First post of the afternoon.

1. Well, I know my kids will come away from the year knowing three things:

• Rosa Parks is the one on the bus.


• Gandhi is the skinny one.


• Abraham Lincoln is the one in the stovepipe hat.

2. Actually, I was reading (and listening to) Dr. King's speeches all day. That was pretty cool.

3. Here's a tie I am hoping no one gets me as a teacher's gift. (Note: One of the pelican ties is on sale for $5.

4. Tornadoes. No, we don't need no tornadoes.

5. I hope Harry is pissed off as hell that they are not going to send him to Iraq. I understand why they are not doing it, but if he's relieved that he's not going, I hope he never becomes king. I do like him and his brother over the old man, though. If Charles would just step aside, then we'd be all set.

I have a cunning plan . . .

OK, so Their Highnesses want me to raise money for the Travel Fund.

1. At Pennsic, I go to Shark Pit and announce, "I am here to sing." There is a chorus of protest.

2. I say "Donate $25 to the East Kingdom Travel Fund," and you can send me to another camp.

3. They put the money together and send me to Mountain Freehold.

4. I go to Mountain Freehold and announce, "I am here to sing." There is a chorus of protest.

5. I say "Donate $25 to the East Kingdom Travel Fund," and you can send me to another camp. They send me to Little Canada.

6. I go to Little Canada t and announce, "I am here to sing." There is a chorus of protest.

7. I say "Donate $25 to the East Kingdom Travel Fund," and you can send me to another camp.

8. They put the money together and send me to Ealdormere

9. I go to Ealdormere and announce, "I am here to sing." There is a chorus of protest.

10. I say "Donate $25 to the East Kingdom Travel Fund," and you can send me to another camp.

11. They put the money together, and they send me to Midlands.

So far, the EK Travel Fund is up $100, and it probably hasn't taken an hour.

My other thought is "Liam Insurance." Pay $25 in advance, and Liam will not come sing in your camp.

A more serious post

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately.

For instance, I read yesterday that Jerry Falwell had died. I was a little sad. I am always sad when people die. I have this issue with death.

Anyway, in several places, folks posted how glad they were that he had died. Others, like zarhooie, took the other approach.

Now I was thinking, it's a terrible thing to be glad some died. (One of my little darlins' told her track teammates that she hated them and hoped they would die in a car crash. (Did I mention that a classmate of some of theirs died in a car crash earlier this year?).

Anway, I am feeling prettty smug, then I see that Fred Phelps -- NSFW!!!! is going to protest at Falwell's funeral. (For a minute, I thought it might be a spoof from The Onion.)

So, I ask myself, smug-boy, will you be one of the people who are happy when Fred Phelps dies?

I ponder.

Musings on forgiveness and moving on . . .

Yes, I know I am jumping around a lot today.

Anyway, more thinking.

One of the things "we all hate" about the SCA is the politics, yet most of us find ourselves involved with them in one way or another.

To me, very often, "politics" means there are people we disagree with just because of who they are. Sometimes they are people we personally don't like. Sometimes they are people our household doesn't like, and sometimes they are people whom our own group (barony, fencers, archers, fighters, etc., etc., etc.) don't like.

So I am veering away from "politics" and toward "people we don't like."

Besides the above, why don't we like them.

Sometimes we just flat-out disagree with them.

Sometimes they tell you that you got your Pelican for blowing the king who gave it to you.

Sometimes they hurt someone close to you.

Sometimes "their game" is very different from "our game."

They say hateful, hurtful things on polling lists. (and they have the audacity to disagree with you)

Sometimes, your friends just flat-out hate them and put you in a tough spot.

(I will note that there are a number of folks here who have been badly hurt by others over the years. I do not mean to make light of that.)

Anyway, all this gets me thinking about forgiveness.

I am one of those folks who takes the lines in the Lord's Prayer literally. "Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

There's also -- on another level -- the concept of "Do no harm."

Anyway, why do we hold grudges? Is there a time to forgive all things?

No one has hurt me -- in or out of the SCA -- to the point where "I hope they will die."

I have seen people do some pretty stupid-ass things (sometimes multiple times), but I've also seen most of those folks do pretty terrific things.

Ya know, I am really not sure where this is all going.

Apparently, I am Katherine Howard . . .

Blame this one on campagnella.

( Which queen am I??? )

More SCA: Thoughts about kingdoms

OK, I apologize to my non-SCA friends for an SCA-filled afternoon and evening. I had such a great time at Glenn Linn last weekend that I have been thinking about the SCA a lot.

So I made a comment the other day that I was thinking about going to an event in the Midrealm, and some asked me, "Why? Aren't they our enemies?" (Or it was something similar).

Question No. 1: Is this attitude common outside the Midrealm and the East Kingdom? I know that for us, it's Pennsic-driven, but I think the days of "Crush the foe and chew on his bones" are long gone.

I mean, you want to win, but -- really -- if you lose the war or, say, losing the Fencing Champions or the Field Battle or the archery point -- should that really have any effect on your war at all.

I have been thinking about this a lot. It *does* seem that each kingdom has some of its own personality and quirks.

But I have been thinking about it. I have been to SCA events in the East, Aethelmearc, Calontir and Northshield. I would like to go to more.

I also have "Call at 3 in the morning because my car's broken down in a dark forest" friends in the East, Aethelmearc, Atlantia, the Midrealm, Northshield, An Tir, the West, Atenveldt, the Outlands and Calontir, and with one phone call, I could probably find that kind of friend in any other kingdom.

I have great friends from all over the Known World. I am quite blessed in that regard. Other than when we are in context, I never think about what kingdom they are from.

At Pennsic, I waterbear for anyone. I don't care what color tape they have on. I usually work for Calontir on one or two occasions at Pennsic. I am proud to have a Calontir waterbearers' badge.

I don't get into kingdom fights any more. I don't begrudge Calontir for not having fencing. Now that I have been there, I understand why. I can sit in Midrealm Royal and listen to good bardic, just as well as I can in Aethelmearc or anywhere else.

I don't even worry about whose war it is. I have learned that we can screw thing up just as well as they can. (Well, there is one thing: If it's an Eastern war, I get "first strike" at the Fencing Champions' table, if it's a Midrealm war, campagnella does. I am a prick. She is just definite.

Anyway, I do not know why I am in such a "Warm, fuzzy, it's-one-big-happy-family" mood.

I have been thinking about a lot of this stuff for a long time, and tonight I had to chance to write about it.

Thanks for reading.