My Pennsic 2008 Diary Week 2

Further Adventures of the Pocket Bard

This is the second week of my Pennsic diary for 2008. Click here to return to the first week.

The days on this page:

Monday, August 4

373.31 +
140.00 -- shopping (for me)
45.53 -- shopping (gifts)
9.00 -- PI subscription
7.00 -- YIV
4.00 -- Clan Tynker
= $578.84

morning -- Marauders

Didn't sleep too well last night. I'd thought I was cold because of my garb, but in fact it was objectively colder as well. I shivered for much of the night. In retrospect, I should have worn wool socks. At least I know to take my tunic into bed with me so I'm not putting on a cold, damp tunic first thing in the morning.

Anyway. Plans are afoot. Apparently Durhild knows Neil Gaiman, and she wants to videotape me performing "Beowulf" so she can put it up on YouTube and show it to him. So Alethea is going to find out if Leonette (formerly known as Nicola) has her camera with her, and I'll try to wrangle people to be my audience and chant along. Should be lots of fun. [Editor's note: we never got around to doing this, but hopefully it'll happen at some point in the future.]

This morning I think I'll shop. There are a few classes I'd like to get to, and we'll see if that happens. There's also the EK 40th Anniversary display going on. This afternoon, I think I'll accept the invitation to perform at tea. So far, the only thing I know about tonight is the Turkish Desserts night at Ajax's. I'll see what else is going on. Maybe I'll try to catch John Littleton before he leaves camp to find out about CDs. Onwards to get dressed.

early afternoon -- Marauders

For a morning where I had nothing planned, it's been quite eventful. I went shopping: CDs for me, a horn for Marc, and a fire-starter kit for his dad. Efenwealt doesn't know of any bardic going on tonight, though. Also on the downside, I finally figured out the perfect gift for Ian: a teddy-bear chess set like mine. Problem: the woman who makes them passed away two years ago. Oops. I think I'll get him a Heather Dale CD and some dice instead.

I went to go find Grim, so he could tell me who did a particular song, so I could pass on the message from Efenwealt that he wants to meet them. (Gotta love bardic tag.) I didn't find Grim, but I did find Brid and the Dione Sidhe camp. I did some bardic for them and they fed me. I also got two tokens: 1. a reproduction medieval thimble from Hastings, given to me by Brid, and 2. a triangle bead from Durfina (her quote: "You're a round peg in a square hole, so you should have a triangle bead.") I have an open invitation there. Yay! Also a huge admiration for Brid's apprentices and proteges -- they commit to way more than I'd be able to.

Then I went to the EK 40th Anniversary Display, full of stuff like early Pikestaffs and event announcements, maps, and portraits of early royalty. [Editor's note: Pikestaff is the official newsletter of the East Kingdom.]

Now I'm in camp. There's the smell of baking bread and the sound of music. I was planning on doing a bit more shopping before I headed down the hill, though. Maybe I'll do bardic for just a little bit...

late afternoon -- Marauders

I did, indeed, do bardic. It's a lot of fun to do bardic with Cynric and Iohn.

Then I meandered down to the Bog (via the PI office to buy my subscription) to the Bardicci. I wrote last year's poem in their "Book of Witticisms" and then headed over with Laria to Terre d'Ange for tea. It was nice, but much smaller than I'd expected, only about 5 people. We had a good time and tasty tea, and I performed a few choice bawdy pieces ("Why, yes, I do have a pirate debutante song!").

Then it was time to move on to Mistress Adelaide's class on documenting original bardic pieces. I'm glad I went: the handout alone is 23 pages! It's inspired me to go down to bookseller's row (if i have money left) and see what I can find in terms of anthologies. [Editor's note: I didn't actually wind up going -- book stores are simply too huge of a money-sink for me.]

If the shops are open after dinner, I'll pick up Ian's present and my belt, and then I'll see how much I have left over. It's very cool to have money that doesn't need to be spent on CDs.

Now it's time for food.

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Tuesday, August 5

578.74 +
46.30 -- shopping (gifts)
31.84 -- shoping (me)
= $656.98

morning -- Marauders

I had a very bad dream last night. It was so bad that I woke up crying. I am deeply grateful for Ruven (sp?) for taking care of me this morning. I think I'll buy him a present. [Editor's note: I eventually gave him one of my beads instead.] I went looking for Morgana to apologise to her (odd, I know), but she was still asleep. You should have seen the look Haakon gave me, though: "Let me get this straight: You want to apologise to her for something she did... in your dream?"

Anyway. Last night was wonderful, so let's switch tracks. At dinner, we realised Alethea didn't have retainers for the evening, or so we thought, so I offered my services. As she was getting dressed, we found out that she did, in fact, have a retainer, because the retainer (Astrid) showed up. But Alethea's night plans seemed more interesting than mine, so I offered to retain anyway.

The three of us stopped off at the Teen Party, but it hadn't started yet, so we slipped off to the Vagabond for an hour. Alethea and I shared baklava. It was just like old times.

We went back to the Teen Party and I followed Alethea around as she worked the room. Thence it was down to Familia Gladiatoria, which was already hopping. Alethea was offered a reclining couch-like chair in front of Ajax's tent (very Roman) and I set at her feet.

We got there just in time for Clan Tynker to perform. As they finished setting up, someone offered Alethea a plate full of desserts; it's good to be the princess. I got to eat a few of the desserts; it's good to be a retainer.

Clan Tynker was awesome. They did juggling with glowing balls, poi, tightrope walking, sword swallowing, and various other circus arts. It was very, very impressive.

We stayed and shmoozed for a while and then went across the street to show Alethea's crown to Jules. She squealed a lot when she found out Alethea was princess. It was very cute.

After a while we came up the hill and got back to camp around 11:30. I contemplated going out again, but people were still awake, so I stayed in camp to do bardic with Iohn, Cynric, and Rua. Got to bed around 1, even though things were still hopping.

We had five minutes of light rain around 6:30 this morning, and it's still overcast and chilly, but at least the rain has stopped (for now). I should probably have breakfast.

early afternoon -- Marauders

I wrote a song this morning. To explain why, I need to describe two events that took place yesterday which I neglected to mention.

Event #1: Yesterday afternoon, I'm walking past the performing arts tent and see a whole bunch of kids up on stage. Curious, I ask one of the women in the audience (a mother, I assume) what was going on. "Oh," says she, "it's youth theatre. Are you under 18?" "No, I'm 26..."

Event #2: Walking back to camp last night with Alethea and Astrid, we run across Duchess Isabella and some of her ladies. One of the ladies mentions Isabella's party, gives an invitation to Astrid, gives and invitation to Alethea. "It's okay," says I, "I can just look at Alethea's invitation. She camps with me." "That's very nice," says the lady, "but I just have to check... are you over 21?" Sigh.

So today I was eating breakfast and realised "you must be seventeen" scans to the second line of ballad meter. Then I came up with a chorus. Then I wrote 5 verses. Start to finish, it probably took half an hour. I even have a melody (for once!). It's called "No Longer Seventeen." I must get bardic kudos somewhere for using "statutory crime" in a song. Everyone I've sun it for so far (and I must have given at least a dozen performances) have liked it.

I went shopping and picked up CDs and dice for Ian, "Pennsic for Dummies" from Claus, and a new belt for me. Sigulf from By My Hand Designs helped me restring my necklace, too. Yay!

I also got a chance to talk to Morgana, who felt very bad even though she'd done nothing wrong. Then I performed my song, which lightened the mood.

Now I'm back in camp. My right calf is hurting -- maybe Rua will massage it for me. I think I'll read through the Pennsic for Dummies book and the Unclassifieds from the Independent and maybe take a nap in John's tent. Marian's making scones later, and then there will be the Boreal Master Symposium. [Editor's note: The Boreal Master Symposium is essentially a parody of academia, where people present papers on an entirely fictional author called "The Boreal Master." Much hilarity ensues, at least if you're an academic.]

Sleepy now. No Bog-walking for me. Especially not with the sky still threatening to rain.

midafternoon -- Boreal Master Symposium

I had been attempting (unsuccessfully) to nap in John's tent, having asked him to wake me up when Marian started making scones (around 3, I thought).

A conversation:
Me (groggy and bloody hot, emerging from John's tent): "What time is it?"
Marauders: "Time for scones!"
Me: "No, really. What time is it?"
Marauders: "Scones o'clock!"
Me: "I have something at 4. What time is it?"
Marauders: "Oh. It's 4:10. But it's okay, you can arrive late at the vigil."
Me: "No, it's not a vigil, it's the Boreal Master Symposium."
Marauders: "Well, you can take a scone to go."
Me: "Fine. Can I have a currant one?"
Marauders: "The last currant one was just eaten. The only ones left are cheese."

Groan. Yeah, not happy. Apparently my PMS decided to hit me during my period instead of before. Stupid hormones.

after dinner -- Marauders

The Boreal Master Symposium really cheered me up, and I've actually got an idea for a new Boreal paper. We'll see if I write it before next Pennsic.

Got back to camp and Rua massaged my calves, which had been hurting. Apparently they were really tight. We love you, Rua! I gave her a bead, and I also gave one to Ruven for taking care of me this morning. [Editor's note: Rua is a licensed massage therapist. I love my camp.]

Michael Kelly came by as I was having dinner. It's always nice to see him.

Tried to call Ian but his phone was either off or busy. And just as I write that, I realise he's probably at work. I'll call him later tonight.

It appears we'll have rain on-and-off tonight. Hopefully bardic won't scatter like last year. I've been given a quest by Her Highness to learn the librarian song by Eliane. She'll be at Northshield tonight.

I'm contemplating going to the Vagabond before de Londres (which I'll hit first), but I don't know. In any event, it's time to put the journal away.

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Wednesday, August 6

656.98 +
66.90 -- shopping (me)
1.06 -- shopping (gifts)
3.00 -- snack
6.00 -- lunch
= $733.94

morning -- Marauders

I did a bit of shopping (well, window-shopping) just after dinner last night because I wanted to check out the Pillaged Village. I poked my head in and was treated to a performance of a story from "The Viking Home Companion" by a guy named Torvald. It was very funny. Well, one good tale deserves another, so I performed "Beowulf." Torvald looked at me. I looked at him. Then we sat down and talked bardic for 45 minutes. I love Pennsic.

Went over to de Londres, but it hadn't started up yet. Instead, I went across the street to High Rafters just as Naga arrived. He and some friends were going over to Northshield, so I followed them. The circle was still pretty small, so we had a raucous good time. I think I performed three times in the hour or so I was there.

I left relatively early to call Ian and thence over to de Londres (again). It was also pretty small there. It took about 45 minutes for the circle to come around to me. I don't know whether it's because my skill level has improved, my memory is faulty, or there was an objective change in the skill of the other circle-members, but I found it wasn't of the calibre I've come to expect of de Londres. There were very few performances that I would have felt, "I can't follow that." No, I felt I could match or even trump many of the other performances last night. It was actually a bit disappointing.

Around midnight, I left to go over to High Rafters and conspire with Morgana about my new Boreal Master paper idea. I have planted the seeds of wrongness. Now to see if they take root.

I don't have much planned for today. There are classes that seem a bit interesting, one I'd like to take at three, and midnight madness after dinner, but I don't even know of any circles tonight. For shame! Bad Pocket Bard! I'll have to figure out what's going on.

So that's it for now. I got a glorious 7 hours of almost-uninterrupted sleep, so I'm ready for action. Ta!

slightly later -- same place

Cynric tells me the jam session at Harpwood Hall last night was absolutely awesome. Damn! I wish I'd gone!

mid-afternoon -- Marauders

How odd. The class I wanted to take apparently doesn't exist. I checked the book in all the categories I could think of and simply couldn't find it. Oh, well. I don't need to know about kennings that much.

The day has been quite nice so far. Spent the morning in camp doing bardic with Iohn and Rua. I got to do harmonies! And they worked! Yay! [Editor's note: my two biggest pitfalls in bardic: 1. I don't know how to project properly, and 2. I really suck at singing harmonies.]

Then Iohn and I went shopping, occasionally running into people we knew. I picked up The Viking Home Companion CD from Torvald and a new pair of sandals from Medieval Moccasins (wine-coloured, but they are oddly neutral and suit my skin tone very well). I also was given a free book by Folump Press because he didn't want it in his inventory.

Iohn and I went for drinks at Your Inner Vagabond and then continued shopping. We bought lunch in the food court and brought it back here and chilled.

Then I went to my class, which apparently doesn't exist. Still don't know what's going on, bardic-wise, tonight. I guess everything is usurped by Midnight Madness. Maybe I'll even feel well enough to make it this year, unlike the last few years. [Editor's note: traditionally, Wednesday night of War Week is the night my body decides to shut down and give me headaches until I take care of it.]

I still have almost $100 left in my spending money and no idea what I'm going to spend it on. While the $80 beaver pelt -- the softest thing in the entire world -- continues to be an object of lust, I really can't justify spending that much money on something so impractical. Maybe I'll just save it for future events. [Editor's note: I didn't buy it. But I really, really loved it.]

Maybe I'll go walkabout this afternoon. Right now, though, I'm kind of sleepy. We'll see.

early evening -- Marauders

An afternoon of bardic. I ran into Gordon on my way back up from walkabout and realised I still hadn't written my poem for him, so I wandered over to Runestone Hill and started composing. 45 minutes later I had 44 lines of ballad verse. Go, me.

After dinner, I offered Their Highnesses Ansteorra my services as a bard if they wanted anything versified. His Highness immediately piped up, "a song about my virility." I asked whether he was serious and he said no, but Her Highness Ansteorra and Her Highness East vigourously nodded. So let it be written, so let it be done. Dolan came by and I bounced ideas off him, ruminated in the shower, and went back to my tent to compose. I finished just a few minutes ago and performed it for Their Highnesses Alethea, Gunthar, and Elizabeth. Speed-bardic at your service. His Highness gave me a bracelet of quartz and agate beads: it's so pretty! Yay! I enjoy being able to surprise people with speed-bardic. My only rule is: nothing hurtful. Anyone who is a subject of my songs should be happy when it's done. It seems I'm still doing okay. Yay!

Now just waiting to go shopping, maybe with Alethea.

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Thursday, August 7

733.94 +
1.00 -- breakfast
7.00 -- lunch
10.60 -- shopping (me)
2.00 -- ice cream
= $754.54

midafternoon -- Marauders

My goodness, midafternoon and I still haven't journalised yet, and now I've got 45 minutes before I need to retain for court! So, the abbreviated version:

Went shopping, not with Alethea, but with Prince Gunthar. Had muchly fun. Checked out the Sing Thing at Club Aed but found it too low-energy for my tastes, so came back and hung out with Erwilian. Went to bed around 1.

This morning I did administrativa: performed for the Storytelling Academy, delivered the pieces for Their Highnesses Ansteorra and Captain Gordon, and wound up meeting Toki. (I hadn't realised he camps next to Hedgehog.) I stayed there chatting with him until lunchtime, whereupon we brought our lunch from the food court to camp and acquired a Hugin and Iohn along the way. I am Katherine, Bardic Enabler. Toki and Hugin brought me to meet Dov an Thora near Enchanted Ground, then I did some shopping (beeswax votive candles and window-shopped for a replacement taster mug). I ran into Michael Alewright and Cerian, who I hadn't seen yet this War. Initially I didn't recognise him because he was wearing large, dark glasses. When he took them off, I literally squealed while everyone laughed at me. Then I bought some ice cream (because I'm not doing much bardic tonight), ate it, journaled, and now I need to get ready for court. I need to be at EK Royal in half an hour. Time to get to it.

after dinner -- Marauders

Retaining at EK Court at Pennsic was a new and novel experience. Her Highness had six retainers, Her Majesty had at least ten. Since each royal lady only needed two retainers at a time, the rest of us sat in the pavilion behind the throne. It was like a collection of hens, albeit very quiet hens. I was privy to all those little problems rarely seen in front of the throne, stuff like "where's a bottle opener? His Highness wants beer and these aren't twist-tops!"

My lower back started hurting from standing so long and wearing a pouch on my belt, but otherwise court was quite enjoyable. There was a very touching tribute to Master El as he was given an augmentation of arms in absentia.

Court ended just as the drizzles started, and Sisuila and I escorted Alethea back to camp. We ate chilli. Eating chilli was a canker sore is... painful. Thank God for water.

I offered Her Highness to herald her into Bardicci, though she's still not sure if she's going. Right now she's off somewhere so I'm watching her coronet and basket. It looks like we're going to have another major (though hopefully short) storm coming through soon. Maybe we'll wait until after.

The storm is making things quite cold, and I want my cloak, much as it might ruin the image of my lovely pink cotehardie (courtesy of Lionette). John still hasn't gotten around to making me my new court garb, so I'm continuing to borrow Lionette's for a while.

On the docket for tomorrow: retaining in the morning. Her Highness will be fighting, so I'll probably wind up composing something. Nothing really on for the afternoon. Evening is the Inchingham / Cerian concert and the Peerless bardic circle. Should be a nice last day of War.

It's very odd that I've done practically no bardic today. I performed my commissioned pieces and "Beowulf," and I did a few mini-song recitals for individuals, but that's about it. Odd. Maybe it's a recovery from yesterday. Tomorrow evening will have lots of bardic in any event.

For those who haven't noticed yet, I'm just killing time until Alethea gets back. It's not even completely dark yet, though the chill in the air and the rain clouds make it seem later. I'm more fatigued than tired at this point. it will be fun to see the Bardicci (if it's not raining), but I could equally go with a quiet evening of conversation at the Vagabond or performing for a small audience somewhere like Eoforwic.

I can feel the War winding down, even though I've got a full night and a full day ahead of me. In truth, I'll be happy for a firm bed, a long, hot shower, and walls to protect me from the elements. A simple breakfast of Montreal bagels and orange juice wouldn't hurt, either. I'm looking forward to having some sense of control over my caloric intake again. I'm still planning on enjoying the next day and a half, mind you. I'm still at Pennsic and, damnit, I look forward to this all year. The Peerless bardic in particular should be awesome.

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Friday, August 8

754.54 +
49.70 -- shopping (me)
5.00 -- YIV
= $809.24

midmorning -- EK pavilion, battlefield

Last night and this morning I'm on princess-herding duties. Going to the Bardicci Hoity Toity part as Her Highness's retainer, and especially knowing who to talk to, was a heck of a lot of fun. We got our pictures taken by the house photographer in the chapel, got an official tour from Erwilian, including up to the Logia, and we got an audience with the Baron. I performed my new piece and earned myself some Bardini (quarter-silvers), His Excellency spoke soft words to Her Highness, and then we swept outwards and onwards. I love having connections.

Then the three of us (we had picked up Jules before we hit Bardicci) went to a party at Lochac and I introduced Her Highness to Master Efenwealt and his wife. I love having connections.

We did a very, very brief tour of Calontir's party and then went to have Flaming Dragons at Clan Lurker. It's quite an experience, actually. Random fact: singing cures hiccups.

Anyway, that was my night.

This morning it was very cold and damp when I woke up. I got to do a bit of bardic with Iohn and Rua after breakfast but before I started retaining. When Alethea was ready, I followed her to Serpentius so she could put on her armour, ran back to camp to find her tabard, discovered it had already been brought to the field, and came out here.

It's really cool to watch the field battles. I don't think I've ever done that before. I can't follow what's going on, but it's cool nonetheless.

We're just about to start the third battle, a regicide. Alethea will be carrying His Majesty's banner. I'm going to watch.

early afternoon -- Marauders

I have received yet another commission, this one from Her Highness Alethea, to write about the regicide field battle and her role in it as standard-bearer. Essentially, the king of Calontir decided to make it a 3-way battle. The kings of the East and Middle secretly colluded to kill the king of Calontir and then charge each other, but instead of killing each other, they would hug and retire from the field in friendship. I'm thinking of writing it as a first-person poem from Alethea's perspective. She's showering and then we'll be going to the Vagabond, so I'll try to get more of the story there.

It's been on-and-off raining all day, and it's supposed to rain tomorrow. I hope not. I really don't feel like packing up a wet tent, even if it is nylon. Eh. I'll deal with that later. On the other hand, I really should get my stuff together and packed up as much as possible if I can. I'll do that later this afternoon when Her Highness goes off fencing, assuming it's still cool out.

slightly later -- same place

Overheard at Pennsic:
Man #1: "Yes, sir."
Man #2: "Don't call me 'sir'; I don't have a white belt."
Man #1: "Yes, ma'am."

midafternoon -- same place

The Vagabond trip was seriously curtailed. We realised when we arrived that we only had about 10 minutes to spend there, so we just ordered stuff to go. Ran into Michael Kelly but lost him before we got back to camp as I tried to keep up with the princess. I waited for a bit for him but he never showed up, so I went off shopping instead. Found a cute little replacement taster mug (not as cute as my current one but also not as chipped) and a hideously expensive but oh-so-gloriously-polished lucet. I also picked up some cotton thread to use with it in pretty much all the heraldic colours but black.

I'm very tired now and my knee hurts. I'm going to drive some water and then maybe pack stuff up in my tent a bit.

late afternoon -- Marauders

Another "my heart is singing" moment: Iohn just gave me a necklace of wooden beads that had been given to him by Baroness Caitlin of Namron (Norman, Oklahoma) at his first bardic competition (which he won). She died a week later, so it has understandably been very previous to him. His words were, "since your kingdom doesn't have a grant-level award I can write you in for, I want you to have this." I'm walking on air right now. [Editor's note: in the SCA, there are three levels of award: AoA level, grant-level, and peerage-level. For some reason, the East Kingdom only has AoA-level and peerage-level, without the intermediate grant-level awards.]

In more mundane news (pardon the pun), most of my stuff is packed. I've got to pack my bed and the stuff I'm wearing, but everything else is packed. I'm contemplating walking up to the car just to check on it, but my ankle and knee hurt and I've only got an hour before the Inchingham / Cerian concert. I'm not sure whether I'll get dinner before or after.

My canker sore is hurting, making eating a tricky proposal, but I'll manage.

I'm really hoping it doesn't rain tomorrow.

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Saturday, August 9

809.24 +
1.25 -- ice
0.75 -- air for tires
5.15 -- tolls
12.00 -- lunch
40.14 -- gas
= $868.53

morning -- Marauders

The show, featuring Cerian, John, Darian, and Lucia, was really funny. Afterwards, they all came over to the Marauders and we fed them. Sisuila requested Lucia perform "Undefeated" for Alethea, and Alethea requested I perform "Gunthar and the Ladies." This kicked off an informal, impromptu bardic circle that lasted until about 1 in the morning. It was lots and lots of fun. We had about two dozen people, more or less (people kept arriving and leaving), of which maybe six or eight at any given time were performers. It was a good mix. The themes tended to run to filk and silly: I broke John Inchingham with "Beowulf" and several people broke me.

I had been planning on going to the Peerless circle, but by the time I wrapped things up around 1, I was just too tired to leave camp.

It was very cold last night, and it's chilly this morning, but at least the sky is clear (knock wood). Now we're trading "no shit, there I was" stories. It's good to live with the prince.

8:20 pm -- Red Carpet Inn, Syracuse, NY

Today hasn't been a particularly good day. For one thing, I'm no longer at Pennsic, which is always cause for sadness. Beyond that, though, have been a number of distressing incidents. First, my tent tried to kill me. I was undoing the bungies for the fly and one snapped back right onto my left cheekbone. Ow. Lots and lots of ow. Even though I iced it, I'm still getting a very visible bruise that I'm hoping (though not expecting) will fade before I go back to work on Wednesday. For another, I started getting a migraine (and the migraine-induced fatigue that goes with it) on the drive back. We left Pennsic and hit the I-79 by 12:30. After a brief detour through Erie (my fault: I missed the turnoff for the I-90), I decided I'd like to stop shortly after Buffalo, which we'd hit around 4:15. We wound up playing the "just a little father is a better / cheaper hotel" game a while, and three hours later we had just passed Syracuse and my migraine was full-blown. I'd wanted to take an advil in those three hours but couldn't fit it in my purse and assumed it was in my relatively-inaccessible backpack. When we checked in to the hotel and I was well and truly zombie-like, I discovered that the advil had been in my purse the whole time and felt like an idiot for subjecting both myself and poor Jeanne to the experience of me with a migraine. I popped an advil, failed to nap, and took a shower, and now I'm feeling worlds better. Better enough, in fact, for the traditional...

Post-Pennsic Brain Dump!

First and foremost, Pennsic was (as always) awesome. Where else do I get to do bardic essentially non-stop for two weeks? (Answer: nowhere.) Even better, for the first time in a while, the weather really co-operated. It was probably my best Pennsic ever, weather-wise. The days were hot but not overbearingly so, the evenings weren't too cold, the rain was sparse and didn't interfere with either set-up or tear-down... if every Pennsic could be like this, I'd be very, very happy. Thank you, weather gods!

I had a number of new experiences this war, most of them while retaining for Alethea. I experienced the battlefield (even though I admittedly didn't fight), Pennsic court from behind the thrones, and various parties from the perspective of Royal entourage. The idea returns to me again and again that there are as many Pennsics as people who attend. If I know 200 people at Pennsic well enough to have a fast conversation (the number is possibly higher, but not much higher... I think), that's still less than 2% of all Pennsic-goers. If there are 15 camps at which I feel comfortable dropping in on a random basis to say "hi!", that's barely scratching the surface. Most of the people at Pennsic, I have never met, and their experiences are probably vastly different from mine. No matter how many times I think this thought, it still amazes me.

Retaining itself was a lot of fun, if a bit tiring. A lot of that probably has to do with the fact that I knew Alethea already and we're friends. Even so, I very much enjoyed myself and hope I took good enough care of her.

In terms of bardic (you knew we'd have to talk about bardic, didn't you?), I can't believe how prolific I've been. Five pieces in two weeks is definitely a record for me. Yes, some of them are highly specific, but even so. Five pieces in a week and a half. Dude! Speed-bardic is apparently becoming my speciality.

While some of the formal circles I attended were very, very good (I'm thinking especially of Haakon's and Aethelmearc filk night), on the whole I didn't enjoy them as much as previous years. Whether that's because my tastes have changed or because the circles were objectively lower-quality than previous years, I don't know. On the other hand, I had a blast at all the mini-performances I gave in camp, at Erwilian's, at the Casa, at Eoforwic, etc. I like being the centre of attention (yes, I'm a ham), but more than that, I like the reactions from my audience when I perform stuff I'd never do at a circle. I can do traditional drinking songs and bawdy pieces for random people sitting around camp wanting to be entertained; I'd rarely do those pieces at a formal circle, they just wouldn't fit. Whether this indicates an ongoing shift in preference on my part, only time will tell.

As a corollary thought, I wonder if I perform too much. (Gasp! Shock!) Seriously. I sometimes wonder if I perform when I shouldn't or take too much time in unstructured performances. I definitely shouldn't have sung "The Peasant Knight" at breakfast this morning: it killed the upbeat mood we'd had going. I'm learning all the time, but watching some other people perform sparingly but to great receptions makes me wonder if I'm overdoing things. I feel like I still need to make a name for myself, I suppose.

On the other hand, I got five tokens for bardic this war (in addition to my Bardicci silver), so I suppose I must be doing something right. For the record: 1. reproduction thimble from Brid, 2. bead from Durfina, 3. medallion from Erwilian, 4. agate bracelet from Gunthar, 5. beads from Iohn. I really like getting these sorts of favours, though it makes me wonder what sort of garb I can wear to show it off. Vikings had all sorts of beaded necklaces and armbands, but I really have no desire for a Viking persona. I'd like to situate myself around the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine (late 12th century), but I don't think they wore necklaces and armbands. Eh. We'll see what happens. It's not like I'm making new garb any time soon, anyway.

I'm contemplating a few projects for when I get home. First, the perennial idea of hosting bardic circles. I really like Toki's idea of bardic workshops ("fighter practice for bards"), and may try to implement something similar. On a more personal note, I'm thinking of starting a new web page solely devoted to my bardic stuff. I'm thinking of calling it "The Home of the Pocket Bard" and including stuff like my original compositions, tip sheets, and favourite links. Potential web site: pocketbard.ca or pocketbard.org. [Editor's note: haven't done it yet, but I'll be sure to keep all my loyal readers in the know.] I'm also thinking of teaching a class next year based on The SCA Without Breaking the Bank.

A few smaller points of note:

Well, so much for short reflections.

It boggles my mind how I can be so active at Pennsic and love the involvement so much, but how inactive I am in my home group. I don't really know why I'm inactive, I just always seem to have other things to do on practice nights.

I was thinking of writing a list of my favourite moments at War, but if you've read the rest of this journal, it's probably pretty clear. No need to beat a dead horse (or bard, as the case may be).

So that's pretty much all that's in my head as I start my 50-week town run. War was great, but I'm looking forward to air conditioning, showers, and my own bedroom. I'm going to try to be more diligent about contacting people during the rest of the year, especially those people who live far away. We will see next year how successful I am. We'll also see whether I gained or lost weight. Lots of stunningly good food plus lots of walking = who knows? [Editor's note: it looks like I gained a pound or two, which is actually somewhat better than I was expecting.]

9:20 pm, signing off until next year.

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Sunday, August 10

CAD 2.50; US 868.53 +
1.00 -- tolls
6.00 -- breakfast
26.58 -- gas
CAD 30.00 -- gas
CAD 2.62 -- snack
= CAD $35.12; US $902.11

8:12 am -- Red Carpet Inn

I can't believe I just slept 10 hours. Wow.

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