Last weekend was a busy one.

On Friday night, we went to see the opening performance of Hack & Slash’s Shakespeare Massacre at the Chesapeake Arts Center. For fans, I need not provide a context, except to say that I really miss them at the Maryland Renaissance Festival this year. For non-fans, there’s no better way to explain them than to head over to their website.

The show was an awesome mix of scripted skits, improv comedy, and cruelty to insects that I think will never quite be matched. They’ve got a few more performances coming up this weekend, and tickets are going FAST! Sign up for their email list to get the scoop on their fan discounts. And will I see you at the Holiday Show? We’re going on the 16th and I sprang for VIP Preferred tix. Now I have to get some new PJs for the show!

On Saturday night, we braved the rainy drizzle to go down to Annapolis and see our friend John Scheeler (local scifi geeks will know him as Sir John of Denver of the Boogie Knights)  in a play put on by the Colonial Players called “The Unexpected Guest”.

The play is by Agatha Christie, and it’s everything you’d expect from the Dame… lots of plot twists and red herrings. Just about everyone has a motive, and while I did figure out whodunnit early on, I was very satisfied at how the final reveal played out. The entire cast is stellar, showcasing a variety of British accents (and one very excellent Irish accent).

Saturday night also featured a visit to one of the many Irish Pubs in Annapolis, Galway Bay. We were very lucky to get a seat in the bar, as there’d been a Navy football game that afternoon (and apparently, you just need to make reservations in Annapolis on a Saturday evening, as one friend who gets out more than I do schooled me on Facebook).

The food at Galway Bay isn’t cheap, but it is tasty and filling. We had traditional Irish stew that was almost as good as what we had in Ireland last year. I was disappointed that Bangers & Mash wasn’t on the menu, but that gives me an excuse to try out one of the other pubs, Castlebay, next time we’re in the area.

And yes, Cat, this time we will make reservations!

The weekend ended on a down note, as we learned that we’d lost one of our friends to complications from cancer. I’m not really going to get into that here… if you know me, and you knew her, you’ll know who I’m talking about. If you didn’t, there’s no point in going into it here. She leaves behind a lot of family and friends, and she will be very resoundingly missed.

Looking ahead, we’ll be at the Maryland Renaissance Festival on Sunday. The annual Green Man parade is scheduled for 2:30. I don’t believe this will be on the official Faire schedule, as it’s something put on by the Rennie crowd, but I’ve seen it before and it’s really pretty cool. I’ll try to dig up some more info and post it here, though I know they will end at the White Hart statue near the Tavern.

Saturday, I’m hoping to sit down and get my Flickr account in order with all the photos currently on my Facebook account, as well as adding new stuff. I also want to see about at least getting a Twitter widget up here. And I may go searching for a better template. This one’s ok, but I’m not in love with it.

I also need to pick up tickets for John’s next play, Show Boat. Ironically, this one’s being held at my work. Well, at the Rec Center at my work. And it’s dinner theater… maybe I can get John to autograph my napkin. Wonder if I can get an employee discount on the tickets…

‘Til next time… catch you around the interwebs.

So. Yeah. Another new place on the web to open up shop. Groovy.

I’ve got some actual plans for my social media presence on the web. I’m going to do something with my website, which hasn’t been updated in years. Probably tear it all down and use the URL for this blog, kill the hosting account and just pay for the URL every year.

Facebook, well, that’s going just about bye-bye. I’ll keep the account, but the only thing I really intend to post is links directing people here. New photos can go on Flickr, and I plan to reorganize my Twitter account and use it more. I’m testing out Google+, and we’ll see how that goes.

I’ve got blogs on LiveJournal and Blogger. Not sure what to do with them. I need to check out LJ and see if anything over there is worth looking at any longer. Blogger, that just might go entirely. I don’t need three blogs.

As far as what I intend to use this tumblr thing for, I’d like to actually create content that might be useful to someone. I don’t think I’m particularly interesting, but I do have a lot of eclectic interests. So maybe someone might find it helpful to hear about my crochet projects, or trying to integrate into the local Rennie crowd, or why I think the local scifi cons are going to hell in a handbasket.

Or maybe not. But at least here, I have control over what gets published and how it looks. Not the nameless suits at Facebook. And I’m coming to understand that for me, control is important. Not in a “control freak” sort of way, but in a “manifesting my own destiny without anyone else’s unwelcome interference” sort of way.

In the end, I guess that’s all we can really hope for. Too often, we just settle for what someone else will give us because it’s there, or the alternative is too hard. I choose to boot Facebook and focus on other venues of social media, knowing that Facebook’s gotten into bed with so many other things in order to ingratiate itself into the public consciousness.

As usual, I choose a different path. I hope folks will wander along with me. But if I end up alone out here, that’s ok, too. We’re never truly alone.