From the Archives: Ju-Ju Cling-On

So, this weekend is the Country Fair. I shan't be in attendance this year which is perfectly fine with me. This month I also hit the one year mark for blogging... that means a year of 5 other people reading my drivel. Huzzah! To mark this auspicious occasion I thought I would highlight a personal favorite of mine, the tale of the country fair and the woman with mad-dog eyes who reads peoples' auras. Enjoy.
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Ah, the Country Fair.

Are there really words to describe the panoplies of people and things? How does one encapsulate a parade of some cross-dressing individuals conga-ing all around, dust from the dry dirt hovering in the air like some cough inducing fairy dust. Or there was the accepted nudity, the high water mark being an overweight older man resplendent in bumble-bee inspired body paint. The dust, body odor, and patchouli swirling in the air created a heady hippy mixture. I, however, was mostly driven to dry-heaving through coughs by the end. And the older generation of hippies claim it is too Corporate now. The Dead, praise Jerry Garcia, would never show up for an impromptu midnight concert with the current state of things. Perhaps the best way to get at the Country Fair is to give a brief snippet of conversation...

Setting: Visiting Friend X who was working a booth, accompanied in the visit by Friend Y. Introduction of Unique Woman Z as follows.
Friend X: Hey, thanks for stopping by! This is my dear friend Unique Woman Z.
Me: Hi, nice to meet you. This is my Friend Y.
----- Unique Woman Z stops just before she gets her first word out and stares, eyes locked on target.-----
Unique Woman Z (UWZ) to Friend Y: Did anyone ever tell you that you have great ju-ju?
----- Friend Y stares at UWZ, unsure of an appropriate response.-----
UWZ: I have an eye for ju-ju. I remember seeing you here last year. I don't know what it is... you've got great ju-ju.
Friend Y: Thanks.... err, that's nice to hear, I think...

What was particularly great about this conversation as it continued down the thoroughfare in much the same way (UWZ: I really think we should be friends. You've got great ju-ju.), was that I was there but clearly not of enough import to even warrant a ju-ju comment. I was clearly the ju-ju cling-on, if you will, attached to my friend's glowing aura in a disgusting and perhaps slightly smelly manner. This whole scene was vastly entertaining as my Friend Y has been the recipient of multiple remarks on her similarity to a unicorn. The individuals who bestow the unicorn comment upon her clearly mean it as a compliment, though if one starts to ponder the comparison to a horse the compliment could lose some meaning. In all seriousness, they could very well be saying, "Hey baby, you got some great haunches." I believe UWZ would not hesitate to compare me to Lord Voldemort of Harry Potter, who survives for a time from a potion of unicorn blood and snake venom. But perhaps the comparison is too corporate. So it goes.