GPS Numerology?

The head for finance part makes me laugh heartily.... I "lost" $300 on paper that I never had.  That was WITH the help of a calculator... ROFL.

Your Life Path Number is 8

Your purpose in life is to help others succeed You are both a natural leader and a natural success. You are also a great judge of character. You have a head for business and finance. You know how to make money. A great visionary, you can see gold where other people see nothing. In love, you are very generous - with gifts, time, and guidance. You love to inspire people, but it can be frustrating when they don't understand your vision. Great success comes easily for you. But so does great failure, as you are very reckless. You are confident, and sometimes this confidence borders on arrogance.

I am not, nor was I ever, what you would call a die-hard "Friends" fan.... however, I think it's ubiquitous presence in syndication is probably somewhere behind M*A*S*H and the Simpsons, and probably near Will and Grace and That 70's Show (can you tell I live in a CW/Fox affiliate saturated-region?)  ANYhow... my point is, that if you don't have cable (that would be me) and you flip on the tube in the early evening, or late night, (when I often want some noise while I work, but not like, a movie that really sucks you in) you're likely to find Friends as one of a handful of alternatives to Infomercials... So I've seen the "Monica tries to please everyone by making their favorite potatoes" episode more than once.  For some folks, Thanksgiving just isn't Thanksgiving unles there are lumpy potatoes, or tater tots, or scalloped potatoes, or sweet potatoes or something... and it isn't just a Friends episode... in real life I have hosted large, LARGE Feast-of-Friends gatherings where I have tried to make the green bean casserole the way that everyone will eat it, and cook a turkey so the skin is crispy, but without drying out the bird (and I'm a vegetarian, so what do I care??) and make the potatoes just like 40 different people's moms make and so on...

SO... IF you have read this far, HOW IS THIS LIKE FAIRE?  Well, maybe it isn't as obvious as I think it is (that happens to me a lot) so let me explain... Faire is like Thanksgiving because everyone who goes has a different expectation, they have a different personal history with faires; from naive faire virgins to jaded faire flunkies and the folks who have a long-term committed, monogamous relationship with one faire, to the folks who've never met a faire they didn't like... or at least wouldn't attend.  People go with certain notions about what makes a Faire a Faire... it isn't a faire if it doesn't have X.... just like Thanksgiving for some people wouldn't be complete without pumpkin pie, and other people think that pumpkin is a pretender to the sweet potato pie throne. (I personally wonder why everybody doesn't just shut up and enjoy the pie -- hellO people!  It's PIE!)  But I digress (this happens to me a lot too)... I'm kind of curious to see if anyone responds to this (very lengthy War-and-Peace-style) post...

Tell me what makes faire complete for you!  In your opinion, any faire worthy of calling itself such had better have ________ or it just doesn't work for you.  Is there a show, and act, a group, or a food, drink, person, or thing that just *MAKES* (or breaks) your experience?  Somehow I don't expect a lot of people will weigh in with "it just isn't faire for me unless there are some really scary privies" but I've been surprised before.  I'm hoping desperately for a wide variety of answers... ranging from the funny to the sentimental, and from the frivolous to the highly practical.

My example (or at least AN example that represents one aspect for me):  The UNofficial Nebraska Wenches.... I've been to KCRF a few times in my life, and a faire at the Amana Colonies in 2001, but all before I started going to faires in Nebraska, and I have to say, I don't think I've ever attended a single faire in this state where they were not present.  There is probably a "top 5 prefered things" list... but it's hard for me to concieve of Faire without them now... very nice folk.  They do their best to make faire fun for everyone, and I respect and admire that greatly.

So what can't you live without?

Much Peace,

~LR