The Musician's Musings

1. What do you find funny?

How much room do I have??
-Mel Brooks, Robin Williams, Tim Conway, Benny Hill
-Puns. They may be the lowest form of humor, but they fascinate and amuse me.
-Well-timed slapstick, like Conway/Korman on the Carol Burnett show.
-Voices and accents. I giggle nearly every time I hear " MOTHER! " from Daffy. Hearing comdeians use all sorts of accents is hilarious, no matter how un-PC it is.
-Sound effects. Especially Ryan Stiles and Colin Mockery (sp?) on Whose Line Is It Anyway? I am normally doubled-over after each bit because Ryan is so good at those sound effects.

There's more, but that comprises a l

2. Which is more important: determination or talent?

Determination. Of the two you mentioned, that is what I lack more of. I have talent and ability, but with more determination I can do more. Someone with less ability could do more than what I'm doing as well.

3. How many musical insturments do you play?

I play, on some regular basis:
-Trumpet
-Piano
-Recorder
-Guitar
-Taiko drum

I don't play these much, but can quite well:
-Clarinet (my first wind instrument)
-Baritone

I can play, but less ably:
-French horn
-Trombone
-Flute
-Alto sax
-Snare drum

4. Who in history fascinates you?

Beethoven, for his determination to focus on joy in his music when his world was filled with confusion, hate, bitterness, and disappointment. Oh, and silence.

5. What you expect from yourself when you go to an event?

I expect to be just as courteous as I try to be around people normally, but probably a bit more. I expect to find pleasure in seeing others do what they enjoy doing- fighting, costuming, or whatever is going on at the event. That's a slightly tricky question since a lot of the time I'm watching my daughter, so my focus is on her, not on me, but I enjoy seeing friends and doing some things that I enjoy doing, like trumpeting, singing, playing in the consort, and maybe even heralding if I'm lucky. :-) (no fighting... yet)

F33r my walrus!!

And I finally got my arms as an icon:


Whee. Go me.

The event went quite well today. It was nice to see so many people there for dancing, etc. I am particularly happy with the choir's performance; I thought we sounded quite well in a nice venue with a sizable, cooperative audience. And I've never seen anyone dance to our performances, so that was a bonus, both with Tanzen und Springen and Belle Qui. The food was good, too, with huge dessert selections!! I hadn't realized until I got home that I never sat down at the event, except for the brief court (15 min?). So I'm tired.

I'm still sore from fighter practice yesterday. Don didn't make it, so I had to borrow armor from Thomas (foget his last name...) who was most helpful and gracious. The helm fit quite well, though it was the way the gauntlets bit into my left forearm that displeased me. I got whacked on good by Byron of Haverford (Char), who worked some drills with me. I'm still not landing most of my shots, but I haven't fought in about six months. Eh. It was fun, though, and that's what counts.

Today we took of for the in-laws, where the in-laws are actually out-of-town, save for the kids. So it was the three of us, Brooke and Brian, and the three girls, swimming and eating. Lots of fun. lstrobel had a blast in and around the pool. I'm really enjoying hanging with Brian, and the girls enjoyed seeing us (read: Lake) too.

When I looked outside after we got home, it's like the canopy of trees was alight with blinking Christmas lights: the fireflies are everywhere, and it's giving a magic glow to our yard. Wow.

I must destress. lstrobel danced on both of our last nerves pretty handilly there at the end, and taking a wrong turn on the turnpike didn't help. Though I drove a total of 30 miles out of my way, it's nice to know there's no charge from exit 28 to exit 13.

It was most wonderful seeing so many people there. Pookie enjoyed being in her new umbrella stroller rather than the humungo-model we'd used in the past. And I got rattan!! 18' of it! I can't wait to start making my weapons out of it.

The weather surely cooperated. Really nice 'n sunny all day, not too hot. It just felt too rushed, which I recall being typical when we take Lake to an event and we both have things to do. The choir concert went quite well, being in the barn and all, and Cai and I got to trumpet their Majesties in. That was nice. So was Cooper's chocolate milk. Mmmmmmmmm...... Oh! Got to stroll and chat with gootmu, which I really enjoyed. I don't get to hang out with him nearly enough.

Henry is currently in my lap, which he is now known to do, which is helping all of this. I think a hot shower, and maybe perhaps a home-brew might help things further. :-)

I find myself being rather excited to go shopping for rattan at War Practice coming up. I'm just itching to get back into heavy weapons fighting, seeing as I haven't done any all year, which is almost half over already. Friends will guide me to the ways of getting proper sticks from which to fashion a naginata (pole-arm) and perhaps two katana (broadsword). Then, once I get a pell set up, probably from the dogwood tree, I can actually practice while I'm out with Alfred running around in the yard. What's more, I can practice, in whatever armor I may have, run around and chase Alfred for a spell, then run back and practice some more so I maybe, maybe won't be so bloody winded all the time. Well, it's an idea, anyway.

I was psyched to get to field herald at crown for the first time in at least two years, and only blew one name (who eventually won- heh). The winning battle was wicked. Two swords each, Master Robyn Wallace, who had legged Sir Angeus (sp?) MacBain, was dancing around. Then, he jumped in the air, crossed his swords and when coming down sliced them across Angeus's shoulders and then rapped them on the sides of his helm. This was the third and deciding victory for Master Robyn. Whoa.

I then got to help herald at court, both with the trumpet and behind the dias. That was fun. It was my first kingdom level seconding, and hopefully not my last. I had lots of fun, and look forward to War Practice!

So, went to Baronial 12thnight yesterday after church. There was a lot more going on than I thought there'd be, which I think to be a good thing. Especially for a garb-optional event. I watched Lake for a while, who was having so much fun with Elizabeth and other kids there, and looking so damn cute in the dress that mikoy made her. We shared pasta and other goodies, and once it was time to warm up the choir she was down trying to be encouraged to pillow fight but really more interested in the CHALK! that was there.

It was great to see a baronial court, first in quite a while, and the choir got to perform during court while the cakes of misrule were being distributed. It was great knowing that Alonzio and Tatiana got to be right there to hear us, even if we only sung 4 songs. I thought we sounded well, and we were balanced at 8 people! (SSAATTBB) It was also nice singing in CMU's McConomy Auditorium, meaning we had decent acoustics for the first time in quite a while.

I saw kaote for the first time in ages and was very happy to catch up with her and see her face when I introduced Lake to her. :-) I swear, it was like, "Whoa- you really do have a kid now!" I'm also glad that I didn't accept to run for comet pursuivant this time around. It's just not the right time, especially after buying the house.

That got me thinking, though, and I'm coming up with a list of what I'd like to accomplish in the SCA this year. One of the things that I liked during court was seeing the things that I know I could enjoy doing and do well. It's all a matter of timing and scheduling.

Lake was so tired by the end of the evening, you could tell it was all she could do just to stay awake. When I got her in the truck to go home, we'd barely gotten out of the garage that I noticed her passed-the-f**k out. That was one zonked child.

Today's the first day of the instrumental program at Wilkinsburg. I hope that things go smoothly until we can find a rhythm of what we're doing.

The weekend was great. As my sweetie fiannaharpar mentioned, it was way too long since we've seen the Buffalo crowd, and hope to never wait that long before going up there again.

I had lots of fun and learned a lot at squire practice. I earned one head wound and about four right-arm bruises, plus assorted muscle soreness. I definitely felt better abled this time than the last squire practice I attended. Sama also seemed pleased in my performance/progress. It was great. I even got armor out of the deal! I can't wait to go back to fighter practice soon and try out what I've learned. I also need weapons. :-)

Hanging out with folks was fabulous, as always. Our hosts were wonderful and it was just great being with everyone.

I will miss everyone as well on Tuesday, but it should be a wonderful second anniversary celebration, one I greatly look forward to. :-)