Taking A Breather.

.....I wish I made more time to post to Live Journal. I am always checking into it to see how others are doing, what they are thinking, what's happening in their lives. I always seem to feel like the runner in the marathon who is at the tail end of the pack just doing his best to keep ahead of the street sweeper. :-) But I usually find that I'm not alone back there and that fact helps me catch my breath and take off again. :-)

.....You know, KAS / KBC wore me out! And I was neither the Autocrat or the Competition Coordinator! :-) On Monday I was an absolute zombie. Tuesday and Wednesday weren't much better. Thursday was Migraine hell day. But I started feeling better on Friday, which turned out to be a good thing.

.....I found KAS / KBC fun and fulfilling though, even though it was a work out. Friday was a breeze for set up. I helped Oliver, Renart and Tegus set up the Baronial Pavilion in the back of the hotel. After that the day mainly consisted of sitting around watching the hotel put up banners and set up gate. Had lots of good conversation with people though, lots of good friend time.

.....I lucked out and had two things to judge on Saturday. The first being a recorder piece by Galeron in the morning. It was a complex Italian version of an Estampie (a dance piece). He played it as a recital piece, with lots of ornamentation. The judging panel had mainly positive things to say about it. But I was thoroughly astounded when I found out that he'd only really been playing that piece for two weeks prior to KAS / KBC. I wasn't sure what to think of that. On one hand, the fact that he did as great a job as he did with only two weeks of practice showed what a great musician he was. But the fact that he only spent two weeks practicing for a Kingdom Championship made me gulp a bit. But he did demonstrate his considerable abilities on a recorder, as well as quite a depth of knowledge. I ended up mainly being impressed.

.....The afternoon judging session was with Jahnkin and his Bertrand oratory. I found the subject matter extremely interesting. It was easy to see that Jahnkin was absolutely in love with what Bertrand did as he was passionate about the style of Bertrand and what Bertrand exposed in Society. But as a performance Jahnkin just wasn't sure where to go with it. I think if he had given the performance some fire and passion he might have taken it much farther. It was fun talking to him about that very thing later in the weekend. I found I had an easy time talking to him about that very thing as I have the same problem with my Sonnetry. It's fun to write, but to perform it with passion? That's the hard part. :-)

.....Spent most of the rest of the day wandering around site and doing my best to recognize the good deeds of the Baronial Populace, which were many. This Baron gig is hard work! :-) But I did make it out to witness Dame Gwen's KAS pottery demonstration and was impressed with the depth of information presented. She could easily have filled another hour or so with just facts and demonstrations surrounding her Pipkin alone. It'll be interesting to see what might happen to KAS / KBC in the future if the single item approach we're proposing at the Baronial level makes it to the Kingdom stage.

.....On Sunday, I was given an ultimate complement. Maestro Giuseppe was looking to be running late for the KBC Sunday judging. I was asked if I would consider jumping into her spot for the day. In spite of myself I was flattered to have even been asked. Giuseppe showed up right at the stroke of the hour, but I was not fussed at all. Even to have been asked was an honour as far as I was concerned and so it made my day. :-)

.....By Sunday evening I was already in Zombieland, but TBT and I still managed to get our e-letters out to the list with all of our thank-yous and acknowledgments. I'm still surprised at how much people pay attention to those e-mails. This is especially true when you forget someone, or spell their names wrong. :-) But I think we finally managed to do it right as the usual suspects didn't say a word. :-) Maybe we'll figure this thing out yet.

.....Think good thoughts for TBT. She is tender right now and will be for a while. No fat in her diet at all and she must make her medical appointments. I might sick Gwen and Madrun on her, but I think even the threat of that will do the deed for me. :-) Although as bad as she has felt over the past week I think will do the deed actually.

.....July Coronation Marketplace Applications are starting to hit the lists, inquiries are starting to come in. I need to get up to Edgewater Park and find out just how much real estate we have with which to work.

.....Lots more to say, but we have to get moving. I probably should have started this earlier today. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.