Arontius of Bygelswade

.....Tomorrow is TBT's birthday. We're combining it with The Rhys Monster's birthday and going to spend the day in Seattle at the Woodland Park Zoo. The weather does not look that great, but if nothing else the crowds will be smaller. A plus as far as I'm concerned. We're also talking about hitting Pike's Place Market. I'd love to, but after a handful of hours at Woodland Park, I'm not sure this is going to stay in the Itinerary.

.....It was kind of a sqweaker today as to whether or not the Mid-Level Boss was going to ask me to come in for at least part of the day tomorrow. We're still dealing with the change of Fiscal Year from FY'11 to FY'12. The actual change came on October 1st. But the computer systems that handle our finances are apparently unhappy with the number 2012. Maybe there is a little Mayan Silicon Blood running through their proverbial veins?

.....Last night was our first indoor fight practice at the Pendergast Soccer Park. The whole area has sure changed. The last time I spent any time up there was when Fight Practice was held in the National Guard Armory. We drove up there and I didn't recognize the place! Brand new buildings and a lot of relatively newly cleared land. After looking at it, it kind of makes a little more sense as to why they are so reluctant to let us have the Armory for Fight Practice again.

.....Nineteen people signed up and paid on the roster last night, not including most of the observers. We pulled in $144. Which paid for last night's practice and started paying on next Wednesday's practice. A nice momentum start. It felt good to get it deposited today. We'll have to see what we can do to keep that momentum going for the next eleven weeks of practice.

.....The actual practice area is approximately 40 to 50 feet across and maybe double that in length. Certainly enough for all the fighters who attended last night. The lighting was good. The air was warm, but not too warm. There were bleachers for observers to watch. But what I liked the absolute best was the Astroturf surface of the practice area. Spongy and comfortable on the feet. I think this is going to work out rather nicely.

.....To start off the practice nights, both the Rapier and Heavy Fighters held a Tournament. The Rapier Tournament itself finished rather quickly. The finals consisted of THL Caius and M'Lord Ambrose. M'Lord Ambrose came away the victor. The Heavy Tournament finished about thirty minutes later in a final between Master Andras and M'Lord Albrecht. Master Andras was the victor.

.....Both victors won a set of feast gear handcrafted by Mistress Gwenllyn Potter, presented by the most gracious TBT. I think they were both happy with the honours given. :-)

.....By the time 9PM rolled around everyone was tired and left quickly. But we did manage to speak to Caius for a few moments. We're on a roll to pick up the pace on the scribal arts in November. Which is going to include the creation of a new Master Ceremonial. We've been limping along for the past year and it's time to start pulling it all in and creating something useful. Caius is going to the Heraldic Symposium the first Saturday of November, then we'll get together and actually pull everything together into something coherent. It'd be nice to get it all finalized prior to Yule.

.....Tonight is the meeting of the Dragon's Pearls. It should go fairly quickly. Maybe not as quickly as the recent Wyvern meeting went. :-) But at the very least we'll establish meeting dates for 2012.

.....Saturday was going to be a bardic gathering over at Tim and Truly's. But I think that the gathering is going to be pushed on over to the A&S Day Camp on the 29th. That Day Camp is going to be busy. Between the garb classes that TBT wants to teach. To the dancing we want to work with the Serjeantry Candidates for practice. The Heraldic Testing we want to do (although the actual doing is still up in the air. Not sure if the candidates, as a group, are ready on such relatively short notice). The Bardic performances we want to try. There will be a lot happening. But the good part is that we have the VFW Hall for as long as we want on Saturday, so we'll probably have some sort of potluck Saturday evening.

.....On Tuesday we also talked about maybe seeing if a couple of people would be willing to put together some soups and breads or something similar for lunch at the Day Camp. Must remember to speak to TBT on that, and Madrun, as soon as possible. Certainly it doesn't have to be anything elaborate. But there are no restaurants within walking distance. And only a little mini-mart down the road. Although Silverdale proper is just over the hill from the VFW Hall, and it has restaurants aplenty.

.....Sir Richard and Kathy are stopping by this weekend as well. I think we're going to do lunch and then geek out a while in the laboratory of TBT.

.....I sent off a note to the Board about the financing of Kingdom Chroniclers after the discontinuance of the stipend. It took only two days for a response. Which was a politely worded, 'Thank you for your concern. We'll monitor the situation, but we do not think it will be a problem.' I was not sure what I was expecting, so I was not fussed at all. I filed it away for future reference and made sure that THL Godith had a copy. I don't think that Godith, or any near term Chroniclers of An Tir, will have any problems with having the technology and software to put out 'The Crier'. But not all the Kingdoms are financially well off, so it will be interesting to see how things settle out in the long run.

.....Madrun will be home in the next day or so. I've missed her, so it'll be great to see her and hear the actual stories of her cross-country trip.

.....Then Sunday we have nothing scheduled, at least right now. I'd like to keep it that way. There was something to go to every night this week. I need to catch up with myself! :-) Although, Mom keeps poking at me to get into her storage unit and unburying her Christmas decorations. I probably should do that on Sunday, but not looking forward to it as they are BURIED and would require extensive excavation.

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....It was an interesting day of catching up with a few things and contemplating others.

.....I woke up at about 0500 and pulled out the circlets I finished in the workshop yesterday. They went through the final polish and shaping. Then finally into their shipping bags. I do not like to rogue I'm using right now. I miss my fabulustre greatly and need to get at least a tube or two before the next order comes into the e-mail. I wish Alpha would come back on line.

.....I received a flurry of order requests over the past handful of days. Invariably people placed orders without checking in with me first (as the Ingasbo web-site requests) and invariably most of the order requests were for a.) patterns I do not have currently in stock AND b.) they are all wanted BEFORE Christmas. Sigh! I had to do three refunds this morning. Thankfully PayPal doesn't charge me for the refunds. But the people sending me the money ended up paying PayPal $1.50 each for the priviledge of having their funds returned to them. :-) TBT and I are thinking of ways we can beef up the web-site to explain this to better degree.

.....TBT still had a chance to chat and coffee at Starbucks before heading off to Ralph's birthday breakfast at the Airport Diner. The buffet was O.K. It has been better, and worse. I left full and we had a lot of good conversation around the table. Ralph was in a good mood and received a number of nice presents. TBT and I were extremely lame as we forgot to even get a Birthday Card. One of these days we'll join the human race and remember those things. :-)

.....Ran back home before noon where I packaged up circlets for shipment out via Priority Mail at the Post Office kiosk. Most of the orders were for the East Coast. I'm not holding my breath that they'll arrive by Christmas, but that would be nice. One order went out to Wasilla, Alaska. It has a chance to arrive by Thursday, but they were definitely nervous buyers. I received almost daily requests for status updates. They wanted the circlet at least a week ago and I told them it wouldn't be done, and they accepted that. But I should have checked the anxiety meter as they pegged it a few times. :-)

.....Threw boxes in the car and met Gwen as she dropped off Brigget for the day. I was fretting over a Sekrit Santa gift for a recipient who is a Duchess from the West. I google-stalked her a bit and I couldn't come up with any good ideas. As usual Gwen came through with a fantastic looking feast setting, complete with goblet. I think I just need to give in to reality and hire Gwen as the official Baronial Miracle Worker (tm).

.....TBT and I ran out a short time later and went shopping for Mom. She stayed home today, but I didn't harass her at all. She rode the bus by herself yesterday to the Kitsap Mall and walked its length back and forth. I was extremely pleased. The apartment was messy, but showed signs that she was working on it. So I felt that I needed to keep my mouth shut today. :-) I took her shopping list and went to the store for her. TBT found a turkey at a good price at Albertsons and we picked that up as well. We're going to have Mom over for Christmas Eve and do the family thing. Mom was all excited as she picked up a game Rhys wanted. She also picked up her own Mobile Hot Spot that she is all excited about using with her new e-Readers. :-)

.....TBT and I then braved JoAnn's, which wasn't too bad. Then ran to Gwen's for the present, then the Post Office, then a quick lunch before heading home. Picked up Rhys and went out shopping again. Back to JoAnn's with TBT's list of Christmas Wishes. Which kind of takes away the 'mystery' of Christmas, but sure makes shopping a lot easier. :-) Only problem was that JoAnn's had had a number of sales over the weekend and many shelves were bare, especially the Gingher Scissors! Which has become something of a tradition to get at Christmas.

.....Just so we could 'prove' our non-conformity, Rhys and I did the rebellious thing and went to Fred Meyers and bought a few presents that WEREN'T on the approved shopping list. :-)

.....All my Christmas shopping is done and I'm just about ready for the work week. I wish I were really on my vacation, but if I have any luck at all I should be able to get out at mid-day on Wednesday. I'm crossing my fingers hard as I'll still have eleven days of vacation still at that point. There is a large laundry list of things I'd love to complete.

.....The Wyverns have been discussing a project of painted canvas scenes that can be hung at halls like the VFW to give a more period ambiance to the places we use for events. She asked me to upload a bunch of local outdoor scenes, some of them of the Olympic Mountains. One of the pictures was of Hart Lake. It sure looked like a certain Heart Lake I hiked to as a Boy Scout a lot of years ago. Made me want to go out for a hike.

.....If the weather is even half decent maybe next week maybe I could sneak in a day hike to Olympic Hot Springs. I've never been there this late in the year, so I bet the trailhead is back a few miles from where I usually start. I may have to check on that.

.....Hmmm, need to check in with Sir Richard as well. I was going to see about hanging out with him for a day. Will have to see what sort of trouble we can get into. :-)

.....And it is after 2100. Time for bed. 0400 comes way too early....Zzzzzz.

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....The day before yesterday (August 3rd) was chacounne's birthday. I hope that her day was full of fun and fulfilled birthday wishes.

.....I'll never forget our week of 3YC and 'The Daily Progress'. Such a crazy adventure. Our office in the corner of a huge barn. The humidity playing havoc with our copy machine every day. Running out for supplies all the time.

.....But I had such a good time. I remember it with joy. And I still have every copy we put together! :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....Yesterday was Mom's birthday. She turned 64. And I have to say that I'm somewhat proud of myself. I actually remembered that it was her birthday. And I remembered that it was her birthday on the actual day of her birthday. :-) She actually received Birthday greetings, which pleased her greatly. :-)

.....I suppose that it makes it easier on me that Mom works at the Shipyard as well. And as I started thinking about it I was amazed that she has worked there for almost thirty years. She could have retired a year or so ago. But I'm kind of glad that she continues to work as she does not have a lot of friends and basically lives like a hermit. If she didn't have her job I'm not sure that she'd even get out of her home a lot. I find it somewhat funny that the Shipyard, in Mom's case, actually keeps her young and vital. Not exactly an attribute normally associated with the Shipyard. :-)

.....Comcast keeps going back and forth between awesome and disgusting. A couple of weeks ago TBT took down the computer and moved it out of the office. It was the computer to which I normally downloaded all my e-mail. So while TBT remodeled the room, I kept all my e-mail on Comcast's web-mail site and just checked it daily. Last Saturday evening I went to go and check my e-mail and all of my accumulated e-mail had disappeared. It hadn't been downloaded anywhere, wasn't filed in some online folder. It just disappeared. I e-mail Comcast, held a couple of online chats, and even talked over my problem over the phone. But to no avail, approximately 400 pieces of e-mail are just...gone. Very frustrating.

.....But Comcast also impressed me a little bit the past couple of nights. TBT dropped out Qwest landline and moved our phone number over to digital on Comcast. We've been accumulating phone message on the Comcast digital voice center on the Comcast web-site. I'm finding it way cool to go to Comcast and listen to messages there. And they've been collecting there. I guess that it is time to say good-bye to my fifteen year old answering machine. I will miss that old thing. The message tape alone is at least ten years old, and still working. How amazing is that? :-)

.....Approximately a month or so ago I asked someone to be my protege and they said that they needed to think about it a while, and speak to their spouse about it. I was cool with that. Over the past month they kept asking me question to feel me out and get my impressions on certain things and the viewpoints of the Pelicans in general. I went ahead and answered all the questions posed to me. I did it without reservation or expectation.

.....This person has a history in our branch and I thought that I could do a lot to help this person. I was thinking on a whole strategy of activities and plans on what I would do with this person as my protege. And, you know, I was getting a little excited about the prospect. But last Tuesday this person came back to me and declined my offer. To be honest, I was a little disappointed. But you know, the more I think it, it's not exactly a bad thing as it was going to be a lot of work...and...I am kind of busy right now anyway. :-)

.....I have two other people on my radar as proteges. One is a definite, and the other will be either shared with another, or totally taken by another. Part of me says that I should put up a fight. But the problem is that I am a huge fan of that other person and if she says that she wants my potential protege all to herself then I am not going to argue with her one little bit. She is a person that anyone I know would be super proud to be considered as her protege.

.....But at the very least I'm going to end up with at least one protege, so I'd better hurry and finalize my plans. Yule is my deadline and I really want to have a plan in place in the next week for sure. Poor protege, or proteges, I don't think that either one has a clue just how much of a nutcase they are buying into with me. :-)

.....O.K., one last bit of a thing that drives me crazy. Have you read the story about the atheist group that set up a sign in the state capitol celebrating the winter solstice and advocating their belief that god does not exist? The state Republican caucus have started proceedings to have the sign removed. I'm not an atheist myself, but I'm a definite advocate in tolerance in freedom of religion, even if that means you believe in no religion. And the self-righteousness of some religous groups just makes me crazy. A definite pet peeve of mine. Ack! Enough said.

.....Enough whining for one evening. Time for bed I think. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....Happy Birthday, wendy_lady! Hope that it was wonderful. :-) I'm just amazed that I remembered, or thought about, posting something on it. That is not something I usually think of doing. :-)

.....Good Luck in Philadelphia, aelianora! I wish that I could be there in person when you amaze the professors there with your presentation. I can't wait until I can start addressing you as DOCTOR Giles, Ph.D.. :-)

.....cynthia_bolin brought a batch of books over this evening. She is downsizing into a smaller apartment. There was some good titles there and it was a book feeding frenzy. :-) But in the fray we picked up some books that we think that others might like. manikenxl, we found a handful of books on puppetry. Don't know if you'll find anything useful amongst them, but let me know when we'll be in the same place at the same time and I'll bring them along.

.....angharadalbanes, we found some books on the old celtic religions that we picked up thinking that maybe you'd like them. Same thing, if I figure out some time and location where we'll be in the same space, I'll pack them along.

.....Got a circlet almost done today. Also worked on some largesse bracelets / armlets, and some bracelets for Their Excellencies. The only thing is that I've forgotten which design His Excellency is using to denote his Huscarls. :-) I pulled out two sets of designs and will work on both of them. Whichever design isn't His Excellency's will go into a box to Pennsic. TBT is going to ship some ruffs to Pennsic for sale and said that I could throw in a couple of things. I'm curious to see if my circlets will sell.

.....One of these years I'd like to make the pilgrimage to Pennsic. At least for the experience. It's like the SCA version of a trip to Mecca. One year I'll be there. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....It's my birthday today. Or, rather, it will be at 7:16 PM. I am 41 today. Normally, I'd feel ancient. But I've been thinking a lot lately of the friends I've lost over the past several years, and it actually just feels pretty damned good to be alive. And, of course, *I* am married to Marquessa Laurellen, so I've got the best of all worlds. So I think that I'll be happy today instead of depressed. :-)

.....What I SHOULD have done is make one of the people on my crew stay at work today so that I could take at least part of today off of work. The garage was empty this morning when I parked. For being in the middle of a gas crunch, it doesn't seem to have damped the holiday traveling spirit of the average Shipyard worker. But then again, we are pretty isolated in our economy over on the pensinsula. We have a little different outlook on the outside world. Sometimes that makes us weird, but not bad, and certainly different from the rest of An Tir as well. As the new Society officer who is moving into our branch is about to find out... :-)

.....Progress on the new June Faire site is moving fast. The weather is looking iffy, but not too bad. My chewed up fingernails are still going to be chewed for another week, but I'm hearing good news for a change, finally. Their Excellencies visited the site yesterday and reported good things on the new road and the parking area. Two of our bigger headaches. If I can squeeze any time at all today, I'm going to see if I can get up there to witness the Kitsap Transit bus make the route and see the site improvement.

.....This is going to be a busy weekend! I've got a batch of circlets almost done (and a couple of orders to send off). I've got to get Lobelia down to the house and get her cleaned out in preparation for June Faire. There are a couple of pavilions to pull out of the garage and prepare for next weekend.

.....Rhys is excited about his weekend of birthday parties and sleep-overs. TBT may have to deliver him somewhere tonight. We have a date scheduled, but that may have to wait until later this weekend if she has to take him into Seattle tonight. But I'm consoled by the fact that her big order is done, so she'll have a little time to decompress. I've missed her company, but I've been doing my best to keep my whining to a minimum. Not always successfully, but hey, I'm at least trying. :-)

.....If I can get circlets done and Lobelia done before Monday, I'd sure like to clean the house too. It is a pit at the moment. And we seem to have scared off our house cleaner. Right after June Faire I'm going to have to track her down and find out what the heck happened. If she really has decided to give up our house, I'd like to find someone new. I miss having the house cleaned by a professional. It makes a HUGE difference.

.....I'm also excited about June Faire being OVER, so that we can do a little relaxing, work around the house, and take up other things that we actually enjoy doing in our spare time. :-)

.....Wish I could go to the Folklike Festival this weekend. I have been itching to go again for a couple of years. If anyone else attends, I've really like to hear a report.

.....Everyone have a good holiday weekend. Take care on the roads.

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....Happy! Happy Birthday, liesl_elizabeth!!!! I hope that the Birthday Clause brings you everything that you could want for your birthday! :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....Hey, on a Friday the 13th as well. Very auspicious. :-)

.....My hope is that the Birthday Clause brings you a new set of heavy armor and a new bow, andras120 .

.....Happy Birthday!!!!

.....Arontius.

.....Well, technically, I'll be 40 at 7:16 PM, Pacific Time. :-)

.....I know that I sound a little surprised; and frankly, I am a little. When I look back on my 20's and very early 30's I recognize the fact that I did a LOT of stupid things that should have gotten me into a lot of trouble physically, mentally or legally. I have friends from that time who have died, or are recovering drug and/or alcohol addicts, and I count myself as pretty lucky.

......When I think of the rest of my family (especially now with last night's news) I see people who have no friends and a pretty bleak and gray life and I am truly thankful for what I have in mine. I have more friends in my life now than I have ever had in the past. I have friends who would literally give the proverbial shirt off of their back to make me happy or to help me if I were to get into trouble. And they have too.

.....When I had my surgery two years ago, Brighid and Cedric took me into their house without a second thought and took care of me until I could take care of myself (I still have fond memories of trying to explain why my SISTER wanted to leave the hospital room while I got dressed to go home :-)). Mistress Gwen and Richard continually invite me over and take care of me whenever I need help, or just need a friend. Inga Calle was a fantastic friend to me in my early SCA career and continues to support me. Whenever I need a friend with whom to laugh or share bad gossip, I call Catelin Spenser. Ralg and Ellen and Bernie and Tsuruko and Baron Sir Richard and Bjorn and Seamaus and others have always been there whenever I have needed help, with little warning and no expectation. And so many others that it would take me literally days to mention them all here. I love them all.

.....And, of course, the greatest gift of my life was given to me this past year. The Beloved Tamm stepped into my life. The most beautiful and wonderful person on the face of the planet. That alone is the greatest Brithday present I could receive ever, ever, ever.

.....So, the past 40 have been wonderful and the next 40 may have challenges, but they are looking pretty good themselves. :-)

.....My love to all my friends, both old and new. My birthday wish is that all of you have the happiest year of your lives for the next 365 and 1/4 days. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....Words fail when I try to think of something to say on this most auspicious occasion. Tamm is the most beautiful and wonderful woman I have ever met and this day will be special to me for the rest of my life. Happy Birthday Tamm / Laurellen!!!

.....My birthday present to her will be to always do my best to ensure that I do all in my power to bring happiness and joy into all aspects of her life. This will be my new holy grail.

.....I have a most difficult time writing Sonnetry in her honor because I never seem to write anything that feels adequate to the task. :-) So I'm reverting to the pseudo-sonnet I wrote in her honor during her reign as Queen of An Tir...

Unto Laurellen; Queen Now, Queen Forever Be

Through the sharp, bright light gleaming from the peers,
walks a seraph all wreathed in lacey white.
They pay reverence to Her as She nears,
for She is their Queen, undoubted and right.

She ascends the dais as Lioness,
protectress of all She loves in this land.
She brushes all with a gentle caress,
as she holds them in the palm of her hand.

Suddenly she smiles, and laughs in pleasure,
seeing an artist displaying his talent.
Her own crown of Laurel is our treasure,
as Her own delight is the sacrament.

The Queen of An Tir our souls She doth shield.
As She nurtures with the gift She doth wield.

.....Happy Birthday Laurellen!!!