SCA, bad drivers, food trip and dreams.
Performing LJ cuts 'cause I sometimes forget and then, you get a wall of text. Not this time :-)
I understand more the context in which the new minor rules were decided for this Pennsic. While I am not in agreement with the way it addresses some issues they had to handle, at least I can now understand. I think this is what was puzzling me the most, not being able to understand what happened to see such rules springing up like that. And I do understand how hard it is to back this up with limited manpower...
GNEW, I hear, was totally awesome and horribly hot... I so wanted to go but I couldn't, my ex couldn't keep Alex with him in evenings and so, my son had to come back at 5 pm. But at least, my little man got to see his Daddy daytime :-)
dervishspin gave one of her Rousing Speech (tm) as she called it :D It's on YouTube. While the beginning is trunked, we can see the climax and uproar of our fighters :D I busted out laughing and clapped my hands with a heartfelt "Alright!!" ...and miraculously, my son didn't wake up *lol* The part where she almost swear that "we will destroy the land where they breed" really got the crowd into it ^_^
Much good is said about our Fire Queen, but I must say that I believe it takes a strong man to make a strong woman queen. I am not referring here to the fighting abilities, but to the character. Our King is a strong ground on which the fire can dance. Together, they make a very inspirational Royalty :D There are some rare people from whom I can actually feel calm emanating, and he is one of them. Very soothing and rare.
I wish I could have attended this GNEW... and I am left wondering about the secret of people who can still manage to look good on the pictures despite the horrible heat :-P Me? I turn purple and melt. Literally.
I received a message from Efa, who is also a deputy in oaken_glen's Branch Polling team. She was thanking me for a tool that I made for the branch pollings. This warmed my heart and made me happy like a kid at Christmas ^_^ I felt the same way when Robert du Bourg and Jordan Lovatt sent me similar messages... When I see relief and happiness emerge from something I did, it give me such satisfaction and energy! That's my fuel :-D Threading fun is, well, fun! But what I love most is when I can make easier something that would otherwise be much more complicated, thus, making it more enjoyable for people.
On a less joyful note, it's Bad Driver Fest in Trois-Rivières. At this point, I'd rather drive in Montreal... and that's saying something! Okay, people drive horribly in Trois-Rivières all year 'round, but since the last week, they really honed their skills...
Last Thursday, a young driver decided to make the opening ceremonies for the Bad Driver Fest. After cutting me on his red light (we can turn right on reds if there's no incoming traffic... some don't get the part about "no incoming traffic"...), he then proceeded to tailgate people, to race and stop, to pass and cut more people... What really made my jaw drop though: He went all of his way into the right lane to drive in a water puddle and shower the pedestrian on the sidewalk. I could see him and his buddy in the car clapping their hands on their thighs, laughing... I took his license plate number.
Monday, I almost killed (accidentally of course) a guy on his bicycle. I was driving to the green light on the boulevard intersection when the guy just kept rolling...! He ran the red, on a bike, right in front of my incoming car... My reflexes kicked in: I managed to brake without tail fishing and avoided his back wheel but barely just. What's better:
He didn't even turn his head to look, not while he was crossing, not when I braked... Not once. He just kept going his merry way while my heart was pounding in my chest. Thankfully, my son wasn't in the car with me. I cussed profusely and generously to let the steam out.
Tuesday afternoon, the truck driver behind me almost rammed into my trunk. I was stopped at the red light...! o_O The man managed to brake, screeching and fish tailing. (Which is how I realized he wasn't paying attention to the road before him... My bet is cell phone). I made damn sure he saw me looking at him, then I reassured my son (he picked up on the mood). After this incident, he was keeping a much safer distance than the previous tail gating.
This morning, some guy in a SUV backed up from his driveway, cutting both lanes of the boulevard, never even bothered to look if there was traffic incoming... (He couldn't have missed me, if he did.) He cut me again two times. When we got to the red light, I took a pic of his license plate. (I hope it's a good one.) Somehow, I just knew he wasn't done with his own shit list... Sure enough, he didn't fail to disappoint: arriving at an intersection, he suddenly crossed lanes to turn left... Unfortunately for him, there was nobody in the left lane that he could cut. I'm sure he'll do better next time (in terms of disappointment, that is).
There's more, a lot more, the above were just some highlights, so I'll stop here.
I'm used to the sheer stupidity of the local drivers and I've come to expect most of the stunts they can pull off just by watching the way they're driving. I can anticipate most of the locations where they will try to cut me (because they also don't pay attention to the road signs, of course). This allowed me to avoid several accidents so far. In Montreal, they're not stupid, they're reckless. I can deal with reckless. Stupid gets at me though:
There are people, living and breathing people, inside the cars. The way they're driving makes the roads here a killing field.
Tomorrow, I leave for Montreal (weather permitting) to visit freya46, yaaay!! \o/ I will bring fabric Jeanne de Robin so she can get it to Pennsic for Jehannine de Flandres (sprberkmd's wife). I would love if freya46, Jeanne de Robin and Alix de Minerve could join me for a discovery meal...
Discovery meal = my "lottery" dream. You know how many people would dream about what they would buy or trips they would make or etc., should they win the lottery? My dream is not quite like that. I would LOVE to travel to places around the world on a gastronomic trip. Not to eat in restaurant. No no...
I want to meet people. I want to discover a little of their culture, so I would like to stay there for a while. But most of all, I would love to share a meal with locals. There is more than just food, you can learn a lot by sharing a meal with someone. It is a universal activity but yet, it can be so different! There are only a few other things as culturally charged as a meal. It's more than just about the food, it's also about but all the customs associated with it.
Finland (Hey Tony!), Sweden (Heya Sanjei!) Middle East, Africa, Egypt, Greece (Hi there, Kyr!), Turkey! Hello Ahmet!), England (Hello Paul!), Norway (I owe you chocolate crepes, sheerdark!), Vietnam, Tibet, China, Japan...
*sigh* That would be glorious.
Until then, going in restaurants in Montreal is the closest I can approach this dream :-)
I can feel Pennsic's frenzy in the air... I can't go. Maybe one day, I'll be able to afford it / free up the time / bring my son, but for now, it's not possible. Oh well... One of these days.
I understand more the context in which the new minor rules were decided for this Pennsic. While I am not in agreement with the way it addresses some issues they had to handle, at least I can now understand. I think this is what was puzzling me the most, not being able to understand what happened to see such rules springing up like that. And I do understand how hard it is to back this up with limited manpower...
GNEW, I hear, was totally awesome and horribly hot... I so wanted to go but I couldn't, my ex couldn't keep Alex with him in evenings and so, my son had to come back at 5 pm. But at least, my little man got to see his Daddy daytime :-)
dervishspin gave one of her Rousing Speech (tm) as she called it :D It's on YouTube. While the beginning is trunked, we can see the climax and uproar of our fighters :D I busted out laughing and clapped my hands with a heartfelt "Alright!!" ...and miraculously, my son didn't wake up *lol* The part where she almost swear that "we will destroy the land where they breed" really got the crowd into it ^_^
Much good is said about our Fire Queen, but I must say that I believe it takes a strong man to make a strong woman queen. I am not referring here to the fighting abilities, but to the character. Our King is a strong ground on which the fire can dance. Together, they make a very inspirational Royalty :D There are some rare people from whom I can actually feel calm emanating, and he is one of them. Very soothing and rare.
I wish I could have attended this GNEW... and I am left wondering about the secret of people who can still manage to look good on the pictures despite the horrible heat :-P Me? I turn purple and melt. Literally.
I received a message from Efa, who is also a deputy in oaken_glen's Branch Polling team. She was thanking me for a tool that I made for the branch pollings. This warmed my heart and made me happy like a kid at Christmas ^_^ I felt the same way when Robert du Bourg and Jordan Lovatt sent me similar messages... When I see relief and happiness emerge from something I did, it give me such satisfaction and energy! That's my fuel :-D Threading fun is, well, fun! But what I love most is when I can make easier something that would otherwise be much more complicated, thus, making it more enjoyable for people.
On a less joyful note, it's Bad Driver Fest in Trois-Rivières. At this point, I'd rather drive in Montreal... and that's saying something! Okay, people drive horribly in Trois-Rivières all year 'round, but since the last week, they really honed their skills...
Last Thursday, a young driver decided to make the opening ceremonies for the Bad Driver Fest. After cutting me on his red light (we can turn right on reds if there's no incoming traffic... some don't get the part about "no incoming traffic"...), he then proceeded to tailgate people, to race and stop, to pass and cut more people... What really made my jaw drop though: He went all of his way into the right lane to drive in a water puddle and shower the pedestrian on the sidewalk. I could see him and his buddy in the car clapping their hands on their thighs, laughing... I took his license plate number.
Monday, I almost killed (accidentally of course) a guy on his bicycle. I was driving to the green light on the boulevard intersection when the guy just kept rolling...! He ran the red, on a bike, right in front of my incoming car... My reflexes kicked in: I managed to brake without tail fishing and avoided his back wheel but barely just. What's better:
He didn't even turn his head to look, not while he was crossing, not when I braked... Not once. He just kept going his merry way while my heart was pounding in my chest. Thankfully, my son wasn't in the car with me. I cussed profusely and generously to let the steam out.
Tuesday afternoon, the truck driver behind me almost rammed into my trunk. I was stopped at the red light...! o_O The man managed to brake, screeching and fish tailing. (Which is how I realized he wasn't paying attention to the road before him... My bet is cell phone). I made damn sure he saw me looking at him, then I reassured my son (he picked up on the mood). After this incident, he was keeping a much safer distance than the previous tail gating.
This morning, some guy in a SUV backed up from his driveway, cutting both lanes of the boulevard, never even bothered to look if there was traffic incoming... (He couldn't have missed me, if he did.) He cut me again two times. When we got to the red light, I took a pic of his license plate. (I hope it's a good one.) Somehow, I just knew he wasn't done with his own shit list... Sure enough, he didn't fail to disappoint: arriving at an intersection, he suddenly crossed lanes to turn left... Unfortunately for him, there was nobody in the left lane that he could cut. I'm sure he'll do better next time (in terms of disappointment, that is).
There's more, a lot more, the above were just some highlights, so I'll stop here.
I'm used to the sheer stupidity of the local drivers and I've come to expect most of the stunts they can pull off just by watching the way they're driving. I can anticipate most of the locations where they will try to cut me (because they also don't pay attention to the road signs, of course). This allowed me to avoid several accidents so far. In Montreal, they're not stupid, they're reckless. I can deal with reckless. Stupid gets at me though:
There are people, living and breathing people, inside the cars. The way they're driving makes the roads here a killing field.
Tomorrow, I leave for Montreal (weather permitting) to visit freya46, yaaay!! \o/ I will bring fabric Jeanne de Robin so she can get it to Pennsic for Jehannine de Flandres (sprberkmd's wife). I would love if freya46, Jeanne de Robin and Alix de Minerve could join me for a discovery meal...
Discovery meal = my "lottery" dream. You know how many people would dream about what they would buy or trips they would make or etc., should they win the lottery? My dream is not quite like that. I would LOVE to travel to places around the world on a gastronomic trip. Not to eat in restaurant. No no...
I want to meet people. I want to discover a little of their culture, so I would like to stay there for a while. But most of all, I would love to share a meal with locals. There is more than just food, you can learn a lot by sharing a meal with someone. It is a universal activity but yet, it can be so different! There are only a few other things as culturally charged as a meal. It's more than just about the food, it's also about but all the customs associated with it.
Finland (Hey Tony!), Sweden (Heya Sanjei!) Middle East, Africa, Egypt, Greece (Hi there, Kyr!), Turkey! Hello Ahmet!), England (Hello Paul!), Norway (I owe you chocolate crepes, sheerdark!), Vietnam, Tibet, China, Japan...
*sigh* That would be glorious.
Until then, going in restaurants in Montreal is the closest I can approach this dream :-)
I can feel Pennsic's frenzy in the air... I can't go. Maybe one day, I'll be able to afford it / free up the time / bring my son, but for now, it's not possible. Oh well... One of these days.