Alternate reality, open on weekends

The me of March 2005 would be extremely shocked to learn that the me of now wrote an article about renaissance fair performers. The original draft was twice as long and included more of a first-person account of me being surprised by how interesting the renfair world is. Also more pseudo-Ballardian sociological observations, and more details about the various performers I interviewed. But I'm fairly pleased with this streamlined version too.