Practicum
It was my 9th Practicum and I think it might have been my favourite one.
In the past, I have taken a variety of courses. Being registrar, I got to talk to many people this year leading up to Practicum. One remarked about wanting to take lots of courses so that she got her money's worth. In the past, that was my attitude. I was going to take 6 courses, whether they related to my persona or not, whether I was going to forget the information as soon as I got out the door. I don't regret any of it though. There is only so much time to pursue your interests, and figuring out what you are only sort of luke warm about can be a good stepping stone to figuring out to what you want to commit yourself towards excellence in the SCA.
This year, I only took 2 courses, but they were both courses that are going to change the way I do thing in the SCA.
Muirenn taught basic harp. I have put off playing my harp for over 2 years. (It arrived when my daughter was 2 weeks old - so my harp is essentially the same age as my Pumpkin.) I found basic form impossible to learn from a book and didn't want to learn wrong. I have learned from dance classes that it takes me longer to learn body memory related things than the average person and it also seems to take me longer to unlearn bad habits that I've picked up. Muirenn really helped me get the form in a way that the books weren't making clear. I really feel that I can now practice at home. It only took her about 10 minutes to straighten me out, but that 10 minutes was probably worth the cost of site fee for the family and my potluck ingredients combined. So the rest of the event was just bonus for me.
Muirenn said to think of only practising for 10 minutes a day, every day to start. We'll see if we can do 10 minutes a day 3 times a week.
I did embroidery with Marina. It was good. We covered fabrics and some styles and thread types. And needle size too. It was a good beginner course. I'm not sure exactly what it's going to change in terms of me finishing my celtic knot from kingdom A&S, other than using the correct needle and hoop (if it will fit). It was inspiring in terms of future projects. That couching metal wire looked really cool.
I am proud of the children's track this year. Other than movie hour (which the kids liked - and even some of the tweens/teens), they were all courses that taught a real medieval skill: dance, gaming, calligraphy, leather work, and story telling. I was pissed off when I found out that Rising Water's Children's event was the same weekend. I did copy down their list of courses before the site gets taken down. I'm adding it to the list that Jhone created so that next year, I'll have a larger list of suggestions for people who might want to teach a children's class.
There were 5 kids who took part: Grace, Kate, Lydia, Emily, and Andrew. Grace said that her favourite course was leather work. She had a fabulous day and my hope is that children's courses and children's A&S will create a passion in her for medieval recreation and that eventually she discern her own favourite things to do in the SCA.
My dance course got off to a slow start as Piers was late with my CD player. In the end, we only learned Quen Quer Que and the Pinagay Bransle. In Story Telling, we only did 3 of my 6 ideas. Both were fine because I'd rather be over than under prepared. The kids acted out Hansel and Gretal and Puss in Boots. We then acted out Robin Hood, specifically the scene where Robin meets Little John who bests him in a quarterstaff fight. The kids were high energy, but good when it counted. I told them about stage fighting and how I wanted hands near the ends and hitting in the middle no where near hands. For all the noise and all the times they interrupted me in mid-sentence, not one broke the stage fighting rules and it worked out having them play fight.
I did the story of King Arthur with finger puppets. Kudos to Piers for making me a styrofoam stone, as well as Stonehenge. It took twice as long to tell as I thought it would due to the audience not sitting in chairs, interrupting, and walking around with my finger puppets. I bribed them that if they let me finish, that they could help me perform it at feast. Our feast performance took less time and seemed well received. I had one person compliment me for working with the kids because it is rare to see kids integrated into our feasts by being part of the entertainment. They were all good kids who were a pleasure to work with.
Now I'm torn. I want to work on my real bardic stuff (story telling and harping) and perform more often, but I like the idea of doing something with the kids day of Hare (or 12th Night) to be performed at feast. I like the idea of helping kids to be more a part of the SCA, but I want to be taken seriously as a bard. (Let's face it, there are no finger puppet laurels.) :) I'll have to work it out.
I also got to share a stage with the one to whom I'm apprenticed. :) I believe it was our first joint collaboration.
It was so much fun having Muirenn stay with us and getting to know her better. She was a dream house guest. She had her car packed by 8 AM Sunday morning and didn't even wake up my kids, who were some how so exhausted that they slept in until 8:30 and 9:00. She drove me to and from the event, which meant that I got there earlier and that Piers (bless him) took the kids home while I got to stay. I got to dance and I got to go to an informal bardic circle. There was some poetry, Roan taught a pretty round, and I even got to recite the only two poems of mine that I could remember.
I saw pretty much everyone that I liked during the day. Enid and Henry popped in on their way home from something. Henry brought me "Erik the Viking Sheep" which I didn't get to read to the kids, but which I read to Grace today. It is a cute story.
In the past, I have taken a variety of courses. Being registrar, I got to talk to many people this year leading up to Practicum. One remarked about wanting to take lots of courses so that she got her money's worth. In the past, that was my attitude. I was going to take 6 courses, whether they related to my persona or not, whether I was going to forget the information as soon as I got out the door. I don't regret any of it though. There is only so much time to pursue your interests, and figuring out what you are only sort of luke warm about can be a good stepping stone to figuring out to what you want to commit yourself towards excellence in the SCA.
This year, I only took 2 courses, but they were both courses that are going to change the way I do thing in the SCA.
Muirenn taught basic harp. I have put off playing my harp for over 2 years. (It arrived when my daughter was 2 weeks old - so my harp is essentially the same age as my Pumpkin.) I found basic form impossible to learn from a book and didn't want to learn wrong. I have learned from dance classes that it takes me longer to learn body memory related things than the average person and it also seems to take me longer to unlearn bad habits that I've picked up. Muirenn really helped me get the form in a way that the books weren't making clear. I really feel that I can now practice at home. It only took her about 10 minutes to straighten me out, but that 10 minutes was probably worth the cost of site fee for the family and my potluck ingredients combined. So the rest of the event was just bonus for me.
Muirenn said to think of only practising for 10 minutes a day, every day to start. We'll see if we can do 10 minutes a day 3 times a week.
I did embroidery with Marina. It was good. We covered fabrics and some styles and thread types. And needle size too. It was a good beginner course. I'm not sure exactly what it's going to change in terms of me finishing my celtic knot from kingdom A&S, other than using the correct needle and hoop (if it will fit). It was inspiring in terms of future projects. That couching metal wire looked really cool.
I am proud of the children's track this year. Other than movie hour (which the kids liked - and even some of the tweens/teens), they were all courses that taught a real medieval skill: dance, gaming, calligraphy, leather work, and story telling. I was pissed off when I found out that Rising Water's Children's event was the same weekend. I did copy down their list of courses before the site gets taken down. I'm adding it to the list that Jhone created so that next year, I'll have a larger list of suggestions for people who might want to teach a children's class.
There were 5 kids who took part: Grace, Kate, Lydia, Emily, and Andrew. Grace said that her favourite course was leather work. She had a fabulous day and my hope is that children's courses and children's A&S will create a passion in her for medieval recreation and that eventually she discern her own favourite things to do in the SCA.
My dance course got off to a slow start as Piers was late with my CD player. In the end, we only learned Quen Quer Que and the Pinagay Bransle. In Story Telling, we only did 3 of my 6 ideas. Both were fine because I'd rather be over than under prepared. The kids acted out Hansel and Gretal and Puss in Boots. We then acted out Robin Hood, specifically the scene where Robin meets Little John who bests him in a quarterstaff fight. The kids were high energy, but good when it counted. I told them about stage fighting and how I wanted hands near the ends and hitting in the middle no where near hands. For all the noise and all the times they interrupted me in mid-sentence, not one broke the stage fighting rules and it worked out having them play fight.
I did the story of King Arthur with finger puppets. Kudos to Piers for making me a styrofoam stone, as well as Stonehenge. It took twice as long to tell as I thought it would due to the audience not sitting in chairs, interrupting, and walking around with my finger puppets. I bribed them that if they let me finish, that they could help me perform it at feast. Our feast performance took less time and seemed well received. I had one person compliment me for working with the kids because it is rare to see kids integrated into our feasts by being part of the entertainment. They were all good kids who were a pleasure to work with.
Now I'm torn. I want to work on my real bardic stuff (story telling and harping) and perform more often, but I like the idea of doing something with the kids day of Hare (or 12th Night) to be performed at feast. I like the idea of helping kids to be more a part of the SCA, but I want to be taken seriously as a bard. (Let's face it, there are no finger puppet laurels.) :) I'll have to work it out.
I also got to share a stage with the one to whom I'm apprenticed. :) I believe it was our first joint collaboration.
It was so much fun having Muirenn stay with us and getting to know her better. She was a dream house guest. She had her car packed by 8 AM Sunday morning and didn't even wake up my kids, who were some how so exhausted that they slept in until 8:30 and 9:00. She drove me to and from the event, which meant that I got there earlier and that Piers (bless him) took the kids home while I got to stay. I got to dance and I got to go to an informal bardic circle. There was some poetry, Roan taught a pretty round, and I even got to recite the only two poems of mine that I could remember.
I saw pretty much everyone that I liked during the day. Enid and Henry popped in on their way home from something. Henry brought me "Erik the Viking Sheep" which I didn't get to read to the kids, but which I read to Grace today. It is a cute story.