Arontius of Bygelswade

.....I am totally looking forward to September Crown this upcoming weekend. It will be fun. Will there be issues? Possibly. Some events have issues. But I am actually excited to see this all come together on a brand new site. The view is superb. The site has potential. It is on the I-5 corridor. We made several governmental entities actually work together in our best interest (how often does THAT happen? :-)). Dragon's Laire once again will prove what a truly awesome place it is.

.....There is part of me though that really wishes Tamm and I had taken Lobelia to go here: <http://www.burningman.com/>. Officially, it starts tomorrow on the playa of Black Rock Desert, 120 miles north of Reno, Nevada. It is a huge, wild, art festival. Not for the faint-of-heart. :-) But I have friends who have attended and are attending again this year, with over 60,000 of their closest friends.

......Can you believe that? Over 60,000 people out in the middle of nowhere, expressing themselves through artistic endeavour. I'm not an artist, but I think that in the middle of all this artistic energy swirling about, even I could touch some artistic part of me that is deeply buried somewhere. Brighid doesn't think I have it, but I think it is in there somewhere. It just needs a gentle nudge to spring forth. :-)

.....There is a web-cam on site this year. You can access it at this site: <http://www.ustream.tv/burningman>.

.....It's got a permanent place on my personal bucket list. After we've stepped down, and after we've gone to England. We'll be there. I'm sure of it. :-)

.....I have to be at work tomorrow and Tuesday. And, I'll have to concentrate on work. That is going to be difficult as hell. :-) The September Crown 'to-do' list is still rather long. Nothing that is epically off-kilter. But I'll most certainly want to work on it rather than on work itself. But work pays the bills. So it has to take the priority. Sigh! :-)

.....Tomorrow, Lobelia goes to Imperial RV for an electrical check-up and a probable battery change. The engine battery seems to be fine. It is the pair of hotel batteries that don't seem to want to hold a charge for long at all. And we'll need them to last all of next weekend. The nice thing is that Imperial is just down the street from site. It'll take me fifteen minutes to drive her from repair to site. Perfect. I spent several hours today loading garb and stuff in Lobelia. So she is almost ready to go from my standpoint. Mainly just foodstuff.

.....Wednesday will be my first day of 'vacation' from work. The U-Haul is picked up at Noon. At which point all the 'stuff' in the garage is loaded. The Storage Unit run will be at 6PM on Wednesday. Already sent out the call for help.

.....Then, Thursday, out to site. Laying out of lines first thing in the morning, up until about 2PM, when people start showing up to set up pavilions and such. We're using the 'set up your personal encampment a day early' carrot to get some help with site set-up. It will not be as intense a set-up as a June Faire, per se. But the Kingdom Pavilions show up at around 6PM or so, and they'll need some help.

.....This weekend was what we needed. It went by fast, but we moved at a slow pace and it allowed us to recharge our batteries a little bit. We were able to do a little bit of house cleaning. Lobelia was captured and somewhat loaded. We had the opportunity to see Diomedes and Inga's new house (which is rather nice). All in all, a good weekend.

.....Let the week of Epic-ness commence. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....Morgan Freeman as Bilbo!? The One Ring reported that MGM is really courting Mr. Freeman to play Bilbo in the upcoming movie version of 'The Hobbit'. Don't get me wrong, I actually LIKE Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption is a favorite of mine), but I just can't picture him as Bilbo Baggins. I can't get my mind to go there. Hmmmm....

.....Starting to see some incredible pictures from Burning Man in Nevada. The living artwork displays were the biggest and most sensational ever. It was the most attended Burning Man ever as well. Organizers are starting to worry about the lasting damage to the Playa itself from all that humanity making a home there for even that short a time in the summer. In the desert environment it takes much longer for the land to absorb the human 'presence' and go back to its original condition. The thought is that attendance may have to be limited to an even greater degree next year. I'm actually in agreement as the commercialism is starting to bleed into various aspects of the event this year. The first time I see Coca Cola sponsoring the painted body bicycle ride is the year I stop even thinking I want to go there.

.....Seeing all the pictures made me miss the desert a LOT. We have a week in October to explore. I was thinking that we go through Sequoia National Park and then buzz through Death Valley. National Geographic did an interesting story of the moving rocks of the racetrack. Rocks that seemingly move across the playa there with no visible signs of how. Scientists are theorizing that ice forms from moisture runoff from the surrounding mountain range and the rocks 'slide' across the frozen dry lake bed.

.....Sigh! I was again reminded tonight of the Barony's missing heraldic files. When THL Maryn Grey passed the office on at the end of her tenure, I helped her pack three boxes of reference books, a file box of devices from Shire and Baronial members that had passed the gauntlet, and a box of miscellaneous supplies. The Barony has none of it now. The Herald's Office is not the only office to suffer this fate (Gads! I still remember the really nice looking Elizabethan Garb a former Golk Key officer 'sold' to raise money for her office). Just makes me sad and frustrated. Her Excellency gets frustrated with me when she has to argue with me on even getting rid of really BAD Gold Key garb. In reality I know this stuff is not worth using as polishing rags on the workbench. But every time I think of what we've lost in the past I find it difficult beyond reason to give up ANYTHING and store it like a bad pack-rat. Need to find some balance I guess.

.....Tomorrow Night is the Baronial Polling. The Polling itself will be on one side of the VFW Hall starting at 6PM. I'll start the September Business Meeting on the other side starting at 6PM, and see if it is possible to make it a record breakingly short meeting. So as to give people as much time as possible for writing remarks on the polling form. It'll all be over by 8PM.

.....With THL Rycheza taking over as Chronicler this month, I'm looking forward to seeing The Flames again. She has made it a personal mission to solicit for articles and 'stuff' to fill the pages. I have an essay on being a protege that will be done in time to go into the October issue. But I'm hearing of other stuff being written that sounds like it will be good. I'm supposed to do some heraldry consultation later this month, so maybe I'll do an essay on heraldry. Supposed to do some dance instruction as well and can think of a few things I can write on that subject as well.

.....Lady Adelheid is promoting a German food Social for this month that will take place during the polling. It'll be interesting to see what foods show up. TBT and I need to figure out what we want to bring.

.....TBT is headed to Dragon's Mist this Saturday to teach a metal smithing class. I currently have nothing on the agenda. Although there are probably things I should be doing. Must consult the list. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.