Wednesday, October 31, 2001
I really rather like the woman who writes Blueberry Hill. She has a bubbly (yet not vapid) personal style, she likes libraries, and today she gives an entirely true analysis of what it's like to take part in a very large choir rehearsal for Handel's Messiah this time of year--something far, far more people than you'd think are doing tonight, throughout America. I miss the Messiah. (The piece, not the Person. ;) )

She speaks the truth when she says, "...it's true the choruses are much better from the inside. So to speak. It's almost physical". I can't simply listen to that piece; it just goes on and on forever, and the movements that I never learned--as well as the interminable solos--bore me silly. But I would pay money (and have) for the privilege of singing through the sixteenth-note runs in "And he shall purify", or the delectable 3-part women's voice section in "Lift up your heads, O ye gates". And the final Amen section is among the finest endings any piece ever had; it almost irritates me that everyone insists on going ahead with one more repetition of the Hallelujah Chorus, instead of ending where Handel wanted it to end. (Almost, 'cause I get to move up to soprano on the second repeat--it's the only movement I learned first in soprano; the rest I learned in Concert Choir at LU as an alto.) Kudrun (sorry, Karyn) and Cybele and I are going to Winona Dec. 1 for the Messiah sing-in there. It's their old stomping grounds, I'm just tagging along.

I'm supposed to be doing laundry, but I think I've left my whites in the machine for about an hour and a half too long now, so I'll go flip them into the dryer. Is this readable?






Monday, October 29, 2001

Bit of a tiring day. Due to a personal webpage project, I didn't get anything done on the cotehardie this evening, either. Though it could be argued, at 9:25 the night is still young...! (Well, not for someone who's been sitting at her computer for three and a half hours!)

Last night I did finish the second sleeve, and sew one of the gores to one side of the back. I hope I did not mess up the gores by enlarging them a bit--I tried not to enlarge the radius at all, but apparently enlarging the total 'sweep' of the gore makes it taller, so to speak, because it rides rather high on the back. Well...hopefully when I sew the second back panel onto the first with the gore, it will diminish the height of the top by an inch or so. We shall see.

Hard to believe it's less than two weeks until Coronet. Whereas I thought I had gotten a nice head start on the cotehardie, it's amazing how I suddenly wonder if I have enough time to finish it...! Granted it would not be the end of the world to wear something else to Coronet (it'll be the two year anniversary of the red silk Italian gown; maybe it's time to bring it out again), and debut the cotehardie at Bardic Madness South. But *pout* I barely know ANYONE who will be at BMS...and there is a certain selfish pleasure in showing off one's handiwork to those who know you and feel comfortable complimenting you. Don't you think? Selfish, yes, I admit that. But I also want to look good at BMS. Well, I'll work on the cotehardie every night, and see if I can't preserve all options open to me, and make the decision when the time comes.



Sunday, October 28, 2001

The choir concert went great, I thought, but for some reason it was really draining. (It's that darn "Anthony O Daly" movement of the Barber Reincarnations. Barber hated sopranos, I swear he did.) At the end I just felt weak. Not knowing how to get to the party at Mary's, I decided to just skip it and go home. So I came home and watched a rather stupid movie that I'd rented Friday night ("Glory Daze", which was worth renting only for one more chance to see Ben Affleck...I have rarely seen a movie try so hard to avoid having the sort of plot which would satisfy the viewer and give the actors an excuse to, well, act. At the end it threw all the characters into a miasma of nostalgic farewells and steadfastly refused to bring anything to any kind of conclusion. Not only does the sympathetic love interest not get together with Ben's character, she doesn't even get together with another character who admitted he likes her and to whom she admitted the same! Don't know why they even included her if they weren't going to develop her character OR have her get involved with one of the male characters...).

I have the second sleeve of the purple-and-red cotehardie nearly finished. Decided to use decorative gold thread for the topstitching on the tippets. If you're going to use your sewing machine to make replicas of 600-year-old garments, well, might as well do it LOUDLY. ;) Someday I'll get a digital camera and I'll be able to chart the progress of my various SCA-related arts-n-sciences projects here on my webpage. Wouldn't that be fun? Then newbies from 17 kingdoms will find me on the web and write to ask me deep historical questions about things I'm not an expert in. Well, maybe it's not such a good idea...




Saturday, October 27, 2001
I was having such a nice day, until I got home and checked my messages. I slept in, went to choir rehearsal, then drove up to Onalaska and did some shopping: stopped at Hobby Lobby, got a Bead & Button magazine at Barnes & Noble, got a baby cone of thoroughly delightful Rainbow Mint custard at Culver's, went to dinner at Chi Chi's, then grocery shopping.

I got home and had an answering machine message from Lord Arnbjorn, my former boss when I was still Chatelaine of the Shire (he's Principality Chatelain), who's always been really nice to me and encouraged me to apply to become Principality Chatelaine when he steps down. (It wasn't his idea, but he--and his predecessor--were both very positive when I brought the idea up to them.) He began his phone message, "I didn't really want to tell you this over the phone, but..." and my expectations, which were high when he mentioned who was calling, began to plummet. The Stallari have selected Lady Dianora from Jararvellir as the next Principality Chatelaine, because she has Chatelaine experience in three different kingdoms, and 15 years' experience in the SCA.

Well. Okay. I can see where those qualifications would make them choose her over me. She is also one of the harder-working people in Jara, nearly singlehandedly managing the cooking and embroidery guilds there, and taking on a role in whatever event happens to be in the works (for example, she was the class coordinator for the embroidery event that took place in Jara today). I'm sure she will do a good job. I would feel better if I had ever seen her smile at anyone except her husband...

Sorry. I'm just hurt. This is the second principality position I've been passed over for in as many years. If a person needs 15 years' experience to be able to serve her Principality as an officer (by which time it'll be a Kingdom!), then I suppose I will just stop applying now. I will just do the best I can on a local level and within whatever interest groups in which I can make a difference. If there's one thing I ask, however, if I am not meant to achieve a position I strive for, it's that the person who does get the job manages to do better than the previous person. Not necessarily better than I would--it's a subjective thing anyway; how can I judge someone against my own intentions, which never came to fruition? Last time I was turned down (for a different position), the person who did get it proceeded to spend a year changing nothing, having absolutely no new ideas, and keeping up with informational needs only when absolutely necessary. Dianora is now tasked with doing better than Arnbjorn. I'll be watching.

[Please, readers, don't think me catty for the above....Like any citizen in a society with democratic leanings (even though the Northshield, like all SCA sovereignties, is technically a monarchy), I want my leaders to do a good job, because what they do is important to our future as a group and individually. Whether I am in the position or not, it needs to be done well.]

Other than that, it's been a good weekend so far. Last night I worked for four hours getting started on the purple-and-red cotehardie. I was going to find some sort of complementary washable fabric to line the sleeves, so it can eventually become a Pennsic dress. But I took out the remainder of the red silk doupionni from my Coronet gown two years ago, and held it up against the purple linen/cotton, and thought, oh yeah...it's got to be the red silk. Washable or not. So I plowed through all the cutting at once, including linings and facings, and got all the facings sewn on and pressed down. Now I just need to line the sleeves, and it'll be all ready to assemble. At this rate, I may indeed have it ready for Coronet--keep your fingers crossed.




Friday, October 26, 2001

In the long checkered history of interactions between the Internet and the physical (as opposed to mental) world, beginning with the first internet-connected Coke machines, The Public 8 Ball has now appeared, to much acclaim. Why rely on cheesy CGI-automated versions of the classic 8-Ball to answer your questions? The robotics geek behind this website has hooked up a REAL 8-Ball to the internet with a robotic contraption to shake it, and digital video using a Linux computer. There is some sarcasm involved ("mysticism on demand...anywhere in the world, 24x7, Y2K certified!") but not from the Ball itself, which still offers the same cautiously sage advice it offered when I received one as a birthday gift as a 5-year-old. I used to LOVE my 8-Ball...wonder what ever happened to that?

Anyway, now we can all use the real thing via the Internet, and trust that a real ball is really being shaken to give us our response. It's about time. G-d knows we all need someone to tell us "All signs point to yes" every so often.




Tuesday, October 23, 2001
My first issue of the White Birch as Chronicler of the Shire is now photocopied. In other words, it's too late to notice any more mistakes. There is nothing that can be done about them. I'm flyin' solo...again. You'd think I wouldn't be so nervous, having done this before. But somehow it's not the same now...

I'm going to staple tomorrow evening, and get them all in the mailbox that night. That beats my stated deadline of the last Thursday of the month by a half day. Not bad!




Monday, October 22, 2001

The Sing Thing was a LOT of fun! After starting slowly (me and Beatrix working on embroidery, talking, and hoping someone else would show up), quite a few people were there once things were really rolling: Kudrun, Sarra, Owen, Drust, Edwin, Ingus, and Mikey and Flori showed up late, after we'd already given up hope. We did lots of good singing of several sorts, mostly filk/funny stuff and Northshield favorites. Ingus, Kudrun and I attempted "Dixit Maria", a choral piece that kinda just makes me feel happy, I don't know why. We didn't sound like much, but then it was 11:45 at night and we were missing a bass (we don't need no steenkin' basses...)

As the bulk of the folks were leaving around midnight, and I was just realizing that we had forgotten to sing "Shield My Kinsmen", I noticed Owen standing in his coat, carrying his bags and musical instruments, immobile, looking at me with that unmistakeable "Owen feels the need to sing" look on his face, and I stood still and we all sang it. There are so many uses for that song...

I think this was probably the only bardic circle I've ever been at where I did not put any pressure on myself to get out there and Perform, with a capital P, and get heard. These people have all heard me before; of course I couldn't be kept from singing along with others (I can never be kept from singing, except by physical incapability), but I didn't think it would advance the purposes of the gathering for me to be grandstanding. I mean, not in my own apartment...! I'm doing "I Love My Love" at Coronet feast. They'll hear me then, oh boy will they hear me...;)

All in all, I was pleased. Any way we can sing together, and bond as a bardic community (however diffuse and diverse), is probably a good idea. And the french silk pie I bought at Quillin's was excellent (Mikey, Flori and I polished off the last three pieces for breakfast Sunday morning!).

Bad news: they called from the La Crosse School District and while we have been approved to use Logan HS as the Dance Seminar site, they want $53 an hour for custodial fees. For 15 hours (8 am to 11 pm) that works out to over $800. Just to break even, at 150 paying attendees (which is optimistic) we'd have to charge just under $6 site fee--and lunch couldn't be included. I was so shocked to hear the price, I forgot to ask whether it would all be due beforehand, or we could pay part of it up front and part of it after the event. If we had to pay it all up front, we'd blow our spending cap.

I wrote Kudrun immediately and told her that if we were going to do this at Logan, to insure that we'd recoup at least a little bit of money, we'd have to charge $7 site fee and absorb other costs: printing, mailing seneschal fliers, toiletries for the restrooms, etc. Granted there won't be a lot of extra costs, and many of them I can help out with. But the thought of another event where we barely break even just bothers me. And even at $7 you just know we'll have people complaining that it's exorbitant, don't we know that they're poor students/parents of four children/out of a job right now/disabled/trying to pay for the new roof on the house/paying off college loans/etc., and otherwise unable to pay two extra dollars for an entire day's educational event and evening ball?

All of this is assuming it doesn't blizzard the weekend of the event. If it does, and we don't decide to cancel it outright, we will not be able to afford to exist after paying $800 for the few bedraggled people who brave the weather to enjoy a very, very tiny Dance Seminar. (I also didn't ask how late we can cancel and not be held liable for site rental costs. Whoops. Of course I didn't commit us, so it's not a big deal, I just have to remember to ask that.)

I'll have to ask the exchequer what she thinks...and I know she reads this blog, so I think I just did. Sarra? What do you think?




Friday, October 19, 2001
The Sing Thing starts tomorrow and wow, do I need something SCA-related to do these days. I think I'm going through withdrawal. This despite the fact that I'm currently in the middle of my first issue of the White Birch, the Shire newsletter. Somehow sitting in front of my computer and nudging text boxes around on the screen does not satisfy my need for SCA sociability. Also I kind of feel bad--for my first issue, I started with the last issue I did as Falcon's Keep Chronicler and tweaked it all over--actually quite a lot, to the point that you wouldn't recognize it except for the fleur-de-lis borders I used at the top and bottom of each page. And the format of the back page, where you put the mailing label. Plus I kept the Westron Winde poem on the front, but I did change the graphic. I figure over the holidays, when I have a lot of spare time, I'll do a complete redesign for 2002.

Not a lot more I can do with the apartment. I'm going to vacuum in the morning before I go grocery shopping, so as to let the dust settle (and not sleep in a space with dusty air). I'm doing laundry, I emptied the dishwasher, and I swept off the steps and the vestibule inside the front door. Before I go to sleep I should probably clean the kitchen floor, which may or may not happen. I am just tired after this week. I came home with a headache and the ibuprofen took care of it, but the tension that caused it is still there. And my right ear is STILL plugged--it didn't help that we were going up and down hills last night on the way to DiSciasio's. The meal was really good, and of course it was a lot of fun to hang out with Kristen. But the heavy meal and the slow service (only at DiSciasio's can one meal take 2 1/2 hours) meant that when I got home, all I had the energy to do was to check e-mail, clean part of the bathroom, and go to bed. I'm going to see if I get a second wind tonight, and try not to meet the same fate, or I won't get anything done.

For fun, I'm letting Real Genius play on the VCR while I sit here and type. For some reason this is one of my favorite movies. For one thing I have long had a swooning crush on Val Kilmer--ever since being taken to see Top Secret! at 13. Which was, now that I see the dates involved, only a year before Real Genius came out. Anyway, it's hard to tell why I like the movie so much. Possibly just that it's light, it's funny, it has catchy music, it caught my fancy when my brain was severely underchallenged and was seizing on all kinds of romantic ideas, and it ran on HBO every day during a time when I watched a lot of HBO. It's not a bad movie either: very quotable (just see the extensive list of quotes on the IMDB page), with unique comic characters, a cute little love subplot, a sympathetic eye towards the life of the nerd, and a moral message in the background: science is meant to be used for good.

All right...time to go sweep the kitchen, then mop it. Fun, fun, fun....




Thursday, October 18, 2001

More articles for librarians on blogging, one excellent one by Cindy Curling at Law Librarian's Resource EXchange. She writes about the applicability of the blog format to libraries and their information dissemination mission, as does Walt Crawford in the October 2001 American Libraries. Both link to Peter Scott's LibDex List of Library Weblogs, which, uh, links to me, among many other more worthy and more directly library-related blogs. (He contacted me, and when I protested that this is a personal blog, he said it didn't matter to him--it's a blog produced by a librarian, which was close enough for him.) So I am hoping for a slightly larger peer readership out of all this.

Crossing my fingers that Kristen calls in response to my e-mail inviting her to go to DiSciascio's Italian restaurant tonight. Yum!




Tuesday, October 16, 2001
Do you know, I have finally replaced the more-than-two-years-old version of Internet Explorer that came with my computer in summer 1999. It took under half an hour, and the only change I can see is that the little 'e' logos plastered all over the thing are a slightly lighter, icier blue color than before. Kind of frosted-looking. My main reason for doing it was mild frustration with the 'Sorry, your browser is too old to view the full version of my webpage!" message I got when visiting Davidgagne.net. Sometimes I don't have very compelling reasons why I do things...have you noticed this about me?

Still haven't decided if I'm going to update my copy of Netscape. There seem to be few real reasons why I'd want to do this. Perhaps I am now converted to a member of the Microsoft Masses. Sometimes, such things stop seeming important, I guess.

Two weeks after my cold started, I am still not doing too well in the voice department. I sang all the way through choir rehearsal tonight (the concert's in a week and a half; I didn't dare not), but I'm still coughing and I feel alternately raw and phlegmy, and I wouldn't bet on having much voice left in the morning. Not much I can do besides drink a lot of liquids to stay lubricated, sing a bit each day, and not count on singing too loudly this weekend. Probably just as well on that last point--I don't really want to alienate the neighbors with huge amounts of noise. And I can be noisy at times. ;)

Tonight: general tidying and moving of boxes, furniture, etc. to clear out the living room area. I'm going to have a LOT of stuff pushed back against the wall in the computer area, but there's no way around that--I have no place else to put it. And until I get everything cleared out of the living room area, I can't even vacuum, something that's not been done in my apartment in far too long. There are little bits of crispy leaf mould still there from the last time I dried out my tent after a camping event--I think that was after Autumn Rose, Labor Day weekend. Been too long...





Sunday, October 14, 2001

Check out this salute to Senator Russ Feingold from Michael Moore, the guy whose show, TV Nation, and movie, Roger & Me, made him my idol for several years. Until his mean-spirited and boring book, Downsize This!, came out. That's okay--the great thing about not actually personally knowing Michael Moore, or any celebrity for that matter, is that I can appreciate what I like about him, and ignore the rest.

I am a big Russ Feingold fan for a lot of reasons, the smallest of which is that he comes from my hometown and I grew up with his nieces and nephew in Sunday school. I've heard him speak several times, and seen him in an unrehearsed question-and-answer session that lasted three hours, conversing in frankness and humor with a hundred people with esoteric agendas. I would not say his being Jewish is a factor in my fandom. He has a lovely down-home southern Wisconsin accent and seems less Jewish than some (non-Jewish) people I've met in La Crosse. He's just very down-to-earth, and as his dissent from the USA Act shows, he isn't afraid to stick to his principles. A classic and very dignified Democrat. I want him to be President. (Thanks for the link must go to Dave Grenier, who is a darned cute guy in addition to linking to good stuff and reading Jessamyn's wonderful liberal librarian blog. But...is he single?)

We had a nice time in Minneapolis, Mom and me. Mostly, we shopped. I got a sweater and some 2002 calendars at the Mall of America, and a wonderful tackle-box-style organizer for my scribal supplies at a large store that had nothing but materials with which to organize life: lots of racks, shelving systems, bins, bags, wire organizers, etc. I also got a paper towel holder. You know, it's odd the things a person can overlook. I think intellectually, I knew it was possible to purchase free-standing paper towel holders. But when I was growing up, my family always had the kind that were mounted under the kitchen cabinets. So for years I have used my paper towels without any kind of holder at all, assuming blindly that whatever holder I'd buy would have to be mounted under the cabinets--something I don't want to do in an apartment, since my rental agreement involves not drilling holes in things. Today I proved that assumption wrong. Yeah buddy, it was a big day...

Countdown 6 days to the Sing Thing, by which time I have to have my kitchen completely cleaned, my sewing area tidied (and umpteen pattern pieces identified, folded, and put away), my illumination table cleared so we can use it for eating/etc., and my bathroom cleared and cleaned. Not to mention the vacuuming. Oh, the vacuuming of it all...

After 3 weeks of non-SCA weekends (the trip to the Ren Fest doesn't really count as SCA activity), it will be nice to be with some SCA folk again, even though technically it's not an SCA event. It's an SCA-bardic-themed get-together. Whatever. I'll just be glad to see the people who'll be coming.




Thursday, October 11, 2001

Surprise: Rokeclif is doing Dance Seminar this spring. Apparently the group in South Dakota that was going to be doing it backed out; Etienne e-mailed me to see if we'd be interested, and the Shire took a vote at the populace meeting while I was at the conference. And guess who is autocratting...! This'll be my first 'solo' event (though we all know no event is a solo--and a good autocrat does a large amount of delegation). The Shire seems very enthusiastic about it. Tonight I had a meeting with the activities director at Logan HS here in La Crosse, to see if the school building might work out as a site. Kudrun came along and we both really liked the possibilities. We applied for permission to use it, but the activities director didn't know what the fees would be, so he is going to find out and give me a call hopefully tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed...we can really use a site that's available, centrally located in the Shire, and has the space and facilities we need, all of which conditions the school satisfies--as long as the price is reasonable. We'll see.

The cold is mostly gone. My ears are still a little stuffy, and I occasionally go into a coughing fit, but the nose is back to normal and my voice is getting there (though I sat silent through most of rehearsal on Tuesday, after singing through "Selig Sind die Toten" to see how it'd go. The answer: owwww. Plus my left ear was plugged. A singer who can't hear is like a driver who can't see through the windshield. You can't tell where you're going, but it's a sure bet that someone is going to be in pain by the time it's over.) Tonight, things are getting better. I'm trying to sing whenever I'm in the car to work out the kinks.

Mom thinks we shouldn't go to the Mall of America because of possible terrorist attacks. It has been too long a week for me to deal with that kind of paranoia right now. I wrote her back saying it's your car, therefore you get to make that decision, have a nice night and see you tomorrow. Me personally, I want my Dippin' Dots.




Saturday, October 06, 2001
Day 4 of the cold, and yesterday morning it moved firmly down into my bronchial passages. More interesting colors of discharge from orifices. EEEEeeeew. Tonight I am ganging up on it: I took a rare mid-evening trip to Walgreen's and bought some cough syrup with decongestant, and some distilled water for the humidifier, which I didn't think I'd have to bring out until winter. Hopefully these will help. I discovered on bringing the cough syrup home that it expired in June, but I was too tired to turn around and bring it back, so I took some. What's the worst that can happen? Hallucinogenic Honey Cough? Oooh, lookit all the pretty colors...

...kidding, kidding.

Spent a quiet evening tonight: began the whitework for Sarra's illuminated photo frame, packed my purse, watched some TV, and of course went to Walgreen's. And checked e-mail. I have been having the most fun correspondence with my friend Fiskr. WHAT a writer he is. He is already preparing creative ad copy for Quest for Camelot (next June), and running it by me to see what I think. I think the man needs to write a book of stories, not simply teasers for the newest Principality event. This last one takes the cake: he asked if he should write about Norsemen searching for the Holy Grail, and I suggested he use Chandler's visualization from the Northshield Choir last spring, of Vikings trudging through the snow, impelled by the knowledge that they will soon be with the people they love, with the sound of "Shield My Kinsmen" coming gradually closer through the storm. So he developed a whole story line, characters, everything, with lines from the song coming in one at a time, and the Holy Grail making a cameo before it is lost again forever. It is wonderful stuff. Almost too much for people to read casually in mid-day on the Northshield Hall listserv, but hey, their loss, if you ask me.

Hey, I should suggest that he write several more of these quick studies, differing in time and place, put them all in a booklet, and sell them for $3 to benefit the Principality General Fund, as "Sketches on the Quest" or something like that. Woo! Neat! I'll have to do that.

All right--the decongestant is kicking in now, in earnest. I'm sleepy and the mucus is shifting throughout my sinuses, nose, and ears like a restless baby wanting to be born. I think I will grab some kleenex and help it along. More than you wanted to know about me, I know...but then, this whole blog kind of falls in that category, doesn't it?





Thursday, October 04, 2001

Feeling slightly better today, though interesting colored things are still coming out of my nose (eeeeeew) and I'm coughing a lot. Amazing how the sneezing part of this cold only lasted a day or so. I didn't take my allergy pill last night, and though I can feel the difference (itchy nose, etc.), I'm really not sneezing any more than usual. The coughing isn't pleasant though. Thank goodness I don't have an SCA event coming up where I'd have to sing--the next bardic thing for me is the Sing Thing, and as hostess I may not get to sing more than just a bit anyway.

Okay, I'm a really fast typist, but time is a tyrant...oooh, that brings to mind the lyrics to a song..."Time is a tyrant, tear down the cage/Re-build the future as a composite age/Laptop computers, chainmail and swords/Gas-powered dragons, callin' everyone Lord"...Leslie Fish, of course. I think it's called "Time Slip". Great song. Anyway, time gets away from me. 'Till this evening, then.



Wednesday, October 03, 2001


This afternoon, my cold kicked in in earnest. Around noon I called my boss and asked how it'd work out if I went home for the day. My head was starting to feel light and spinny, and the nose faucet wouldn't turn off. So I came home, intending on resting rather than sleeping for at least part of the afternoon; after lunch and a small attempt to read, I fell deep asleep and slept until 6:30 pm. (Hence the fact that I'm up now.) I feel plugged up at the moment; probably I should not still be on my allergy meds, but I'm afraid to go off them with the fall allergy season not totally over.

It's amazing how a book you're reading can color your life. This evening I'm on the final 125 or so pages of Daniel Deronda, which I've been reading since before Pennsic. I woke up after my afternoon nap feeling that same depression and repression I've been feeling since Monday, and I read along until the point where Gwendolen's repressive and tyrannical husband dies. When I realized her wishes were coming true--even though she is still struck by grief and guilt (I haven't read yet whether she killed him or not, but I'm sure Deronda will never tell if she confesses, so I hope she'll be okay)--it was like a weight came off of me. Gwendolen's problems aren't over, but she is now VERY well-equipped to deal with them. Maybe life will be okay for me too. Maybe I have the tools to deal with it. Sure, some things will have to change, but isn't that a small price to pay for a general improvement in the way I feel, and hopefully, the way I get treated, at work?

So I'm feeling a little better. I intend on going to work tomorrow--I don't believe I've had a fever even today, so I'm figuring I should be all right tomorrow.

Focus on the good, focus on the good...




Monday, October 01, 2001
Fun weekend with Sarra, Bronwen, and Ben. It's amazing how the more people you get together in a group, the less you accomplish in any given period of time. Over the whole weekend, all we did was go to Faire, go to dinner, go to lunch, and go to S.R. Harris. Which I think is probably okay, given that those were the main things we wanted to do! But there was a lot of waiting around in between, stopping at people's houses, clearing up misunderstandings, etc. The waiting around started for poor Ben when me and Sarra were nearly an hour and a half late: I got us lost by missing the turnoff onto 494, and ending up on the way to St Cloud, but it got worse when we encountered the worst Faire traffic I've ever seen in my life. In fact we were in traffic for over an hour. I felt bad for Ben and Bronwen--there was no way we could let them know we were going to be so late.

I got to hear Flori and Caoilfhionn (I forget their Fest names) do their minstrel thing, which was a ton of fun--I've never heard them perform before, except at Pennsic where it was more of a special presentation than a bardic performance. A good group of high school madrigalists was after them, and we saw Terpsichore do their dance set twice. I didn't get much shopping in compared to other years--every time I set off to get something done, I would meet up with more SCA folk and get snagged talking to them. I did buy some small rings to give to other bards as dubuses, and a nice small blue-and-white tankard.







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