It's Thursday Already?!

.....Wow! This week of vacation is sure going by fast. In only a few short days it'll be time to go back to work. And it's not like I've been lounging around the house in my underwear watching the Tele. either. :-)

.....Trying to catch up with a little housework today. The kitchen was a disaster area from Christmas. Dishes piled everywhere. I have pulled out three bags of trash already. But I am seeing results, as in I can see the floor again and at least a couple of the countertops. :-) The cat litter boxes are all done as well. So my two least favorite jobs will be done shortly and I can move on to other things.

.....Yesterday was mainly spent in conversation with Sir Richard. As usual over the Christmas holiday we met for lunch and conversation. And as usual I budgeted maybe two hours of time to actually have lunch and converse. And almost four hours later we were saying good-bye. :-) He met me half-way though, in Shelton, at the El Sarape. You wouldn't think of Shelton as a Mecca for Mexican food, and I can safely confirm that it isn't. :-) But it wasn't terrible either.

.....Lots of good advice about being a Baron. Things and little tips that hadn't even crossed my mind on how to run Courts and deal with 'people'. Managing everyone's expectations and egos is probably the hardest part of the job and good advice is always appreciated.

.....Comisserated on the direction the SCA as a whole is taking. It has certainly changed in the decades since both Sir Richard and I started playing. Lots of ups-and-downs. But this past year I've heard from a number of people who think the SCA as a whole might be in a bit more serious trouble than ever before. Like maybe dissolution and re-emergence. One or two I might dismiss as off-hand thought, but when you start hearing that tone from a spectrum of respected people you start thinking of the possibilities. We'll see what happens. I don't think anyone is quite willing to throw in the proverbial towel just yet.

.....On Tuesday we had a re-visit from the group who wants to start the Hood Canal Scottish Highland Games in Belfair later in 2011. Oliver sat and talked with them a while and basically laid out what support we could and could not give. I think they were hoping for more from us, but there is only so much we can really do. And as Oliver pointed out, they can do a lot more on their own as a 'for profit' group rather than hanging on to our 'not-for-profit' status and attitude.

.....Monday was a really good de-briefing on the last Bardic Championship. What worked and what could be improved. Both TBT and Madrun had good ideas. I asked lots of questions to understand all the aspects. We have some good working goals. Although none of this can be done in a vacuum. Once the ideas are exposed to full public scrutiny things might be massaged and changed due to things we hadn't thought of doing in the first place. I always try my best to take that into account. There is no such thing as 'black-and-white'. :-)

.....Sunday was Migraine Day! What a loss! It might as well not existed. Which sucked mightily as I wanted to go and talk with Countess Elisabeth on a number of things, mostly pertaining to Serjeantry. Plus I would have had a captive audience to debate the ins-and-outs of the proposal. Oh, well, we're still progressing.

.....Saturday was Christmas itself. I made out pretty good actually. :-) In some ways it is hard for TBT to buy for me, in the same way that it is difficult for me to buy something for her. We both either want 'things' that are highly expensive, or when we actually want something reasonably priced, we go and buy it. :-) But I did get a model Stonehenge. :-) TBT picked me up a copy of the new Sherlock Holmes movie, which I actually liked. She also picked me up Season 3 of Farscape. One of my favorite SciFi / Fantasy serials. Also got a new wireless keyboard and mouse from Rhys for when we finally get the new computer up and running. :-)

.....My Mom gave me her 'hand me down' Nook for Christmas. It's the black-and-white model and is really rather nice. Even though it is, only :-), in black and white the text is very nice to read and the organizational content is easy to follow. I enjoyed it almost immediately. I actually like it more than the Pandigital hand-me-down that Mom gave me a couple of months ago. It is a color model, but it is kind of clunky in how it operates in comparison. Plus is a lot heavier than the Nook. I liked the Pandigital, but now that I'm playing with the Nook I'm liking it a lot more.

.....Although, with things like SmartPhones and iPads, are eReaders really going to be around for long? It amazes me how fast some of today's technologies go obsolete! I'm still trying to grasp the fact that CD's are nearly extinct and DVD's are next on the chopping block! Wow! I'm feeling old!

.....O.K. Back to work at house cleaning. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.

Bog - Wood Pen.

.....Ralph gave me a pen that he turned from wood retrieved from a bog find. He gave it to me on Christmas Day, but I was already spiraling down into Migraine hell at that point and can't remember the details on what he told me as to where the wood originated. Maybe he can provide details here?

.....The nib that came with it does not hold ink well. But I've got a million and one nibs in my calligraphy case downstairs. The wood itself is very comfortable and is rather pretty. Feels great in use and will definitely be used in the future. I may keep it with the Baronial Scroll Box and Materials. :-) Although I need to practice my calligraphy hand. The examples of Uncial I tried looked like some form of Kindergarten Bathroom Graphiti. I tried to post a picture, but I'm still having a problem with the computer actually speaking photograph directly from the portable card.

.....I'll keep trying with the picture. Would be nice to figure out what is happening. But in the meantime, maybe I can get the details of what kind of wood it actually is?

.....Aaron / Arontius.