Let's Play Pretend

Singing Pirate Number 2
Originally uploaded by bodhi47.

I will be the first to admit that I obviously don't get it. This whole idea of playing dress-up. I just went up to shoot this Renaissance Fair thinking that there'd be all sorts of interesting people watching. There was. But what I discovered is that there are people who live for this. To be pirates, 13th century monks, knights, damsels (both in and out of distress), and cross-dressing swordspeople. And they pay good money to do this every week. And consider the people who actually work the fair as lucky that they get paid to dress up as pirates, 13th century monks, knights, damsels, and cross-dressing swordspeople. Let's not forget the elves, dwarves, satyr's, and other mythological and fantasy people as well. They spend a lot of money on costuming, they practice the idiom, they must stand in front of a mirror for hours practicing their "AAAARRRRRGGGGHHH, matey!" I know, I know. You're thinking, "Gosh, these people need to get a life." But every year you do the same thing. On October 31 you will have spent at least a week figuring out how you and your spouse can dress up as a pair of fuzzy dice. Or maybe a belly dancer and a sheik. Red Riding Hood and Granny or the Wolf. High concepting how to be someone other than who you are. Playing dress-up. Pretending for a moment that you are something exotic, fun, and not of the ordinary. A long way away from inviting the dearly departed to come and mingle with the family for a night. Wearing masks to scare away the bad spirits and leaving a light on so that the family dead could find their way back to you. Now, it's just another Carnival, a chance to step outside yourself and pretend that you're something other than your Walter Mitty self. Why not just go wild and woolly as yourself. Let your inner devil come to the fore for a night. Let your inner gremlin have free sway or turn loose that sexy harem girl or strong adventurer? Do you really need a costume for that?