Thursday morning: Busy times ahead . . .

1. If I haven't decided yet whether I am going to do National Novel Writing Month this year, I suppose I am already behind the game, eh? Oh, I have three or four novels in my head, but I have done no pre-writing, and it's going to be hectic over the next several days.

2. I love it when there's a lot of e-mail in my box in the morning. But I forget that since I am on a number of mailing lists, I am always going to have a lot of mail on the first of the month because of listserv information notices.

3. Yesterday's cooking frenzy will become today's cleaning frenzy.

4. I start my new job Monday. Thanks to everyone who has been asking! I am meeting with my new boss at 10 a.m. to go over some of the basics.

5. It's going to be an incredibly busy weekend. Tomorrow morning, alethea_eastrid and I leave fairly early for Saratoga Springs and the World Fantasy Convention.. (Well, it's less than 45 minutes, but we're going to be running around a lot.)We're going to stay in Albany tomorrow night, at the Super * where some of our friends are staying this weekend. Saturday is Crown, then back to the convention, then back home. Sunday, we may go back to the convention, or I may suggest Alethea go and I may stay here to catch up and get things done because work starts Monday morning.

Thursday afternoon: Getting ready for the weekend . . .

1. The good news is that when I start work on Monday, there should be a new ceiling in my office. The bad news is that part of the ceiling is still on the floor. A pipe apparently leaked or burst last night. Fortuntaely there is no desktop computer on the desk.

2. Cool things about the new job: There is a Dunk's across the street! (Remember, the closest Dunkin' Donuts to my house is about 15 miles away). My boss seems as though she's gonna be really good to work for. I get a work laptop. (I have not seen it yet).

3. I just have to buy a book that has the phrase Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! in its title. (Psssst . . . WTF).

4. More internet suggestions: If you are a public school, there should be a contact e-mail on the front page of your website. In a better world, the principal's name and e-mail. Oh, and listing the staff in alphabetical order does not help those of us looking for the band director.

5. The "Hear all the stories on this page" button at NPR is very cool.

6. When geekdoms collide: Bill Barnes, one of the guys who puts out the wonderful library comic Unshelved, squees out loud on his blog about the new TV show planned by Joss Whedon.

6a. Oh, and there is going to be another X-Files movie.

SCA Crown Tournament question . . .

A friend was asking for good and bad reasons to fight in Crown Tournament.

One of the commonly referred to "bad" reasons was "To keep {person} from winning Crown."

I think we have all heard of fighters entered "to vote with their stick."

I have reacted both positively and negatively to this comment.

Sure, the best reason is "because I would be a good king and my lady would be a good queen."

But look at this way:

There is a meta-game as part of  the SCA and people have very strong feelings about other people.

Let's say you are a good fighter. Maybe you have been king. You are concerned about things that are happening in the kingdom, and there is someone fighting who you think would be bad for the kingdom.

Let's assume you are going to do this the right way: You are going to fight as hard and as fairly as you can. If you win, you are going to be as good a king as you can. (We will assume that you would not throw a fight after {person} is eliminated or "numb up" to beat someone you think cannot beat {person}. You are going to fight in a chivalrous manner.

It is inherently wrong that you are entering -- in some part or in a large part -- to keep someone who you think would be a bad king from winning Crown?

(Yes, I know there are qualifications in there, but in my opinion, if someone's going to numb up or throw fights, they should not be fighting).