Blog For Free!
Archives
Home
2009 October
2009 April
2008 August
2008 July
2008 January
2007 February
2007 January
2006 December
2006 November
2006 October
2006 September
2006 August
2006 July
2006 June
2006 May
2006 April
2006 March
2006 February
2006 January
2005 December
2005 November
2005 October
2005 September
2005 August
2005 July
2005 June
2005 May
2005 April
2005 March
2005 February
2005 January
2004 December
2004 November
2004 October
2004 September
2004 August
2004 July
2004 June
2004 May
2004 April
2004 March
2004 February
My Links
NEW Recycled crows 2
Daughter of the Empire :Book2
Daughter of the Empire: book1
Ghosts of Flesh and Bone
wanderhome exiles
Wookieepedia
Miolfhiodha's Blog
Dragon Scribes Community
Captain Picard's Blog
Rebecca the Wrecker
Florence: storyteller + Artist
John Howe
holonews
Is it skill based
It's Dead Jim
Pax Boards
Michael Moore
Zeromancer
darth Vader has a blog
Neil Gaimen
For better or For Worse comic
link to amazon
NASA ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY
wired magazine online
7-crows
Wikipedia
bridget's scrolls
Mutts cartoon
Hubble space telescope
Wish list at amazon
Italian word of the day
William Gibson Blog
halifax ns cbc page
Ljungblut
From the author of the Vader Blog
share a secret on a postcard
The Force .net
STAR WARS OFFICIAL
drachenwald forum
SWG boards
Imperial Order
tBlog
My Profile
Send tMail
My tFriends
My Images
Sponsored
Blog
| blood sucking health insurance vampires |
| 03.31.05 (7:55 am) [edit] |
|
According to the health insurance I have cervical syndrome. What the fuck is that??????? This is teh very first I have heard of this, I can only assume it is a ploy on the part of this blood sucking company to make sure that ANY ailment above the neck is not payable. so can we say pissed boys and girls? great start to the day. |
| Dr. Who |
| 03.30.05 (7:33 am) [edit] |
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/events/doctorwh o/showinfo.shtml" title="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/events/doctorwh o/showinfo.shtml" target="_blank"http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/e... http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/" title="http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/" target="_blank"http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwh... all I can say is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Silly, Campy. fun, scarey, different and I am so glad it's back. |
| he's baaaaack |
| 03.29.05 (2:29 pm) [edit] |
|
Dr. Who! bbc AWESOME!!!!!! |
| WTF? |
| 03.29.05 (12:17 pm) [edit] |
|
Why are husbands allergic to wiping down the counter after they have made it messy? And what about the sink? Could we NOT dump food stuffs down the sink and then leave the catchings in the plug thingies??? Slimey onions and peas and bits of meat are not my thing! The electric razer leavings in the bathroom sink have also got to end. *sigh* I love my husband and he does do house work biut it's little things... you know? That being said, I am the chief leaver of half full tea cups all over the place, and since I have super longhair and shed I suppose that also gets to be a bit annoying. naja what can you do???
|
| wet |
| 03.29.05 (6:53 am) [edit] |
|
So, it is rainy season. Oh boy and that means rain lots and lots of it. Kinda cool really, the way teh clouds shift over thehills and mountains, the rain comes and goes in a variety of speeds amount of water dumped in one go and drop size. Since we have this glass cathedral style roof thingy over the main hallway, the rain is also loud. It's a little like being in a glass tent. I don't mind this weather, sort of Scottish / Newfoundland style wet, the lighting changes a lot and the clouds really move, in difference to my North Germany experience of the cloud cover moves in and it stays this solid grey with or without rain for days and days on end. Of course we are a lot higher up here, no sea level stuff for us any more. So today is a grey sort of manky wet day. The kind of day my dad would have said was a good day to stay in bed. Good day for me to get work done, as it's not so bling bling bright and hard on the eyes.... I know now why Italians and other peoples from sunny warm places wear sunglasses all the time ... because white walls plus brilliant sunlight = snowblindness. 8) Today, being tuesday and the day afer a long weekend, will be work day, got lots to do. laundry house work scroll work and so on. It is also day after the time went forward and that so sucks, I don't understand why we can't just leave time alone but there you go. we lost an hour and boy does my body know it. Gotta get this den room tidy and clean we have house guests coming next week, whooooooopie!!!! and other stuff I didn't do for two weeks, one we were not here the next week I was sick sick sick. Now I am back up to speed more or less. see how much is accomplishable today..... until then, be excellent to each other. |
| good things |
| 03.28.05 (3:42 pm) [edit] |
|
end of the cold that about sums it up until then be excellent to each other.
|
| blah |
| 03.27.05 (8:31 pm) [edit] |
|
why won't this cold go away??? sitting at home playing dumb computer games and not eating chocolate because I can't taste anything anyway. yup that's teh way it goes. until then be excellent to each other |
| so you want to be an autocrat??? |
| 03.26.05 (7:23 pm) [edit] |
|
helpful links autocrating 101 Some possible reasons why people don't volunteer: 1. No one asks them to. many people would like to do something but if no one asks and if no one is specific, then how do the people know where to go or what to do, Be specific in what you need and for how long you need it. People don't mind helping out but most don't want to get stuck doing a job for the whole event.
People will volunteer if they know you really need help, if they know it is not a full time thing and if they feel appreciated and not used. Take care of your volunteers. just some thoughts.
|
| modern technology |
| 03.26.05 (4:45 pm) [edit] |
|
wow we get more than one channel on our tv now thanks to a cool vh uh receiver thingy.
|
| wet weekend |
| 03.26.05 (8:53 am) [edit] |
|
well the rainy season has started. It is wet wet wet and grey. You can't see the hills of the mountains or even the town any more all is shrouded in a soggy rainy misty wet blanket, it 's not cold though. Today we have a bit of stuff to do on the todo list and no desire to do it. we need to defrost our exploded freezer, buy some food and printer inks and other non essentials but nice to haves and we need to do laundry and house work but this cold has zapped our energy. I feel like crap to be blunt, whiel I can now breath ( bonus dude) the coughing is irritating and I get up to do smething ( like scrolls, thankyou notes and so on) and I am immediately exhausted.... and it's a long weekend, how unfair is that? I know whine whine whine so much whine there needs to be a cheese plate. it will get better and the sun will come back and the laundry will get done, the freezer will stop exploding and so on..... It's a bad case of the blahs, let me tell you. On the bright side we have been watchingstargate atlantis that's been cool fun, good exciting show. I find it interesting that the only visible Canadian, while very smart is portrayed as very very annoying and the Scot is a wimp. Is that how the world sees us? but mostly the show is awesome. anyhooo I am off to get some stuff done, what ever.... hope you all have a great easter weekend out there, don't eat too much chocolate bunnies. until then be excellent to each other. ( because unless someone really does find a stargate we are all we have) |
| A thousand things to say |
| 03.25.05 (9:13 pm) [edit] |
|
So the last week and last weekend were an interesting exersize in what NOT to do at an event. I don't think I have ever seen such bad organization with in an event team, team was that a word you could use? Now we have people or persons bitching about the bad everything in publc using names and so on and it's a mess. I have been to bad events inmy time, some bad due to unforeseen cicumstances, like hurricanes and freezing nights, and lots nad lots of rain.... colds migraines and other biological niceties. Some due to lack of food and service / servers I mean a real lack of food as in some people who were on board did not get fed at all and the feast took 5 hours to finish. Some events are just bad, the atmosphere is negative , the people are not having fun, and the whole thing is lifeless and dull, I have been to some really bad events in my time, so as events go this past one was not like this. For the most part ( aside from the migraine) it was an okay event,not the best or the worst, got to be with friends, got do some service, got a nice room with hot water to shower, it was good. But there was an underlying atmosphere of unhappiness or no team spirit. No one looked happy.When asking the autocrat for help, the answer was to go to someone else. Seemingly a common theme. and a kitchen team over run and understaffed. As far as I can remember I heard no call for volunteers and I am sorry but one person walkingabout the event site with a small sticker on his jacket asking for volunteers doesn't help me, a person who does not wear her glasses at events because they are not period and I only use them for reading. If you need help, that's what heralds are for, if you need help, you need to ask for it. It has been my good experience that unless things are in dire straits most people at an event will pitch in and help where and when they can when it is asked for, but ya gotta ask. I's sad when people's unhappiness gets aired out on a public list names get named and bad feelings arise, or are worsened. but I have to ask, if you can't work together why do you do it? If communication is a problem, you need to sort that out before an event. If the person who is supposed to be in charge can't make descions and choices then find somene who will. Last time I checked no one forces anyone at gun point to play. No, is a really good word to learn, it's easy...NO two little letters. While people might not like the answer they will respect it. Not my job, not my problem however are not good words and if you are in charge generally problems are your problem till you deligate. If you can't take the responibility and deal with all the crap that comes your way, why are you doing this? Are you taking on the responsability of organising an event because you really love to do it or because you think it will get you a pelican reccomendation or some other sort of big pat on the back. I often ask that of the scribes who want to get into the business of making scrolls... what are your reasons for doing this and if you are just in it for the glory, then go home and re think your reasons. Glory and award hunting will not make you happy and they don't make you more important or even a better person. Do it because you really love what you do, if this is not the case it all goes to hell in a hand cart big time, I know seen it, been there and walked away from the t-shirt stand. It seems to me that lately there a lot of unhappy people in this kingdom but no one wants to talk about it. there are a lot of problems and negative things going and it's all so very hush hush. There a few old faithfuls doing a lot of work and alot of others who don't seem to want to do much at all, feast halls are being left like bombsites, and no smoking rules seem to be a thing of the past. Shire disrespect the borders of their neighbours and hold events on land that isn't theirs, tax their own members above and beyond normal membership dues, and arbitrarily black list members who seem to go against the status quo.... how can you in all good faith tell a paid member of the sca he or she ' is not welcome at an event' simply because they said no to being ordered around?So what is the problem? More to the point why is this behaviour being tolerated even rewarded? I think it's manners and courtesy. In general humans have become arrogant, rude and cold. You see it on the streets, in shopping malls and so on. no one says excuse me, we don't stop to help someone in need or make room for those who need it on a bus or a train. In short we seem not only to have no regard for our planet but we no longer have any regard for each other. How do you sort this out? maybe we should get back to basics and start seeing the world outside our door, that there are others in front of, beside and behind us who are just like us. they need our help as much as we need theirs. that please and thankyou and how can I help you go a very long way. I do what i do because I truly love it, but it's a slog when so many around me seem to not give a damn. So come on folks smarten the fuck up and get with the programm, because if you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem. so as this soap opera unfolds I will watch with some interest but with out a lot of hope, because everything seems to be going down hill and no one wants to stop the cart. Until then, be excellent to each other. ( or at least try to be) bloody depressing isn't it. :( |
| blah! |
| 03.24.05 (11:01 am) [edit] |
|
I'm sick. It sucks. be excellent to each other .... ( even if cold season isn't)
|
| home safe and sick |
| 03.23.05 (2:19 pm) [edit] |
|
So here it is the much awaited report.... We went last week to Nürnberg and stayed in Erlangen in a place called the Klara Birnbaum Gast and bordinghaus. A very nice hotel with a difference. More little apartments with kitchens or kitchenettes and that allows me some freedom, like cooking meals in the room and making cups of tea and or coffee. The hotel is really nice, very well kept, clean and so on. So that was a treat to find. Erlangen was nice too, the weather was awesome, about 17-20 degrees and it was really nice to see the sun. I went shopping for small things, food and books and stuff. It was very good to get out and browse shops and soon. One night in Nürnberg and I found a cool seconds book shop that had some really nice books on period painting and manuscript stuff. you can have a look here at www.jokers.de mostly it was about doing scrolls, mainly backlog scrolls so a couple of sigillum coronaes and a knight scroll got finished, an aoa and so on. the last weekend in germany we were in Eger, near the czech border ina castle Hohenburg for crown Tourney, fun but very very freezing cold and so now we are sick with colds. It so sucks but that's life. waking up at 4 am sneezing and snuffling is not fun at all. so that's where I am now, at home with a freezer that's gone mad, a washing machine that's sulking and a body that's battling a cold. It's really good to be home though. until then be excellent to each other. |
| gone gone |
| 03.13.05 (6:22 am) [edit] |
|
so we are gone until next sunday, will in nürnberg and then attending crown... full reports when we get back... until then be excellent to each other |
| Friday in paradise in an A3 Quality Cube |
| 03.11.05 (6:46 am) [edit] |
|
okay so the title is a bit lame, especially since it is 7:35am, how can I write about Friday when the only thing that has occured so far is waking up and being handed coffee by my superb husband. However ... it is Friday and we are in a sort of paradise, how else do you lable 12 degree sunny weather at the beginning of march? So I make my way through the start up of the day, my routine such as it is begins with sitting at the computer and sipping excellent coffee, reading emails and browsing the weblogs ( Okay Mi's weblog, it's one of the first places I go, partly because I love to read what she's up to, partly because she is my friend and I really miss her and partly because liek most peopel who read other people's blog I am nosey. She's inspirational to me in many way and also her enthusiasm nudges me to be a bit less eore like and more get on with it like. (Lynne, my guess is you know that about me too.... and I think it's why I love all my friends) More of my friends should start weblogs!!!!!! (hint hint) Friends has been a big topic here because here there are no friends physically speaking. Here there is a house, as Andrea laughs a cube.... I live in an A3 Quality cube, doesn't that sound dreadful, except it isn't it's actually delightful and the house is astoundingly well designed. Not an ounce of wasted space any place. It is definately an artist friendly house. The plants love it too. But the house doesn't make up for company. Female company. A girl needs her girlfriends. and I miss mine. The thing I have discovered is that it gets harder and harder to make 'good' girlfriends, partly because as I get older and move about I can't be arsed to go through all that stuff you need to go through to get to be good friends and partly because of the language thing. Doing the foreign language thing is not easy, and for me it was always a struggle to be articulate in German. How do I explain to a potential gf that I really hate bicycle riding, that all the weird german traffic laws, dos and don'ts freak me out, that it is not her but the bike thing I am not into????? that was a fun one and this particular person was very upset though I could never quite figure out what the deal was. Mostly I think it just gets harder to open up and trust. Most of my GFs have known me for a very long time and they have seen me through some pretty weird stuff on both sides, yet somehow we managed to forgive, or help each other through what ever it was and just get on with the business of being friends. and I am not an easy person to be with. As marcus likes to say, 'well, you can be a bit difficult.' I have been watching Sex and the City lately, we bought the dvd set and I get intensly homesick whatching it, not because I have a group of GFs like that or that we met for brunch every weekend or anything, my friends tend to be more of the one on one kind, plus it's really frigging hard to do that sort of thing when one of you lives in Europe, the other two in the maritimes, one way out west and another in the US and so on.... I mean brunch gets cold while waiting for flights... The hard thing about friendships is keeping them up when you are all apart, it's almost like long distance relationships, you need to work at it and emails and phone calls suddenly become vital. This weblog is partly my way of having brunch. What would I do without the internet? Ack let's not go there. I have great guy friends too, don't get me wrong but they just aren't into shoes and cheese cake and gossip and stuff.... So treasure your girlfriends girls, they are rare and precious jewels that need to be cared for and loved. Take it from someone who moves around a lot, you don't know what you have got till you are gone away.... until then, be excellent to each other. |
| sunny suds and SCA competitions |
| 03.10.05 (2:15 pm) [edit] |
|
the washing machine is having kittens. It has decided that it doesn't want to work any more. it's only 3 years old ( give or take) and it has decided that Switzerland is just not for it. In a fit of pique it decided that it was going to arbitrarily turn itself on and off at random while doing its thing. A tad worrying. Loss of a washing machine is a bad thing they are large expensive appliances. Too bad too because today is the perfect day for hanging laundry outside, a little bit windy, sunny sunny sunny and warm, like 13 or more degrees. I could stand out on the balcony in my sundress and get a sunburn no shit. so... one load of laundry hangs out and dries and the other drowns in the washing machine because I am scared of it, and it knows this. Tomorrow I have to go visit a doctor, this is something I loath with a passion, and usually avoid the medical profession with all possible gusto. I have to go and get a check up done because th health insurance company doesn't believe my German GP that I am actually healthy. In being honest ( and here is a case here honesty gets you harrassed) I informed the new health insurance people taht I have certain problems, allergies to dust and grass, a degenerating disk between c6 and c7, allergy related asthma. These things are a standard in my life and usually don't bother me. The neck thing is a mystery, no one knows how or why that has happened and therest of my back is fine, there is no treatment and the diagnosis wasn't anything spectacular.. I told them that, my german doctor told them that, my husband told them that so now I have to go to a GP here who won't look at this particular problem, won't do blood tests or anything and get a 'clean bill of health'. Does this make sense to anyone because I can't actually figure this out. But I am pissed off about it. burocracy at its absolute best. ;) So inbetween the bolshie washing machine I have been doing scrolls, busy busy. Since crown will be one of teh only events we get to this year, I have to have a bunch ready to give away, not to mention the backlogged done scrolls and so on, it will be busy. I was asked to be a judge at teh A&S thing but no way. How hippocrytical would that be, the person who hates A&S competitions and thinks they send totally the wrong message to artists and people who wish to be artists in the SCA to turn around and judge one of these things. How on earth could I even come close to judging something like that??? I barely know enough about what I do as signet clerk to judge the quality of scrolls, and that is non competetive ( or shoudl be at any rate). I have a really hard time with A&S competitions, why can't they be displays? What is with this need to judge and compete? How the heck can you judge medieval arts? makes no sense to me so I stay away from that, if others want to compete and put themselves through all that stuff go right ahead, I prefer to teach and share and be shared with. Is it really that important to be better than anyone else? and if you are judged the best then what where do you go from being the best? If you lose and lose consistantly then what? Give up get the heck out of dodge? I stopped competing for real when I was 8. For a variety of reasons. I won't get into them but it didn't have to do with losing it had to do with winning and all it's unpleasant side effects. Better to compete against one's own self and be your own best critique, most people are. Are these A&S competitions even period? I have no idea, I am asking this question honestly. Did people in the middle ages set their hard worked wares down in one giant hall with doccumentation and so on to be judged? I know that the apprentice system was competetive but is that the same thing? I have been told repeatedly that in order to stay on that laurel track I have to compete. That, to me, seems unfair. Why compete? Why not share and teach and just pass along the joy in what you are doing?, why is the competition thing so damned important? I have no idea and NO ONE has actually been able to satisfactorily answer this question because most of the people I have asked also feel the A&S competition thing is not healthy. So why push it? I wish I had answers to these question but I have the feeling there are no really good answers out there. there are no real reasons for pitting artists against each other in a variety of fields to get prizes and win awards and so on. Is it me? I don't feel the need to compete and be praised or damned for my work, i do what I do because I love it. That's why I do it. I don't actually care a ton if people love it or hate it, they will do that anyway. I would be lying if I said that certain people's opinions didn't mean anything to me, that's not true and praise is of course nice to hear but do I need to take my work and compete with it? And why? I value critiques and opinions but do I have to place my work in a competitive arena to recieve this critique? Part of my distaste for this I suspect comes from school and at the art college of course your year end project was sort of competing for your mark and the dreaded class room critique i suppose coems close, but that is a classroom situation and in the end the only person you comepete against is yourself. this massive drive for A&S competitions baffles me, I see it as very detrimental to encouragement to new and up and coming artists and artisans. of course this is MY opinion and I am sure that many people will disagree about these things with me. and that's good, answer the questions, give me your reasons..... well this is my rant, been building for a while now. anyhoooooooo gotta get back to the scrolls and the sun and see you later gater.... until then, be excellent to each other... |
| twilight zone |
| 03.08.05 (8:38 am) [edit] |
|
somethings are just plain up there... fox-news-blocker ??? http://mambo.foxblocker.com/i... sudden depressions in the middle of paradise? never ending headaches, backaches and arguments with really stunned health insurance companies. yesterday was a bad day,all those things that sneak up on you after a big move is done and gone, when the reality of no friends and a strange new language suddenly out of the blue hits you and you get home sick for something that doesn't really exist. it's a weird twilight zone thing, that momentary lapse of happiness into something that doesn't make sense but you just have to let it happen any way. in a few days it will pass, things will feel normal ( what ever passes for that these days) and life will go on. in the mean time lots of cups of tea until then, be excellent to each other. |
| 329 |
| 03.07.05 (7:04 am) [edit] |
|
My Ljugnblut cd arrived this morning. Momenteous occasion. Out of 1000 copies this one was #329. I am excited. ----- Sooooooooooooooo, this weekend was spent doing stuff, like shoping at the madhouse they call IKEA / Media Markt, we bought dvds, and a deep frying pan. watching Sex and The City season 1 and eating a very nice very spicey indian curry...that marcus made. Sunday was spent sorting and cleaning, floors laundry and FINALLY the livingroom is sorted out so taht he boxes are ALL gone and we have a livingroom, who would have thought that underneath all that junk there was a beautiful floor leading to a beautiful room. We sat there and had supper downstairs for a change, the fire place was all lit up with candles ( no firewood) and watched TV ( good that it all still works) It was so warm and sunny yesterday that we ate breakfast our on the Terrace, it was just heavenly to sit in teh sunlinght, the NordFöhn wind was blowing a little and when theer was a lull it was actually hot, Laundry dried fast and on the whole it was a very good day. Today will be back to the scroll grind, got a lo9t to do before crown, then we are off to Nürnberg for a week, staying in some apartment / hotel / gästhaus thing, at least it has it's own kitchenette which means we won't be spending a fortune on eating out. there I will have a week to get ready and do little things for Crown Tourney, looking so forward to seeing friends again. We missed being able to hook up with the Aventiure crownd because Marcus got sick the last tiime we were in Germany so I hope this time no one gets sick. Now the only thing we need to sort out when we get back is a couch and comfy chair thing, rocking chairs are really nice but you can't sit in them for hours on end. At least not without a cushion. and that was our weekend in a nutshell...hope yours was as productive and fun and bright and cheerful. until then, be excellent to each other. |
| more snow |
| 03.03.05 (3:32 pm) [edit] |
|
it has been snowing ALL DAY. I am excited by this because I LIKE snow... but it's been a while since I have seen this all day steady sort of snow. it is so cool. back to the scrolls and the emails and so on.... busy busy until then be excellent to each other... |
| Working on scrolls |
| 03.02.05 (7:20 am) [edit] |
|
The backlog gets less and less, this is a good thing. Thanks to a few dedicated people who are workingtheir asses off we will soon have either NO backlog or at least no unassigned scrolls. It's an administrative nightmare but slowly it is being sorted out. Crash course in Excell, upgrade in nagging policy, and dedicated scribes. Yesterday I did something a little unusual for me, a very late period scroll, a letter of Marque with jsut one huge fancy capitol, it looks nice. It was good calligraphy practice, took 8 hours or so to do but in the end it looks pretty cool. Today is picking up pieces day, finishing off other people' left-behinds. Illumination on an AOA and calligraphy on a pelican. Then onto my own backlog, AOAs and a Knight scroll, and what ever else shows up along the way... lately it has been stuff from Principality days.... interesting stuff. So today in and around house work and laundry, while being bathed in the sunlight that pours into my studio I will work on scrolls and medieval art. Crown tourney is a couple of weeks a way so there is lots to be ready for. Since we will be in Nürnberg for the week before hand it means I need to havethe majority of things done from home, I can work in a hotel room and often have but it's a pain in the ass. Have a portable scribe desk and an art box full of goodies... But doing gold leaf in a hotel sucks. ( sounds sort of kinky doesn't it) so today will be a nice art filled day, mixed with admin stuff and housework :) Until then, be excellent to each other |
|
moon phases |