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| As seems to be a reoccurring theme, I was having trouble figuring out what to do for my birthday. Before Pennsic moved a week earlier it was easy because I would just be there. But now, I have the trouble of either trying to remember to plan way in advance or quickly come up with an idea once we get back into town. There is also the trouble that so many people are exhausted from Pennsic and are not really game with too much excitement.
This year I had pretty much decided to ignore planning and see what happened.
Which means something happened!
Kat offered the Sunday before to fly me down to Texas and get to celebrate with friends there. It also meant I could come down for Steppes Artisan and Elfsea Baronial College and get to see a whole bunch of people all at once. She checked flights, and the timing looked perfect.
So Tuesday, I emailed her and let her know I was all in and we figured out the timing to get there. But since I was flying without a reservation, I did not want to let people know and have it turn into some big deal because there was still a chance for me not to make a plane.
So Friday came, and I got really antsy, so I call Kat and had her move my flight earlier because I wanted to get down asap. And, when I got to the airport, I had time to walk up to the gate for the plane before that one which was already boarding and ask to fly standby. And, even with being like 32 on the list, I still got to jump on. And a window seat at that!
Nothing like being at the airport for only 15 min before you get to jump on the plane. Then I had the whole ride down to watch Sav V on my ipod … which … was actually pretty good and went back through all the other movies and explained more of their back story and how all of it was wrapped together. And, yes, you are welcome to judge me for it. I’ll understand. I judge myself.
Landed on time, grabbed my luggage, and got picked up by my folks to go back to their place. Not happy about them still smoking … especially in the car … but what can you do. But, I was able to get Taco Bueno and hand with them for a while at their place and make them watch funny youtube videos.
They made me some of my favorite food for dinner, put candles on a cake, and we all ate dinner together.
Also got to meet my nephew who is now four months old and very cute. And very calm – which is a bonus. He smiled when he first saw me which was, I think, a good sign. Of course, my sister-in-law had to act a little funny and make me promise to tell Harrison stories of them if they ever pass away. You know, since I agreed to be his godfather. Since I am a good spirit I of course agreed but told them they better start doing something story-worthy otherwise I’d have to tell him the things they’ve already done. Which really no child should have to hear… *wink*
After dinner my parents drove me over to the Roundup. Was a nice time because we all got to sing Dixie Chicks together but it is also a little funny being an adult and getting dropped off at a bar like you’ve got a suspended license. At least it meant I would get to drink – not that I did much – since they were also picking me up. The music was a blast and I got to dance with Deana and Kat a bunch. They played my favorite songs for dance – Dixie Chicks “Everybody Knows” and Leanne Rimes “Nothing bout love makes since”.
I keep thinking that the magic will wear off and I will get tired of going to the Roundup. But, really, it is one of the best places to spend time and I feel so happy getting to shuffle around to a good tune. Was also good to see Brad, Brad, and James. And even dance with Fred – though I still can seem to spin the right way for him. Even better to be there with the non-smoking ban in place. Thanks Dallas!
Saturday was a great day. People think it is funny that I would want to “take my time to go to and SCA event”… which I think is silly. I *like* the SCA and I have a bunch of friends that would be there. Why wouldn’t I want to go?? Besides, I love Steppes Artisan, helped plan many Elfsea Baronial Colleges, and it was being held at my old University.
I managed to get up earlier and there for site opening. Also got to help rearrange the artisan room and move chairs and tables around. Not a part of the original plan but good cause I like to see things done well. (An aside, remember to thank you volunteers people!). Also meant I was there to see my friends when they first walked in and help them set up. And that I really like to do.
Spent most of the day just talking to people and catching up. Unfortunately heard some unpleasant news about different people. Makes me sad for them. But makes me glad to also not be in the thick of it. Seems like the same kid of “issues” do not affect the people where I live now the same way they do down there. Something more to think about which I think has more to do with the state/region and less to do with the SCA group.
Saw Siobhan which was a huge pleasant surprise. Hadn’t seen her in years but used to love dancing with her as a teenager. She is super sweet and was happy to hear my news about moving to Chicago. Good to know even more that she is great people.
Court was sweet because I was there to witness Elizabeth joining the Order of the Oak and to watch Mot be placed on vigil for the Order of the Laurel. I’ve wanted Mot to be a Laurel since before I was elevated and I have written every Crown since with my recommendation to join our Order. I was very proud to be there for her.
It was not a done deal before I went to the event … and even in Court I wasn’t sure it would happen. And of course, when the Royal Herald started closing court my stomach dropped out of me in disappointment. And then the King jumped in to interrupt him and call Mot up. Imagine me panicked. LOL.
Then it was off to my little birthday party after the event. Kate, Wes and Paula joined us along with Gail. A perfect mix which was just missing a few friends with food poisoning. (Another time! When you’re not trapped in the toilet!) Kat, Deana, Nancy, and I all turned 30 this year but we didn’t have a good chance to celebrate together so this was our chance along with Donald and Daniel there for good measure. Everyone was good to stay up and have cake at Midnight.
Now, that meant I up till 1 am … and getting up at 4 am to make my 6 am flight. Ouch!
But, flight back I had a whole row to myself. Listened to some nice calming music but didn’t get to fall asleep. Was picked up by my bando who had Chai ready for me and a nice drive home.
We stopped off at the supermarket for grill food and get ready for our first time to try the Webber. (Thanks Kevin!) It was great. Had a nice lunch with Ken, Jen, and Kat along with the kids and enjoyed the afternoon in the AC while it was raining outside. Yummy.
This next part is where I new my 20s had died. We went to the Crate and Barrel Outlet to buy a kitchen table for my birthday. (My parents would disagree and say that I was like this even back in my teens when I would get them to pay for my car insurance rather than give me gifts …).
The last part of the day was over to Ken’s and Jen’s house for the Mad Men premier. Good people, yummy snacks, and a great start to the new season.
All in all – a great set of birthday celebrations.
As a note – I am happy being 30. I like my grey hair and think all the white in my beard is funny. And, I like the idea of being in a decade with all of my other friends. For so long I was always “the young one”. I’m looking forward to getting to just be one of the guys without an added label.
On to more adventures! | | |
| So this was probably one of the more enjoyable Pennsics I have had. Why? Well, nothing much in particular. I think it comes about from having more friends to hang out with and knowing even more people than it years past. There was also almost no bad experiences – very little drama and bad politics. And, most importantly, David had a blast which really made me relax and had fun too.
Some parts worth remembering:
• Arriving after the rain. You know it sucks to set up in it.
• Always sleeping through the rain. None in the day. I like hearing it hit the roof. Pretty.
• Setting up house in the pavilion – it was so nice! Thanks to PJ and Kevin we get to borrow their which means we are a thousand times happier than trying to sleep in a leaky modern tent.
• Moderating the Known World Dance discussion. I was afraid I’d get some weird personalities and maybe some disagreeable voices but instead it went very smoothly and people were happy with the results.
• Spending time relaxing and talking to friends. It is so much fun to play with a baby while dressed up in historical clothing.
• Seeing all the Ayreton pride – I think we really rocked it out of the house. Go team!
• People making fun of me for Guard Duty. All in good fun, eh? And – no – the East did not try and invade during my watch! lol.
• Chili Cheese Fries. Need I say more? Other than my crushing disappointment the night they closed early followed by the next day when the ran out of chili? Fail!
• Blueberries and blackberries. This was the first year I took advantage of the farmers market and I loved it. It makes for the best snack opportunities ever.
• Continuing the farce than I am allergic to peas and onions. No, I don’t need a special pan. But I do need just chicken and rice. Yum!
• Laurel secret code language. You just needed to be there.
• Working with the Ayreton Fighter Support Team. Nothing like bearing water in your best clothing. I do love that job since they are always so thankful. Our people did an *awesome* job of organizing and implementing it. Well done!
• Porch party. Wow – that was fun. More please – send us invites!
• Hen Party. Um, goodness. Something about Missy taking a flying leap at me and rolling me off of the hay bale. Who knew that such a small group could make so much noise?
• Jokes. I think the theme of this war was jokes. Bad, evil, soul crushing jokes. And most of you have lost a part of your soul for having laughed at them. Particularly fun was at the Bluefeather camp when telling one of these terrible jokes and having 15 people scream the punch line. Ha!
• Holding an informal polling of the most attractive landed Baron in the Midrealm. Results will be shared at 40 Year.
• Martini party. Um, yeah. I’m a lightweight. So three later I was in raspberry bliss. And it didn’t hurt that the eye candy from across the street were enjoying the evening with us.
• Singing for Midnight madness. Choosing a good location is really making me much more happy.
• Buying shoes and chausses. Yes please! More please!
• Waking up in the middle of a nightmare from David shaking me because I was kicking the center pole of the pavilion over and over and over. Really, it only has the one pole … so … seems like a bad idea!
• Packing up the pavilion dry and swept clean. Bonus!
On to next year!!! | | |
| I really think I had more fun at this KWDMS than I have at any other. Probably because I let myself have more fun. I took more classes and I spent more time dancing. Recipe for excellence!
Best moments?
• Teaching – class went vey well – more people than expected showed and they seemed to have a great time – got good feedback and I am already looking forward to teaching it better with some more improvements.
• Reconstruction class – I didn’t teach it. And I didn’t go to it. But my work on reconstruction was cited as “the best thing out there describing what to do so why reinvent the wheel” and then directing the students to read it over the internet.
• Canary with Del – Hawt! I love dancing. I was even telling someone that about 6 years ago I’d had a Canary dance off with Del in the barn at about 2 am at Pennsic. And I think they sort of rolled their eyes or thought I was making it up. Midair announced that the request dance for that set would be Il Canario and Del looked at me exactly at the same time. It was on all over again. Thankfully we both had hard sole shoes on and got to really put on a good show for everyone. And I got right in his face. It as broughten! lol.
• Midair leading the ball Saturday night. He runs things a lot like I do – keeps it moving and thanks the musicians and projects. I want to have some other people pay attention to him more so they can get better at it.
Other highlights:
• Playing for parts of Thursday’s Ball. I didn’t like most of the dances so I sat in with the pit for a good part of it which is a rare treat since I am usually dancing.
• Class with Rosina. I didn’t dance but I got to watch her. I probably will not see her for many more years so I am happy I had the chance.
• Herald’s in Lust – Fun variation and quite a surprise. Perfect thing to do in the middle of the night.
• Staying up late with friends. I hardly ever stay up past 3am!
• Dinner with friends and dinner alone with Kelly – both good fun.
• Private showers in the dorms.
• Getting exciting for other people’s work and seeing some up and coming dancers really start to show promise.
• Three nights of balls all in a row.
• Dressing up pretty!
• Galliards!
• Did I mention the Canary???
• Getting excited about the next KWDMS and thinking of ways that I can help with the planning.
• Feeling a bit like a rock star.
Ready for the next please! I feel so energized by all the fun I had!
Thanks to everyone who put it on and thanks to everyone who came to support the event. I love our community! Yeah dancing! | | |
| So, I am seriously not a world traveler. I’ve been all over the states but I have barely broke over the border into Canada and to Mexico so this was all new fun for me.
Highlights:
• Okay – So the money is pretty.
• Liters! Not gallons. Dammit! LOL.
• Speeding – But I did not go 50 km over since you evidently loose your life if they catch you … or at least your car, license, and $10K.
• CN Tower – I was actually surprised at the tourists that were there and the smell the brought along with them but it was nice to see the city from up high and read some of the building facts.
• Crepes – We headed to the gayborhood to check the strip and found a little crepe place about to close. Chicken, bacon, and cheese followed by caramel and apples. Awesome.
• Room Service – when you are not getting any time to sleep and you cant seem to find anything might as well just order in so you can save time … Pricy but delicious and perfectly planned.
• Casa Loma – This was the surprise hit of Toronto. Gardens were beautiful and the posted facts were just right for my level of interest. And then there was the tower … which … you go to the third floor, then walk through an unmarked door, then wander to the back where there is a flight of stairs leading to a landing … which hides a spiral stair to another floor … which has yet another spiral stair … which then has a flight of stairs off of it. Now that made me feel nervous about heights a thousand more times that the CN Tower had.
• Royal Ontario Museum – Our game plan was to start from the top and move down to the bottom. On the top floor was an awesome textiles exhibit with pull out drawers and everything. I wish they had had even more Renaissance stuff but the quality and breadth of everything made for the best part of the museum. The rest was really more of the same with a few exhibits it might have been fun to check out… like the Wedgwood, the glass, and the armor.
• Toronto Zoo – Well you hear a lot about how it is one of the top zoos in the world … but I wasn’t all that impressed. Coolest part was going “oh, look, tigers!” and then walking over and saying, “oh wait! More tigers!” Baby snow leopards are super cute. Angry peacocks are not. Walking through the kangaroo area was coolio. But let me just say tooooooo much walking. Like way too much. We were told not to bother with the Canadian animal area – since the walk was so far away. Well, we like to walk so we went for it. Why didn’t anyone bother to tell us that it was at the bottom of a hill? Like, a really really long hill??? The only way we made it back was by following the super hot guy who’d taken his shirt off because of the heat. I think he was probably the best animal on display.
• Niagara’s Fury – sort of a cheezy kid’s attraction but I liked it. The cartoon was cute and the ride was fun – snow was fun and the rain caught me off guard at points.
• Journey Behind the Falls – I was smiling it was so cool to stand that close to them.
• Walk to the Rapids – This was more fun than I expected. The river is just so powerful.
• Maid of the Mist – AWESOME. Getting up into the middle of the falls was unbelievable. Truly a wonder of the world and more than worth the trip. That was the best part of the trip.
• Canadian Falls – Just a note to say that they were shorter than expected and the mist was in the way (which I hear is from the hotels that have been built up around it changing the wind currents) but awesome on the Canadian side and looking forward to going to the American side at some point.
• Tim Horton’s – How can you skip it? Had to bring Kelly there. Come to Chicago please?
And to let you know how well we planned … we didn’t have a map, and the GPS didn’t have Canada in it, and our phones were off because of international rates, and I really didn’t print out that good of directions. But we got all over without any issues at all. | | |
| It was so much fun exploring my city again with Kelly. There was a bunch I wanted to share with her now that I know my way around better and I even took her on the bus. Also got to have her stay as our first house guest – guest room success!
What all did we shove in??
• Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind – After her flight and a lovely dinner at Calo we waited for our turn to see the set of plays. We got great seats and a great show. Overall not the best set I’ve seen them do *but* did have one play I will not soon forget. They started out by writing their faults on the chalk board and then pulled the entire audience to the stage and had us fill the board with all of our weaknesses.
• Breakfast at the Beach – Having my best friends together and enjoying the kids at the beach while the sun was out and about 100 sail boats going by with eggs, bacon, breakfast sausage, pancakes, toast, and more.
• Dinner, Ticket to Ride, and Sing Star – Jen and Ken hosted us for a lazy evening where we got to cook dinner, play TtR which I forgot was so fast and easy to play, and then hang out chillen with Sing Star. I rocked with the Monkeys.
• Museum of Science and Industry – I took the plunge and got a membership. Learned from the Smart/Green Home and I am now committed to leaving my phone charger unplugged unless I am actually charging … it is a big energy drain. The OmniMax film on the Great Lakes was well timed and nice for a place to sit. The Harry Potter exhibit rocked – go see it. And I really enjoyed going to the German U-boat again. Fast fast day.
• Chicago History Museum – this is a must see. The 1900s clothing display added to the Chicago Chic couture display were FANTASTIC. Need to go again.
• Lincoln Park Zoo – what can you say about a free zoo getting to jump in and see the big cats and then jump back out. Nice break.
• Conservatory – nothing like hanging out in the Fern room. Always worth the walk through – especially with the trees in season to bear fruit.
• Nature Museum – well okay … nice to see insects but the butterfly release could have been a little more fun. Really, I think I am just over it at this point
• Swedish American History Museum – um … well … there was a couple things for me too look at? Hope it makes Kelly’s dad happy she went.
• Swedish food – yeah, twice in one day. Mui Bueno.
• Star Trek – so I went to see it again. Well worth it – better the second time.
See? Much fun. I put on a fun time. And almost all of it we managed to do for free or for some kind of discount. Heck yeah!
Still need to get Kelly to at least the Shedd, Field, and the Art Institute. Always more for next time! | | |
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