This is not fencing!

whoa,i've not held still much this year.

valhalla-MS
winter wonders-MS
fighters collegium-LA
gulf wars-MS
cracked anvil-AR
spring coronation-MS
athenaeum-MS
beltaine-TN
candlelight camp-AR
spring crown lyst-LA
swamp romp-LA
duvant defender-MS
lugh-TN
barbarian brawl-AR
AoD-MS
interkingdom regional rapier practice-MS


i put 20k miles a year on my vehicle,wonder what it is going to be this year???


-)------

Is fuel efficiency really what we need most desperately? I say that what we really need is a car that can be shot when it breaks down.
Russell Baker (1925 - )

ALLIANCE, n. In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third.
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914)

Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?
George Carlin (1937 - )

SCRIPTURES, n. The sacred books of our holy religion, as distinguished from the false and profane writings on which all other faiths are based.
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary

Any event, once it has occurred, can be made to appear inevitable by a competent historian.
Lee Simonson

I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
George Carlin (1937 - )

It's a dangerous business going out your front door.
J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 - 1973)

"When angry, count four; when very angry, swear.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

The goal of all inanimate objects is to resist man and ultimately defeat him.
Russell Baker (1925 - )

just a blurb for a terrific day of dance put on by our shire. we will also offer sunday as a regional rapier practice day at lefleur's or lakeland park.

Academy of Dance
July 26, 2008
Jackson, MS
Cabot Lodge Millsaps

With three tracks of classes there is something for every Dancer!
There will be a dedicated
European Dance Room, a Non European Dance Room and a series of
lectures to be held in the Cabot Lodge's wonderfully comfortable
lobby! The classes will be followed by a Ball and Hafla.
Cost: $12 before June 30. After, $15.
Ball/ Hafla Only: $5
Children 12 & under Free. Non Members Add $3.
No family to pay more than 3 adult prices with membership


Schedule
7:00 am Troll Opens
8:00 am Morning Warm up/Yoga
9:00 am Regular Classes begin
12:00 pm Lunch Break
1:00 pm Classes Resume
5:00 pm Classes end. Break for Dinner
7:00pm Ball and Hafla Begin
10:00 pm Ball and Hafla ends. Event Closes

Autocrat and Non European Class Coordinator:
Baroness Rosalind Mihrimah~~ Kristina Kelly.
601-939-5328 (no calls after 9pm)
European Class Coordinator: Mistress Julian ferch Rhys~~ Kirsten
Garner~ Phone: 501-227-7768
(no calls after 9pm please)
Reservations: Caoilinn inghean Riocaird~~Colleen Tarver,
520 Fox Run Trail Apt A6, Pearl Ms 39208. Phone: 601-955-0374
(no calls after 9pm) Make checks
payable to SCA Inc/ Shire of Iron Ox.

www.cabotlodgemillsaps.com Phone: (601) 948-8650 � 2375 North
State Street � Jackson, Mississippi 39202
The room rate is $89/night. Make sure to say you are with the SCA!
The Cabot Lodge offers a full breakfast and an evening happy hour for
hotel guests. Meals will not be provided. Directions: From I-55 take
exit 98A (from the south, this is a LEFT lane exit). The street name
for this exit is Woodrow Wilson. Take Woodrow Wilson west to the
second traffic light. This is North State Street. Take a left on
North State Street. Cabot Lodge Millsaps will be immediately on the
right.


WWW.IRONOX.ORG
(full flyer pdf. with e-mail addys)

i was completely taken by surprise by a pair of lovely brown eyes!
lol, naw not at the park but at candlight camp.
i talked with him about general & sundry & we exchanged e-mails as i the social networker am wont to do.
well then i get an email from him asking if i, yes me?!? would consent to be his consort in a future crown list. & he goes on about liking my way with the kids, being a sitting crown & all.
i am floored i tell you, positively floored & flattered. hoyden me being asked,wow. by a serious fighter kind of guy none the less.
well before i answered i checked ye old grapevine to make sure what i knew about the fellow was accurate & that it was not some sort of 'hey wanna be queen' kind of come on scene.
said grapevine confirmed that he is an all around honorable guy & not given to saying things lightly.
so i accepted. queen, i could do 'queen'
even though all i've ever aspired to be was evil vizier....;-)

-)-------

sissy is the bravest dog i've met.

she is terrified of thunder,& roaring wind. not very brave for an 80+ pound great pyrenees is it?
well it was storming for all it was worth this morning & my daughter went to head out in it to catch the school bus and sissy, the big sissy dog, paced back & forth, back & forth & then bounded down the porch barking at the sky caught up to soph & stayed with her until the bus came.
yes i let the soaking wet stinky dog back in the house after that.
as a matter of fact i left the door open so she could cower in the house the rest of the day if she wanted to while i was at work.

=-)

wow, what a cool thing!
i came home from work to find two boxes leaning on the gate. one had a big bell guard & french grip hanging out the end??
my ex hubby who is moving to istanbul gifted me all of his fencing gear! ~woOT~ so now a 40" blade joins the rank of stuff i haul around. gotta replace that awful bell guard though.=-) too bad he never got a dagger, i really want a case of daggers....*grin*

-)-------

remember when i said we need to make a run for the border due to so many deaths & major illnesses going around this spring? well we really should have. my dad called last night & he just got out of the hospital , been in a week for what was supposed to be a one afternoon outpatient procedure. he has cancer in his bladder & one kidney & they are looking to see how far into the muscle it has migrated? he has not been given any firm answers on his prospects other than at the best he will end up with an artificial bladder to worst he will have 3 months to live.
he has had 3 open heart surgeries, acute appendicitis, & 3 feet of intestine removed due to cancer in the past 5 years.
he is a bit more serious about his mortality this go around, he told me where he has stashed $ in the house!?
he is not a nice man. i cannot stand his hate,violence, racism & greedy con artistry. he would proudly drive visitors to our town by the hotel where martin luther king was shot & murdered april 14th and brag on how 'memphis took care of that little problem.' =-(
i left his house when i was 17 with a broken nose.
but in his own pitiful way he did try to love me so i have some feelings for him left. mostly what i'm feeling is dread. i'm not looking forward to dealing with the pigsty that is his house & our family/ vultures that will descend when he dies and his latest health problems brings home that possibility.

ahh i'm behind in the blog world! which of course translates to 'i'm too busy!' in this case it has been with happy busy making events finally.

went to events for 3 weekends straight,yum. found out that a chain maile shirt makes a girl very,very popular in society,taught a class on how to make hakama at atheneaum -got to do full speed cut and thrust sparring for the first time after beltain's tourney which had 19 fencers in it ~woOT~!
i'm hooked on c & t. great fun and i have so much to learn! i'm going to have to watch the heavy fighters a bit to see some of their answers to getting spanked.=-) seems i have no defense for low attacks once i've parried anything above me head? can you say owchie?

-)------

one of my fencing crew killed herself last night.no one knows why.
she was the second girl to finish her kit when i started holding rapier practice in our shire. she did not make many events. but she will be missed by all of us who fought alongside her.

-)------

not mine, but written by my dear friend,julie cain, who i've not been able to see since we had chado~japanese tea ceremony at her home last summer.
i met her at gulf wars 7?-8? when she was decked out in heian era garb,as kiku dono. i had to stop and give my 'garb fascist' stamp of approval to her nihonjin ensemble. she is usually found in persian/ottoman garb as lady malak merchanting fine goods for discerning tastes.


.....
You come to an age

You need a very strong dream

To pass through Springs veil.



Do the mule deer weep

Huddled in the Spring downpour

Cold piercing their joints?



I am Ulysses---

Passing beneath the ogre

Hearing the stone fall.



This year has stolen

Imagination's best wind

My sails sag becalmed.



If only I had

Left a child to a wise friend

Before departing.

.......

ah, to work on april fools day is fun.

so i replaced the gigantic plates at one the teppan grill tables with little appetizer sized ones. the chef would be cooking the big pile o' rice & when they go to scoop it the poor customer would look down and see the spatula alone was bigger than their plate & that enormous scoop of rice was going to spill off their plate! *evil grin*
the first two people giggled at the mini plates. the next two people at the table just stared at them opened eyed for a bit. so i moved on to menu tricks....

two people were waiting on a very late third dining companion so i handed them a menu written in japanese to place at the late comers seat. when she got there they had already ordered & when she goggled at her menu, they explained that we had new menus now... & she said, ok, i think i can figure it out by the pictures? *grin* so they got a good laugh at that.
pulled out some menu folders that had blank pages & gave them to customers i knew & said, it is the new fashion,'a zen menu'.
i was pretty busy so i did not get to do more than harass random customers this year. but there is always next year, muah-ha-ha...

my ex, did the best one so far, he wrote a very serious toned e-mail to his dearest & a few relatives about how his engagement was off. & he was coming out of the closet now.
lol, his sister AND his father fell for it!
i wrote back at once saying, 'ohh good one!' and asking if they had set a date yet.*grin*

as he said, mischief is its own reward. =-)

i found out this weekend at cracked anvil IX that sea shanties can be terribly sad when you are signing at a bardic circle with a fellow who will be deployed to iraq by the end of the month.
pete the bos'n who is the leaving for hopefully his last tour with the air force, wrote a nice one that melandra, a lady with a fabulous voice sang for us. i was not the only one to have leaky eyes. i do so like my big poofy elizabethan shirts, don't need to find a hanky, i am wearing one.=-O
bardic circles will not be the same until our pete returns i tell you. most know him as the super quiet guy with the curved sword who has a purple scarf & an eye patch on his fencing helm.
i know him as one of the kindest gentlemen i have ever had the pleasure of meeting. he just quietly comes up & helps out, no fuss no bother. he is patient in his instruction of longsword/cut & thrust,he does not complain when you run out of hot sauce for the burritos, he is deadly fun to fight alongside in ravine or field battles.
the crazy man got to fight in ~thirteen~ battles heavy & light at gulf wars this year,it would have been fourteen but due to a late start two battles ran concurrently.
i held nearly the entire encampment of small grey bear at RBG point when i was trying to catch up with him one evening, hey a girl has gotta do what a girl has to do to get guys to attend a ball at gulf wars! i did eventually find him & he escorted my daughter & i to the ball that night. now i could not get that maine born lutheran to dance for love or $. but he had fun drinking his rum & eating lovely caraway cookies i hope. ;-)

here is a story he told during the night at cracked anvil when i and a few other of his friends stayed up until the sunrise with him so as to not miss a moment of the last event he will attend for quite a spell.
.....
president calvin coolidge had rightfully earned the nick name 'silent cal' & a socialite was determined to carry on a conversation with him at a dinner party one evening.
she flirted & chatted & asked questions, to be answered by nods or smiles by the president. finally she admitted she had a bet with another person that she could get calvin to say three words to her & asked what he thought about that. calvin just looked at her and answered 'you lose'.
......

i will keep your piece of eight safe my Lord Peter Bonaventure. but you will have to cross swords and best me upon your return to reclaim it my dear privateer of the good ship briar rose.


-)------- a.n.s.

oh, wow, oh wow, oh wow!

the friday ravine battle was ab fab, i tell you true. ansteorrans hit too hard for the most part but we faced no 'i ain't gonna call it 'cause it weren't hard enough' folks on the enemy line,unlike what we encountered in the field battles, so many kind gentles actually. one lady quietly called for her flankers to lay off me when she saw my pants had pulled out of my garter when i was legged, a little pool of peace was formed whilst i repaired this & then we went on with our banter & flashing swords, none of us had interest in calling another bloody *&^!# hold! to stop the whole line of fighters [120 ish on our side i believe?]
there was much taunting ,silliness & joking across the lines as well as some darn fine fighting. 9 to 8 was the final tally not in our favor but, boy howdy, we came close this year! all that melee training my crew of the navio dos tolos did paid off! were were sought after in the field & fort battles by the generals when they saw our red ship's baldricks after we had proven our teamwork in the ravine.

dear tormod's verona street brawls were great fun with much opportunity for verbal riposte. dante de piro really makes the game with his excellent portrayal of a corruptible and fickle governor of verona.
as usual i was arrested, this go around my friends were arrested for being friends of mine! when they went to bribe the gov. lol! so we danced [badly] in jail & threatened to start singing if we were not released soon & were then promptly released. *grin*

sophia chipped her tooth on the basketball court so that ended our day at gulf wars & started our evening in hattiesburg's forest general hospital, & supposedly after hours urgent care dental office which was soon followed by visiting an actual dentist who was open until 6:30.
we have an appointment wed. here with our dentist for a cosmetic fix since there is no other damage than that. why couldn't she have hit the tooth that is ready to come out rather than a permanent front tooth? *sigh*

we enjoyed sleeping in our tent for a full week versus just a saturday night as has been our habit of late at events due to my work schedule. the rain on the canvas was so soothing i did not hear the others in the encampment get up & dig trenches around their blue tarp covered tents at all. they said it sounded like the end of the world as the rain beat down on the tarps? wow, another reason to like my period tent so.=-)

the field battles were fun & i think we would have held the left flank again in the final bout but for my left general hearing voices & advancing repeatedly on the enemy line without telling any of us what he was doing!?!? as soon as i saw him & his lackey out in front & way the heck to the left of us i called to my crew to shift left & we were moving to close the gap but then the 7! my general & boy were holding broke & cupped us,uhhg. over with mighty quick there!

the everyman tourney was fun to marshal at, kelly/ kellaigh? put on a fine tourney as always. so many styles of fighting to watch. got some fine lessons on dagger work afterwards from a kind don. my crew of fencers has been raised mighty strict, 2 different ones came up to quietly report to me as marshal that there were two folks 'mucking about' without masks on. =-) it was a don giving slo mo demo lessons with his cadet & then letting a new student try the move on him, the new student moved too fast for my comfort on his attempts of the drill and just as i was going to say something the don called him to task on it. =-) gotta love self policing.

the demo of gleann abhann's new youth 7-12 yr. old fencing program at the rose tourney went over well, i think i should start a betting pool to see which kingdom tries it out next. =-)
countess meagan tapped me to be one of her fighters in the rose tourney, fredrick alton was her other. i'm not very good at tourneys & my mind was all on the youth stuff that morning so i died quickly to lord atawan who is over 6 foot then rapidly died at the hand of the dear lady with the snarling wolf on her mask who might be over 5 foot tall? lol

tons of pick up fights,my favorite being an informal bear pit that conner the gypsy was in, ah my hero! *swoon*
not a bit of cut & thrust armor that i wanted to buy but sophia found plenty of trinkets & odds & ends to buy to keep the merchants happy.=-)
we only made it to two of the balls =-( sophia was too worn out the other days & my camp mates were too 'toasty' to entrust with her care in camp.
i must find another encampment. this one was too far to walk to & fro from with fencing gear & i need to hook up with a pool of 5-7 parents so we can take turns being the in-camp sitter for the evening.

why, oh why can not war last longer?

-)----- cap'n pepper

even as it does everyone else badly! *evil grin*

well i was too busy before war to post & i am trying in my own strange primitive way to get unpacked & the house pack in order....but i need to catch up here before i forget all that has happened,eh?
i do feel no one laying on their deathbed says 'gee i wish i had spent more time doing laundry...'

ok first off, i can die now and die happy.

i got to hear TMBG {they might be giants for you clueless out there] perform istanbul march 8th right before i left for war.

now it took us calling them out for 3-4? encores.
clap stomp IS_TAN_BULL!!!! clap stomp IA_TAN_BUL!!!!clap clap stomp stomp IS_TAN_BULL!!!

btw ~i freely admit to yelling 'freebird' during one of the quieter stomping parts so there was a wave of laughter radiating out from where i stood by the left of the stage.;-)~

i now own a signed copy of 'else' and got 'no' for sophia, who adores 'stomp your FEET!'

it was so loud, i'm glad i brought a set of earplugs. it was also the first time for me to go to hal & mal's. ewww super nasty smoky there. *hack*
this was the first time that TMBG has performed in mississippi? wow, proves we really do live in medieval times here?

the guitar god chris? started off the istanbul set with a rockin tweaked solo of istanbul, i was happy with that but the boys came out & sang it for us as well.*sigh* pure bliss.

and when they left the stage that final time & came out by stage left john raised his arms to wave goodbye & i, yes i, was gifted with droplets of sweat upon my left arm.
so after weird al swung his curly mane & blessed my right arm with his perspiration i now consider myself a living shrine to musical geekdom.

->bjp

p.s. if one other unmarked [no ring,etc.]married guy hits on me there is gonna be hades to pay, do you hear that geoff? grrrr

well i guess i don't have to worry about him getting too serious too fast on me. he has moved on to bigger & better things .
i got the news in public saturday in one sentence
him:"uh, i guess i'm going to give this a try."
me: "huh? give what a try? "
him:"uh, me & her."
me: "oh. ok. are you completely insane?!this is the one you told friday me was calling you a liar, accusing you of quite a list of stuff & otherwise indulging in a a major drama fest this past week?"
him: "uh, yeah"
me: "ok, you two have fun now & i think you are completely off your rocker."

& then i get to go back to smiling for the public at event i'm in charge of.
lovely, just lovely, even a slut like me would like to think they are worth at least 5 minutes time to break off with.
& from the stuff posted on face book looks like i was a at least a day late in learning he & i were off.
sweet
well if & when this drama fest of his loses its attraction i do believe he will be surprised to find little old casual about all that me does not do 'take backs' when one does not have the class to break off before starting something else.
i handled it all smiley & nice in person, but the more i think about it the madder i get & the sooner i want his toothbrush outta my house. huh, even ho's have pride and i'll have no problem going to TMBG alone this friday.

update april 4th: well he came by my work to ask me a serious question.
yup, he wanted to know if there was a possibility of us dating again.
he had broken up with her a week before it seems.
well, sure he hurt my feelings & all but he really is a super nice guy,cool, fun, can dance.
so the nicest thing i could think to say is a simple 'no'.
he wanted to know 'why no?' and i could not think of any way to say what i've already told him that would not be just plain mean so that's what i told him. i've nothing to say that wouldn't hurt your feelings terribly.
and left it at that.
should i send a thank you card to her for showing me how spineless and easily swayed he is? how he seems to have no 'core' to determine his way in life?
if you look at his life it looks like such a series of hard luck incidents but from his actions over the past month i wonder how much was due to his poor choices? we all have bad things happen to us, we all make mistakes on big decisions but if you have at least a glimmer of self knowledge and some idea of who you want to be when you grow up i think that one can learn from unfortunate events and grow.

very impatiently, as a matter of record.

cold & wet the new month has been so far, at least no ice so thick on the animals water i had to use a steel bar to break it or hail and snow like last month. times like that make me contemplate the heat death of the universe ....fondly.

mincing along on the rapier youth rules re-write...i agree with mr. twain , there is no 'hell' there is only committees! arrrg! i fully admit i'm a gordian knot solver kind of girl & this situation does not call for that umm, 'brisk' type of solution, but *geesh* i wanna get kids fencing in our kingdom already.
yes, yes mentor mine i will try to be patient, subtle and helpful as the rule writing goes through proper channels. *try* being the operative word here. muttermuttermutter

ah, my mind keeps going to a dear man i'm afraid will get too serious on me he is great fun and *ya-hoo* his libido matches mine ;-) but he has lotsa stuff to take care of, [d'oh, yeah i know it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black here!] but as long as we keep an open dialog i shan't worry over much.
speaking of men you must go read my ex hubby christopher's blog. he is living in istanbul with his love and muse mokbuly.[crud i'm slaughtering her name!] he is writing {& photographing!} most entertainingly about his discoveries as a stranger in a strange land.

http://christanbul.blogspot.com


another entertaining find....
i was tagged/linked on facebook to two pithy sayings:

~SIN ~
like you mean it.


~EVIL~
keeps me young


it is verra nice to be so well known
even by folks who do not spend a lot of time around you yes? =-)

~ evil vizier & informal instigator
-)------ pepper

i am such a cat. i highly recommend laying on a couch with your feet being rubbed by one person & your shoulders being rubbed by another i think a nice little orgy of touch like that lets you face the new year with a bit more confidence & braggadocio,eh?

the best part was they have the same name so my lazy self only had to say 'oh yeah lawrence that's perfect!' and it applied to both of them.



~ of course ~ i took my turns as a masseuse as well,*geesh* what kind of meanie do you think i am!? =-p

ahh, it is that bitter winter weather that i never adjust to since it settles here for such a short time & then the temps rocket up to 70f & we all breathe a *sigh* of relief & ~zowie~ it drops to 28f with a nasty wet wind blowing again!

i do so hope the rain -sleet-whatever holds off until monday,
i am so in need of a duel or two.

things to to during the up coming week
: contact church & see about using their gym for indoor
fencing & dance practice.
:get to sleep at a reasonable hour...
:finish rules rewrite
:finish sewing projects
:get new sleeping bags
:make another to-do list for the upcoming week.=-p

huh, riddle me this, ~why~ when i kicked them to the curb because i felt they were not being honest with me & i was just a pest to them, that ~now~ i get a daily phone call, a nice update, friendly chatter,& tales on what is going on in their world????

please WTF?!

but when i tried for actual conversation, serious [well to me,lol] questions i got nada, or flippant 3 word answers?
uhhg, can you say co-dependent? hmm, what about drama addict?
i really, really need to get past my astoundingly unerring ability to attract/pick perfectly unsuitable love~lust interests.

well tomorrow will be hilarious, going over to a friends new house for thanksgiving,
and it is a tex-mex theme this year!
i'm still bringing cranberry sauce & pies, cause well it just wouldn't be right otherwise and well,i really like cranberry sauce. =-)

-)----

without the lively eyes
how can i enjoy
the fading rose petals?

Covered with the flowers,
Instantly I'd like to die
In this dream of ours!
->Etsujin

soft words loudly spoken
empty bed
the scent of roses lingers

green as the north sea in july,
by afternoon's warm glow.
shifting green as mist curling in the heath,
solid green as a yew by a castle in cork.

are the eyes i am lost in.