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Renaissance Festival War Stories
Weekend 1 Opening Sunday I do some walking around the festival grounds with the riddles sign and my book. A trio of adults in their mid-20s stop me for a riddle and one of them says, "Should we sit?" Going with the premise of 'yes and...' we sat down right in the middle of the path. I read some riddles and they each answer one correctly. I eventually extend my legs out and am lying down on my side. I'm holding the riddle book with one hand and gesturing with the other. And like a beacon, a dragonfly lands on my right pinky and stays there for about 45 seconds. One of the ladies was kind enough to snap a few pictures and send them to me. She said, "It's your spirit animal," Then the dragonfly flew off. I said, "It probably would have stuck around longer, but you insulted it by saying I was it's spirit animal."
By Tinka Boudit She/Her4 years ago in Journal
A Playtron's Guide
Before adopting the moniker/pen name of Tinka Boudit, I was a ten year attendee of the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. I go in costume. I shop, see shows, I made friends with cast members, vendors, and other attendees. I go every weekend for seven weekends. Those of us who do this are known as 'playtrons'. As in we play along, but we are patrons who pay the ticket fee to be there; we do not work there. I've also volunteered my time in a booth for three other seasons. I officially joined the cast in 2019.
By Tinka Boudit She/Her4 years ago in Geeks
Tales of Bette: Pre-lockdown, Last Blast
Saturday March 7, 2020 Spring came early that year, but it was a slap in the face with everything going on in the news. COVID-19 was all over the news and wasn't going anywhere. Bette was about to take her work office home for safe distancing. Event after event was being canceled. Her friend Dave was getting married and his wedding, as far as she could tell, was going to be the last blast she was going to have for a while.
By Tinka Boudit She/Her4 years ago in Geeks
Tales of Bette: Do Something...Not Him
Bette On It: Weird Adolescence. 10th Grade 2001-2002. An Excerpt... December 2001 It was Christmas time. Bette and Kasey had worked a catered lunch event at the museum and were done working for the Saturday. Kasey had a car and suggested they go to the mall for some Christmas shopping. Bette didn't really need to go there, but she wanted to do something and Kasey was good company. The only store Bette thought to look in for gifts for her parents was the book store. Kasey wanted to shop the music section and she told Bette to come find her when she was done. Bette went into the section of books on antiques and collectibles and picked up a book about the history of pinball machines and thought of her father. He loved pinball. His love of the game was imbued in her. He could play for an hour on a machine on one quarter and Bette would go through a whole roll of quarters playing a pinball machine next to him. It was a big book, practically a textbook. She paged through it smiling at the history, creativity, and joy the game had brought over the years. She saw someone approach the section out of the corner of her eye and took a couple steps back so they could either pursue the section or pass.
By Tinka Boudit She/Her4 years ago in Fiction
Riddle Me This
I have one of the greatest jobs in the world. I am a Riddle Master. How does that happen? Here's one way it happens... Once while sitting in traffic with my husband and I see the back of someone's car. I see a word on it that strikes me, and I start crafting in my brain.
By Tinka Boudit She/Her5 years ago in Geeks
How to get through the day at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival
Before adopting the moniker/pen name of Tinka Boudit, I was a ten year attendee of the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. I go in costume. I shop, see shows, I made friends with cast members, vendors, and other attendees. I go every weekend for seven weekends. Even after attending the festival since 2006, I still find new things to experience every year. Those of us who do this are known as 'playtrons'. As in we play along, but we are patrons who pay the ticket fee to be there; we do not work there. I've also volunteered my time in a booth for three seasons starting in 2016. I officially joined the cast in 2019.
By Tinka Boudit She/Her5 years ago in Geeks
Tales of Bette: Tylor & Bette's Date - What Went Terrible?
Bette on It: Weird Adolescence. 7th Grade. An Excerpt... Saturday December 26, 1998 "That wasn't cool what he did," of all the people who could have been nice to her in that moment, Tylor was not the person she expected.
By Tinka Boudit She/Her5 years ago in Fiction
Tales of Bette: On Her Ray-dar (Full Version)
The sequel to... Saturday July 12, 2014 The evening was getting late and the party was starting to die off. A lot fewer of her old friends went to the reunion than she thought would go. There were over 400 people in Public North's graduating class of 2004; maybe 120 showed up to the reunion party that night. She was hoping to see Ozzy, Mark, Tylor, Jenna, Vanessa, Tina, and others. The only close familiar faces she ran into sand spent time with were Katie and Ashleigh. Jenna was on the fence at best about going, she lived over an hour away and didn't want to impose on Bette's family with her; even though the Wheelan family was more than welcoming to her, and always had been.
By Tinka Boudit She/Her5 years ago in Filthy
Tales of Bette: On Her Ray-dar (the abridged version)
The sequel to... Saturday July 12, 2014 The evening was getting late and the party was dying off. There were over 400 people in Public North's graduating class from 2004; maybe 120 showed up to the reunion party that night. The only close familiar faces she ran into and spent time with were Katie and Ashleigh.
By Tinka Boudit She/Her5 years ago in Filthy
So Much To Give
7/8/2021 This is an autobiographical journal-like entry. It's been on my mind for a while, so I'm just gonna go with it. COVID-19 Started us on a lockdown in early 2020. I've been working from home since March of 2020. I like working from home. My workplace likes the work I do working from home. They have no intention to bring me back into the office as long as I keep up the good work, even the CEO of the company said so. My work is phone-based, so I talk to a lot of people. I would consider myself an extrovert most of the time. Customer service work is mentally and emotionally TAXING. It is not easy, at the end of most days I am drained and I need things to be quiet for a while. I don't want to talk to people for a while. I don't want to talk about my work. I imagine doctors don't want to keep talking about medical stuff at home or government workers want to talk about their work. Sometimes work is that and while a job can be satisfying, it is not the thing that defines me. It's not my only outlet to the world. Thank God it isn't. I think that would be pretty pathetic if my work was all I was.
By Tinka Boudit She/Her5 years ago in Humans
The Lemon Dress
My mother will tell you I always had my own taste in fashion. I would wear dance costumes to the library. I would wear plaid vests with mixed print clothes, tights, and sneakers. She always let me dress myself and never tried to stop me. There were one or two times in my teen years where she drew the line and said 'no,' and looking back on it, it was for the best and I am grateful for it. My mother and father have beautiful, classic, timeless taste. As I got older, I learned to adhere to a lot of those classic rules: white shoes belong on brides and babies, your shoes should be darker than your legs, look at yourself before you leave in your outfit and take off one accessory, and it never hurts to look your best. No, they did not invent those rules, but they are great rules to live by.
By Tinka Boudit She/Her5 years ago in Humans
