Ethan Rose's Blog, page 3
March 22, 2011
I'm not looking at your breasts, I'm reading your T-shirt
When participating in conventions, one is right where the mainstream falls over the edge into the bizarre and sacrilegious. This is prominently advertised on the myriad T-shirts seen about the place. The range starts with the merely devotional ones that proclaims the wearer's loyalty to the green lantern or his favorite beer. It then travels through a range of sexy characters to humor where it finally ends with the inside joke. These are the ones requiring the specialized geek knowledge necessary to recognize the foundations of the humor. If you don't get the joke then you probably didn't watch the show of read the comic. "And then Buffy staked Edward, The End" is only funny if you are a fan of Buffy and annoyed with Twilight. And lets face it, if you're at a convention, you probably are.
I don't deal in T-shirts myself, but I do have my own inside jokes. I have long been known for my vampire slayer kits. Recently, by popular demand, I have added a zombie kit to my inventory. Each Zombie kit includes a twinky. About half of my customers ask "why a twinky?" The other half burst out with a variation on "oh my god that is so funny." Their reaction makes it worth explaining Zombie Land to the others.
March 18, 2011
Spring
Spring has once again been sprung upon us here in the Northern hemisphere. When I was a young lad, this meant that it was time to get the garden planted. It also meant that we had just finished planting about 10,000 tree seedlings over the past month or two, often in the pouring rain.
And no, we were not engaged in a reforestation project. These trees were destined, after about ten years of growth, to be cut down and stuck up in someone's living room for a few weeks before heading to their final destination in a land fill.
But that was thirty years ago in Northern California. Today, in suburban Texas, Spring means repairing the lawn and getting some potted plants from Lowe's to flesh out the flower bed. My vegetables are imported from third world countries, modified genetically, and lacking most of their traditional flavor.
And yet, Spring is still a time of rebirth and renewal. I may no longer be a farmer, but my business still follows the seasons. After the feast of the Christmas season, there was a time of rest during the darkness of winter. It was a time for preparing as well. I spent it repairing the house and making stockpiles of toys for the upcoming festival season which began with the opening of the Spring fair at the Sherwood Forest Medieval Fair. And so now I am once again tending my business like a garden and encouraging its growth.
March 17, 2011
Spring
Spring has once again been sprung upon us here in the Northern hemisphere. When I was a young lad this meant that it was time to get the garden planted. It also meant that we had just finished planting about 10,000 tree seedlings over the past month or two, often in the pouring rain.
And no, we were not engaged in a reforestation project. These trees were destined, after about ten years of growth, to be cut down and stuck up in someones living room for a few weeks before heading to their final destination in a land fill.
But that was thirty years ago in Northern California. Today, in suburban Texas, spring means repairing the lawn and getting some potted plants from Lowe's to flesh out the flower bed. My vegetables are imported from third world countries, modified genetically and lacking most of their traditional flavor.
And yet, spring is still a time of rebirth and renewal. I may no longer be a farmer, but my business still follows the seasons. After the feast of the Christmas season, there is a time of rest during the darkness of winter. It is a time for preparing as well. I spent it repairing the house and making stockpiles of toys for the upcoming season which began with the opening of the spring fair at Sherwood Forest. And so now I am once again tending my business like a garden and encouraging its growth.
March 16, 2011
Hello World!
Hello, and welcome to the wonderful world of my blog. The way this works is at the begging of spring, i.e. now, I will make a commitment to writing regular blogs about all the fascinating ideas that parade through my exceptional brain on a daily basis. This is done as a semi-magical social contract that will theoretically induce readers to flock to my blog.
I am, in fact as well as deed, so fired up and committed to this endeavor that it will be at least two weeks before the constant stream of insights and wit begin to taper off. At that point, procrastination will set in as I realize how much blogging is cutting into my video gaming. By week three I will be wondering what the point is since no one is reading my drivel anyway. By the end of a month the whole project will have been abandoned and nearly forgotten.
But wait, there's more to come. By the new year I will have resolved to do it all again. But having forgotten my user name and password by then I will have to open a whole new account. Bye for now.
NEXT TIME ON MY TOTALLY UNIQUE AND AWESOME BLOG: Harry Meets Sally, Will worlds collide? Find out on the evening news as they continue to find something to frighten us with every single fricken day! Plus, some celebrity does something.
Hello world!
Hello, and welcome to the wonderful world of my blog. The way this works is at the begging of spring, i.e. now, I will make a commitment to writing regular blogs about all the fascinating ideas that parade through my exceptional brain on a daily basis. This is done as a semi-magical social contract that will theoretically induce readers to flock to my blog.
I am, in fact as well as deed, so fired up and committed to this endeavor that it will be at least two weeks before the constant stream of insights and wit begin to taper off. At that point, procrastination will set in as I realize how much blogging is cutting into my video gaming. By week three I will be wondering what the point is since no one is reading my drivel anyway. By the end of a month the whole project will have been abandoned and nearly forgotten.
But wait, there's more to come. By the new year I will have resolved to do it all again. But having forgotten my user name and password by then I will have to open a whole new account. Bye for now.
NEXT TIME ON MY TOTALLY UNIQUE AND AWESOME BLOG: Harry Meets Sally, Will worlds collide? Find out on the evening news as they continue to find something to frighten us with every single fricken day! Plus, some celebrity does something.
September 8, 2010
Fire of the Fey
Meanwhile, back at the "Rowan of the Wood" Headquarters, I am continuing my toy making efforts. The peanut shooting crossbows are as popular as ever and I am even wholesaling them now. My magic wands are also quite popular, as are the vampire slaying kits. So if you happen to be in Kansas City over the next six weeks, drop on by the Kansas City Renaissance Faire and visit our shop if only to say hello.
