Arontius of Bygelswade

.....Was welcomed home today by the 2012 Tax Assessment. The value of our home dropped by approximately $7,000. However, the property taxes increased by approximately $250. I went reading through the assessment and found that the increase was due to a new education levy that went into effect since the last assessment. I used to fill in the 'Yes' box religiously and without thinking for many years (and I'm pretty religious about getting my ballots submitted). But the past couple of years where we've paid the taxes direct rather than having them included in the house payment has made me start hesitating before checking off that 'Yes'.

.....I keep reminding myself that it is an investment on the future, the education of the young. But that increasing bite every year....

.....There is a J.R.R. Tolkien photograph and signed letter up for auction, at this web-site: . The current estimate on price? A mere $39,000 Pounds. Sigh! It's probably one of the more famous pictures taken of Professor Tolkien as well. At least in his later years. I've got to win that lottery!

.....Still fighting off a cold. Last night was frustrating. It was the June Faire meeting. We were sequestered in the kitchen of the VFW Hall. My right ear was clogged and aching. That was a distraction in and of itself. Then add to that the fact that it felt like I had several ear plugs stuck in there good and tight. Argh! I could hear about every third word being spoken around me. I misinterpreted things on several occassions and had to have people repeat things several times. I was grumpy before the meeting was over and finally snapped at Cedric. I apologized later. Thankfully it was Cedric and not some others who might have taken it a lot more personally.

.....I'm feeling better today. The ear is still somewhat clogged, but it is not achy like it was last night. However, TBT is in full blown cold mode now. I have to remember to replenish my zinc mineral supply. I think that's why I've become sick twice over the past month. I'm usually pretty good about keeping up on the zinc, but ran out about a month ago and keep forgetting to order some more.

.....A friend of mine, Linda Sartor, from Santa Rosa in California, was recently arrested in Bahrain. She was part of a group of people organizing protests against the government there as part of the Peace Force initiative. She actually took a break from her place in the Occupy Oakland movement to fly to Bahrain and do this. :-)

.....You can read the story of the group at www.witnessbahrain.org. But here is an excerpt from an e-mail she sent out:

"They treated us very well through the detention and deportation...We hung out on comfortable couches, chatting with the female police officers who were left to watch us during the hours of time it took the authorities to check our identities. I was impressed with how much they knew about me when they called us in one at a time to explain why they were cancelling our visas. They said that in the small print on the tourist visa, it says that we must stay the whole time in the hotel where we told them we were going to be staying upon arrival. Then the other reason was because I participated in illegal protests. They had video taped the first protest which probably numbered in the hundreds of people--the one I described to you, when I got my first experience with tear gas and sound bombs and the two women first got deported. Since it was smallish and we were in close contact with the police, we were quite apparent and I imagine they had good footage of each of us on those tapes. I'm sure that I wasn't so obvious to the authorities in that huge protest (probably more than 10,000 people) when I got separated from my local buddy. And then I didn't even make it to this last protest the day we actually got detained and deported."

.....She makes it sound like she was pulled over for having expired tabs on the car. :-)

.....Still debating on whether or not I want to head on over to Fight Practice. I probably will as I missed last week. I'm sure it doesn't make a real difference whether I'm there or not, but I feel personally guilty when I miss a couple of practices. Like it somehow shows a lack of support on my part for the Fighting Community. I think wearing those Coronets makes you Catholic for some reason. The guilt just seems to ooze from everywhere. :-)

.....But that would be the last until next week. Nothing on the docket tomorrow, Friday, or the weekend. Come on, Friday!

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....Greetings All,

.....I have a friend whom I met whilst on Vision Quest a handful of years back. She lives in Santa Rosa, California, and works as a Counselor, amongst other things. She has an extensive history in activism and is quite an inspiration to me. I've been following along with the plight of the Tibetans in China and wishing there was more that I could do than just write e-mails and hope for the best. I wish sometimes that I was more like Linda below and felt the need to be more civally disobedient. Maybe some day my need to better the world will be stronger than my need to pay the bills and play in the SCA...

.....Way to go, Linda...

"I just keep thinking that I need to share with you my experience of engaging in civil disobedience (CD), so that's what I'm doing. Last Wednesday when I got arrested in San Francisco as part of an action to honor the five year anniversary of when the US started bombing Baghdad, I found it to be great fun. And that has been my experience other times that I have engaged in CD as well. I find myself wishing that everyone would get to know how fun it is and then more people might do it, thus having more impact. Maybe it is unique to me, but I get a real high off of doing it and my inner adolescent has a blast. It's like doing something subversive or "naughty," but getting to feel totally righteous about it. Depending on what actions you get involved in, there is some risk involved, but I feel like it is much healthier for me and the world (from my perspective) than not doing it.

Let me say a few things about my experience last Wed. in an attempt to convey the joy of it. First of all before the action, I was just standing on the corner of Montgomery and Market with a sign that said NO BLOOD FOR OIL watching other protesters and non-protesters walk by. Many people took my picture, including a woman from the San Francisco Examiner. And I was interviewed by two radio stations (KQED and KPFA for you local people who know them). I heard from two community members the next day that a bit of my interview got onto NPR. Cool!

Then what we did was a "die in" to represent all the Iraqis and USAmerican military who have been killed in the Iraq occupation. At noon, those of us who were "risking arrest" made our way through the line of police and laid down in the middle of the intersection as if dead. The first few carried a cardboard box coffin covered with a flag and flowers and that was placed in the center. The police, who were lining the intersection let us remain there for longer than I expected. And the sun broke through the San Francisco fog while we were lying there. When the police started arresting us, they were totally polite, kind, and gentle. I had a great time talking with my two arresting officers. We talked about who we were voting for and our work and I even got to describe what we do on peace teams providing a sense of security without weapons. As part of the procedures of this arrest, I got my picture taken with one of the cops and I knew it was going to be a great picture, but it was a Polaroid and was taking a long time to develop. The cop who was holding the picture started to stall in order to give me a chance to see the picture when another police woman was waiting to take me away to the vehicle that was to carry me to the jail.

They held us in a pen for several hours and that wasn't much fun, but I must tell you about one comment spoken by one woman in the pen. She was reflecting on how great it had been to lie down in the middle of the intersection. She said, "You know, that's a view of San Francisco you'd never get otherwise."

As far as I can remember, this is the first time that I've gotten a citation with a court date and it happens to be a day when I'm out of town, but there is a lawyer's guild who will represent us in court and most likely the charges will be dropped. I have never been held for more than a few hours, but the possibility of getting locked up for longer is one of the risks that are involved. Another risk is that I might get caught in a violent confrontation, because not all police are as kind as these were, but I always enjoy interacting with the officers as human beings who are just doing their job--just like I'm just doing my job.

Love, Linda."

.....Good Luck, Linda. I'm sending you all the good will I can. You are an inspiration.

.....Aaron.