Field Research 3 - Festival of Steampunk

ok that's another field trip that wasn't as educational as i'd hoped.  :-(

I went to a local steampunk festival today, hoping to learn a lot about the genre...and that did not quite happen.  I did learn a lot at the tea brunch (what to serve, how to serve it, general tea etiquette, how to signal you want no more tea refills, why afternoon tea exists, etc).  And I met/socialized with a lot of really cool people (like a NASA programmer, a man who had a pet octopus, a guy who had connections to Area 51 and told us what all in in there, the lead singer of an indie steampunk goth rock band, etc), just a very diverse and eclectic and (mostly) kind and friendly group.  And I bought some nice treasures, with my favorite being a handmade oyster shell necklace.  And I learned how to fly cast, but that had nothing to do with the steampunk festival, that was the fly fishing festival that was happening at the exact same time (but heaven help me, I am so tempted to put a fishing trip into the book now, imagine Eyre trying to fly cast, she would either be flawless or extremely flawed).

But mostly it was not was I was hoping for.  I was hoping for some worldbuilding tips or general writing seminars, like they had last year.  They didn't have those this year, it was focused more on entertainment and games than learning and education.  Oh, well.  I'm still  glad I went, since my other goal was to socialize and I did that quite a bit.  

By the end of it, though, I was not having a good time and bailed out early.  this not on them though, its just a weird situation my hormones got myself in.  there was a guy in a really awesome costume and i fell in love at first sight with him and his vibe (i have not done such a thing since I was in high school) and it took me a couple of hours to work up the courage to go say hi to him (again, have not been so nervous about talking to a guy since high school) and right when i was getting up to go over to tell him i liked him he had a violent outburst over i have no idea what , he smashed up his mask and props and flipped a table and stormed out, and that kinda dashed any romantic notion i had toward him.  i'm sad that he was not having a good time and i hope he cheers up soon.  i'm also selfishly sad that the first time i felt my heart flutter with genuine romance in so long it was quickly followed up with it getting shattered.  i feel like i could integrate this weird scenario into the book but it also might not be all that appropriate.  honestly, i probably shouldn't be talking about it at all, but i'm still upset and i needed to type it out to cope.

ANYWAY, the next trip I'm planning is a class in august on historical coffee making at the same place where I learned all those ghost stories in my first field research trip.  and after that i am planning on going to a pirate festival in September but i don't know if i am going to count that as a field research trip or not, i predict it will be like today and just be a fun thing not a learning thing.