I have often written a partial post and deleted it. I just got to the point where whatever rant I had didn’t seem worth it anymore. So, perhaps I should post something other than a rant!
I am slowly making some progress on the Apple Tunic. I have watched a lot of videos on making what is really a simple garmet. I try to find time each week to a little more. The problem is with our jobs, Gertie and I are just drained when we get home. But I do ultimately think I can do this and dare I say it, enjoy it? I have body panels and a neck hole of an undertunic.
I learned that there will be slings at Pennsic. I later learned that slings have been legal in some kingdoms for almost 10 years! I have no idea why I think this is cool and want to do it. I don’t think I can shot archery well anymore. My form is bad and some arthritis make holding the arrows and string awkward. But maybe thrown weapons will not be so bad. I am aware that slings were pretty much out of use by the late Medieval period but they were the ranged weapon of the Classical period. I am pretty excited to try and see what I can do.
I will be on walkabout for Pennsic. I am going but Gertie is not. I don’t like being away from her and I know she doesn’t like being away from me but I am looking forward to it. There are some things I want to do and Pennsic is where I need to do them.
Not the least of them is saying goodbye to my Father. I doubt it ever occurred to my parents that their weird kid would honor them both with a pseudo-Viking funeral but there we are. Gotta make a shield for my Father and hope his finds peace.
Although I haven’t sat my vigil yet, people have started giving me advice.
I am okay with that. For those that have, it is likely they won’t make my vigil or it was easier to grab me when they did. I am all in favor of advice. It is like feedback though. Earlier in my blog, I talk about feedback and advice is kind of like future-tense feedback. It is like giving feedback before you make it to the event that you might get feedback about. And that is a good thing.
Like feedback, you should give some thought to your advice. I have gotten a few of the old chestnuts so far. I understand the appeal of the old chestnut. After all, someone has to give that advice and if you don’t know the person well, giving tried and true advice is better than nothing. But really good advice takes forethought.
For instance, “look before you leap” is often good advice. But if I am not ever inclined to leap, it isn’t very practical advice. So give some thought to your advice. What do you know about the person you are giving advice to? Are they the kind of person who needs the warning/advice you are going to give? Is there different advice you might give that is more in line with the person’s likely actions/disposition?
Some old chestnuts are just not applicable. “Don’t take any wooden nickels” might have meant something at one time but my local farmer’s market allows you to exchange money for wooden tokens that the vendors do accept. In this particular case, “don’t take any wooden nickels” is the opposite of what should happen. I mentioned in my liminal spaces entry that I have to parse the advice to see what is actually being said.
I fall into the trap as well. Having something pithy to say feels smart. My normal advice is “make your presence normal, not notable.” But for someone who is already omnipresent, is this really the best advice I could give? No. I should spend some time thinking about it.
I have found the best advice so far as been as a conversation, not a one-liner. Share your experience. “When I started out, I did this and this is what happened.” Or at least start a dialogue.
I was asked, “what advice would you like?” I replied, “I need advice on how to peer. How do I evaluate someone’s work?” The person said, “we wouldn’t have chosen you if you already didn’t know how to do that.” That may be but since I am asking, I am not confident in myself. So let’s have a conversation about what asked. Maybe our conversation will illuminate something I was unsure about or give me a point of view I hadn’t thought about. Maybe our conversation will give each of us something to think about.
Some of the best advice so far was also given to my wife. I think that is important in this case. It never hurts to remind me that she is important. It doesn’t hurt to give her advice on how to be the spouse of a peer when she isn’t one.
I have framed this in response to becoming a Peer but really this can apply whenever you give advice. Think about what the other person needs to hear, based on their circumstances. Think about what they actually asked to know more about.
I do truly thank everyone who has given me advice so far. It has not fallen on deaf ears. I am taking it in, deciding what it really means and how/whether I should act on it. These are all valid exercises.
Just some more thoughts while I am in this liminal space.
I will be telling this story as best I can, chronologically from my point of view. Many things were going on outside of my knowledge that I later learned about but I think it will be cleaner to learn things when I learn them.
I like plans and I had one for a long time. I was going to go to Pennsic and demonstrate what a vinegrier was. I was going to demonstrate how vinegar was sold in late Period. I worked with my friend to build a wheelbarrow. I had barrels. I had vinegar. Then COVID. I had more time to do it all better. I built a new persona, bought a new outfit, and spent more time on the project. Then another Pennsic cancelled. I had 40L of vinegar now. My mother passed away. I gained a new job. Gertie developed back issues. But the actual time was coming together.
I learned that two of the things I really want to do, I can’t. Sophia’s Improv shows are during a party I was hosting and during Midrealm Court.
My friend who was going to take some of my stuff couldn’t go. Okay. I bought a van that could pull a trailer for a reason. Time to make that happen. I had a hitch installed. I borrowed my friend’s trailer. I was taking my student so I needed more room yet. I was terrified. What if I wreck? What if I sideswipe someone? What if I get sideswiped?
Wednesday 8/3 comes around. The plan is to go to bed early and hit the road around 4:00 am. I leave work slightly early as the heavens open up. I am thinking, “crap! How am I going to get the trailer hooked up in this?” The rain lets up some. I get the van and trailer on the street except the hitch bottoms out and scraps the driveway. I call Gertie to warn her about the monsoon headed her way. She gets home late because of the storm. Then it is decided, “let’s just leave now!” Sure, why not.
Except, I forget to get the clothes I was going to wear and to get my beat up shoes. But we leave. And drive through that storm for the third time as we make it to just about Ohio. As we call about hotels, we learn most are booked. Maybe because of GenCon but maybe because of college move-in days. We do find a hotel and get ready for the next day.
Back on the road and we go through pouring rain yet again. I don’t know if it is the same storm but it sure seemed like it. We get to Troll. More rain delays us. Now troubles begin in earnest. My friend is staying up Bronwen’s Way. I take the fully loaded van and trailer up the mud/dirt roads until I can’t go up anymore. The wheels just spin. The trailer gets stuck in the ditch to the right. The van skids and gets stuck in the ditch to the left. The advice is “call the Coopers. They will send one of their tractors to get you out.” Except, when I call, the Coopers say they don’t do that anymore. Gytha sends for a brute squad from some Aethelmearcians around the corner. Turns out they are all ex-Army and some are vehicle recovery specialists. A Ford 4×4 and heavy chain later, the van and such are free and pointed DOWN Bronwen’s Way. It later turns out this was an Aethelmearc Duke who had just stepped down from the Throne!
We make it to our camp and get things set up. It took ~ 4 hours to get things set up from Trolling in. Good thing we left early. We go into “town”. I buy a beautiful leather pouch that will go with the Apple tunic idea I have. We buy some wooden chairs, a box loom, and a mirror box as well. Thursday night, there is more rain and in the middle of the night, I feel drops. I assume it is condensation. It happens with the moist breathe inside and cooler air outside.
Friday comes around. Gertie can’t sleep because the cot is slanted. I try a few things for that. The day is generally misty but too warm. I spend the day trying to find people to give them things. Someone’s bow, vinegar I brought, finding their camps, etc. Everything is muddy. Everything takes 3 times longer then it should. I drop things constantly. The heavens again open up. It is most likely because I keep telling Zeus he is an asshole.
See people kept saying that I must have pissed off Thor. Thor is often the friend of man. But Zeus? Zeus has issues. And yes I did say he was an asshole several times. I was feeling more Greek than Norse with my worship. We invoked Hermes earlier and made it here safely. As final evidence, the sheets of rain were too much for our tent and for the merchant who we bought the chairs from. The waterproofing on our tent gives out and we get inches of water in the tent. Anything paper is ruined. That meant most of my A&S display, my driving directions, etc. I mainly use dissolvable labels on my products. Those have dissolved. The bedding is soaked. Many of Gertie’s clothes are wet. The brand new leather pouch spent hours in a puddle, causing the dye to run. We frantically throw things in bins to protect them in case it rains some more.
I go to the van, drop the trailer, and we go to a hotel. The hotel has availability for the rest of the week so we reserve it, just in case. To add insult to injury, Siri’s decides to play Depeche Mode’s Wrong as I start the van. The song is about everything being wrong, “I was born in the wrong house of the wrong sign with the wrong ascendency.” You get the idea. We get a good shower and a good night’s sleep. But I had determined at this point that since there hasn’t been a Pennsic for 2 years, there are 3 years (those 2 plus the current one) of bad things that have to happen at this one.
At some point in this, I find the longship and make shields for my Mom, Maelcom, and my cat, Kalliope. They are very simple because I am not an artist!
Also at some point we make it to Hobbitronic and Froderick finally gets garb!
Saturday is spent mostly in the laundrymat. We go to camp to get everything and assess the damage. Since I determined the tent is ruined, I eventually decide to just cut the tent to let the water out. Everything is packed in the van and we go to the laundrymat. That part wasn’t too bad. Gertie needs something to eat so I go to the LJS/A&W nearby. That takes forever. They are understaffed which is not unusual. Three orders are gotten wrong and the staff is talking about how customers are scamming them. One customer is talking loudly about his very conservative political views. The ice cream floats are mostly melted but I get back to the laundrymat. I missed the Opening Ceremonies that I wanted to be part of. Most of the day, Gertie and I were saying how we weren’t going to go to Pennsic again. How maybe we should just go home. Or at least go home early. We were hot, tired, miserable, and spending money like crazy. I had also decided I didn’t have the spoons for some things. I pretty much couldn’t do the A&S display so I contact the coordinator for that and cancel. I had unofficially agreed to bartend Court. I spread the word that I am out for that.
Then back to camp. Our campmates lend us a tent. We re-set up. It is too late to cancel the hotel for this night so we will hotel it again. I do get to see Surreptitious Whiskey perform that evening. Being greeted by friends helped a lot. It really did. I wander to Sophia’s camp as well. I think she loved Froderick more than me 🙂 And that is okay.
Sunday comes around and I have a big obligation this day. The Drunken Duck was asked to serve drinks for the Newcomer’s Party. I am cranky because of the days before. I had planned to just cart my stuff to Midrealm Royal, figuring it will take 1.5 hours to do so. Gertie insists and she is right that I pack up the van and drive the stuff there. First though, I go to the A&S display.
Then to the Newcomer’s Party. I am there very early apparently and I would later learn, I made some people mad. I had 30 minutes between the end of the last party and the start of mine. With kegs and set-up, I didn’t feel I had enough time. Technically, I was responsible for the drinks only. But decisions needed to be made so I made them. Non-alcohol on one side, alcohol on the other, food in the middle, kids activities in the back. Actually, I think the party went well except for making whomever mad and forgetting Duke Talymar’s household for the “thank you’s” at last call. I did make another announcement to thank them.
As the party is winding down, Gertie asks me to get a tarot reading from Dr. Best. I am reluctant. One, I am perfectly capable of doing my own reading if I wanted one. Two, as much as I like plans, I don’t like knowing my own fortune. It is way too easy to read what you want in the cards. But she insists and I have put her through hell so far so if this is something she wants, I will do.
I center myself, spread the cards out, and draw the 5 of wands, queen of coins, and 10 of wands. Henry reads this as mostly reaching the end of one journey of creativity, gaining status, and starting a new journey of creativity. I am dubious as that is not what 5 and 10’s mean to me but it is his deck and his reading. He does comment that no one has centered themselves as long as I have. I do feel somewhat comforted by this as I am nervous about tomorrow and maybe the bad luck of the last few days have passed.
I call for last call, giving thanks to those who donated to the Duck, give a salute to Maelcolm and Verena. And correct the error of forgetting Talymar’s house. I repack the van and drive to parking. Somehow, Gertie and Jhondo make it back way later than me. We stay up for a bit and Gertie asks me to sing and I can’t remember any songs.
I think this is when I have two of the revelations I would have this War. I had been thinking about the difference between Fate and Wyrd. Let’s say you get a prophecy that you will die to a dragon. If you look at it as Fate, you avoid dragons. You do everything to not be near dragons. But somehow, despite all of this, you will end up dead by one. But if you look at it as Wyrd, then you train as hard as you can to kill dragons. Each dragon you slay is not the one destined to kill you. Until the end of it all, the biggest, baddest dragon of all comes within your reach. You fight valiantly, gloriously. Then it kiils you. You died in an epic battle that is immortalized through the ages.
The other is a conversation with Master John. He asks what my next project is. I talk about the Apple Tunic I want to do. He says, “you are really a goal oriented person, aren’t you?” I am. I need to know what I am working for. When I start a new skill, I need to know what big thing I am working for. I am willing to do the small steps but I need to see the other side of the chasm I am leaping over.
I think what what I did to make someone mad about the party is about the leftovers from the Queen’s Tea, especially the drinks. I was offered the leftover alcohol from the Queen’s Tea several times. I did say that I would try to work them in but I wanted to set up what I had brought. I have 7 kegs worth of stuff and multiple cordials. The whole point to the Drunken Duck is to promote what homebrewers are doing. Because of dry sites and such, parties like this are a rare opportunity to show what we can do. Also, I felt is was like asking an accomplished cook to work in a bag of McDonald’s hamburgers to the menu. Did I get rude? Possibly by the third time I was asked. Again, in my mind, I had 30 minutes to reset this scene and setup. I felt I was watched and on the verge of failure. I don’t expect anyone else to be responsible for my anxiety but I would be foolish to not acknowledge it myself. If you are reading this, and I insulted or was rude to you, I apologize.
Sunday is over and Monday arrives. It is now do or die time. I sent up the cart in the morning. I make it to the first class for this war. I have missed 9 classes so far! Then back to camp and to be a vinegrier. I am nervous. Will people get it? Will I fall out of character? Will I go home with 40L of vinegar? Off we go! And the cotter pins fall out. Every 10 feet or so, they fall out. Gunnar and Redi are now tasked with watching the pins. We eventually just bend the heck out of them so they can’t fall out. OH! I forgot to mention that with the rains earlier, everything I have with wood is swollen. I break one of the banner pole bases and I have a hard time gettings the fake mortise joints in the cart.
But all fears were for naught. People got it. People enjoyed it. I was less concerned that the product was liked; I had made it for a while and knew it was a good product. But people played along and got the experience. Three customers in and I knew it was successful. Each stop was a lighter cart. We hit Midrealm Royal as the Craftsperson’s Green was going on. As Gunnar said, we were “fashionably late.” It turns out Her Highness loves vinegar. Vessel is acquired and approval given.
Then we go to Aethelmearc Royal. The Harbinger greets us and takes us back to the cook. The scribes want vinegar too. Later that day, I knew I had done the thing right. I run into Roana. She mentions that Their Majesties Aethelmearc heard that I had given a real medieval experience to one of theirs and went to Their Majesties Middle to praise me! All throughout the day people are complimenting me on my outfit. I do like this outfit!
Now we get to another revelation. I had for a while being thinking about whether I have done anything meaningful in the SCA and where my self-worth was. By meaningful, I mean something specific. The SCA is better for me being in it. I don’t mean the friendships along the way. They are meaningful in themselves. For example, being Caer Gwyn’s exchequer for 7 years isn’t meaningful. Someone was going to do the job and there were no significant changes due to me doing it.
I started thinking. Sage of the RUM is an honorary degree in RUM that I helped set up. I am the first Sage of the RUM that I didn’t make. That was something. To my knowledge, I am the only vinegrier in the SCA. I just gave someone a moment of the Dream Made Real. These are meaningful. I realized that though I wanted to be a Peer still, I no longer NEEDED to be one to have worth (in my own eyes).
Monday night, I go to see some Commedia and attend the Bacchanial party. I didn’t think the Bacchanial was my kind of party. One, I can’t see anything anyway (being too short). Two, I would have preferred good conversation anyway.
Tuesday rolls around and I am feeling better about this. I have three classes to take and one to teach. Gertie is telling me that I need a new outfit for Court. I am somewhat wondering “why?” I have my swan tunic and that will be good enough. I am not going to be called up. But as word of what I did spreads and people I don’t even know tell me they enjoyed the experience or vinegar, perhaps I will be getting an award. And I am nothing if not Gertie’s dress up doll, so why not? Gunnar and I joke that we should make paper Oswyn dolls for dress up play. I go to get the jerkin altered.
My class is good but I am serving alcohol so I am not surprised.
I was supposed to go to the Sake party but we decided to stay in camp and that is when Surreptitious Whiskey came to the camp on a FyreCrawl!
Somewhere in here, one of our camp mates gets heat stroke. That was either Wednesday or Thursday, I think. Also Gertie stays in camp a few times.
Wednesday is the day I need to help take care of Gunnar. Gunnar had decided that he really needed to win the Laurel A&S competition and my job is to keep him sane. So I attend to him for a while. Other friends of ours are there and we start joking about how often I am wrong. At first, it is kinda of funny but at some point, it stops being funny to me. I didn’t say anything to anyone. I just started to realize that it wasn’t funny. Gunnar sends me away since his judges are coming. Another revelation hits. I need to change my self-talk. No wonder my brain weasels know what to say to me to bring me down; I give them their lines! This will be hard but I will try to change my self-talk.
I go to teach my vinegar class and it is PACKED! Near the beginning, Their Majesties Aethelmearc come to my class and present me with 2 “gold” guilders as payment for my services! Now I know I did something important. And I am a “professional” now that I have gotten paid. As far as I know, these were struck by His Majesty’s own hand. I am floored.
Gunnar wins the Laurel A&S competition! He is now constantly saying, “his house has done very well this war.” He is auctioning most of the jewelry for Midnight Madness. Then Midnight Madness.
We did a lot of shopping during Midnight Madness, including a Turkish outfit a piece. More money being spent. At least we had it to spend.
Thursday is Midrealm Court. More shopping to finish the new outfit I have to have. The Pennsic Independent comes out and I am in it!
With the buzz around town, the insistence on a new outfit, and such, I am 80% sure I might get an award. Possibly a King’s Chalice. What I did was pretty cool and everyone is talking about it. I believe I go to see those people I still owe vinegar to but hadn’t found yet. I also have a private tasting with Her Highness and Duchess Ainor. That goes well and I give Her Highness much of what I have left of the Sherry Amontiano vinegar. We go to Court. As is typical, virtually no one is sitting up front. We set up our chairs and wait. There is a lot of good stuff happening. Then Gunnar is called. He talks about the War Point and how his house has done very well. He talks about me a bit. I figure, “okay I guess I am getting a Chalice or something.” Then I hear the words, “I beg a boon.” I bow my head and a few tears fall. I walk up with Gertie. With all of it, I forget to hug Her Majesty. There are cheers, from many who are my friends. I am escorted to be back and hugs and “well deserved” and “it is about time” etc. Court finally is over and we go back to camp. There was a brewer’s and vinter’s party at Royal but I didn’t know about it beforehand so I don’t go. We drink mead at camp and I am mostly lost in thought.
I had gotten to be place where I didn’t need this but here it is at last. It is probably 2:00 before I get to bed. It is cold this night and Gertie is in pain.
Friday arrives. We pack up some stuff and Redi’s stuff needs to be packed up too. I want to see Wyrd Sisters tonight. Messages are coming in all day. There were some items we needed to get yet. So more shopping. I get a message from Her Majesty that I need to change the date for my elevation. So off to Royal for pleasant talk with Her Majesty and their Highnesses. Gertie wants to stay in a hotel tonight and have a decent meal. We do that before the show. Marie and Zsof (and really all of the cast) kill it. I really thought everyone did well in their roles. I am glad I could see what they have done.
Saturday we help pack out the camp and I need the Watch to move the trailer. The same person has been parked in front of the trailer most of the week and I can’t leave without the trailer. We hit the road and get home.
We will likely attend Pennsic again, probably 2025 for our next. It started off poorly and ended surreally. I did what I wanted to do and succeeded beyond hope. I have a grand party to plan. Mostly, I am glad I could pull off the vinegrier thing and that Gunnar got his win.
It turns out, the Laurelate knew for a few weeks. Gertie knew Sunday night. I hoped that it would/might happen in the future but not now. I thought I had made enough buzz at Pennsic that combat scribing was called for. I honestly didn’t know. I thought something else was happening. I appreciate everyone’s support for me and faith in me. As an oath I might take says, “if you see me taken with a weak heart, remind me of this oath I take here today.” See some of you at Crystal Ball.
With looking at activities in the SCA, there is often a strong desire to go back to whatever was available in the medieval era. The idea is if we want to know what they had or did, we have to do it as they did it and with whatever they had. We will often not be able to. It might actually be impossible. It might be too expensive. It might be too time consuming. But it might be possible and if nothing else, shows what an object would have been like.
However, for some items, it doesn’t hold meaning. I am in favor of stepping back and I have done so with planting my own apple trees. Is there any meaning with planting period apples, assuming I could find such a thing?
I was asked recently if I have tried making cider with period apples. The answer is no and the answer is also that it would not tell us anything. The reason is terrior.
Terrior is the expression of the land and environment in fruit. It is most often discussed with grapes. Other items exhibit it as well, coffee and tobacco, for example. And apples.
To explain it with examples, let’s take grapes. Pinot Noir is grown in several places around the world. Originally in France but also in California, Chile, and Australia. Does a bottle of wine, of the same grape, from each of these places taste different? Yes and to an expert, very different. Different enough that you wouldn’t recognize it as a Pinot Noir? Potentially. The composition of the soil is different in all of those locations. The amount of sunshine. The chemical composition of the water. But it is more than just a different continent. Vineyards located only a few miles from each other can also yield different flavors in the fruit.
But the land itself is just one part of it. There is a difference between the same grape in the same place but at a different time. Some years are “good” years. Some years are “bad” years. You can taste the difference of a bottle of wine made in the same vineyard but a different year. Again, the amount of rain, the amount of sun, the amount of heat, the number of pests, etc can all influence the flavor of the grape from year to year.
We also have to consider the evolution of yeasts, even of wild yeast.
Apples also exhibit terrior. According to a cider podcast I listen to, the same apple variety, grown just 20 miles away from each other, have a detectable different in terrior. With the nature of apples, apples of the same variety is often closely genetically related to each other. To reproduce the same variety, you cut a scion from the tree you want to grow more of and graft it on another rootstock. Many of the rare varieties are actually just cuttings from the same few trees. So, where you grow the apples has a huge influence on what the apple tastes like.
Let’s say I could get White Pearmains to try to make Norman cider from ~1200 AD. I could get those apples here in the US. Is the cider I make close to what the 13th century Normans made? Probably not. The climate is not the same. The soil in the US is not the same as the soil in 13th century Normandy. Even if I could get apples from Normandy, I am not necessarily making something similar to a 13th century Norman cider. As I have said above, even apples of the same variety only 20 miles away yield different flavors. It is likely closer but not guaranteed. I might make something that is similar to a “bad” year in 13th century Normandy.
This is why I say it is not meaningful. With the science of cider being what it is today, we have a good idea of what would make a good cider and what kind of apples a region might have. As long as we select apples with those qualities, then we are making a cider that is in the style of a historic cider. “Heirloom” apples are higher in tannins and closer to bittersweet and bittersharp apples. But taking the modern descendent of heirloom apple doesn’t necessarily help us because we can’t make the climate and soil conditions match back then.
Does that mean I won’t do it? No. I will likely at some point get period apples and make a cider from them. But that doesn’t make it a more authentic period cider because there are too many other factors that can’t be controlled.
I think it is more important to know what kinds of apples and what kind of process was used to make a cider in a given place.
I recently applied for a badge and a household name. I then decided I should update my personal favors. Previously, I used fused glass squares and I may continue to do so. I am especially interested in doing so because a few friends have chosen to wear said tokens as jewelry. I am so honored that they have done so. But as Oswyn Swann evolves, so should the things that represent him.
These are my new favor tokens. They are 1/8 dram (~1 ml) glass vials filled with my Pinot Noir vinegar. There is a tiny label and I just got the wax sticks to seal the cork.
One of the things I wanted to do with the favors is make sure to say who the thanks is from. I have made favors which I have sewn to my shoulder bag. I don’t remember who gave me most of them. I wanted to make sure they whomever remembers who it is from. Unfortunately, the recipient will have be creative to attach it to something but it is not impossible.
At work, there is a small group of us who play pickleball. About a year ago, I got persuaded to join in. I played a bit of racquetball in college but sports aren’t really my thing. I have made it clear to everyone that I play for the physical activity of it. I want to run around. I would prefer not to embarass my teammates or myself but I am not necessarily interested in winning.
There are about 3 of us who are about my skill level and about three of who are much better than that. One of my co-workers is pretty competitive. He saves his John Macinrow tantrams for himself at least.
We rotate around today and he gives me some unsolitcited advice on how to play better. I somewhat sarcastically acknowledge it.
I then go on to play worse for a while. Not on purpose but he is my head now. In waiting to hear more advice, I am tempted to tell him “you can either be on my team or in my head, pick one.” I also wanted to give my own unsolicited advice, “get out of your own head as well.”
The whole point however is more about playing the game. While he and I are playing by the same ruleset, we are not playing the same game. He wants to make good shots and would really prefer to win. I want exercise. I am willing to improve at the speed of my experience but no faster.
This applies to many things, especially the SCA. We are all playing broadly by the same rules (the mega ones; obviously our specific subsets have other rules). But we are all not playing the same game. Before you are tempted to help correct someone’s game, find out what they are actually playing and whether they even want your help.
One commentor thought I should expand on it so here it goes. And I noticed that Sir Gebhart posted similar about heavy fighting.
People have different motivations for what they do. They have different goals. They have different access to resources. This should be obvious.
However, unsolicited feedback is a giant assumption that the other person wants to achieve the same goals as you. You are forcing your vision of “the game” on them. We have seen these comments before:
That outfit isn’t period; You should do this.
If you want to be a knight, you should do that.
The assumption is, you aren’t doing it the way I would do it so you are doing it wrong. Basically, you must share my goal of being the best.
But not everyone is playing that game. Perhaps, they enjoy something different. If you want to give legitimate feedback, then you have to work to understand what you are seeing.
The first thing is you need to understand the other person’s goal. What are they trying to achieve? What is their motivation?
Next once you have that, what kind of feedback are they looking for? Pretty often with my crafts, I am pretty aware of my limitations. I may not have access to certain equipment or certain techniques. Feedback that involve those things isn’t helpful.
Lastly, that feedback needs to be given in such a way that the other person will accept it and do something with it. This doesn’t mean sugar coating it and it doesn’t mean the “compliment sandwich.” But it also doesn’t mean snide one-liners either. The feedback also needs to be something the person can do. Telling someone who is just starting that they need to improve with an advanced technique isn’t going to help.
What does all of this mean? It means that you have to get to know the person you are giving feedback to. It is not as simple as a few sentences. It is a conversation. If you don’t have time to learn all of these things, then maybe you need to keep your feedback to yourself.
It is quite different when someone approaches you and asks for feedback and that is almost always a conversation.
At Duchess Wars, Hrefna held a class on SCA:iri and other ways to present information. She mentioned tri-fold posters are popular in the science community to give quick updates on research. And one of the things she stressed was develop your own “brand” or “theme” so people can readily identify your posters. I do have more current drafts; below are the images from before the more recent revisions.
I like the idea. Here are three mock-ups on posters I will put together for upcoming craftperson’s displays.
I have chosen to use my device colors to help brand them. On the more recent versions, I have included my name and contact information.
Here is a persona study poster. I talk about Bath, and the three Oswyns and where they are in development.
I think this is my favorite one. It is about vinegar and why I call it anti-brewing.
Then lastly one about paper. It is medieval recycling; especially compared to modern paper.
I pulled my second set of sheets this past weekend. Basically I am on hour 3 of the 10000 needed for mastery. But it is getting there. It is kind of relaxing.
We will take it as read that I have the vat charged. Here I am getting ready to put my mould and deckle together. In most moulds, the screen is attached to the mould. I actually like this one better because it is easier to clean off and couch the sheets.
Then you dip the mould into the vat. In general, you start away from you and pull it towards you.
It is hard to show the detail. First notice, the screen is completely covered. And I am doing very little shaking. Compared to the first sheets I pulled, these are much more smooth. The fiber was beaten much more finely. That is the big difference. And I am getting less clumping.
Draining the sheets. It takes a lot of water to make paper and then you need to give rid of a lot of water. This is another reason I like the removeable screen; easier to drain. Notice, the paper fibers aren’t moving anywhere. It is not very strong because it is so wet but they are holding together well enough to resist gravity.
Now couching (rhymes with smooching) the sheet onto a felt. It is not necessarily actually felt. Felt is just jargon for whatever wick-able substance you try the paper on. Several of these are built up into a post.
Here is the post on the press.
I transfer the sheets onto boards to dry and as proof of concept, it works! As you can see, when the sheets are dry enough, they start to peel off the boards by themselves.
Ok. They look like crap. I will grant you that. These are much smoother than the first sheets. There are tears and folds due to poor technique by me. Those will get better with time. And I need to glaze them yet. That should help with smoothness as well. I think they are too thin for the purpose as well. But for early stages learning something? I will take it.
Might pull some more before Artisan’s Day but if I don’t, I feel I can demonstrate the process well enough to talk about it.
*photos wouldn’t load and I forgot which ones now..*
In preparation of Artisan’s Day, I knew I had to stop procrastinating and actually try to make some paper.
I made my first 6 sheets this week. And it was indeed lessons that needed to be learned.
First off, making paper is actually pretty easy. It is often taught to grade school children. Now they are given recycled modern paper but all of the important steps are the same. For the record the steps are:
Process fibers into pulp
mix pulp with water
use a screen of some kind to lift out the pulp
remove excess water
Pretty easy, right? As one video I watched on Chinese hand-made paper said, “there is a subtly”. Yes there is.
For my first 6 papers, I bought a papermaking kit last December and used the pressed cotton fiber that came with it. Rip up that fiber, add water, and mix with a paint mixer. So I did that.
Added that pulp to more water. I needed a better mould so I bought better moulds.
I pulled the sheets, couched them, made a post, and then pressed them in the press for ~24 hours.
I then took the sheets out of the press and brushed them onto boards to dry further.
Things don’t dry quickly in my basement.
Some lessons. How you process your fiber is critical. While I am sure these first 6 sheets are fine for art uses, they are not very smooth or regular. I have purchased some fiber that another place has beaten. In our period, fibers were beaten by hand or by trip hammers. By hand is possible for me but time consuming. So already beaten fiber is a good first step. We will see if this helps.
I may need to move to pour moulds. A pour mould is a like the mould and deckle in the photo above but it has a much deeper mould. The idea is that you pour the fiber for each sheet into this large mould. All of the fiber from that pour makes 1 sheet of paper. You have a lot more control per sheet this way. It is slower but makes a nice paper.
Drying. I don’t want to make a more “modern” drier. So I will have to figure out how to use heat or the sun to make this happen.
The inevitability of this is our technology is advanced much further than the medieval. It is actually harder to go back to what was before. If this was a 15 century paper mill, I would have a water wheel on a stream that drove my trip hammers. I would have a ready source of linen to be beaten. I would have a loft with built in fireplaces to hang the paper to dry. I could go back further. If this was a 10th century, Islamic paper mill, I would have slaves to beat the fibers into pulp by hand. I would have fires built behind a plaster wall to keep the wall warm to dry the paper. This just isn’t how the modern world works. I could buy an electric beater. That is about $5000. I can build a cheap drying box which is a box fan, and corrogated plastic sheets for probably less than $100. I could build my pour moulds with plastic window screening and cheap MFB frames.
To build a water wheel, trip hammers, a drying loft, and a source of linen is extremely expensive in the modern world.
I will take this back as far as I can. But first, I need to be able to make the product I am after. Then I can engineer or decide on the steps to make it more authentic. So mastery first then authenticity.
