I’d be remiss if I didn’t break in to point out that the remarkable and sloth-obsessed Richard Butner has a fabulous piece on the North Carolina Renaissance Fair over at The Morning News:
Some have “favor sashes” covered in pins and ribbons, gifts from friends. It’s a precursor to Myspace in that regard, counting friends and relations with physical tokens. When the longtime queen retired from the cast of the Carolina Renaissance Festival, the local rogues guild sent her off with an ambush of roses, kind words, and chaste kisses. Beyond economics, the wenches and rogues have staked their claim to the alternate psychic reality of the fair. They’ve found a ludic space that is as real to them as their day jobs.