A Sonnet? Maybe not this week. :-)
Apr. 9th, 2006 08:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arontiusGreetings!
Ugh! My brain is fried! The May issue of The Crier went out the proverbial door today. I'm exhausted, but happy. It means that I can go to NORWESCON next weekend and not worry about it. We're also starting to work out the bugs on this automated Crier production process. The April issue went pretty smoothly, although I still had to FedEx a check to the mailer in Idaho Falls because I sent my final copy to them a few days late. This month I'm at least a couple of days early, so the May issue should be in the mail by Tuesday the 18th. I'm actually amazed, but for some reason I'm missing the old Crier mailing parties that we used to have. :-)
Something happened earlier today that has me in a contemplative mood. Well, actually it started a couple of weeks ago to be honest and I was reminded of it today. I was at the home of a Member of the Order of the Laurel. I don't remember the background of the conversation, but I do remember this part. This Laurel said that '...ANYONE could become a Member of the Order of the Pelican, they simply have to work their butts off. But it takes actual TALENT as well as hard work to become a Member of the Laurel.'
My first reactions were those of surprise and maybe just a little bit of anger. I questioned the Laurel on why they said what they did. I'm don't want to repeat everything that was said, but this Laurel stated these things as simple truths. Not out of insecurity or superiority. It was simply the order of things according to this Laurel.
I went away from that house torn between buying in completely with that statement and wondering if being a Member of the Order of the Pelican actually meant anything in the big scheme of things. It reinforced my feelings of inadequacy that I felt about even becoming a Member of the Order in the first place.
The one thing though that does keep me from completely buying into this train of thought are the other Members of the Order that I know. When I think of someone like Viscountess Callista, a Pelican personified, I am reminded of why the Order was created in the first place. Viscountess Callista is a genius at organization and the administrative thought process. Her contributions to Kingdom and Society have enriched our World to a depth that not a whole lot of people can match.
I'll have to give this more thought.
Off to bed... :-)
Arontius.
Ugh! My brain is fried! The May issue of The Crier went out the proverbial door today. I'm exhausted, but happy. It means that I can go to NORWESCON next weekend and not worry about it. We're also starting to work out the bugs on this automated Crier production process. The April issue went pretty smoothly, although I still had to FedEx a check to the mailer in Idaho Falls because I sent my final copy to them a few days late. This month I'm at least a couple of days early, so the May issue should be in the mail by Tuesday the 18th. I'm actually amazed, but for some reason I'm missing the old Crier mailing parties that we used to have. :-)
Something happened earlier today that has me in a contemplative mood. Well, actually it started a couple of weeks ago to be honest and I was reminded of it today. I was at the home of a Member of the Order of the Laurel. I don't remember the background of the conversation, but I do remember this part. This Laurel said that '...ANYONE could become a Member of the Order of the Pelican, they simply have to work their butts off. But it takes actual TALENT as well as hard work to become a Member of the Laurel.'
My first reactions were those of surprise and maybe just a little bit of anger. I questioned the Laurel on why they said what they did. I'm don't want to repeat everything that was said, but this Laurel stated these things as simple truths. Not out of insecurity or superiority. It was simply the order of things according to this Laurel.
I went away from that house torn between buying in completely with that statement and wondering if being a Member of the Order of the Pelican actually meant anything in the big scheme of things. It reinforced my feelings of inadequacy that I felt about even becoming a Member of the Order in the first place.
The one thing though that does keep me from completely buying into this train of thought are the other Members of the Order that I know. When I think of someone like Viscountess Callista, a Pelican personified, I am reminded of why the Order was created in the first place. Viscountess Callista is a genius at organization and the administrative thought process. Her contributions to Kingdom and Society have enriched our World to a depth that not a whole lot of people can match.
I'll have to give this more thought.
Off to bed... :-)
Arontius.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-04-10 04:28 am (UTC)as a member of BOTH orders, I'd have to say the person (laurel or not) does not know of what they speak.
peerages are for leadership and mastery of your chosen art. some people are talented in making things. some people are talented for martial arts. some people are talented in making societies.
if working your butt off was all there was to being a pelican, the order would look very differently.
and quite frankly, talent is easier to come by than the power to motivate otehrs.
one might say "anyone can be a laurel, all they have to do is get good at something. to be a pelican, you actually have to be a leader"
;)
ironically, in this kingdom, it is my opinion that in sp8ite of overwhelming contributions of many of the pelicans, the pelicante is disregarded rather heavily by royals and other peers, not to mention the populace.
I had recieved my peclian years before I recieved my laurel... but only after getting a laurel did anyone actually start addressing me by my title or getting that "oo! you're a peer?" thing going.
(dont get me wrong, I am not complaining, I just find it interesting that I was never asked to sit at a high table until I was a laurel, ins pite of being a pelican, etc...)
interesting, no? :)
Bull@#$%
Date: 2006-04-10 04:15 pm (UTC)My first thought when reading that bit about "anyone can be a pelican..." was WTF? Again, not very elegant.
So here's what I think (and while I'm not a member of both orders as is the inestimable Onerie, I still have an opinion):
First, let's break this down into its two components. 1. Anyone can be a Pelican. 2. It takes talent to be a Laurel.
Fair enough. I agree with the second premise except that I would say it takes 'artistic' talent rather than just 'talent'.
It's that first premise that gets me going. Anytime a tautology is introduced in the first breath of a main premise to an argument, it makes me want to challenge it. Really? ANYONE can become a Pel? Huh.
So, that means, if we are to accept that premise, if we were given a population of 100 persons, with a subgroup of 5 Laurels, that there should be at least 6 or more Pelicans since there is nothing special about becoming a Pel and something special required to become a Laurel. One would expect, given these variables, that there would have to be MORE Pels in the population than Laurels. If ANYONE can become a Pel, then there should be a significantly larger number of them than of Laurels, where it takes something special to become one.
Such a load of bull.
I do not accept the premise that ANYONE can become a Pel. I relate it directly to my post on Laurel-hood. I think it takes a huge love of what you do and dedication to that love. Love of fighting produces tangible results, i.e., the ability to kick the crap out of other people on the field. Love of art also produces tangible results.
But a love of 'doing', a love of getting things going and keeping them going, a love of herding cats, that doesn't always produce tangible results. Some people, and the person you chatted with is obviously one of them, have no idea what it takes to get and keep things going. All they do is enjoy it. Talk about the most thankless order to belong to... which is probably one of the reasons I will never be a Pel. I like to be thanked and noticed. I wish I had it in me to become a Pelican, because, despite what Onerie posits about Pelicans and who admires them, I admire Pelicans far more than I admire Laurels or Knights.
Looking back at the beginnings of the SCA, while the KSCA and Laurel were the first orders created, the Pelican was created three years later, NOT because everyone was doing Pelican work, but because it was seen, early on, there were was a third type of person who was a pillar of the Society, who contributed to the social framework, who helped thing work. Without Pelicans, we'd all just be a bunch of stick jocks and arty navel gazers... NOTHING would get done.
Oh, I could go on and on. :) But I won't.