|
| I'm surprised to find that I haven't posted anything since Gulf Wars part 1.
Part 2 has mostly faded into a series of memories: dances, spectacular success in the ravine, countering the Hellhounds of Northshield.... rather than a consistent time stream. I'll just report by saying my first birthday was fun, and I count the months until the next.
Lysts was just as wonderful as last year. Baron Avery (Still weird to say) "volunteered" me to herald for Lady Johan Martel de'Agincourt, squire to Sir Lionel. It was my first real vocal heralding gig and I had all of 5 minutes to prepare for opening processional. I think I did just fine for my first time out. HE Druin, Baroness of Elfsea, gave me great encouragement for continuing to develop my skills. Lord Bryan lent me a herald's tabard so I could look the part and complemented me at the end by telling me, "Congratulations on not sucking." High praise from such a fountain of Ansteorran knowledge.
Of course the big event was at court where everyone knew a secret but me. To all my friends out there: Well done on not letting anything slip for a whole month. When Master Modius said there was old business, I thought. "Sucks for that guy." Didn't suck at all.:D
Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe my full title is now "Lord Jaymes (Ryan) Fenn, Holder of the Queens Rapier of Ansteorra."
The best part however was that after court I got introduced to Lord Diederic, my non-cadet brother. He had received his AoA a week before and even that had been kept secret from me. Congratulations to him!
Again, thank you all for your support, your encouragement, your help, and your time. My success so far would not have been possible without you. "It takes a village," and I have the best of Ansteorra to look up too.
Oh yeah, I graduated from A&M. One of those minor mundane things that kept me away from the SCA these past months. :P | | |
| Time to make my report, but this will be done on various computers througout campus, hence the multiple posts. I got the honorary duty of setting up the trip for us Shadowlanders. My snooze button was way too inviting on Sun. morning and I got to Conn's house to pick him up when we should have been at TXBbarnes's leaving. Got there to find that everyone was still asleep in cars and the trailer not hitched. Rough start. The trip itself was pretty uneventful and we got to site around 4pm. TxSwordGeek showed us our spots and we began to unpack and set up when we realized the ground was a bit... rough. We got some tools out and began digging up roots and sticks, and buckets, and metal lids from all around our land. And for every root we dug up, we found 2 more. Apparently the Trimaran druids were nearby casting growth. It got to the point that Conn was on hands and knees with a multitool going inch by inch over the ground. Alyx showed up with Iolo a bit later in the evening and we helped her get her tent up, and offered to trench her pavilion. Little did we know we had just found a marketable use for our small minds and strong backs. The trenching continued for quite a while, me and Conn doing Pug's, Our two tents, finishing Sir Godwin's tent for BardBoy, and the showers. I am quite pleased with the main shower trench and sump. The Eldermerians had set up the showers that morning and made an attempt at a trench, but when Conn and I were done TXSwordGeek looked it over and stated, "Thats a trench I expect to see Tie fighters and X-wings fly down." (Briefly considered a run to wal-mart to get some plastic toys...) Went to bed exhausted and tired, and still really excited. END LOG PT 1 | | |
| The Shadowlands crew is home safe.
Personal log later. Sleep now.
| | |
| Interesting topic eh? Got ya reading? Good. Explanation to follow. I have made a startling realization and I need to share it with you all.
MATH IS EVIL.
Let me explain...
(Long but humorous, I hope)
Last Saturday me and blondie went fabric shopping in Houston. I needed materials to make some tunics and such for war and Modius promised me a scroll (More like threatened to put funny names on it if I didn't show). Well no scroll and a mental short-circuit on fabric later I realize I have nothing else to do. Might as well start a project.
T-tunics are simple things and I was pulling pattern parts from different sources. Blondie isn't an expert in this "early-period newbie garb," so it was definitely an experiment. At one point we needed to decide the length and angle of the gores to be inserted. (Triangles that add fabric). Well, we had one side of the actual triangle, and one hypothetical length on the patterned ones, but no where did we have one full triangle to accurately re-size from.
And then this ominous feeling starts growing in the back of my mind...
It whispers of calculus and co-sine...
of angles and variables...
of years of suffering...
and haunting red eyes I know too well...
Math, my arch-nemesis.
And then I did something I had not done in years. I fought back.
I spontaneously started doing geometry to find that damn length.
Guessing wasn't good enough. No protractors were around to measure the angles (yes, I did ask blondie if she had one), so I did some tricky substitution and conversion, for me anyway, and found that missing length. (Helps if you keep inches and centimeters separated, they don't play nice together).
A flash of inspiration hits, and I realize why Baroness Gwynneth has her laurel.
MAKING CLOTHES IS ENGINEERING!!!!!
Think about it, it's all construction and cutting. Patterns, plans, and perfection. Choosing the right fabric is just materials science. Finding the fine line between function and fashion is the designer's dilemma. (Yea alliteration!)
I started playing SCA to get away from my trials and tribulations, not to find more. Now I'm seeing the physics behind fighting, the geometry behind thrusts, probabilities in melee combat, and trajectories in archery.
A word of warning to all: Math is hiding, watching, and waiting. It is behind everything you do. Math is a cunning devil and one day it will strike. Be prepared.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project is now 75% done, just needs to be sewn up, and I will have truly finished my first "set" of garb. This piece will be the base line for two more tunics I want to get done before war.
I want to thank Baroness Gwynneth for her unapproved appearance (Please don't pez me!!). I hope you all enjoyed this, I was just in the creative mood. Rumor has it I know lots of good stories about our happy band of Shadowlanders, which is a damn lie. Unless of course, you're buying the drinks. :D
P.S. This sounds a lot more flowy as I read it aloud. Enjoy!
| | |
| A real profile pic is up finally.
The garb is some of TxSwordGeek's old stuff made by LdyAnne, Thanks guys!
And yes, I'm being assualted by a tree.
P.S. New colors... like?
P.S.S. Scratch that, New design overall. Added a music player, hopefull I'll rotate the songs some..., and a few other things. Enjoy it? Tell your friends. Hate it? Too bad!!! :P (What do you think this is; a democracy?)
| | |
|
|
