Arontius of Bygelswade

.....Tennyson's poetry is, in my opinion, either really, really good, or really, really bad. In this case, 'The Lady of Shalott' is one of my absolute favorite poems...

On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And through the field the road runs by
To many towered Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round and island there below,
The island of Shalott.

.....It seems like a Tennyson type of day. I hope the weather lasts a few days. :-)

.....The State of Washington was finally paid last night for the sales tax I owed them from Ingasbo last year. I put together all my forms and spread sheets much earlier this year in support of the Federal Taxes, and all the appropriate figures were included on to the appropriate Federal tax forms. Then I put the paperwork aside. Every time I thought about it I kept thinking that I had already paid the State at the same time. A vicious cycle for sure. :-)

.....They wanted their money though. I was starting to get phone messages on the house phone. You know, the one on which we rarely check for messages? :-) So I slogged through it last night. Ended up owing the State of Washington almost $35. Which included a 25% late fee.

.....At some point soon I believe, just from looking at the forms, that a tax will be collected for sales made out of State and Country. That will end up being an interesting accounting maneuver. I can just imagine that if Washington State charges me for sales outside the state, the receiving state will charge the individual for that sale. Will I have to collect for both? It is already an interesting maneuver keeping track of the different sales tax rates in various locations within the State. Will I then have to track the different sales tax rates of any of the municipalities, counties, and states to which I make sales?

.....Definitely going to have to do some reading up on the issue.

.....I'm just glad I don't keep an inventory. All my circlets are done to order. I've pondered expansion into other areas at times. But keeping up with circlet orders takes enough energy and concentration. Maybe something for the future.

.....The Baronial Pavilion was loaded into the Jahnkin Mobile last night for transport to Hot Summer Lights. Part of me wishes I had taken it myself to the event today and camped. But there is a lot to do at home, and certainly TBT needs every spare moment she can get in catching up with her orders. All I have to do is to look at the August calendar to realize that any weekend night I get to sleep in my own bed should be cherished. :-) So it is home tonight and a trip to Druim Doineann fairly early in the morning.

.....It'll be interesting to see if Baron Alexsii makes an appearance at Hot Summer Lights. He's expected to. But I know there are things happening in the Blatha An Oir area as well. I know his Squire, who happens to be the HSL Autocrat, has probably worked hard at persuading him that he needs to be in attendance. I suppose they could split their forces, with Her Excellency Elspeth going to one function, and Baron Alexsii the other.

.....In either case, HSL looks to be more exciting this year than it has been in a number of years. You can see the excitement felt by the Shire Populace in reading their postings to the Shire e-list.

.....TBT and I will have our first Sargent's testing on Saturday as well. Both Jahnkin and Caedmon wanted to be put through the paces and be tested for their abilities at Heavy Fighting. Master Cedric is going to be our judge for the occasion. We sent him the criteria for the testing and Cedric understood the intent right away. He will do a great job with it, and already had ideas on how to improve upon it for next year.

.....The hardest part is making it challenging, showing the skills and abilities of the candidates, and proving that the candidates are good heavy fighters. Don't want to make it challenging to the point though that it becomes difficult to judge, or find judges to accomplish. TBT and I wanted to ease back just a little on the requirements as we emphasized the eventual Quest being as important as the Trials themselves. And something that could be done in a six month period.

.....It's been a difficult balancing act. Trying to ensure that all the various branches of the Serjeantry are evenly balanced in what is expected of them. But directly comparing Heavy Fighting for Sargents against Artistry for Courtiers is impossible. So ensuring that the Trials take as much ability and dedication for each branch to accomplish? That has been the real challenge for us. And will continue to be so.

.....Not only will Jahnkin and Caedmon have to prove their individual fighting abilities, they will also have to prove their abilities to lead a group of fighters into and through scenarios as well. I'm looking forward to watching this aspect just to see what each of the candidates do. Jahnkin and Caedmon are very different people and their leadership styles of course are very different. So what tactics and strategy will they each use?

.....Which led me to wondering how we see the same thing in the Arts and Sciences Courtiers. Can teaching be considered in the same league? Not really. So I wonder if there is something along the lines of a giant arts project that can be assigned to Arts and Sciences Courtier candidates to prove their abilities to lead, as well as use tactics and strategy to succeed at a task?

.....Or is this something that a Courtier even needs to worry about? After we get through this year and have set the Candidates on their Quests, it'll be interesting to sit them all down and go through all the questions I've been collecting over the past handful of months. There will be a few changes in the requirements next year I'm thinking.

.....No armor for either TBT or myself this weekend. Mine still needs some work and TBT is still missing a few pieces. Neither of us have really had the time to devote to this at all. We'll end up being observers again. Which means of course that I'll be teased unmercifully again. Sigh! :-)

.....Sunday will be all about getting ready for the Summer Madness weekend next. The garage looks like a disaster area and all of our camping stuff is intermixed with everything else in there. Will definitely require several hours of organization to get it pulled. Not bringing everything I usually bring to a camping event. I think the multitudinous banners will stay home. Half the chairs will stay packed, alongside most of the carpeting. :-) I think that 'fun and relaxing' better be the mantra.

.....But I should go ahead and finish pulling out the stuff I need for tomorrow now. That way I'm not scrambling for it at 0600 tomorrow. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....I surprized Cedric over the weekend by saying that I was planning on armoring up at Estrella. It has always been a dream of mine to be a part of that war. I've always stood on the sidelines and watched. It looks exciting as hell. So I was determined to do at least one battle. So when Cedric hears this in the truck on the way to Twelfth Night, he about drives off the side of the road and then tells me that if I show up in armor at Tuesday's Fight Practice he and Brighid will GO to Estrella this year, even though they had earlier decided not to do so.

.....When I arrived at home from work I was a little nervous as I gathered armor together. Then I became a LOT nervous because I could not find my chest plate. The garage is a pit that needs to be tamed BADLY (I put it on the 'to-do' list for the weekend). I tore the place apart looking for the armor. The Beloved Tamm helped search as well, but we couldn't find it. So we got into the car and drove to site. I unlocked the doors and helped set things up and then ran back home to see if I could find it. I knew that Cedric wasn't going to hear excuses of any kind and that it was important to find it.

.....After another hurricane of flying boxes I finally found the damned thing. It was buried underneath the pile of pavilion carpets at the very back of the garage. Argh! I run back to site with armor in hand.

.....Back to site (and after dropping off a mocha with the Beloved Tamm). I start pulling on all the pieces. I'm really nervous by this time, so I'm fumbling with everything and can not seem to make my fingers operate properly. Luckily for me, Ronan and Alys were there and helped me get everything onto my body. Then Aelianora walks in with checks to sign and we conversed on a few exchequer things. Believe it or not, that helped calm me down a couple of notches. Probably because I was concentrating on something other than how silly I was going to look.

.....Then Cedric calls me out onto the floor and tells everyone that he is oathbound to attend Estrella if he and I fight at least one fight this evening. Sigh! Now everyone is staring. I walked forward and tried to remember things I was taught in the past. I was a total spaz. But Cedric is a genuinely nice person who cares about doing the right thing. So I eventually get a little more comfortable. We spar for a short time and Cedric announces that the oath if fulfilled and that he is now going.

.....After that, I fought with Oliver and with Sir Alexsii (sp?). Both very patient with me. I finally started remembering a couple of things. I was still a total spaz, but I think that if I keep working on it some of it will come back. Oliver said that he'd help me out, which is great.

.....I'd forgotten how much stamina it takes to move in armor for long. I'd also forgotten how much your center-of-balance changes with all of your armor on your body. But after all was said and done, I was glad that I went through it. I'm definitely going back next Tuesday and I may see if I can get in a couple of extra practices in with Oliver off to the side.

.....This is going to be a freakin' busy week though. June Faire meeeting tonight. Scribal Meeting on Thursday. Taking Mom out grocery shopping (and Games Night) on Friday. Sheep-To-Shawl on Saturday. Scribal Workshop on Sunday. Kingdom A&S meeting on Monday. Hmmm, got the 'to-do' list to go through as well.

.....The Beloved Tamm goes to the Artisan's Retreat in Oregon this weekend. She'll get some time with Gulenay as well, which I think will be good for her. Looks like a large group of the Dragon's Laire 'Women-Of-Power' (TM) are traveling to the Retreat as well. Hope that the Beloved Tamm doesn't decide that she doesn't need me anymore, being in that vortex of power might be kinda cool when compared to the drudgery of home. :-)

.....Time for work, Aaron / Arontius.

.....It's Thursday morning and for the first time this week the phone hasn't been ringing off the hook already. Nor has the e-mail inbox been full to overflowing. I'm hopeful it is a sign of the day to come. Maybe I'll get a chance to catch up on a few things. :-)

.....So last night was my first night back in armor in almost two years. I was actually a little nervous about showing up. There are times when looking like a dork is O.K. but then there are times when it is not. And around the fighters is not my favorite place to look like a dork. :-) But I managed to pick the very best night this summer to show up. Most of the super serious fighters were away doing other practices or things that night and there were only four of us there.

.....So after taking the last two night to put together my armor, which the last time I had worn I weighed over 100 pounds more than I do now, I was still in adjustment mode with tweaks and maneuverings. A couple of the guys came over and gave me a little help. Actually gave me some good ideas on how I could make what I was wearing work a little better with a minimum of effort. Master Ralg lent me his shield and Bjorn helped me carry everything over to the field.

.....I was a little nervous again, but the guys there were incredibly patient. Eadric refreshed my memory on stance and swings and we went through blows. At first I was really bad and not remembering anything. But after a while I remembered tidbits and started using them. Eadric would stop or slow things down periodically to go through things. I also fought with Oliver and Marcus, both of whom were also really patient with me. I actually enjoyed being there. The nervousness went away quickly. It felt good.

.....Wow! Am I out of shape though. :-) It was not much time at all before I was sweating like crazy. About 45 minutes into the practice my shield arm was starting to hurt everytime I picked up the thing, and it was a pretty light weight shield too. When I started noticing that I was stumbing around as much as walking I decided that I had had enough for the evening. I thanked everyone for their help and started stripping off the armor. I think that I'll be back there next Wednesday. :-)

.....Took a while to get everything packed up. My arms would not lift over my head very well. :-) They are actually still sore today. Then I went off to dinner with Brighid, Talon and Jenae. I got a phone call about half way through dinner from my favoritest person in the whole world. I instantly got a jolt of excitement and happiness. What a great drug! :-)

.....Most of this last week has seemed like a dream of sorts. I've fallen hard for someone and every time I speak with her or think of her I just start smiling stupidly. It's been rather funny at work the number of times that someone has asked me what was so funny. It just all happened so unexpectedly, and so suddenly. Wow! I've gone out with a number of women so far in my life. Certainly not a LOT, but there have been a number. More so when I was in my 20's then the last ten years or so. But this time it feels so much different. It just feels absolutely wonderful.

.....But I suppose that I had better stop there before I say too much. The phone is starting to ring anyways. I suppose, looking at all the meme-age, that I have some catching up to do if I'm going to join all the others in the proverbial DISNEY LEMMING cliff plunge. :-)

.....Hope everyone has a good Thursday. It's almost Friday. Yeah! :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.