Thursday Threesome #259

::State Fair and Rodeo::

Onesome- State: What state (or territory) do you live in? Have you lived in any other(s)? Where would you like to live? And as a bonus: Any idea what year your state became a state? *grin*
I live in the Flat, and a perpetual state of flux. I've lived in two other states, both of which begin with the same letters. Where would I like to live? Home, I suppose. That's an extremely big question at this point, and I'm not sure I want to think about it.
I do not know what year this state became a state, but I know when my home state did--1858.
Twosome- Fair: Or amusement parks: Did you enjoy them as a kid? What was your favorite ride? How do you feel about them now? Ready to go wander around one again, sampling funnel cakes and corn dogs and riding rides until you're sick or would you rather just enjoy the entertainment or stay home and avoid the crowds?
Didn't do the amusement park thing until I was 17 and went to Opryland on a band trip. I'd just begun dating Blake and really didn't want to be away from him, so I was in a horrible mood the entire time. My good friend Joel was charming and sweet while we were at the Park, trying to cheer me up and keep my mind off the other boy and the various things about him that I was missing so much. They had a photographer stationed at the entrance to the park, taking pictures of people as they came in that they could buy in tiny kaleidoscope-like things. The one of Joel and me is one of the best pictures I've ever seen--I look pensive and sad but am smiling crookedly through it, while Joel is absolutely beaming with that whole-face grin that he had. I wonder if he's still that happy? I hope that he is.
Our hair was very similar, although mine was much longer. Punkish, floopy bangs with more down the left side. His was spiked up all over, mine hung a bit in the front and curled wildly down my back. He had probably 6-8 inches on me in height at that time even though he was 2 years younger.
     Back to the amusement park itself. We went on only a couple of rides. Something involving a "log" seat through water in which we were soaked to the skin from the waist up. Probably a Tilt-a-Whirl. Certainly Bumper cars, if they had them, because anything that I can do to literally take out aggression on other people in a socially-sanctioned way, I'll do. I really haven't ever liked rides. That sense of being totally out of control--yuck.
     The thing that I recall most clearly about that day, apart from spending the time with a really good friend, was having the best caricature done. It was utter perfection, the perfect salve to my wounded heart (wounded from being forcibly ripped away from the love of my life, of course. That makes me laugh now, a little sadly and sarcastically, because the blog often gets hit with Google searches by Blake's name. Who's looking for him? Is he in even more trouble than I've heard?) It was on white paper, just a black ink sketch of me looking rather wistful, but with beautiful intensely blue eyes. The only color was my eyes. Why does that resonate so much right now, so much that I'm even squirming a bit to admit it? An odd mix of uncomfortable vanity and too much honesty, prehaps.
     I don't know where the caricature is now. Did I give it away? I think it may have been a Christmas or birthday gift to Andrew that year, a pathetic attempt toward compensation for the silver and turquoise bracelet that he brought back from Mexico for me. It may have been lost in a move somewhere. Funny that I can't remember its end, when the beginning is so clear.
Threesome- And Rodeo: Have you ever been to or watched a rodeo on TV? Did you enjoy it or consider it a barbaric spectacle? If you liked it, what was your favorite event? Ever tempted to race barrels or ride a bull yourself?
Ugh. Rodeo? Blegh. Never been, never watched, never would. Barbaric, boring, horrid. And smelly.