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Thursday, July 9, 2009
"Of course, if you think Buddhist monks and musical vibrations are altering your water, you probably need a stiffer beverage in the first place."
- WaPo's Dana Milbank, discussing bottled water hearings on the Hill. Dude, if your name is two letters away from "Stupid," you might want to give careful consideration to the causes you champion.
I feel like I should be taking notes. About calligraphy.
I've been mostly focused on one general research topic for the past few years: medieval music. I've been branching out a bit into medieval poetry as well. Ah, let's call it medieval performance. And I've gotten pretty deep in, to the point where I can just glance around and see all the unanswered questions I have, all the different routes to furthering my knowledge.
That can make it hard to remember what it's like to get started in a new field.
I've got my two beginner's books on calligraphy and my felt-tipped pens. If I were to try an A&S entry right now, my documentation would be something like, "And this is Unical, as described by Duffin and used in (some manuscripts). I'm using a felt-tipped pen because I'm still learning; a metal nib dip pen would be better, and a quill would be most appropriate." And my references would be two books.
Because what more can there be, right? "This is a period handwriting style, I've duplicated it, therefore this is period."
Of course there's more. There's layout and design and decoration (or lack of same). There are materials used. There are thousands of manuscript pages one could look through to learn... who knows what? Variations on technique or style? Methods of correcting errors?
I'm sure there's even more. But, having just barely scratched the surface of this art, I don't know enough to know what questions to ask! Which, in its way, is a positive. First, the trip itself, the "journey to knowledge," is fun and exciting in its own right, and I look forward to it. But second, if I "knew everything," I'd feel compelled to try and do everything, and paralyze.
Apprentices were not plonked down, lectured until they were stuffed full of lore, and set to work making masterpieces. They were given simple tasks, with explicit guidelines. When they mastered those, they could move on, and on, to more complex tasks and to understanding why the guidelines were the way they were. I'm at this apprentice stage, or even a pre-apprentice stage in which I'm learning the most basic skills an apprentice would need to do useful grunt work. It seems appropriate that the scholarship reflects that level of artistic involvement.
The Somerset Folk Harp Festival actually starts today, but I *am* saving leave for maternity leave. So I'll be attending tomorrow and Saturday.
My tentative schedule:
Friday:
Arranging Pipe and Fiddle Tunes for Harp: not so much because I want to arrange pipe and fiddle tunes, but because I expect the information on intros, bridging and arrangement may apply to other melody-only pieces, like medieval monophony. Otherwise, I'll take The Art of Relaxed Performing.
Wire Harp Master Class with Ann Heymann, the premier reconstructor of ancient wire technique. (There's a class on "Authentic-sounding medieval music" at the same time, but I'm afraid it will rehash a lot of what I already know about modes and simple interval accompaniment.)
Scandinavian Harp Ensemble, to explore the modern folk music of the descendants of the Vikings.
Saturday:
Improvising on early music melodies. It's medieval, it's improv, I'm there.
Wire Harp Fingerings: Bunting and ap Huw figures, another Heymann class. There's a historical harp show and tell at the same time, but again... I figure I know half the material, and am not in a position to make use of (read: buy another harp using) the other half.
Telyn Rawn: the horsehair harp, yet more Heymann. Gerald of Wales gives a singularly odd description of a Welsh harp made from horsehide and strung with horsehair, and most everyone has always thought Gerald just didn't know what he was talking about. Some folks actually tried building a harp as he described it, and this is a show and tell of the result. Way cool!
I attended my first Somerset back in... 2000?, and this is only my third. (They're expensive.) But I always come away with some new musical insights and a lot more excitement and energy. The follow-up can be... lacking (I have two or three books on Norwegian and Finnish music purchased in 2003 or so, largely untouched, and Ann Heymann's "Coupled Hands" technique book, read but not practiced...) but it's all good. I feel sometimes like I'm storing up nuts and, when the right season comes, I'll have the materials on-hand to do the work I'm finally ready to do.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
I'm starting to kick around ideas for this now, rather than later. Because what's a better idea than planning new arts and crafts projects when a new baby is scheduled to turn your life upside-down in November?
By far, my strengths are in Pentathlon Category V, Courtly Arts. I want to get my arms onto a small pennant like the ones in the Bayeux Tapestry (Heraldic Display). There's my "Wulf and Eadwacer" translation/performance (Poetry/Performance) and just oodles of poetry I could use.
I want to do a brocaded headband, which would either be Costume Accessories (Category II) or Weaving (Other) (Category IV). I'm (slowly) working on my calligraphy (Category I), which I could use to, say, write out some poetry. Very basically, I want to make at least one white linen underdress (Category II again). Not showy, but I might handsew it and I'll definitely finish the seams. I didn't know to do that on my first linen dresses, and now they're fraying apart in places.
Since I'm a rank novice in anything outside of poetry/music, I don't expect a great showing... but these are things I want to make anyway, so why not group them together as an entry?
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
I had my 20-week sonogram today. Preliminary results were at the midwives' by the time I got there this afternoon, and no major problems were reported. I assume they'll be taking a closer look, and in particular the tech had trouble getting a good view of his spine, just because of positioning. So I may or may not have to go back, we'll see. But hurray for healthy!
The tech thought she "saw something" and said it's "probably" a boy, but the angles were such that there was no clear image. Looks like a baby brother!
We went to Boston for the 4th of July. It was for a family reunion. There have been several deaths on that side of the family this year, including my father-in-law, so it was Important to Go. Not so much to us, but to people we love. So we went. And it was a perfectly nice time.
But holy cats, four days on the road for one day of cabin camping with an energetic toddler is not a relaxing vacation.
Monday, July 6, 2009
"The point is: there are bugs out there."
- My Dear Spouse on what defines a camping trip.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
"The cultural response to something not working is to move north, and when that doesn’t work you move south. And then you move north again and then you move south again, and then you finally say the hell with it, I’m out of here, and you go down to Chihuahua."
- Dr. Steve Lekson explaining his theory of Anasazi migrations.
"I believe enduring love is primarily a commitment and an act of will, and for a marriage to be successful, that commitment must be reciprocal."
- First Lady (of South Carolina) Jenny Sanford
Saturday, June 27, 2009
We went to the Maryland Science Center today!
I think it was our first family trip taken specifically on Spud's behalf. Not that the Science Center wasn't cool, but I would probably not have shelled out $15 to just see it on my own. This was definitely for him, as opposed to taking him somewhere that was for us, or for our families.
He loved it. He loved sweeping sand with the brushes, he loved the swirling water and tornado displays, he adored all the buttons to push. He even ran, giggling, right up to... a blank grey wall. Kids are strange.
I was fairly content to let him play with one thing for as long as it amused him; the Dear Spouse wanted to show him different things. We would have probably never have left the atrium without some lift-and-carry. "No! No, I'm having fun here! I don't wanna goooooh, what's that?"
The kids' room is on the third floor, and we almost didn't get there because of the fun he was having on the way up. But I'm glad we made it up there, because they had a water table. That lasted a good long time, until he picked up one of the water-scooping cups and started to drink out of it. Ack! (You'd think the chlorine would be a deterrent...)
I have been wanting to see the laser harp since I heard about it. Somebody reprogram that thing! Long strings = low sounds, short strings = high sounds. Yeesh.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
I'm still not sure what to do with my GeoCities page. I seem to have three options:
1) Pay ~$5/mo for hosting via Yahoo. Pro: Probably simplest, and I get a domain name. Con: Costs money
2) Post to the moetica.typepad.com domain. Pro: Already paid for, ad-free. Con: Uploaded web pages are either not easily editable online or else are stuck in the site's frame, labor-intensive shift of pages.
3) Migrate to one of the other free sites offering this service. Pro: They promise automated migration service, free Con: Ads on site, no guarantee of continued service.
Hrm...
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
I volunteered to raffle off an hour of my time for the Royal Travel Fund fundraiser at King's Assessment. I checked the website today, to see if it made the listing.
Oh boy, did it:
Mistress Teleri Talgellawg>/b>
One hour of instruction in research and documentation, an hour of instruction on Anglo-Saxon performance, or an hour of musical entertainment (vocal and/or harp), winner's choice.
The problem, of course, is that I am not Mistress Teleri Talgellawg, but rather only Lady Teleri the Well-Prepared.
I have sent correspondence to his Majesty, who is coordinating the site, so that Mistress Teleri does not unexpectedly find herself asked to provide a harp concert. I don't even know if she plays!
Monday, June 22, 2009
It's been a lovely, uneventful pregnancy so far. Hence the lack of to-do over it. Most noticeable symptom is shortness of breath, especially when going up stairs. Moe's been a sport about carrying laundry for me. My blood pressure is a little low (for me) but well within normal.
But I will share that I think I felt the first kick Saturday night! Good to know you're in there, TBD!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
I flew the morning and first part of the afternoon solo. Hung out at A&S with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) beatrixherald, ran around finding heralds (including luscious_purple), stopped in at the performer's tent briefly, and had some lunch. After lunch, I was rapidly rotating between my Exchequer and Poeta hats. Lady Ambra found me - she's acting as Deputy Poeta to run the Known World Poetry Challenge since I won't be at Pennsic, and we went over how the thing appears to run.
The Poeta Novice Contest had no entrants at 1pm, when judging started, but just before 3pm, a young lady of around twelve said she had a poem she would like to enter. It was in her head, so she wrote it out for us. Well, the first part was in her head - I had to leave while she was still composing the second part.
I took Spud back for an experimental foray into feasting. For a two-year old, he was fine. He actually consented to stay on my lap for the first remove and part of the second, but then he was bored. So we split between doing what he wanted (roaming around and visiting dogs) and what I wanted (eating). I didn't realize how late it had gotten, and right around 8pm or so (when both of us usually get ready for bed) we both started to crash and it was Time To Go.
Then they announced the pistachio cream was coming out, so we waited five minutes for that. :) It was yummy as always, but I think the meal's standout was the sausage pottage. OMG, tasty sausages! I'd love to know where they got them.
It was still good to see people, if only to have intermittent 45-second conversations. A lady named Tamara remembered me from apparently a few years ago, when I let her play my harp, and thanked me again. Actually, she opened the conversation with, "YOU'RE the poet?" and complimented my A&S entry. Whoa! Poetry doesn't usually get much attention in A&S displays - it's not as flashy as pretty jewelry or woodworking or garb or... anything, really. It's paper with words on it, not visually striking. So that was a really unexpected boost!
The entry did win the Seven Virtues competition, but as it was the only entry, that's not really a brag. (Still, the prize was an awesome box of Viking stuff, so I ain't complaining.) I was very pleased with my upgraded display. I used the same report cover I've been using, but for the documentation only. The poem itself I put into two document frames I'd hinged together with those little bitty hinges they sell in the craft woodworking section of Michael's. Pop out the stands on the document frames, et voila! Poem easily visible, neatly displayed, and protected somewhat from wind and rain.
We departed at dusk, and the start of the drive home was really lovely. Croom Airport Road is a two-lane, twisty thing, with tall trees on either side that meet overhead to make a long green tunnel. Fireflies were sparking along and even in the road, but there was still enough light to see by. Very beautiful!
...but totally spaced on needing to send it several days before the holiday because, you know, mail...
Hallmark E-cards FTW! (link has video and sound)
He's a big e-card sender, too, so there's no risk of paternal ire over 'you couldn't be bothered to send a real card, eh?'
And when I saw this book featuring robot gorilla pirates from Mars, I knew what Moe was getting for Father's Day.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Kingdom Ministers of Arts and Sciences of the Known World have been duly informed of the Known World Poetry Challenge. Finally.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Yellow Wallpaper Burnout Top. "Lightweight knit top has a wallpaper burnout pattern of flourishes and flowers. Pleated, banded scoop neck."
Because don't you just want a shirt that says, "It is the strangest yellow, that wall-paper! It makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw — not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things. But there is something else about that paper — the smell! ... The only thing I can think of that it is like is the color of the paper! A yellow smell."
So, I participate in an online 7th Sea game. And when things are going slowly, I get bored and tend to do things like write random filk songs about the game.
I will spare you the narrative about a ship battle. Two ships almost hit each other but didn't. The End.
I will, however, inflict the two more clever ones on you all. Behind a cut, because I'm not totally inconsiderate in my displays of raging ego.
( 'Toss the Dwarf,' tune of 'Strike the Bell' )
( 'Chef Maurice,' tune of 'Richard Cory' )
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
A new board game from AEG, publishers of one of my favorite RPGs, 7th Sea. It's an Indiana Jones, pulp exploration-looking thing.
There are twelve possible 'characters' you can chose to run through the game. Four are women. Not a bad ratio, all things considered. But while the guys come in builds from "weeny teenager" to "beefcake Rambo" to "spindly old guy," the ladies come in "skinny and busty and young." Two have truly unnecessary cleavage and one is barely dressed. The fourth, who's wearing buttoned-up clothes like most of the guys? "The Ice Queen." Because there's something wrong with you if you don't like men to stare at your chest.
I've registered a complaint and gotten mostly incomprehension in return.
Y'all, the problem is not the cheesecake, it's when 75% of the options are cheesecake. It's when we feel ask if we're either ignored as a customer base, or that you assume that your fantasies about us are the same as our fantasies for ourselves. It's when we don't deserve the same variety of depiction as the guys.
This is not rocket science.
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