Pots and Pans: Fair Guide

I have always been skeptical about the concept of doing and selling pottery at shows and at fairs.

You see, the cons of using pottery to rake in a good base and money outweigh that of the pros of indulging in pottery. I rarely would recommend pottery to an entrepreneur. But of course, one would hear the success stories of pottery entrepreneurs. So here are a few personal experiences that I hope would make it easier for you to decide whether pottery is a good thing for you, or a no-no.

For one thing, pottery skills are needed to bring your talent to levels acceptable for consumers to buy your product. Unless you have natural talent and have been honing your skills, you would have to invest in buying yourself a good book, paying a tutor, or going to a pottery skill to invest in yourself.

Second, pottery materials. You need the equipment, you need the materials, and you certainly need the time and the patience. Pottery requires mixing, molding, tempering and baking. If you cannot routinely follow these, then it is best you drop the idea.

The big difference with pottery at shows is the change of venue. There are a lot of things to be done. For one thing, preparation of the prepared pieces of earthenware would require you to transport the heavy stuff from your shop to the site.

The second one is the inclusion of demos in your booth. This is a BIG thing.

Having demos in your booth actually keeps people interested in your work and in your final product. It doesn’t have to come out finished like that. You can just leave it in the mold, or dramatically bake it in the kiln. Just let people know how pots are done.

Sell at shows that target the upper crust of society. The common people, with the stories of recession and laying-off at jobs, won’t easily buy into your wares. Pots are mainly ornamental, less functional. Unless you’re doing something along the lines of tea cups and tea pots that would put most factories to shame, I suggest you start something ornamental, cheap and functional. Like paper weights for example.

Georgia and California Food Fest

Food festivals in my opinion are in my top to-visit list when it comes to visiting them around the country. Food is bountiful, and the people are cheery. There’s a happy atmosphere that it seems nothing could expunge it. And truly it is, because food is one of the basic needs of man, and a great joy for others. Celebrating it in an event dedicated to life’s simple pleasures is something one should not miss.

And America, blessed with the varying seasons, climates and altitudes, has an expanded scope of gastronomic delight. Along with the wonders of modern technology (halleluiah, importation!); food that you rarely would find in one place can now be as common as spaghetti in Italy. We have fruits, veggies, herbs, wine and drink, and even the strange like baby food!

First off is the esteemed Strawberry Festival in Garden Grove, California, held on May 22nd to May 25th. As the name implies, it’s all about the pink-reddish marvel, the strawberry! Tons of these juicy lovelies will come parading down the streets of Garden Grove, each in their prime and pride. There are a lot of carnivals and parades in the nearby streets for you to indulge in to! Celebrities, each new and those returning will also be making an appearance; so better watch out for them as they will be all over the place.

In the state of Georgia, a fruit is celebrated every 12th of June up till the 20th. The peach, which is well loved by those in Byron and Fort Valley Georgia. If you love peaches, now is the time to buy in bulk and stockpile on it, as peaches will be on the spotlight for the whole week. Fresh peach, peach cobblers, preserves, ice cream, pies and much more! There will be shows and events held each day as well, so if you are lucky to be in the area, indulge and you might win a prize!

Traditional Festivals and Modern Festivals

Did you quite get the difference between the two? No? Well, hot dang. The differences between them seem pretty quite obvious even to the naked eye.

Traditional festivals have a sense of solemnity within them. They celebrate something more on the religious and/or cultural side of things. Most of the newer generation would be put off by the seriousness and the solemnity of the traditional festival. These types of festivals usually are lackluster with the glamor but have a backing of over a thousand years worth of tradition. Never mind attendance. Most traditional festivals are compulsory and oftentimes required for attendance.

The modern festival dictates nothing but camaraderie, bacchanal revelry and capriciousness. Modern festivals were made by the times for the sheer enjoyment of life amidst the troubling times, the turmoil and terror, and sometimes, just the plain boredom of things. A modern festival are usually up to date, involve a lot of dancing, music, singing and revelry, and is just plain abandon for almost all inhibitions. Usually, there is no focus in modern festivals. Just plain having fun (or at least trying to).

There is usually the involvement of the community in both festivals, although in the case of a traditional festival; it is dictated by religion, culture or belief. Sometimes, a festival is but a series of rites and ceremonies held by the spiritual leaders in an area. Sometimes…well, you get the idea.

Most towns go for the modern festival now, which is quite a tourist attraction when the season comes. The big draw in a festival is the climactic highlight where it seems that beer knows no stopper, dancing knows no beat, and partying knows not day or night. But it is this kind of freedom that people come over to stop, play and just have fun.

Festivals have a purpose. It’s up to the people to decide on it.

Going In and Out Festivals

There’s a certain sense and pattern when trying to get into the sense of having to run into at least 3 festivals or more in one day, or even for a period of two days. Festivals are pretty much draining, in all aspects of your life. You feel tired physically, you’re drained emotionally, you feel you’ve given so much of your social life talking to people inside the festival grounds, and well, yeah. That sums it up. You could grow sick of festivals in just one sitting.

Setting your mind up to visiting at least more than two festivals a day requires that you have a different mindset of seeing the trip not as an errand or as a chore, but a social trek. When trying to go into a festival, don’t get cynical. And don’t get temperamental either. Being a party pooper at the start of the trip would have you very sour and very uncooperative while everyone else is having fun.

Some people like to go to festivals alone. These would include your typical rebellious teenager and or your love-forlorn daughter. Be understanding of their needs to want to have their own private space. The sensation of going into a festival alone is equal to almost monumental freedom. Give them the space that they deserve and the time that they will need.

Pack a bit of food yourself, but if you find the whole thing to be pretty daunting and hassling, be a bit of an anti-scrooge and go spend your money where you’re supposed to spend it in a festival. In fun, style, leisure and for your enjoyment. Of course, always exercise the usual prudence of not blowing off your entire pay on the fun and games inside the festival.

Feel free to refer with other friends as well. If you’re the type of guy to enjoy visiting a festival with friends, you can save on expenses if you go together.

A Festival for the Cherry Trees

The city of Macon is aptly named as the Cherry Blossom Capital of the World with good reason. The streets are filled with the numerous blossoms, all from the trees in the sidewalk. The place reminds you of a modern Japanese-American themed city, as the usual-Japanese flowers float amongst modern American buildings and asphalt-lined streets.

The streets are bustling and filled with Yoshino cherry trees, and every Spring, they fill the air and the ground with their pale pink petals. It is a very extravagant display of color, which leaves their audience speechless and breathless for the first time.

History relates that the cherry trees came from the late William A. Fickling, Sr. who was a local realtor in the area. He had discovered a Yoshino tree in Macon, and with confirmation after three years, had found out what the species was. Took him a trip to Washington DC just to find out the tree was actually a Yoshino specie!

His generosity and enthusiasm had urged the residents to participate in his vision of filling the whole city with the pretty cherry trees. Years passed and the vision had started to materialize. A lot of its current residents had moved to Macon just to be near the trees. One of them being Carolyn Clayton, the festival founder herself, who had fallen in love with the trees after she had visited.

She had urged Fickling to go with their project, and the dream became true. Through a big community effort, 500 trees were planted along the streets across Macon. The project was encouraged when they had finally proposed the first Cherry Blossom Festival.

Soon it had become one of the Top 20 events of the South, and its fame spread. From three days, it had reached 10 days of festivities. The trees keep growing too, and like their number, the dreams of Mr. Fickling will live on and grow more and more.

Dealing with Festival Burnouts

Sometimes, when you have too much of a good thing, you tend to grow bored of it. Sure, the festivals always come once a year, and you’d have think that “Oh pooh, since it only comes once per year, might as well attend it.”

Well, what you might be experiencing is a festival burnout. You have that time in your life wherein you might have your mid life crisis just a tad too early. You think that festivals are just a waste of your time, and you’re just going to spend one day wasting on it.

Well, good sir, you are truly missing a big chunk of life if you think about festivals like that. Fests are what keeps the community together, fests, are what makes the community stick to one another. Fests are the reason that communities are able to celebrate something in unity. Festivals are the joint effort of each and everyone to reach out to one another, through a medium often ignored or even scorned at as one matures; fun.

There is nothing wrong in indulging yourself in a little fun. Fun is what keeps people young, fun, is what makes the world still revolve. Without fun, there is nothing much to live for, because fun is what sometimes gives us the reason to live in this world. So by definition, why would you get tired of fun? Its because fun stuff, can turn un-funny. The more that you do the same thing over and over again, the concept of fun loses its value. It becomes repetitive, becomes the same roller coaster ride over and over again.

Fests require variety and a bit of spice, something that can keep it “exciting”. Maybe a new event, or a small detour but make your festival experience a new experience every time. There you might consider the idea of fun to be more than just going around in circles.

Summer Risks: Heat

You try your best to keep your kids safe, but sadly, it is either in the form of your kids, or the form of your environment that could very well bring your kids to the brink of danger. It may be something harmless, something inconspicuous, but when it happens, you will be taken in for a big surprise. These dangers are very much existent and prevalent in the outside environment.

The sun. It is very important to life in this world. Without the sun, the earth would be nothing but a big chunk of ice in outer space. It would be safe to say, that without the sun (and the proper distance from it) everything would be not as it is today. But too much of the sun would prove to be very uncomfortable and often times fatal to most of us, human beings. There are two dangers oftentimes associated with too much exposure or being unprotected from the sun; sunburns and heat stroke.

Heat stroke, or heat strees, happens when people stay too much out of the sun and suffer from severe dehydration because of it. Symptoms that a person is suffering from heatstroke are thirst, fatigue, dizziness or nausea, cramps, vomiting, fever and head aches.

Kids are oftentimes susceptible to this when they play out too much in the sun (not realizing the time) or when trapped inside a car. DO NOT leave a kid inside the car while you do your shopping or office stuff. At least not without company and an open window.

Sunburns happen when most light skinned folks forget to put their daily dose of sunscree or sunblock. Melanin is a very important thing nowadays, and unless you want to spend at least two weeks cringing in pain when you shift in your bed, change out of your clothes or getting poked at in weird places, you might want to observe steps on how to protect yourself from sunburns.

In Summer Festivals

Going into a summer festival whether day or night, is a very fun and enjoyable experience for the family. It provides a good opportunity for bonding with your kids (or for the kids to bond with their families, who oftentimes do not meet anymore due to constraints in time). So anyway, you decide to spend your time with them in the state fair, or maybe in the state festival. And we do it at night. We don’t want anyone fainting from heat stroke, or getting singed due to sunburn. But there is a hidden threat lurking in the next corner. Or rather, flying around.

Yes, insects. More specifically, the toxic ones. Or if not, those that carry diseases with them. These are some of the hidden dangers of going out into a festival. Festivals bring people together. And where there’s people together, heat emanates from all around. And when that happens, this attracts insects from miles and miles away, those who are expecting a good meal.

In a surprising revelation, most parents do not realize the relevance of insect repellents in these types of situations. The AAP or the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommend you use insect repellents if going out with children on haphazard festival sites, like an open field or by the river or lakeside. A lot of these places harbor breeding grounds for insects and diseases.

If you are not the type to place various emollients on your kid’s skin, you might want to resort to something more time-tested (that is if your kid doesn’t really care about making a fashion statement. Most teenage girls would scorn at you for this).

Have your kids dress into something loose-fitting, and one that has long sleeves and non-bright colors. Long sleeves for protection of the arms from bites and the dark colors to deter insects from detecting you (bright colors apparently attract more insects than those who don’t).

The Positive Outlook: In Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone 2

This is where “breaking” the comfort zone comes in. It is the continuous want that should drive you to do better, find a better place for yourself. Be better, live better, and love your job better. But often, people are bound by their thrall-like tendencies to seek improvement.

There is also a psychological reason for this, but let us not delve too much into the mind. Blaming yourself for mistakes is like shooting yourself in the foot. Highly stupid and definitely not exactly helpful.

So in consequence, there are some stuffs that you have to override. For one, it’s contention. Big men aspire. They dream a lot, often these dreams being very insatiable to the core. But it is this driving force that makes them do a lot of things. Some great, some of them infamous, but common men would envy them. Because they have lived chasing their dream. And most often, died running in their feet.

The other thing you have to override is fear. Fear in danger is more dangerous than danger itself. If you constantly think of the danger of wanting progress and development, you will never prosper. You will only live to work for the next day and somehow die in that cycle of living we call a routine.

Another thing to override is habit, and is one of the other things to break. For whatever purpose, habit is not at all a good thing in the constant world of change. One needs malleability, but they also need to have the backbone and the cojones to pull off a decision together, and one that needs a degree of courage to do so. Don’t be afraid or risking. If you lose, treat it as a lesson. If you win, then treat it is a privilege and a basis for your next courses of action.

In Summer Festivals 2

Have your kids also wear socks and shoes instead of slippers and sandals. Mud can also contain several colonies of spores or protozoans that could slip into your skin and cause infections and even diseases (take note that ticks could very well stick and burrow in the callouses of your skin, transmitting diseases such as Lyme.)

Schedule your trip in a strict manner, following curfews and avoiding getting lost and/or separating from the group. 12 am means 12 am, everyone should be at the car by then. Mosquitoes and other insects are very active during the time between dusk till dawn. Although you might be safe from the sun, its the insects that you need protecting from. Also, try and cut down from scented soaps and oils, or particularly anything that can enhance how you smell. Bugs and mosquitoes would surely home in on you.

If you have a baby in a stroller, don’t forget to replete the usual accoutrement. Put a bug screen over the baby’s stroller so the mosquitoes don’t get in and irritate baby’s delicate skin. Or worse, transmit an infectious disease that could put her health in jeopardy.

Take note that with insect repellents, it is not recommended to reapply it every now or so often, just because you don’t feel that it works. Repellents have a certain compound called DEET, which is quite not safe in large amounts. DEET is available in some repellents, and is there to make sure that the repellent lasts long and stays long especially in outside environments.

Long sleeves also help by not only keeping the mosquitoes away, it also regulates some of the heat of your body (keeping it inside if you’re going out in a cold night, or keeping the sun away when you’re going out in day time).

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