So Eddie and Mia are flying back to England tonight from the Vikings event here. As we left lunch and hugged each other Eddie said something about how this was the hardest part of any trip, the saying goodbye.

I started thinking about the truth of that statement. Then I thought about the greatness of life to have the opportunity to have those sad moments, for without the great friendships there is no sorrow at parting.

So for all those people who I have hugged at the ends of Pennsic, Estrellas, and Gulfs. For all those people that I have spent hours saying goodbyes and hugging at smaller events, or at conferences or wherever, I have but to turn to Yeats for something to say to you all:

“Think where man’s glory most begins and ends,
And say my glory was I had such friends.”

But this is pretty important in my opinion:
http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/081017light.html

What Orson Scott Card, a Democrat, says here has been one of my greatest frustrations with the 2008 election process.

I have no problem with people voting whichever position they choose in an election, that’s their right as an American. What I do have a problem with is the current process of disseminating information to allow people to make an informed choice. Right now, I see that it’s a GIGO process.

It’s official, all I need to do to graduate is write a book, having passed my Comprehensive Exams this afternoon.

OK, another Pennsic tale that must start with a ghost of Pennsic past.

Some years ago (like 3), Fernando turned 40 and Brockman, Alistair, Rebecca, and Duncan insisted that such an auspicious occasion could not pass without some form of celebration. I, of course, was not involved at all in the original idea. I would never be the person who started anything that might embarrass my peer. Never. Never that anyone can prove now at least. So, anyway, after my siblings importuned me for many hours…, well minutes…, ok seconds…, I was convinced to plan a 40th Birthday Quest for Fernando.

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So I’m finding myself in a bit of a rut, and contemplating things to get out of that rut.

One thing that has come to mind is starting a martial art, but I have no clue about the differences and advantages of the various martial arts nor do I have any clue about how to choose a program.

Here’s what I’m trying to do:
Get more flexibility
Get better at SCA fighting
Get lighter on my feet
Get in better shape physically
Gain more discipline/mental strength

I’ve never done a martial art other than SCA fighting, so I will be coming into this very inexperienced. I would also appreciate any suggestions or ideas of what I can expect as a newbie in this arena at my age.

Three, count them, three posts today. I might just be clearing off stuff before Lilies.

First, I want to take this time to tell Gateway to go to hell. I ordered a laptop from them on 25 May 2007 and received it several days later. In March, the system power supply died and I spent $45 shipping it back to Gateway and have them repair it. That took over a week, plus an extra day to wait before the shipping guy and I actually were able to me, a day that should not have happened but Gateway couldn’t provide me with a tracking number. On 26 May 2008, I pulled the system out of its case and it was doing some odd things, hitting a “t” actually put “t67 ” on the screen. I spent several days downloading virus checkers and keyboard mappers but that didn’t solve the problem. I called them on 3 June and they said they would fix it for $300. “Out of warranty, there’s nothing we can do.” As a former computer professional who did customer service I’m here to tell you that is crap. I had a Gateway laptop for 373 days at that point, and they had the computer, according to their records, for more than a week counting the 2 days to build it and the week to fix it. Counting the week or so I tried to diagnose the problem, I essentially payed $1750 for a laptop for 350 days. Not good. They specifically said that when they made their decision not to work with me they not only realized when I bought it, but had on their records how long they had had it. They also specifically said that warranty problems on a system don’t give any kind of credit to extending the warranty. In other words, they don’t care how little usage you get of the product, after 365 days *from the point you order the system, not the point you recieve it* they don’t feel they have any responsibility.

So, please tell anyone you know who is interested in buying a new computer to avoid Gateway, their customer service is some of the worst I have ever seen.

On to better stuff. I’m making progress with a whole bunch of things. Lilies prep is progressing. I almost have new armor. I’ve done some work on my comps. I’m stressed and tired and going too fast, but hey, I seem to like that because that always seems to be the case 🙂

OK, so I’m doing my second meme of 2008. I’m pretty sure that’s more than I did for all of 2007 so obviously I’m now a meme addict.

Anyway, this one is an interview. I’ve been asked five questions by Elasait and here are the responses. I’ll interview you as well if you ask in the comments. However, I may not get to you for a couple of weeks as there is that whole Lilies thing.

Elasait’s questions to me.
1. What made you decide to ask Fernando to squire you?
When I decided to squire I wanted to become more a part of Calontir so I wanted a knight outside of Vatavia. I wanted a knight that would push me to be a better all around person and member of the SCA. I wanted a knight that would help me become a better commander, because some day I would like to be the general of the army. I was debating this during Fernando and Lyriel’s reign, but Fernando wasn’t even close to my radar, I just never once thought about him. Then they came to a small local Vatavian event and I was one of the few faces in the singing circle that he knew, and he started singing You’ve Lost All Sense Of Feeling, and on the line “squire, squire, I get down on my knees to you,” he got down on his knees to me. And I went “Wow, he’s not just a king, he’s a knight!” And that was that. One postscript, Fernando’s much more careful who he sings that song to now 😉

2. What’s the most memorable thing that’s ever happened to you?
Wow, that’s hard to say. In the SCA, probably Katrine asking me to be her Champion, but getting fyrded, having Eoforwic treat me as they have, reciting the Wanderer on the Fyrdraca and in the Norstead longhouse, are all right there as well.

Outside of the SCA, I would say that probably the most memorable good events were my marriage and the perfect game I pitched for Kirby’s in 1997. Slow-pitch softball perfect games do not grow on trees. However, I’ve been blessed with lots of great memories and events in my life, so picking from any of them is a real challenge.

3. What do you think you’ll be doing in 5 years? 10 years?
Hopefully gaining tenure in 5 years and in 10 publishing my second book.

4. Of places you’ve never been, where in the world would you most like to go and why?
Hmmm, too many choices. OK, this probably isn’t what you meant, but I would like to actually be at the next Super Bowl the Cowboys win 🙂 I would also like to go to a whole slew of places in England that I didn’t get to last time like Gloucester and Durham. I would also like to walk Offa’s Dyke some day. I didn’t really get to spend any time in Wales or Scotland last time, so that would be cool. I would love to hang out at an Irish pub in, say, Limerick or Galway, for a week. I want to visit Caen, Rouen, and Aachen to the see the burial churches of William, Richard, and Charlemagne. I think it would be fun to make the pilgrimage from say, Tours, to Santiago de Compostela. Oktoberfest at a mid-sized town in Bavaria. Uhhhh, I’m not sure I can really answer this question.

5. How did you come to choose your academic specialty?
Well, Calontir had something to do with it, but mostly it was because I started enjoying Anglo-Saxon poetry right after I read Tolkien the first time. The more I get into Anglo-Saxon society, the more I admire the ideals of their belief system. It’s about fulfilling responsibilities, not defending prerogatives. My main complaint about the animated Beowulf wasn’t that they changed the story, I expected that, but that their portrayal of the society was absolutely horrid in so many ways. Anyway, back to your original question, I came back to grad school to be a professor, decided on history as a department, decided on medieval as a broad field, and then basically decided I wanted to wallow in Old English poetry for the rest of my life.

Some days it doesn’t pay to get out of bed.

And then some are like today, when there is so much right in the world I just want to scream.

The news from Crown Tourney is, to say the least, more than I could have ever hoped for.

First, my favorite person in the world, Maerwynn of Holme, became princess by Luther, who was essentially my first king in the SCA, who made me feel so comfortable at my first war.

I could not be happier with this result, especially since this means that these two, both with early period personas, will be on the throne for my hyper-period early period event in October.

But wait, there’s more. There were some awards handed out.

Three peerages, all to very good friends.

Congratulations to Wulfric, Elianor, and Fionna.

I’m bursting with happy happy joy joy right now.

The only drawback is that I have totally lost all concentration on my writing this weekend. Oh well, I’m willing to lose sleep, even lots of sleep for all of these great people.

I’m totally glad I got up today 🙂

I don’t usually do memes, but I succumbed to the lure of Bess, Mistress of the Great Butt Bruise of ought-1 (edited from ought-2, I’m old my memory is gone, sue me :).

Comment and I’ll…
1. Tell you why I friended you.
2. Associate you with something – fandom, a song, a colour, a photo, etc.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Ask something I’ve always wanted to know about you.
6. Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.
7. In return, you must post this in your LJ.