We were hoping to first acquire press passes, and then scrounge up the travel expenses somehow or another. Transport plans were quite vague, as I recall. Then Lisa Vogel, the festival director, seemed to rather fall in love with W.I.G., for richer or for poorer. She and Dawn started talking about the need for a Festival Photographer. I immediately got on the horn with Ms. Vogel and exalted the untold conveniences of a Festival Writer. Round-trip plane tickets eventually arrived in our respective mailboxes.

Dawn and I then became Charley Bucket to Lisa Vogel's Willy Wonka. Grrrl, it was so fun. Shuttle vans wait at the airport, one for your baggage, one for you. Lady with clipboard knows the names, arrival times, maternal lineage, and menstural cycle of positively everyone. She checks you off and says we are waiting for one more flight. Drive two hours. The festival grounds are on 650 acres of forest. It is lush and beautiful. There are hundreds of women with sledgehammer, spatula, walkie-talkie, paintbrush, microphone, pile of wood, cordless drill, big hug and so nice to meet you, here is your tent and there is the food and remember the dance at nine.

Later that night, waiting for Dawn outside the porta-jane [see "Pee Insomnia Syndrome"--Kinnie Starr story], I saw a figure walking towards me. A dark figure on a dark night. No one else in sight. My body tensed. The person was maybe five inches taller than me. Weapons, weapons, what do I have for weapons? My lighter, oh yes and the flashlight. With proper aim and velocity, it would do serious damage to a brain or nasal cavity. I'm wearing Skechers and a jacket. Fuck. I didn't put any pants on! I figured since I'm at a women's festival, it wouldn't matter whether or not I wore pants on a pain-in-the-ass trip to the porta-jane. Wait. What was that I just said? Why didn't I bother with pants? BECAUSE THERE ARE NO MEN HERE. The dark figure walking towards me is therefore, not a man. It does not matter what the weapon resource situation is or what kind of shoes I have on! Whoever is walking towards me is a woman! That means I can stand here half dressed in the dark waiting for Dawn to pee without scanning my panorama for potential threats. Wheeeee!