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.

.....Yesterday was actually a good way to end the week, although I started off resistant. I had a lunch scheduled with Richard in Olympia. I fell into my newly usual pattern of watching 'The West Wing' and being rather lazy, which is not good as it means very little gets done. When 10AM rolled around I was having a hard time collecting everything to get into the van to make the drive. I also wasn't looking forward to a drive to Olympia. How's that for epic whining! :-)

.....But thankfully I just did it and the drive was actually quite pleasant. Richard accepted my being late with his usual good grace and we headed out to a Bar-B-Que place located in an off-the-wall turn out of the highways to Aberdeen.

.....Good Bar-B-Que! I had the lunch special of pulled pork, chicken and beef. Very good stuff. And I WAS stuffed by the end of lunch.

.....As is also usual, Richard and I started talking and hours went by without my even noticing it. We've been making this a yearly tradition now. Every year I say I'm going down for an hour or so and I am always still amazed when four or more hours go by. :-) That's what happens when a year's worth of conversation has to be done in a short period of time.

.....I'm not sure why that is, but for some reason I like bouncing my thoughts and ideas off of Richard and listening to his take on life. It helps me see things with a new perspective and usually ends up invigorating me with excitement for the new year and new ideas for me to persue. Richard is a very inspiring person, someone whom I admire. With definitely a few more brain cells than myself, and a surety of spirit that I sometimes lack.

.....I also left his house with a box of Tolkien books! Most of which I already had, but a few titles I didn't. I realized later that the synposis of The Silmarillion was one I didn't have. I have one from a different author. So this was a very cool find! And I was already reading through it before bed. :-)

.....Most of the rest of the books will go into the 'Tolkien Lending Library'. A phenomena I do not promote widely, but which a few select people know. :-)

.....Richard also introduced me to a new Middle Earth Board Game called 'Middle Earth Quest'. It looks really good, and a lot of fun to play! The rules are complex and full of details, but of the intelligent sort. A full game takes about four hours to play, which could be problematic. But still looks fun. Richard sent me a link to the rules online. I think I'll read through them and pass them along to TBT. Maybe we could get a game together sometime over the Holiday Break? Hmmm.....

.....Even though I was horribly late leaving Richard's, I had to stop at the Trader Joe's in Olympia. I sure wish that Kitsap County could have a Trader Joe's. We are so redneck over here though, I am not sure we could convince them to set up a store. But I'm still hopeful. Central Market is always crowded and it is a variation of Trader Joes. So we'll see.

.....I picked up some Jo-Jo's for Rhys and then hit the road. When I realized just how late I was I made frantic cell phone calls to TBT and Brighid to make sure someone got word to Rebecca that it was not on purpose and that I was going to be just a little late in getting over there. We'd been invited over to watch the Christmas Ship's make their passage from the Bremerton Yacht Club through the Port Washington Narrows.

.....I resisted the temptation to speed through Shelton and Belfair (I do not have the Cop and Ticket Karma that TBT has. They always seem to catch me. :-)). But still made it home in pretty good time. We ran over to Rebecca and Tym's in time to watch the festivities. Rebecca and Tym were fantastic hosts and we had a really good time over there. We also learned a lot of the Jewish traditions of the 'holidays' which was interesting in itself.

.....Rebecca gifted me with a stack of Shakespearean Plays in booklets from 1908. I thought that they were way cool and I was happy to receive them.

.....By the time we made it home I was tired but happy. I read a little Tolkien and then fell asleep. :-)

.....Now I have a list of things to get done!

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....I? Have a framed picture of TBT and Rhys now sitting on top of my computer at work. You all have my permission to be jealous. :-) As I fend off all my co-workers who wonder why this good looking lady would be hanging out with a weirdo like me. :-)

.....June 23rd is His Excellency Sir Richard's birthday. When I was just starting to get my feet wet in the SCA I met Sir Richard as he was taking over the production of The Crier. Immediately he proved to me why he has the title of Knight, and it wasn't due to his prowess on the field. It was the honour that traveled before him like an ethereal presence. I was in awe and I didn't even know him. The years since then have only added to his character and I consider it a wondrous honour to call him a good friend of mine. Happy Birthday Richard!!!

.....I've been reading with interest TBT's posts on splitting up of the Kingdom. Of course it is an ever revolving discussion that has had many incarnations. So much so that sometimes my first reaction to hearing it start anew is to wince in anticipation of the painful arguments that will ensue. But, you know, we've been talking half-heartedly about carving out some sort of Principality within the Western Region for a while now. As TBT keeps telling me, if the spark ignites a flame, why not run with it?

.....The only issue I see that will prevent this from taking off completely is the need for a single charismatic leader to carry it forward. I sometimes would like to be that leader (assuming that I could become charismatic in the first place :-)), but the part that always prevents me from REALLY opening my mouth is the dedication and effort that will be involved. This will be a real committment, for upwards of five years (or more). There will be times that this person alone will be the driving force. There will be times that are painful. There will be times where the odds are a thousand asshats on the Step(pe)s to one, you. I look at all of the STUFF that is currently on my plate and think twice before opening my mouth. But I keep thinking about it. And if someone else were to pick up that mantle and place it upon their shoulder, you bet that I'd be there to help them. I would love to see the West Sound be a Principality. It'd be wonderful!

.....Picture in your mind, Prince Cedric and Princess Brighid. That's a pretty cool looking picture, if I do say so myself. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.

Greetings to my Friends,

Well, I was a little overwhelmed by the response to my first posting. :-) I'm always a bit surprized by the number of firends I have, I count myself very lucky in that regard. Thank you.

Wish I had more time to keep up with Live Journal. There are so many things to do these days. But here is something that I wrote with Sir Richard. He does this Sonnet exercise where he throws out the first two lines and then I respond with two new lines of my own (we split the final two line between each other). Then we critique each other. It is a lot of fun! Especially when the two people involved a.) like sonnetry and b.) have very similar tastes but divergent opinions on things as Sir Richard and I do. :-)

The cord awaits, just breathless for a chance
To find in noble trinity rebirth;
Around, a solid compass to enhance
The empty heaven's gift of untold worth.

The Father nurtures sacred sparks of fire
That warm the Ghostly dancers to the root;
And now they sing the warming hymns of choir
As holy Son plays passion on the lute.

Pavane becomes a Galliard as they race,
Each other's eyes now draws them toward their goals
As lovers meet in glorious embrace,
A fearsome union that consumes their souls.

The fires of life burn strongly with desire
The quest for love enflames and hearts inspire.

With Love, Arontius / Aaron.