Dwarf Planet in Purple

1. I'm writing this post on Nick's new laptop, which is now mine, of course. I wonder if I'll ever feel as if it's completely "mine." His name pops up when I go to sign in, and I enter his password (thank goodness he used the one from his previous computer, because I didn't have time to ask him about All The Things before he died). I wonder if I should try out his LOTR Online game....

2. I really should pay DW a bit of money so that I can have some new icons.

3. I want some of those icons to reflect the current political situation, but I will not use the face of a certain dictator whom I hate. I don't want to see his face on DW.

4. It's the middle of May. I should really dig out the rest of my spring clothes (and start sorting out Nick's). However, I am also really far behind on the baronial newsletter.

5. I also have about a month to figure out whether I can go to Pennsic. More about that in another post.

... and I forget to update DW. My apologies.

Church is ... about as polarized as the nation at large, I guess. Only the issue is selling the church property. We had our special congregational meeting, followed by a vote, and I worked long and hard on that electronic ballot. The only question was "support" or "do not support" the trustees' decision to sell the property. Well, the "support" side won, 62 percent to 38 percent. But the losing side is still really, really struggling.

The SCA is ... great, when I have time for it. I haven't done a lot of A&S lately, except for working on the inkle loom I bought at Pennsic. I'm making an orange and black strap or piece of trim or whatever you want to call it. Just for practice.

Other things: Just after Pennsic, the husband of the leader of my SCA-related singing group had a massive heart attack, followed by a quintuple bypass, followed by a whole host of complications. He's still in the hospital, but slowly improving. Then I found out a friend who had esophageal cancer -- not the "heavy drinking/smoking" kind, but the "middle-aged man with a few extra pounds" kind -- died at the end of August. I think my last phone conversation with him was in May, maybe June.

Finally, I found out through an online search that the ex who abused me back in the 1980s has died at the age of 66. I'm not crying. I actually feel a bit relieved that I can wander around my old haunts in eastern Massachusetts without the chance of running into him. I'm also glad that he did not try to ruin my science-writing career. Btu still, it feels a tiny bit weird too.

The Dreamwidth people had some sort of "code push" over the weekend, so I thought I'd check to make sure everything still works around here. Apparently it does.

Anyhow. Yesterday I was thinking, "Hm, there was one Pennsic when I didn't bring my tent, but I can't remember why." So I went through my DW entries with "pennsic" tags. Turns out that was in 2017 and the only way I could register was as someone's "ghost," so I ended up in a borrowed mundane tent with a slightly smaller footprint than my own. Obviously the experience did not kill me. In fact, I had a blast, because that was the year that Wyn and Yaakov were elevated to Laurel.

Looking up past Pennsics and remembering the issues I had with the 1993 Honda Accord also reminded me that I'm glad I didn't have that vehicle for an extended period of time.

The packing is getting ramped up. So many things got put into different locations during the move. I just extracted a bunch of mundane necklaces and other doodads I don't want to bring to Pennsic from my "treasure box," a wooden box with a hinged mirror folded into the lid. I bought it years ago at a Pennsic shop called Tancred's Tangled Woods. I'm pretty sure the shop owner passed away before the next Pennsic took place, sadly.

And speaking of death, a friend whom I never met in person, but knew through LJ at first and later through Facebook, passed away a few days ago due to complications from heart surgery last month. He was at https://davidkevin.livejournal.com/ but hadn't updated that blog since the 50th anniversary of Star Trek's premiere in 2016, and I don't think he ever joined DW. His beloved wife Nila died of cancer several years ago, and one of his two grown sons kept everyone up to date on his condition via FB. Ad astra, David.

EDITED TO ADD: Tributes to David here (item #9 in the July 27 entry) and here.

I just realized I've been a very bad Dreamwidther (is that a word?).

Busy month. It began, really, in late May with Balticon. Once again, I roomed (platonically) with Mike T., who is still doing pretty well despite his Parkinson's diagnosis. I had not seen him in person since the previous Balticon, so we had plenty to talk about. I was there from Friday afternoon to late Sunday afternoon, because I took the MARC commuter train between New Carrollton and Baltimore. The fare only $8 one-way, so it's cheaper than parking in downtown Baltimore, plus the arrangement let the boy toy have the Tucson for the weekend. I didn't hang out with R. much. R. was very focused on helping his friend Ira sell his used books in the dealer's room. So I didn't have to contend much with R.'s reactionary views.

The following weekend was Storvik Novice Tourney. For the first time in a long time (duh, pandemic), I camped at an event. And ... I had forgotten what a BEAR that wooden IKEA twin bed is to assemble. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I will bring it to Pennsic, if indeed I go (and that is a story for another night because it's getting late), but for weekend events, I definitely need a folding camping cot. The comfort of a wood-framed bed is great for Pennsic, but I just don't have the energy to put into assembling it for 36 hours of eventing.

The weekend after Novice was the Baltimore Lithuanian Festival. One of my high school classmates, the one who lives on the north side of Wilmington, drove down with family members and we had a GREAT time together. My classmate presented me with an insulated water bottle inscribed with our high school emblem, a souvenir of that 45th class reunion I missed last October.

And then we had our church's annual meeting and elections ... but that is a big can-o'-worms that I don't want to open tonight. Need some sleep.

Happy Earth Day Number 51! Honestly, last year's 50th anniversary Earth Day commemoration was shortchanged because the covid-19 pandemic was still so new. Glad to see a bit more awareness of the day this year.

My apologies for not updating for a while. I've made more posts and comments on Facebook lately.

On Tuesday the 20th I got my second Pfizer vaccination at the mass-vax site at Six Flags America. The process seemed to go even faster the second time around (maybe the National Guard shortened the path that takes cars on a grand tour of the parking lot?). After I got home, I took a nap after lunch. By the end of the evening A&S gathering via Zoom, I was feeling a little cranky and headachy and dozed off on the couch in front off the TV. Yesterday my main symptom was a bruise-like pain around the injection site, even though no bruising was visible. Today that arm pain is almost all gone.

Recently there were a couple of major announcements about events scheduled to take place later in 2021. The Worldcon/Discon committee announced that the convention will be held in December at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in DC. (Originally, the Omni Shoreham was supposed to be the "overflow" hotel, secondary to the Marriott Wardman Park one block up the hill, but the Wardman Park closed permanently.) Then the Pennsic War staff announced that Pennsic 49 will be moved from 2021 to 2022 because of the covid plague.

Thoughtful readers may be thinking, "Gee, this is the second year in a row that Pennsic will not be held. That must suck for the people who own the site where Pennsic takes place!" Well, yes, I'm sure it does. That's why Cooper's Lake Campground, our Pennsic hosts, quickly announced a non-SCA "medieval-style" event called Armistice around the same time as Pennsic would have taken place. The idea is to have a medieval-style camping event with merchants and parties but NOTHING sponsored by the SCA. I have no idea how this is supposed to work. Some people seem enthusiastic -- "Yeah! This will be a nice, laid-back event like the Pennsics of old!" Other people are pessimistic -- "Giant superspreader event!" Personally, I would worry that an event without SCA sponsorship would attract certain folks who were kicked out of the SCA for bullying people (or worse) and who would try to take over the event for their own purposes. Or perhaps those rune-loving white supremacists who would have a torchlight parade while screaming their vile slogans

Ugh. Not sure what to do. I'm very much tempted to stay home in July/August and save up my meager funds for War of the Wings in October, which will double as Atlantia's (rescheduled) 40th birthday. Since I was at Atlantia's 30th birthday weekend, it would be nice to go to the 40th as well. Plus, it would give us more time to tamp down the coronavirus, especially as residents of rural areas seem to be less inclined to wear masks and get vaccinated.

Over and out.

Now it's the summertime events' turn to go away.

Pennsic fell on Thursday. It wasn't a surprise, really, but still, a number of my SCA friends reported (through Facebook) that they cried. Pennsic 49 will now take place in 2021 and there will be a year-long gap in the numbering of the wars. I wasn't even sure if I was going to go this year, but still, it feels like a big gap in the year.

A local (well, Maryland) media convention called Shore Leave, which is normally held in the summer, has been canceled for the year. The big Lithuanian dance festival, Sokiu Svente, that is held once every four years? That has been postponed for one year, until 2021.

No word on when baseball will resume, or when the NBA and NHL playoffs will take place, or anything like that.

Protesters call for the economy to resume, but the "curve" of cases and deaths is still on the way up. Maryland just had its worst day in terms of deaths from COVID-19. We're NOT ready to reopen yet.

So much sadness.

Happy Birthday, wookiemonster!!! The guy who remembers everyone else's LJ/DW birthday deserves some reciprocation!!!

Today I felt weirdly sad for some reason. Maybe it had to do with last night's shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Maybe I just felt overwhelmed. (I wish I didn't have so many big bills due right before Pennsic.) Last night I *had* been planning to mention the Red Sox vs. Yankees series, but the Gilroy news cleared the decks of my mind, so to speak.

The boy toy picked up five new stakes for my tent, plus a new air pump ... but the pump takes C batteries, and the only C batteries I had were labeled "Best Used By 2006." Uh. He's going to Harbor Freight tomorrow.

Jeez, I should visit here a little more often....

For a couple of months, the boy toy and I had been discussing the possibility of going on a little "weekend adventure" around the time of his birthday (June 25). Last year we spent one night in a mom-and-pop motel he found on Travelocity/Expedia/something like that. This time around, I noticed that there would be an SCA event (University of Atlantia) in Lynchburg, a region of Virginia that's part of the Barony of Black Diamond. Never mind that my friends who are Baron and Baroness of Black Diamond would be away at the Known World Dance and Music Symposium in Texas. I figured that we could drive down to Lynchburg on Friday, the boy toy could toodle around Lynchburg on Saturday during my event, and then we could take a leisurely sightseeing drive back to Maryland on Sunday. So that's just what we did.

The boy toy suggested joining Airbnb because his parents have had some good experiences with it. They like having access to a kitchen so that they don't have to eat in restaurants all the time. So I signed up and found a cute little finished basement and kitchenette on a cul-de-sac right in Lynchburg. Two nights, even with the cleaning and administrative fees, came to less than $120.

I should probably write up the details for my Lady Patricia of Trakai blog, but I just wanted to say that at one time between the early-afternoon classes, I was heading to the bathroom when I passed by a woman in a purple dress. She looked familiar ... and it took me a few steps to realize that I had just passed zhelana, who of course lives in a different SCA kingdom from me, so we've never met in person before. I could have met her! But by the time I made my recognition and turned around, she and I were separated by the crowd in the hallway. I looked for her afterward, but I didn't find her, so I missed my one big chance. Darn....

In other SCA news, tonight I bit the bullet and pre-registered for Pennsic (today's the last day for doing so). I still don't know whether I can actually go because of impending freelance work, but I want to preserve my options.

... I finished my Pennsic 47 story: http://ladypatriciaoftrakai.blogspot.com/2018/08/letter-from-pennsic-47.html.

Lots more stuff happening; will try to update again soonish.

The car had a thermostat problem or something like that. Fixed now. But the engine needs to be switched on every couple of days or else.

I left for Pennsic on Aug. 3 and came back on the 11th. The week was a hot one. Some of my campmates actually decamped to hotels. I soldiered on.

At some point I will probably write up the story of my trip in the style of the FB (and Twitter?) hashtag #pennsicletters, which is based on #secondcivilwarletters. But right now I just want to jot down a few notes for last year, before I finish all the unpacking and laundry and the memories fade away.

• Next year, bring some of that rubber shelf liner stuff so that the plastic floor mat doesn't slip on the vinyl tent floor.
• Need stool softener for those hot days. 'Nuff said.
• My walking stick might help on muddy roads. Hey, I'm not getting any younger.
• Continue to edit the small, incidental things I bring to Pennsic. If I haven't started a craft project before Pennsic, I'm not going to start it during the war.
• Don't forget the solar lights and/or candle lanterns.
• Need a clamp to keep the door flaps closer to the front support pole.

Don't get me wrong -- I had a great time! I just wanted to write these few things down before I forget.