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The talk at Whole Life went well. I got really nervous before, and more and more people kept showing up. My name and picture was up all over the store. Thankfully my husband came along, and several grovemates and another friend showed up to cheer me on... no one else was there that I recognized. There were about forty people total.
I got hooked up with a mike- one of those that goes over the ear and sort of looks like a phone headset. That worked for about 5 minutes, and then crapped out- but I have inherited what my father used to refer to as the 'fish wife voice', so I can project if I need to. Did I mention I gave serious consideration for trying out for drum major in high school? Anyway. I rambled on for probably an hour, then people asked questions for another 45 minutes or so. Most people seemed very interested and to enjoy the talk. I tried to make a few cracks and keep it light. The only weird bits were one young woman who kept making odd facial expressions at me (a raised eyebrow whenever I made eye contact); maybe she was trying to psyche me out, but I just ignored her. She left early and made a 'namaste' gesture at me, so I don't know what her deal was. Then there was a fellow who asked me about the connection between Wicca and Crowley, and seemed to get irked when I didn't immediately denounce Crowley as a sex-crazed heroin addict. He brought this up in a belligerent way, and I said "well, nobody's perfect" and moved on.
Several people came up to me afterwards to heap praise, which was really weird. One fellow said I was a very dynamic and entertaining speaker, and another lady asked if I had a book out. This is encouraging but just feels bizarre since I so can't imagine myself as a 'public personality.' Speaking in public generally scares me shitless, and I mentioned that a few times and was reassured every time that "you couldn't tell." My main thing is I'm trying to come across as a person who eats and farts and screws up, who likes to write rituals and bloviate about philosophy. I even had one old Rabbi from Jersey come up and tell me she saw my picture and the ad in the Chronicle online (can anyone verify this? I looked to see if they had anything online, and just found a picture-less blurb in the 'Community Events') and say she had been really looking forward to coming to Austin and hearing me talk. Zounds!
A couple of people asked about joining the group, and I referred them to CoG and CMA and AustinPaganEvents. I don't know how soon I'll be teaching another class so I didn't want to leave anyone hanging. Pagans have it so much easier these days, at least as far as finding each other. Hooray for the interweb.
This was maybe the second time Eric had ever seen me speak about Wicca. He snapped some pictures and mentioned that I talk with my hands a lot, which I was not aware of. He thinks I should write a book and become famous. His suggested titles- Stop Being A Fucking Flake: A Guide for Organized Wicca, or the more subtle Herding Indigo Cats. We are amused.
I got hooked up with a mike- one of those that goes over the ear and sort of looks like a phone headset. That worked for about 5 minutes, and then crapped out- but I have inherited what my father used to refer to as the 'fish wife voice', so I can project if I need to. Did I mention I gave serious consideration for trying out for drum major in high school? Anyway. I rambled on for probably an hour, then people asked questions for another 45 minutes or so. Most people seemed very interested and to enjoy the talk. I tried to make a few cracks and keep it light. The only weird bits were one young woman who kept making odd facial expressions at me (a raised eyebrow whenever I made eye contact); maybe she was trying to psyche me out, but I just ignored her. She left early and made a 'namaste' gesture at me, so I don't know what her deal was. Then there was a fellow who asked me about the connection between Wicca and Crowley, and seemed to get irked when I didn't immediately denounce Crowley as a sex-crazed heroin addict. He brought this up in a belligerent way, and I said "well, nobody's perfect" and moved on.
Several people came up to me afterwards to heap praise, which was really weird. One fellow said I was a very dynamic and entertaining speaker, and another lady asked if I had a book out. This is encouraging but just feels bizarre since I so can't imagine myself as a 'public personality.' Speaking in public generally scares me shitless, and I mentioned that a few times and was reassured every time that "you couldn't tell." My main thing is I'm trying to come across as a person who eats and farts and screws up, who likes to write rituals and bloviate about philosophy. I even had one old Rabbi from Jersey come up and tell me she saw my picture and the ad in the Chronicle online (can anyone verify this? I looked to see if they had anything online, and just found a picture-less blurb in the 'Community Events') and say she had been really looking forward to coming to Austin and hearing me talk. Zounds!
A couple of people asked about joining the group, and I referred them to CoG and CMA and AustinPaganEvents. I don't know how soon I'll be teaching another class so I didn't want to leave anyone hanging. Pagans have it so much easier these days, at least as far as finding each other. Hooray for the interweb.
This was maybe the second time Eric had ever seen me speak about Wicca. He snapped some pictures and mentioned that I talk with my hands a lot, which I was not aware of. He thinks I should write a book and become famous. His suggested titles- Stop Being A Fucking Flake: A Guide for Organized Wicca, or the more subtle Herding Indigo Cats. We are amused.
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Date: May. 24th, 2006 07:09 pm (UTC)From:ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Date: May. 24th, 2006 07:17 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: May. 24th, 2006 09:56 pm (UTC)From:Too bad I'm all the way in Closet Station... I really would've liked to listen to your talk. :)
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Date: May. 24th, 2006 11:01 pm (UTC)From: