Pen's Nest

turps asked me for Best Camp Sparkle Moments.

For those of you who are wondering, Camp Sparkle is a mini-convention for popslashers. It was born out of the fact that nopseud and I met at a convention, and out of her 'Sparkly Weekends', which were so much fun we wanted to expand them. We began in, um, I think 2007 with a weekend in a rented house in Shropshire, and then progressed to week-long Camp every year since. The popslash element comes and goes, but it's our common ground and we love it still.

Despite the slightly surprising absence of alcohol from most of Camp, it is hard to remember the best moments because, really, there have been so many of them. But I will make the attempt—and I'd love to have other people's favourite moments in comments!

Online discussion of collecting the axe murderers from Stansted.

Dancing on the doorstep at Little Brampton, in utter delight at (a) having found it successfully and (b) the beauty of the view.

Watching iconis moving through the dining area in a pixy stix-fuelled blur.

At The Old Stables, a bizarre late-night discussion of felching and sundry other repulsive things, and nopseud wandering into the midst of it and saying nonchalantly, Oh, goats will eat anything.

The Camp Sparkle Snacks table. It began with the expectation that there might be a few, idunno, exotic packets of biscuits so that I did not have to cater for munchies as well as meals at our first Camp. I think it may have reached its highest peak at Ebenezer Chapel, where it filled the cot, but it's always a little bit terrifying and an awesome source of fine Finnish chocolate. Ahem.

Afternoon Tea at Chatsworth! I don't think we've had a *better* one, though all of them have been fun in their different ways. I actually understood what a sugar high was after nomming my way through the baby elephant's foot meringue, and the brownie, and... yeah, everything else. Actually, the whole day at Chatsworth was pretty fabulous.

Kringle! Omnomnom.

Camp Canon. Like, JC on a pink steamroller. Pecker. Emo ponies. Badger.

Watching a gigantic Barbie-pink limo reverse into view outside my sitting-room window, and announcing that that right there, that was our transport to Camp. And then seeing the astonishment on the faces of the Stansted contingent when we collected them.

The Feast at Portsmouth, where war broke out between the two tables. We'd raided a Pound Shop and decorated the tables with party poppers, streamers and miniature tribbles, and at some point they all became airborne.

Dancing in the communal space of The Ship, with nopseud, when we went on a pre-inspection.

Driving past the giant Dalek on the way to Camp, and the squeals of joy from behind me as the dalek's weapons swivelled to follow us.

Cards Against Humanity: when faced with the question, What is Justin Timberlake's defining characteristic? I played An Oedipus Complex. Pwned. Also, chalcopyrite's disturbing answer of planning to die balls-deep in a wild hog (I think), but hey, it was Brian. He's from Kentucky.

Camp is always full of laughs, and awesome things to eat, and visits to fascinating places, and weird and wonderful conversations with people who *understand* it when you say, It doesn't always snow in Europe, or a Lance shirt or... or, you know.

However. The unsurpassable memory has to be of msktrnanny reading The Lava Lamp Story at Beech Hill House, with iconis and a vodka bottle providing appropriate actions. I nearly died laughing. Damn, I wish we had video.

Best convention ever.

pixiebeanz asked: if money/travelling were no issue where would you host the next Camp Sparkle and what activites would you have on the agenda?

( What an excellent question! )

I said goodbye to my last sparkly person on Tuesday (Fleur, at Stansted), went home, and promptly fell asleep for three hours. I mostly couldn't bring myself to go to bed at Camp until all was quiet, so I suspect I rather needed that.

It was in fact a stroke of genius to have Camp Sparkle in Brighton. What an excellent city! From the Royal Pavilion's unbelievable over-the-topness (with added Dragons) to the I'm-a-kid-again fun of the Pier to the genuinely happy atmosphere of town on Saturday afternoon, I thought it was a lovely place. Our rented house could not have been more convenient in situation (alas for the remote car parking, but in the circumstances, cars were rarely required), although it might have been somewhat more convenient in bathroom allocation—for other people, that is. Getting the only ensuite in the place worked out quite well for us! Next time, more bathrooms.

Oh, and we got a free boob display from the street while we were having our Friday evening Feast. Which was novel.

I returned to find that my plants were thriving. The pumpkin is spreading like mad, the tomatoes are all growing healthily, and—and!—we have eaten our first home-grown courgette. Ten minutes from plant to plate. Admittedly, it was still a courgette, and there is a firm limit on how exciting a courgette can be, but it was an Achievement. I suspect there are going to be quite a few more courgettes in our near future, what with there being seven plants in the raised beds. Hmm.

Socks was *extremely* angry with me on our return! I've never heard her so pissed off, dear me. She seems to have settled down now, although she selects Beast's lap for sitting on in preference to mine. This is good, as she is going for the world record in shed cat hair, and he is actually willing to have the defensive blanket on his lap in the current heat, which I am not. It's a good thing Camp was last week, or we'd all have been walking around looking like beetroot.

Back to the gym yesterday for a swim, and today for actual work including assisted pull-ups, and pikes on the TRX. Blurgh. My shoulders will punish me tomorrow. And then, to my horror, I watched Say Yes to the Dress (look, I know, but it's as potent as chocolate, and I can only kick one thing at a time) and they were making a dress for a DOG. Not a real dog, one of those things that lives in a handbag, but still. For pity's sake, make me unsee this!

I took only a passing interest in Wimbledon's first week (although, go Murray!), but this is an awesome write-up. Serena Williams??? What? What? Seriously?

Also randomly, I have discovered that there is a thing called Fairy Barf Lichen. Of course there is. As there should be.

There is also—even more randomly—a piece by the very splended Greta Christina on How to Write a Sex Scene Between a Unicorn and a Rainbow. You should read this, because yes.

So, now I have a Five Words story to record, and two podfics in my near future, and a genuine desire to write something Very, Very Strange. We shall see.

/post-Camp weirdness

Dear folk,

Sign up! Registration for Camp Sparkle is now up and running. Join us, dear sparklypersons, from wherever you are!

Much love and anticipation of joyful squee,

Pen