norsegirl

Spent yesterday traipsing around central Texas and painting pottery. It was supposed to be a feast gear class, but I've never been a huge fan of ceramic feast gear (for breakage reasons) and it's also very modern looking forms and painting to me, so I wouldn't use this particular stuff anyway. Mostly I just did it for an afternoon of inexpensive entertainment. Unfortunately Jason and I are a bit slow with the painting so we had to take our stuff home to finish it. I'll let you know when/if it ever gets done. On the bright side, it was a wonderful afternoon spent with a bunch of really lovely people, so I quite enjoyed myself. And I'm sure the plates and goblets will look nice somewhere in the house. Or who knows, maybe I'll surprise myself and use them.

Today I got up at a reasonable time and tackled the last of the lawn furniture. Table and chair oiled, and chaise assembled and oiled. Let it sit for a few hours before wiping off the excess and asking Jason to move it all to the backyard. And by the time he'd moved the last piece I realized my error... he'd just finished mowing the lawn and all sorts of clippings were getting blown around and stuck to it. So I asked my very understanding husband to drag it all back into the garage to dry. It will probably take longer to dry there, but it won't have all kinds of grass stuck to it forever, so I'll have to accept that. I'm especially excited about the chaise. All the fantasies I had in Edmonton of lounging in the sun are coming back in full force and I can't wait for it to be dry. Funny enough, I bought this stuff ages ago, even before we'd planned on moving and I never even got the chaise out of the box there because I had no where to put it if it was assembled. I knew I'd have a home for it eventually :)

Other than that I have accomplished surprisingly little today. Unloaded the dishwasher and reorganized one of the cabinets that was just a "throw stuff in there" when unpacking with the movers and that's about it. Lots of stuff I could get done today, just having a hard time finding any motivation.

Have to go work the door for the roller derby game tonight. Not sure why I volunteered for that one, but now I'm committed. Don't think I'll stay to watch the game when my shift is up, just not that interested today.

As usual, it's the night before an event and I'm up doing prep work WAY later than intended. Tonight it was getting everything ready for my "hospitality" tomorrow and experimenting with yet another medieval recipe.

This time I tried gingerbread. It's odd stuff.

Three recipes are posted below, and I kinda worked off these:
http://www.godecookery.com/ginger/ginger.htm
http://www.godecookery.com/chaucer/chfeas14.htm
http://www.godecookery.com/friends/frec134.html

My recipe had:
1 cup and a generous squeeze of honey
1 heaping-ish teaspoon each of dried ginger and cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (I don't have any white or I'd have gone with that)
pinch of saffron
10 oz plain breadcrumbs (because that's how much I had in the container I bought)

It tastes a bit like baclava because of the honey, but not as good because it lacks the puff pastry and the nuts. The texture is kind of hard to describe but I know I've had it before... it's a bit like one of my corn muffins but less fluffy and more moist. Dense, gritty/grainy (which gives it a bit of chewiness, not like bubble gum, taffy or jujube chewy, more like dried apricot chewy, takes some effort to get through it, but doesn't bounce back or stick to your teeth) and moist and soft all at once.

I think next time I'd try white pepper, more ginger and cinnamon and maybe less breadcrumbs just to see what that would be like if it was gooier. For setting out on a table in the Texas heat all day I figured the more solid I could make it and the less melty, the better.

I found it interesting that not one of the recipes specified whether to use dried or fresh ginger. I might try it again with fresh just to see what kind of difference that makes and whether it even works.

Anyway, off to get some sleep so I can function tomorrow at least a bit.

I've long since determined that my introduction to Avacal was rocky at best. I happened to arrive at the height of my SCA activity and figured I could just relocate and keep things rolling along just like they had been. This was a faulty assumption. I have since learned a little bit about what NOT to do when moving into a new group, and I am applying that knowledge to try a different tactic here.

( thoughts on the politics of moving in the SCA )

In an effort to get more involved, this weekend I've decided to haul out the pavilion even though I have no intention of camping, setting up a table with snacks on it and a bunch of chairs and seeing if I can get anyone to come and sit with me and hang out and get to know the locals. I posted my intention to the baronial e-mail list saying I was hoping to meet the local A&S community and anyone else who cares to come out and socialize and make friends, and so far I've gotten a lot of positive responses and people saying "sounds like fun, I'll see you there". I figure you can't go too far wrong if you offer food.

I've never done this before, nor have I really seen it done anywhere outside a vigil... so I'm not sure exactly what I should put out or how much. On one hand I'd like to go with medieval fare as that would go with my whole "trying to integrate myself into the A&S community" thing, but on the other hand, I'd also like to try cheap, easy and finger-foody. Here's what I've come up with so far:

Non-period offerings:
- Veggies (carrots, celery and green pepper because they're cheap) and dip (mum's recipe)
- Pita wedges and hummus
- chewy trail mix/breakfast bar things (go to Second Cup and order the square that looks like it's made of corn flakes, I've figured out how to make those and they're damn good and tonight's batch was especially good)

Period ideas:
- Grapes if I can find some on sale
- maybe some sliced cheese? I'm not sure about this one as cheese isn't cheap and probably not the best thing to leave out in the Texas heat either.

Tonight I also experimented with a plausibly medieval recipe and made "Shrewsbury cakes" per the recipe listed here. Interestingly, their source was the Florilegium and their technique was completely different. I combined flour, sugar and nutmeg per their instructions and cut in the butter, while the original source recipe suggested creaming the butter and sugar, adding the rose water to that and blending the flour and nutmeg together and then combining the two. Since I did not use a food processor (don't own one and don't want one either) I probably should have gone with the original recipe's method. I also added a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract and a quarter teaspoon or so of cinnamon, just 'cause (the first recipe used those as substitutions, I figured why not add them too). And because it wasn't looking very dough-y I also threw in another tablespoon of rosewater. Finally, instead of cutting them into circles (boooring, and I don't have a circle cookie cutter, yes I know a glass will suffice, but where's the fun in that) I cut them into hearts, flowers and 5-pointed Texas stars (see, look, I really am trying to fit in). The end result was VERY CRISPY and rather sweet. The spices were quite subtle, but that may have been because I chose to test them with chai. Jason liked them well enough to eat two and thought they were a perfect pairing with the chai.

I'm currently poking around Goode Cookery to see if I can find anything else I have the ingredients on-hand to try. Mostly looking at hand-held desserts, so that knocks out all the cakes, tarts and puddings, which doesn't leave a whole lot. If I try something really good I'll report my findings. If you've tried something that worked out really well, please let me know!

As a host, is it my responsibility to supply plates of some sort and maybe napkins, or should people know well enough to bring their own feast gear if they want to put food on a plate? I don't have nearly enough feast gear to share with everyone, but I'm also not really into the whole paper plate thing as it spoils the ambiance, costs money, and isn't too hot for the environment. Also, this is meant to be nibbles, not a free lunch, so providing plates might send the wrong message. Would you provide plates or napkins?

I'm also wondering if I should bring my mosquito mesh to hang from the rafters and cover the table. It would keep the flies off the food (lots of bugs in Texas), but it might also look inhospitable and unwelcoming to human visitors. No, I don't own any of those neat little plate-covering mesh dome things, so that's not an option. Thoughts?

Since some time mid-yesterday Anna has been having one of her episodes. She spent all afternoon in her cage, looked miserable any time she had to stand up for anything, and ate her dinner without any of the usual excitement or abandon, and at a much slower rate than normal. In fact, her entire dinner was consumed with her back legs shaking and her tail tucked firmly between her legs. At bed time I had to pick her up and carry her to bed, with her screaming "don't touch!!!!" in my ear the whole way.

She gets like this about once every year or so. Not sure what causes it. Her belly always seems distended when she gets this way, so it might be related to something digestive, or she might just be stuffed because she refuses to go out and poop when she feels like this. It might be related to her back, she does seem to have a pretty messed up shape for a beagle, so I wouldn't be entirely surprised if there's something wrong with her spine and that it occasionally goes "out".

She seems in slightly better spirits this morning and was able to go down the stairs on her own. She's presently curled up on her bed behind the couch, so while she's not in the cage, she is in her other "safe" spot. I know from experience that by the end of the day she'll be fine and back to normal, but it worries me. I am concerned that as she ages these episodes may become more frequent and we might have to make that dreaded choice of letting her live in misery or letting her go. Bleh, unhappy thoughts.

In other news, have a bit of work to get done today. As it turns out Jason is small, but he's not next-door-neighbour's 10-year-old small, so I have to throw together a tunic for the kid. We tried to just lend him one of Jason's, but it was ridiculously large on him and I think I have the perfect piece of scrap fabric on-hand that will just barely make a shirt for him. It's a piece that was in my parents' basement up until 2 weeks ago, so it smells kind of funky and musty. It's in the wash along with all the other garb they returned on their visit and I'm looking forward to hacking into it in a few hours. It's been a long time since I've sewn anything other than repairs, alterations or curtains, so I'm looking forward to being productive. I'm hoping I can get it done by the time he gets home from school so if there are any last-minute alterations required we can get them done before the event tomorrow. I'm also going to whip up a banana bread so we have something relatively healthy and tasty to snack on through the day. Lots to do today, but attainable goals I think.

I think I've decided I am definitely looking forward to the event. Everyone else in the Barony could totally suck and that's okay because I'll be spending an afternoon outside in the fresh air with my doggies, Jason, Rhonda and her charming son.

I posted the following message to the local e-mail list:

For those of us new to the area and new to the weekly PiP... is this
an in-garb affair, or a street clothed thing? If it is in garb, is it
optional, or is it one of those things where if you show up in
mundanes you're gonna get loaner stuff tossed on you?

Eve

I received the following response:
Actually, it would be best if folks showed up in clothing appropriate to
their persona.

With the drought and burn bans in effect, I'd be careful with garb...

(I've held off for about a year now so I was due)

;-)

******************

I didn't get the second paragraph at all. I assumed maybe it was a poorly worded warning about standing too close to fires with billowing skirts or dragging sleeves because stop drop and roll is a bit harder in dry grass??? It wasn't until I received a bunch of off-line apologies for this guy's comments that I realized it was a poorly-worded jab. Seriously, if you're going to try to be insulting or snarky, the least you can do is be comprehensible when you do. What's the point of a snarky comment if it can't be immediately understood? Or am I just being dense (baby-brained) and missing something obvious?

Anyway, it made me look up the word "garb" that so many of the language nazis have so much difficulty with...

I was able to find a record of its use in an Etymology dictionary as follows:
"1591, "elegance, stylishness," from M.Fr. garbe "graceful outline," from It. garbo "grace, elegance," perhaps from Gmc. (cf. O.H.G. gar(a)wi "dress, equipment, preparation;" see gear). Sense of "fashion of dress" is first attested 1622. The verb is from 1836."

While that is solidly late period, 1591 it is certainly within the confines of the game we play by anyone's definition. That said, reading the entry, I was unsure that the word was used to refer to the object (the clothing itself) as we use it presently. (I'm wary to approve a word in SCA usage simply because I can find that word being used in period, that's how we get "dragon" being an "acceptable" word for car)

I was able to find another piece of writing, showing that the word was used by Shakespeare, which should be adequate documentation to most people, as his writings are generally accepted as being in-period for our game (though that can be argued). However looking at the lines cited, one can see that it is clearly being used to mean "in the fashion or manner of" rather than "clothes".

The author also states "Avoid the "clothing" sense in Shakespeare, for that did not evolve until a decade after his death.", which is problematic for me as he does not cite his source for the word being used this way. However, if we use this description with the 1622 attribution from the etymological dictionary above, we get it being used in the same manner as we use it today by 1622. It's decidedly late period, and may even be considered out of period to some (being both after the 16th century and after the death of Elizabeth R, both of which I have heard used as cut-offs). Dear readers: does this logic seem sound to everyone at least?

However, the documentability of the word is really beside the point.

1) this is an e-mail list. If you're being in-persona you should probably step away from the computer, or maybe throw it on the fire as the sorcery it must surely be. And if documenting every word that goes on the list is of prime importance, again, you have no business being around modern technology as it will obviously spoil your ambiance (and you should check your own words*).
2) since when does nit-pickiness come in as a higher virtue than courtesy? Especially when dealing with a newcomer!!!
3) He didn't use the word in the proper period manner himself - so there.

I am sooooo tempted to reply, but I really probably don't need to be drawing lines in the sand or making enemies this soon.

* From the etymology dictionary: "Colloquial folks "people of one's family" first recorded 1715". Folk would have been an acceptable period term meaning "people" if he hadn't added the "s".

This was the first time we've been to Estrella. I assume it would have been a lot more pleasant weather-wise if we'd been coming from Edmonton instead of driving North to get there.

Highlights:
* Seeing all my friends from Avacal. Especially spending lots of time with Robert, shopping with Ian and Mona and the lunch with Coryn and her husband discussing some of the unfortunate skin:clothing ratios just cracked me up.
* The Norse costuming class
* The lovely neighbours that provided me with boiling water for tea. Actually, the whole An Tir encampment was pretty cool
* The shopping!!!! All the lovely things I came home with! I'll post pictures later.
* The showers. I was stunned that there were no line ups and hot water!
* Coursing my hounds for the first time. Thanks to the other beagle-owner whose doggie showed them the ropes. It's funny, when it was retrievers and greyhounds coursing they paid absolutely no attention. But as soon as they saw another beagle doing it they totally got it! My dogs are breedists, they only like other beagles and they only do what they see other beagles do.

Things that sucked:
* Some douchebag stealing one of my lanterns on the last night.
* Beagles being cold and cranky. They had a total tantrum our last day, so it was good we were taking them home early.
* Having to sleep 12 or more hours because I couldn't force myself out from the warmth of my bed
* The A&S tent
* The weather
* Porta-johns with urinals. There's no way to wrestle with cloaks and skirts and all that fabric we wear in that cramped space without brushing up against them. Are they really necessary? Do they really reduce the splatter? or just cause it to happen from a higher point? And do they have to be right at head-level when you sit? What idiot's brilliant idea was that? On the upside, there were a reasonable number of handicapped johns I could use.

Suggestions to the autocrats:
Don't just track the number of people who attended a class and use that to decide your schedule (I was told that is what the sign-up lists were for). Just because we attended doesn't mean we liked it. Allow us both to rate the class as well as providing feedback to the instructor. For example, there was one class in particular whose content was good, but whose presentation would have been better in a different format.

The one enormous tent for the A&S classes sucked. The wind whipped right through it so it was freezing all the time and with the tables all in one room it was hard to hear.

I'm not sure if I'll attend again in future. It's a long drive if there's not a bunch of friends there at the other end and I have a feeling this year was unique that way. If I do ever attend I will NOT be camping. I can't do that to my doggies again and I won't do it to a baby or small child.

I’m feeling a little off. I’m lazy and accomplishing nothing. I can’t find the motivation to do anything, even the things I normally enjoy. I feel like I don’t have a lot of energy or get-up-and-go. I’m not sleeping well and I’m antsy. I’m just not comfortable in my own skin.

( Me complaining about all the little things that don’t really matter )
With all the annoyances and my antsyness it’s easy to lose sight of the things that I am thankful for. I have a husband and puppies I love and who treat me well and love me back. I have parents I like and admire who also love me, great in-laws and a sister I miss constantly. I have a job that pays well and a boss who is really nice. I have a roof over my head and rooms large enough to fulfill our needs if I could just keep them tidy. We eat well and are generally pretty healthy, no major complaints anyway. We could always stand to be a little more fit, but we’re not sick at all. I have a lot of friends out here whose company I really, truly enjoy, and a lot of friends back home who would welcome me on my return.

Basic needs (food & shelter), health and relationships – that’s what a good life is all about right? So when all of that is going right, why am I getting my knickers in a knot over the little junk that’s not perfect. And why am I letting my responses to the things that don’t matter jeopardize the things that do?

Which brings me to the end of this whole wandering rant… you guys are my friends, and no matter how much I don’t call, or drift away and stop reading LJ or otherwise vanish from your lives, please know that I love you all and I really appreciate you being there for me. Thanks guys.

After almost 13 years I'm leaving the SCA.

I've thought about it a while and I'm pretty sure that I'm making the right choice. The SCA has been less than fun for a while and recent developments for me have pretty much sucked all the fun out of it. I'm bored at events and can't really figure why I'm wasting the time and gas to get there. I'm not passionate about any of the associated crafts right now and I could be spending my time doing career-furthering school work instead. In essence, my heart's not in it and I can think of a lot better things to do with my time.

A few weeks ago I left all the mailing lists without so much as a whisper goodbye. I was unsure whether I wanted to say anything at all even here. This isn't about creating a scene or trying to get people to drag me back in. The only reason I'm posting is to explain to the people who might miss me why they won't be seeing me around. And of course, while I am leaving the SCA, I'm not ditching the people in it. If anyone wants to get together for coffee or board games or a back yard BBQ I'm in. I just don't want to do "events" any more.

I'm still going to come out to Quad War, but unless someone gives me a really compelling reason to make an appearance at any other event, that's all I'm going to this year. I'm still doing Quad war because Mona wants to take on some pretty ambitious A&S stuff and that actually sounds like fun. (To Mona - I talked to Dante about it and if we want the space for some kind of period encampment near the A&S class area he can make it happen, just call him.)

Now to pack up all the SCA "stuff" and organize it for a sale. If anyone knows any newbies that are around my size and in need of some camp garb, feel free to point them in my direction.

Big old life-update. This got rather winded so behind the cut it goes.
( Read more... )

Am getting stronger on my skates. Last night discovered that the wheels had wiggled loose and that was why my skating was going all to crap. Having fixed that I am back to improving. Actually got up to doing some fairly nice crossover turns in one direction last night. Still crap with the other direction as I never did learn that one, even on rollerblades back in the day. I can turn left real good. Don't ask me to turn right, just don't. Still much work to be done, but it feels good to be improving.

More crud going down with the SCA thing, but I haven't heard about exchequer problems recently and I think I am working closer to an understanding with Manyra. I think it's just important that I not lose sight of the end result here. The end result is that I no longer have a job I hated. The way it came about may not have been ideal, but I can't affect that. The only thing I can affect is how I go forward from here and the only thing I can manage is my feelings about my new non-officer role. I just need to stay positive and not let it bother me. Also working at not holding it against Manyra. She may not have handled it well, but the directions did come from elsewhere, so it's not entirely her fault. Added her back to my friends-list (hi babe!) and we'll talk about it at May Crown. Until then I'll just let it lie.

Was late to work this morning as I tried to figure out how to navigate Western's website to order a transcript. Need the transcript to send in to the CMA people to see if I am qualified to follow up on a slightly different accounting designation. We'll see how that goes...

Still haven't given my resume to a head hunter yet, but have applied to two city jobs and have a line on a good job at Bioware. Keeping my fingers crossed for getting out of Dell Hell soonish.