And now for the Local Digital News...

It may soon be an anachronism to say that 'My Barony made the local newspaper!'

So now it's 'My Barony made the local news website!' Which it did.  I recognize lots of people in the photo gallery that accompanies the article, and the reporter has done a great job including many of the other aspects (besides heavy fighting) that make the SCA a fun game for so many non-fighters.

I am speaking, of course, of Art & Sciences! If anyone wants to view the original Outlands Map, I'll be exhibiting it, along with my scribal pigment kit and a Celtic "Argent Heart" Scroll, at this weekends' Arts and Sciences event that was mentioned in the Broomfield Enterprise news article.  So come on out and see my (and many other super-talented artists) attempt to re-create history!

The Caer Galen Arts and Sciences Exposition and Faire
Saturday, January 23rd, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 
at Unity Church of Boulder, 2855 Folsom St., Boulder. 
Map of site


Site Fees:
Adult ~ $10
Youth (6-12) ~ $5
Child (5 and under) ~ free
Family Cap ~ $30 (does not include non-member surcharge)
Non-SCA member Surcharge ~ $3 per person


Need more information? Here's the complete event schedule from the Barony of Caer Galen's Website.

A long absence

The dust has settled and I'm back online again, having recently moved back to the Barony of Caer Galen. While I did miss World of Warcraft a bit, it was good to be offline for a while; you can sure get a lot more done around the house, too.

It has been a sad vacation from the internet, though, as here in the Kingdom of the Outlands, one of our great Barons has passed.

Baron Patrick, from right there in Caerthe, (where I just moved from) was laid to rest last weekend after a sudden heart attack earlier in the week. Sadly, I was unable to attend either funeral or memorial service. I knew him to be a great man, but I wish I had known him better.

I got to attend Crossroads for a very brief period of time, and it was short but sweet. I'm glad my campmates of Darbuka decided to camp really far away from the rest of the event, as it made it possible for us to jam all night and be silly loud all day without keeping any other SCA'ers awake or interrupting other performances. That means none of you at Crossroads outside of Darbuka got to hear the "FAR...speaker". Seriously, don't ever drink and digeridoo.

Over the holiday weekend I got to shoot some footage of drumming and dancing, both at the event AND at the Kara Nomadica show at the Boulder Creek Fest, and yes, it's going to get posted soon.

Glorious Glory and news of late

Well, Glory was, of course, Glorious! Though we experienced some rain and some wind, it was never really all that bad. There were deer, weasel and wild turkey sightings, but no bad encounters with the local wildlife.

As for official stuff, let's see...Cookie has been awarded his AoA, and Marcos was given his Silver Tyne. And I finally got to see the Drum Battle! All that grunting and heaving done by Donovan and Aleksy to get the war wagon on the trailer was well worth the results.

In Darbuka, we were one of the few camps allowed to have fire, which made things much, much more festive. We were THE party every night! Thankfully, an orange Duke gifted us with a plethora of libations for the Darbucket. Upon returning to my tent during one party, I was shocked to discover that 12 people can fit in it. That's a lot of people in one tent. Not as bad as the big Bedouin during the Henna party, though....

If I hadn't had to walk to the Smiling Bull for dinner and the White Rose for breakfast, I probably would never have left camp. Well, maybe once or twice to see the merchants.

I got to be one of the last privledged few to leave site. It was weird, on Tuesday morning, waking up to almost no one left. The day turned into a fun-filled breaking-down-the-camp day that was honestly the best time I've ever had while attempting to leave an SCA event. I think Aleksy finding the last two beers in our cooler had a bit to do with my perception though.

Yeah, go ahead and laugh. I'm a cheap date.

Anyways, the mundane world kept on moving while I was away. Here's some things I scraped off the underbelly of the internet for you.

Much ado about Google.
I swear, Google is really trying to take over the planet. I've already gotten completely hooked on Google Earth. Now I can google forsoothly with Google Shakespeare!

Caer Galen satirical history!
As if there were any other kind. But seriously, speaking of verses....The Sporadic Verses gives readers a glimpse into the minds of those early creative authors of the area, who obviously had waaaaay too much free time. The Verses have achieved nearly a cult status, as evidenced by there being a role-playing game created to support the fans.

There are other cool things in Wyoming besides Glory.
You may know of my love for gypsy wagons. Maybe not. Someday, when I'm rich and/or famous, I will own at least one of these awesome gypsy wagons. Make sure you click on 'interior photos'. Can you imagine that all tricked out SCA style? If I'm lucky enough to become very, very rich, I'll buy a bunch and rent them out at events.

Les Tres Belles Heures de Baron de Caer Galen

I wanted to post about this event coming up, but I was pretty nervous about it. You see, I was TOLD to be there. Then I thought: Oh, no. The only time one is TOLD to attend is when you've done something very wrong, or very right. Either way, you are called into court.

Silly me thinking that this was all about me! Turns out that my fencer friend Cecily was elevated into the order of the White Scarf. Huzzah for the newest lady Donya of the Outlands!

And I even wore a nice dress just in case. My Don, Talan, just wanted to make sure I was there to see it. There has been only two women in the Outlands made White Scarves since I started fencing, and I didn't get to see the other ceremony. It was fabulous, and of course many people cried. I even got a little misty.

Even though court was long, it was punctuated with much humor, and Kamadevi's harp playing during the slow parts. We were well entertained. Caer Galen has found their successors to the Baronial thrones, war plans are being made and there is much to do for this Reign.

Speaking of the King, do you know how funny it is to get caught by His Royal Majesty sneaking out of the Royal Room, following closely behind Don Dio? Kind of makes you guilty no matter WHAT anyone thinks we were doing in there. Trust me, it was very serious business indeed. Even though His Maj gave me THAT look. But if you ARE reading this, I did eat three dates off your food table. In that I am guilty. But look on the bright side: I can honestly say that your food had not been poisoned.

Ah, but I just love the Crowns. It's hard NOT to want to do great things for them. And, as it seems I'll be experiencing a great deal of free time in the next two months, I'll be able to work hard on an updated version of the Outlands Map, which will be ready for Estrella War.

This is the 20th anniversary of the Outlands. I had shown up on the doorstep of the Barony of Dragonsspine in 1993, when she was only 8 years old. Hard to imagine the last twelve years have made me what I am now in the SCA.

Heh. And I'm STILL nervous about the possibility of being called into court.

Especially now.

Danse Macabre

Well, I'm going to get myself all spookied up this weekend for Caer Galen's Danse Macabre. A rare evening SCA event, as opposed to the day-long or weekend-long stuff that usually happens.

I have no idea what kind of costume I'm going to wear. Maybe an undead bellydancer. Or a cut up cavalier...hmm...the possiblities are endless. I just need buckets of fake blood.

Oh, hey, and there's a cash bar. I wonder if they know how to make NostaRovias...