Bardic and Archery
I went to Pennsic with 3 goals: lots of dance, lots of bardic, lots of archery. I succeeded at the first; the others, not so much.
I didn't make it to any bardic circles, largely because I wasn't invited to any. This Pennsic was the first time I went to a hafla. I went because it was listed in the Pennsic guide as a concert followed by a hafla. Both bardic circles and haflas happen in private camps and unless you know someone and get invited along, you don't find out about things.
I'm not really disappointed. I perform all the time in Skrael and Thule. I thought it would be interesting to hear other bards more than I needed an audience to stroke my ego. I did get to sing through Opening Ceremonies and before court, and that was cool to actually know the songs of Ealdormere and sing along.
There was a children's bardic circle Monday at Youth Point. I thought it was a great idea, but it was only attended by 2 other kids. Grainne was prepared to tell a story. We'd picked it before Pennsic and she'd gone over it that morning in the tent. However, when the time came, she started mumbling about not wanting to do it. I told her that I was fine with her not doing it (although I had arranged my day and waiting around for 20 minutes for this to get started), but that I didn't want to hear any whining afterwards about how she didn't get her chance or that I should have made her do it. She stood up and did it. And she did well. I was proud of her.
Also on Monday, I went to a Bardic meet and greet. Marie has suggested it might be useful. It was supposed to be a moderated discussion on a particular topic, with similar sessions (on different topics) following at the same for the rest of the week. I found the discussion got off topic and the moderators didn't really get it back on topic. I didn't think it worked as a meet and greet either, so I did not check out any other sessions. I went to no bardic classes this war.
I went to the harp exhibition on Wedneday. It was inspiring. I am thinking of entering a performance at kingdom A&S just to set a goal for myself and force myself to get off my fanny. I talked to some harpers after about how they store their harps at Pennsic. Even if I became a good harper, I think I would still leave mine at home and borrow someone's if I wanted to perform. Every year, they try and tempt anyone in the audience who plays to come on stage, borrow one, and perform. That could be another goal of mine - next Pennsic, I'm playing at the harp exhibition.
***
We only did archery on Friday. It was on our list of things to do most days, but leaving the Skrael site always took 2-4 times as long as it used to with the kids and the goal to do lots of archery was probably overly ambitious. I had fun shooting, even if it was just on the last day. My clustering has definitely improved.
I did get to shoot in a war point shoot this year and I got 5 points for the Mid. Piers got 12 points. Grainne did more archery than either of us. There was a children's range and she shot repeatedly for over an hour. I helped Rose of Avalon to shoot twice. It was her first time ever shooting so that was another memory of Pennsic 40.
I didn't make it to any bardic circles, largely because I wasn't invited to any. This Pennsic was the first time I went to a hafla. I went because it was listed in the Pennsic guide as a concert followed by a hafla. Both bardic circles and haflas happen in private camps and unless you know someone and get invited along, you don't find out about things.
I'm not really disappointed. I perform all the time in Skrael and Thule. I thought it would be interesting to hear other bards more than I needed an audience to stroke my ego. I did get to sing through Opening Ceremonies and before court, and that was cool to actually know the songs of Ealdormere and sing along.
There was a children's bardic circle Monday at Youth Point. I thought it was a great idea, but it was only attended by 2 other kids. Grainne was prepared to tell a story. We'd picked it before Pennsic and she'd gone over it that morning in the tent. However, when the time came, she started mumbling about not wanting to do it. I told her that I was fine with her not doing it (although I had arranged my day and waiting around for 20 minutes for this to get started), but that I didn't want to hear any whining afterwards about how she didn't get her chance or that I should have made her do it. She stood up and did it. And she did well. I was proud of her.
Also on Monday, I went to a Bardic meet and greet. Marie has suggested it might be useful. It was supposed to be a moderated discussion on a particular topic, with similar sessions (on different topics) following at the same for the rest of the week. I found the discussion got off topic and the moderators didn't really get it back on topic. I didn't think it worked as a meet and greet either, so I did not check out any other sessions. I went to no bardic classes this war.
I went to the harp exhibition on Wedneday. It was inspiring. I am thinking of entering a performance at kingdom A&S just to set a goal for myself and force myself to get off my fanny. I talked to some harpers after about how they store their harps at Pennsic. Even if I became a good harper, I think I would still leave mine at home and borrow someone's if I wanted to perform. Every year, they try and tempt anyone in the audience who plays to come on stage, borrow one, and perform. That could be another goal of mine - next Pennsic, I'm playing at the harp exhibition.
***
We only did archery on Friday. It was on our list of things to do most days, but leaving the Skrael site always took 2-4 times as long as it used to with the kids and the goal to do lots of archery was probably overly ambitious. I had fun shooting, even if it was just on the last day. My clustering has definitely improved.
I did get to shoot in a war point shoot this year and I got 5 points for the Mid. Piers got 12 points. Grainne did more archery than either of us. There was a children's range and she shot repeatedly for over an hour. I helped Rose of Avalon to shoot twice. It was her first time ever shooting so that was another memory of Pennsic 40.