in the twilight, I could have picked a better spot, as well. Moral: at the very least, take the Friday off and go early. Diesel Bleeper got an early arrival pass and showed up Thursday, but at Burning Man that's for people who are building stuff, so I dunno.
Then there was the problem of getting all my stuff - and remember, I'm used to Burning Man, so I pack a lot of stuff - between the bad parking and the bad camping spot, a distance of at least a quarter mile. At one point, when I reached my car, I had to refuse the offer of help from a drunk dude who was clearly interested in me. He became less interested when I mentioned my girlfriend. It's nice not having to lie about being a lesbian sometimes, and it's also nice that low light apparently makes me look more like a girl.
On way back to camp, a strapping gentleman and his girlfriend gave me and my stuff a ride on the tailgate of his pickup - only to have to pull over for half an hour to make way for emergency vehicles. Still, it was mighty nice of him to drive me to the center of things and help me carry my stuff.
I did get to hear my sister in transness Brit Hansen blow up the dance floor in the lodge, i.e. the only indoor stage. She was working CDJs & mixer like fiend. If you want to hear what it was like, she played some of the same tracks on her show for KEXP's Expansions show last night.
I had trouble staying awake past 0100, even with the help of caffeine; the lovely folks from Nectar in Portland drove their coffee truck all the way up. Speaking of substances, I only brought a third of a 750ml bottle of sake. Sobriety my have colored my view of the whole affair.
I have to say, though, that compared to Critical or The Thing In The Desert, there's not a whole lot of interest to me to do during the daytime. There was some shopping, including some beautiful stuff that was way more than I wanted to spend. Le sigh.
Excellent eye candy: unreasonably attractive younger women who do a lot of yoga & dancing and have even less modesty than I do. Ahem.
Saturday I got to see Lusine, local techno luminary with an airy, cerebral sound, at a stage with some really sweet Funktion sound. Promoter Michael Manahan seems proud if it, and rightfully so.
As I nommed some OK poutine, I got to chat with Riz Rollins, who was able to answer a "Whatever happened to" question that I'd had for years. I fondly remember grooving to DJ Eddie, mka Eddie Nonong, in the late aughts. It should come as no surprise that Riz knows Eddie. The latter has been raising kids and selling records at the Silver Platters in Sodo. (Riz busted my chops for not shopping there. It's not too convenient for me, a mostly-carless north ender, but I'll do it.)
Highlight of the festival: Sunshine Jones, who I'd never heard of. His vibe is old school, Black-church-on-Sunday house, only with some west coast acidic flavor. I got the ecstacy while stone cold sober, baybee. The lasers hitting the fir trees through the wood smoke were a nice touch.
A lot of the fun was running into people: Diesel Bleeper, Riz, Grenade in a mustache, et al.
No one offered to help me load out Sunday morning, so I walked a few miles, half of it laden with stuff. Uff da! I'll tell you what: I slept pretty well last night.
Lessons learned:
- If you're going to go to Cascadia, show up as early as possible.
- Bring a cart for all your stuff. There are such things as folding carts.
- You'll probably want some substances in your stuff.
- Bring somebody to camp with. It's a pity that the Tickler is so against camping, because she's all about the costumes and grooving.
ETA: Grenade told me she knew I was at Cascadia because unbeknownst to me, I had introduced myself to her campmates because they had a wonderful Trans Pride Cascadia flag. They later described me to Grenade as "kind of Goth". Shallow fashion details: black patent 20-eyelet docs (perfect for the rain & mud), black & white floral Bombsheller leggings, black ruffly overskirt from
cupcake_goth, hoodie with tails from Mishu, studded leather collar, black lip paint from Lime Crime. I do love to Goth up and go to raves.