In which there is Beltane, brownies, birthday, War, and heraldry
I'm going to go "blah" about a bunch of things, at length and in no particular order unless I accidentally got them chronologically, so I'll play nice and put most of the lengthy bits under cuts.
1. Beltane (April 30 - May 2) was pretty awesome. I caught a ride with Francisco, and when we got to the site I found the Allyshians almost immediately.
Saturday morning, I went to court to get the on-site topic for the bardic competition and ended up being glad I stayed for the whole thing: I received the Queen's Cypher and Queen's Treasure and then got to watch the fabulously awesome Isolte le Quite made a Court Baroness.
I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon writing furiously in the BC, as I hadn't gotten any inspiration for the virtue piece until then and had to write my on-site piece on the subject of romance. I finished both of them on time, though the virtue piece cut it rather close (I wrote the last stanza during the first round of the competition!). Unfortunately, spending the afternoon bullying my brain into coughing up two poems meant that I missed Alfar and Ketiley's coronation court, which I was pretty bummed about. My friend Derelei (I'm still getting used to her new name...) joined me for dinner and hot lemonade with honey before we headed over for the bardic competition. There were eight competitors, which was pretty fabulous in itself, and two of them were under 18! All of the competitors did pretty well, too.
Despite all the water and the hot lemonade with honey that I had been drinking that day, however, my singing voice did not come out to play. I sang croaked my period piece, Cuncti simus concanentes, in a poor parody of my usual voice, which was not helped by the smoke from the fire that kept blowing in my face. On the bright side, however, I got audience participation in the form of singing along with the chorus. In Latin. I rock. For the next round, the Crown and Kingdom piece, I elected to read my Cantiga contrafey rather than fail at singing it. My other two pieces, a rondeau on the virtue of "hope" and a kyrielle on courtly/forbidden love, were fortunately poems with no associated music. My friend Rhiein won the competition and will be the next Bard of the West, which is well deserved. I'm very excited and happy for her, and not particularly disappointed that I didn't win. Sure, it would have been cool, but I had fun, which was the main point anyway, and I think Rhiein will do a great job.
After the competition, I headed over the the bardic prize-tourney being hosted at the BC, which was a lot of fun to listen to. There was an open bardic afterwards, as well, so I was there until it shut down. I think I crashed after that, but I honestly don't remember for sure. Fun fact, though: my blue linen cotehardie fits over my parti-color wool, which is kind of fun. As for Sunday, all I remember is getting side-tracked all over the place by conversations before finally getting packed up and driving back with Francisco.
On Romance (kyrielle)
I see your gentle, private smile:
the spell it weaves could me beguile
to act. My head with my heart vies:
I wish on the star in your eyes.
As gap of station yawns between
our houses, I cannot be seen
to love. My head with my heart vies:
I wish on the star in your eyes.
So secret now within my breast,
my ardor sleeps at my behest.
My love, my head with my heart vies:
I wish on the star in your eyes.
Dum spiro, spero (rondeau) (Note: Dum spiro, spero - Latin; "While I breathe, I hope.")
"Dum spiro, spero," reads the sign
to guide us when we would resign,
though long and bitter be the way
if we would do as we design.
In troubled times, we may malign
the Fates, our faces streaked with brine:
too dear the price we've had to pay!
Then Hope bends to our ears to say,
"At journey's end is food and wine:
dum spiro, spero."
Truly, hope is a gift divine,
without which we would, fruitless, pine
for that which always slips away.
We hope the stars will all align.
Dum spiro, spero.
2. I decided that I required brownies about a month back, so I made them. And they were good. So I made them again a week or two later, with the addition of cinnamon and raisins.
Here's the base brownie recipe I used, transcribed from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home (p. 317). I added about 2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 of a cup of raisins. You might consider going up to 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, and dried cherries would be a good alternative for raisins. I added the cinnamon with the brown sugar and vanilla and put the raisins in last.
Moosewood Fudge Brownies
1/2 cup butter
3 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F).
Butter an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan
In a heavy large pot, melt the butter and chocolate together, stirring occasionally. While they melt, assemble the rest of the ingredients (if mixing by hand, beat the eggs with a fork in a separate bowl). When the butter and chocolate have melted, remove the pot from the heat. Add the brown sugar and vanilla and beat by hand or with an electric mixer. Add the eggs (just crack them directly into the pot if using an electric mixer). Stir in the flour and mix until the batter is thoroughly blended and smooth.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 20 minutes, until the brownies are just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan and are fudgy in the center. For more cakelike brownies, bake an additional 5 minutes.
3. My birthday was really great. I went hiking at Almaden Quicksilver with my family (lots of wildflowers and cool rocks) and then we went to Sushi Okawa for an early dinner so I could go to dance practice afterwards. Red bean ice cream is delicious. Dance was awesome: I got to choose several dances, received both birthday spankings and spins, and ppfuf made me a fabulous chocolate birthday cake. I love my friends. My family rocks, too.
The Tempest concert the Saturday after my birthday was a ton of fun. My brother and I drove up to Berkeley together, and over the course of the evening, Sebastian, Owen, Rhiein, Colin, Derelei and Frederick showed up, and all of them danced at least a little (except Sebastian, I think). Predictably, I was on the dance floor nearly the entire concert, dancing rather energetically (and apparently well enough that I got quite a few compliments). I took several breaks for water, especially in light of having had a pint of pear cider before Tempest started playing, and I think I sat down once. Also predictably, I spent the next couple of days with sore feet and hip-flexors, though I have to admit some (pleased!) surprise at my calves and knees not hating me more. I am now the proud owner of Tempest's new album, "Another Dawn," courtesy of Colin and Rhiein.
4. Mists-Cynagua War was this past weekend, and I'm so glad I went. I was very happy, if a bit surprised, to see a contingent from Nordwache there, including Sir Cedric, Tom's knight. I ended up camping with them and not having to set up my tent, as they cleared one for me. I hung out with Isolte during the battles and ended up waterbearing, or, as I put it, "on a quest/mission to hydrate people." I had a narrow miss with an arrow (it flew by me about five feet from my head) during one battle while scurrying to get out of the way when the fighting suddenly changed direction, but was relatively fine otherwise.
I had to stop and go sit down during the final battle of the day, however, after seeing one of the Tom doppelgangers (yes, there are TWO now, and it's completely unfair) with a camera. I remember commenting in my March Crown post that if the doppelganger had had a camera I would have lost it. Well, I was right. I retreated to the building that was serving as chiurgeon's point, sat down, and concentrated on breathing and not crying until Isolte told me to just cry. After the tears let up and I explained what was wrong (there are two guys walking around out there looking way too fucking much like my dead boyfriend, and they walk the same, and one had a camera, and this is NOT OKAY!), I was given hugs, chocolate, and a mimosa and syele was silly at me until I started to smile again.
At the party and root beer tasting that night, Ayrie (sp?) shared his cloak with me, leaving it with me for the rest of the evening after he went to bed. It was good to see him again and catch up a little. I was also glad to see Fedosia show up, since I'd been hoping to see her there.
Breakfast in the Nordwachan camp was a rather entertaining affair that involved, at various points, coffee, tea, steak, cherry pie, and some very nice sharp cheddar. There was, of course, much heckling of those who'd gotten the drunkest and therefore done the dumbest stuff the night before (highlights included walking in circles in a field, face-planting and crawling to bed, and attempting to get into bed with a very unamused Sir Cedric). Her Majesty Ketiley graced us with her presence for breakfast, as well, and I have this to say: Her Majesty is extremely cool. She even wrote an excuse note to the Baroness of Nordwache, since the Nordwachan contingent had apparently skipped their own Baronial event to come to the war and Her Excellency was less than pleased. She got Her Highness Gillian to sign it, too. I hope it went over well, because the letter was pretty cool. Also, on a side note, I'll be skipping June Crown in order to go down to Nordwache (Fresno) for their Baronial Anniversary event, which is going to include a memorial cooking competition for Tom.
5. Francisco came over tonight and we were going to watch more Avatar: The Last Airbender, but ended up doing armory research and design for him instead. Spanish armory is pretty cool. We also poked at names a bit.
All right, the sky is getting light and the birds have been chirping for at least half an hour, so I'm just going to post this and go the heck to bed.
1. Beltane (April 30 - May 2) was pretty awesome. I caught a ride with Francisco, and when we got to the site I found the Allyshians almost immediately.
Saturday morning, I went to court to get the on-site topic for the bardic competition and ended up being glad I stayed for the whole thing: I received the Queen's Cypher and Queen's Treasure and then got to watch the fabulously awesome Isolte le Quite made a Court Baroness.
I spent the rest of Saturday afternoon writing furiously in the BC, as I hadn't gotten any inspiration for the virtue piece until then and had to write my on-site piece on the subject of romance. I finished both of them on time, though the virtue piece cut it rather close (I wrote the last stanza during the first round of the competition!). Unfortunately, spending the afternoon bullying my brain into coughing up two poems meant that I missed Alfar and Ketiley's coronation court, which I was pretty bummed about. My friend Derelei (I'm still getting used to her new name...) joined me for dinner and hot lemonade with honey before we headed over for the bardic competition. There were eight competitors, which was pretty fabulous in itself, and two of them were under 18! All of the competitors did pretty well, too.
Despite all the water and the hot lemonade with honey that I had been drinking that day, however, my singing voice did not come out to play. I sang croaked my period piece, Cuncti simus concanentes, in a poor parody of my usual voice, which was not helped by the smoke from the fire that kept blowing in my face. On the bright side, however, I got audience participation in the form of singing along with the chorus. In Latin. I rock. For the next round, the Crown and Kingdom piece, I elected to read my Cantiga contrafey rather than fail at singing it. My other two pieces, a rondeau on the virtue of "hope" and a kyrielle on courtly/forbidden love, were fortunately poems with no associated music. My friend Rhiein won the competition and will be the next Bard of the West, which is well deserved. I'm very excited and happy for her, and not particularly disappointed that I didn't win. Sure, it would have been cool, but I had fun, which was the main point anyway, and I think Rhiein will do a great job.
After the competition, I headed over the the bardic prize-tourney being hosted at the BC, which was a lot of fun to listen to. There was an open bardic afterwards, as well, so I was there until it shut down. I think I crashed after that, but I honestly don't remember for sure. Fun fact, though: my blue linen cotehardie fits over my parti-color wool, which is kind of fun. As for Sunday, all I remember is getting side-tracked all over the place by conversations before finally getting packed up and driving back with Francisco.
On Romance (kyrielle)
I see your gentle, private smile:
the spell it weaves could me beguile
to act. My head with my heart vies:
I wish on the star in your eyes.
As gap of station yawns between
our houses, I cannot be seen
to love. My head with my heart vies:
I wish on the star in your eyes.
So secret now within my breast,
my ardor sleeps at my behest.
My love, my head with my heart vies:
I wish on the star in your eyes.
Dum spiro, spero (rondeau) (Note: Dum spiro, spero - Latin; "While I breathe, I hope.")
"Dum spiro, spero," reads the sign
to guide us when we would resign,
though long and bitter be the way
if we would do as we design.
In troubled times, we may malign
the Fates, our faces streaked with brine:
too dear the price we've had to pay!
Then Hope bends to our ears to say,
"At journey's end is food and wine:
dum spiro, spero."
Truly, hope is a gift divine,
without which we would, fruitless, pine
for that which always slips away.
We hope the stars will all align.
Dum spiro, spero.
2. I decided that I required brownies about a month back, so I made them. And they were good. So I made them again a week or two later, with the addition of cinnamon and raisins.
Here's the base brownie recipe I used, transcribed from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home (p. 317). I added about 2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 of a cup of raisins. You might consider going up to 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, and dried cherries would be a good alternative for raisins. I added the cinnamon with the brown sugar and vanilla and put the raisins in last.
Moosewood Fudge Brownies
1/2 cup butter
3 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F).
Butter an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan
In a heavy large pot, melt the butter and chocolate together, stirring occasionally. While they melt, assemble the rest of the ingredients (if mixing by hand, beat the eggs with a fork in a separate bowl). When the butter and chocolate have melted, remove the pot from the heat. Add the brown sugar and vanilla and beat by hand or with an electric mixer. Add the eggs (just crack them directly into the pot if using an electric mixer). Stir in the flour and mix until the batter is thoroughly blended and smooth.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 20 minutes, until the brownies are just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan and are fudgy in the center. For more cakelike brownies, bake an additional 5 minutes.
3. My birthday was really great. I went hiking at Almaden Quicksilver with my family (lots of wildflowers and cool rocks) and then we went to Sushi Okawa for an early dinner so I could go to dance practice afterwards. Red bean ice cream is delicious. Dance was awesome: I got to choose several dances, received both birthday spankings and spins, and ppfuf made me a fabulous chocolate birthday cake. I love my friends. My family rocks, too.
The Tempest concert the Saturday after my birthday was a ton of fun. My brother and I drove up to Berkeley together, and over the course of the evening, Sebastian, Owen, Rhiein, Colin, Derelei and Frederick showed up, and all of them danced at least a little (except Sebastian, I think). Predictably, I was on the dance floor nearly the entire concert, dancing rather energetically (and apparently well enough that I got quite a few compliments). I took several breaks for water, especially in light of having had a pint of pear cider before Tempest started playing, and I think I sat down once. Also predictably, I spent the next couple of days with sore feet and hip-flexors, though I have to admit some (pleased!) surprise at my calves and knees not hating me more. I am now the proud owner of Tempest's new album, "Another Dawn," courtesy of Colin and Rhiein.
4. Mists-Cynagua War was this past weekend, and I'm so glad I went. I was very happy, if a bit surprised, to see a contingent from Nordwache there, including Sir Cedric, Tom's knight. I ended up camping with them and not having to set up my tent, as they cleared one for me. I hung out with Isolte during the battles and ended up waterbearing, or, as I put it, "on a quest/mission to hydrate people." I had a narrow miss with an arrow (it flew by me about five feet from my head) during one battle while scurrying to get out of the way when the fighting suddenly changed direction, but was relatively fine otherwise.
I had to stop and go sit down during the final battle of the day, however, after seeing one of the Tom doppelgangers (yes, there are TWO now, and it's completely unfair) with a camera. I remember commenting in my March Crown post that if the doppelganger had had a camera I would have lost it. Well, I was right. I retreated to the building that was serving as chiurgeon's point, sat down, and concentrated on breathing and not crying until Isolte told me to just cry. After the tears let up and I explained what was wrong (there are two guys walking around out there looking way too fucking much like my dead boyfriend, and they walk the same, and one had a camera, and this is NOT OKAY!), I was given hugs, chocolate, and a mimosa and syele was silly at me until I started to smile again.
At the party and root beer tasting that night, Ayrie (sp?) shared his cloak with me, leaving it with me for the rest of the evening after he went to bed. It was good to see him again and catch up a little. I was also glad to see Fedosia show up, since I'd been hoping to see her there.
Breakfast in the Nordwachan camp was a rather entertaining affair that involved, at various points, coffee, tea, steak, cherry pie, and some very nice sharp cheddar. There was, of course, much heckling of those who'd gotten the drunkest and therefore done the dumbest stuff the night before (highlights included walking in circles in a field, face-planting and crawling to bed, and attempting to get into bed with a very unamused Sir Cedric). Her Majesty Ketiley graced us with her presence for breakfast, as well, and I have this to say: Her Majesty is extremely cool. She even wrote an excuse note to the Baroness of Nordwache, since the Nordwachan contingent had apparently skipped their own Baronial event to come to the war and Her Excellency was less than pleased. She got Her Highness Gillian to sign it, too. I hope it went over well, because the letter was pretty cool. Also, on a side note, I'll be skipping June Crown in order to go down to Nordwache (Fresno) for their Baronial Anniversary event, which is going to include a memorial cooking competition for Tom.
5. Francisco came over tonight and we were going to watch more Avatar: The Last Airbender, but ended up doing armory research and design for him instead. Spanish armory is pretty cool. We also poked at names a bit.
All right, the sky is getting light and the birds have been chirping for at least half an hour, so I'm just going to post this and go the heck to bed.