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Thursday morning: A catch-up post . . .
Jan. 27th, 2011 10:16 amEven as I start this, I am not sure where it's going.
1. I am sure that I will get to Birka, see people and have a great time.
Yet, I keep going back and forth on whether I really want to go. I have not missed Birka in years, and since Pennsic, I have been to two local events. That's it. I was taking time off from the SCA for several reasons, but I have always had Birka on the calendar.
You can expect me to be there, and I am sure I will seem like my own self.
2. If you are at Birka, and there is someone you want to meet, please let me know. I know that Rowen, the royal herald, wants to meet some of the Northern folks, as does Marietta. I urge you to stop and see Master Andrixos at Calontir Trim, not just because I like to drum up business for him to keep him coming to Birka, but also because he is one of the single coolest people in the SCA.
3. My wife and I will be at Jane's funeral Sunday, although I am absolutely petrified of it. I cannot remember crying as much as I did last Thursday.
I am really crappy at funerals. I was 15 when my dad died, and that was back in the day of many hours of wakes and the traditional Catholic funeral. God, I hated that.
I think it's important to say good-bye formally and to be with friends who are also hurting, but I feel like I am having the skin ripped off my arms.
4. On a happier note, work is going really well.
The paper's website is here. and while not all the stories get up in full on the free site, many of them do.
Whitehall is a small town hard on the Vermont border at the southern end of Lake Champlain. Use to be a transportation hub. The canal runs right through town. Interesting folks and so far good stories. I am up there tree days a week and at our main office in Granville on Tuesdays and Wednesday. I have a lot of latitude in what I do, and I also get to lay the paper out and put it together on Abode InDesign. I am learning that and PhotoShop, so that's a real plus.
5. Since I am on the road a couple of hours a day, I am listening to a lot of books on CD. I hope to have some more formal reviews, but here's what I have listened to since my wife and I went to New Jersey for Christmas.
"Champlain's Dream," by David Hackett Fischer. Very thorough historyt of Champlin and the founding of French Canada. A little but of hero worship, but a lot of good background on the relationship between the colonists and the Indians, from Massachusetts Bay well into Canada. I also learned a lot about France in the time period from the 1590s to the 1630s.
"The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America," by Timothy Egan. Absolutely fascinating history of the founding of the US Forest Service by Teddy Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot. It focuses on a massive forest fire in Idaho and Montana in 1910 that helped the Forest Service overcome incredible resistance from mining and timber barons and start establishing itself as what it is today. Stories of good guys and bad guys, greed and heroism.
"The Last Stand," by Nathaniel Philbrick. I have been to the Little Bighorn, and I have taught the battle. While I was getting it right before, I now know a lot more about what happened, especially the dynamics of the 7th Cavalry and the major issues of the command. It's very thorough, and has a good deal of background on Sitting Bull as well. Philbrick is an excellent historian, and I do have his "Mayflower" as another book I am going to listen to. He does a great job of setting the battle in its pivotal place in the history of Native Americans. There are a couple of gory parts, especially about Sitting Bull and the Sun Dance.
It's tough to rank those there. They were all excellent.
Right now, the book from Ken Burns' "National Parks" series is in the CD player, but it's dragging a little. At six discs, it is shorter than the 10 discs of the pervious three.
As you can see, I am pretty much pursuing history (and maybe biography) at this point. I am always looking for suggestions.
6. I am still doing resumes, but I find that I keep getting behind on them because of this whole full-time work thing. ;) I am working one or two nights each week, and other nights I am just wiped out. For the couple of folks waiting for them, I am trying to get them out before I leave for Birka.
7. Took a gorgeous ride out in the lower Adirondacks Sunday, from Glens Falls, out across Great Scanadaga Lake, down through Broadalbin to Saratoga Springs and back here. A very pretty ride.
1. I am sure that I will get to Birka, see people and have a great time.
Yet, I keep going back and forth on whether I really want to go. I have not missed Birka in years, and since Pennsic, I have been to two local events. That's it. I was taking time off from the SCA for several reasons, but I have always had Birka on the calendar.
You can expect me to be there, and I am sure I will seem like my own self.
2. If you are at Birka, and there is someone you want to meet, please let me know. I know that Rowen, the royal herald, wants to meet some of the Northern folks, as does Marietta. I urge you to stop and see Master Andrixos at Calontir Trim, not just because I like to drum up business for him to keep him coming to Birka, but also because he is one of the single coolest people in the SCA.
3. My wife and I will be at Jane's funeral Sunday, although I am absolutely petrified of it. I cannot remember crying as much as I did last Thursday.
I am really crappy at funerals. I was 15 when my dad died, and that was back in the day of many hours of wakes and the traditional Catholic funeral. God, I hated that.
I think it's important to say good-bye formally and to be with friends who are also hurting, but I feel like I am having the skin ripped off my arms.
4. On a happier note, work is going really well.
The paper's website is here. and while not all the stories get up in full on the free site, many of them do.
Whitehall is a small town hard on the Vermont border at the southern end of Lake Champlain. Use to be a transportation hub. The canal runs right through town. Interesting folks and so far good stories. I am up there tree days a week and at our main office in Granville on Tuesdays and Wednesday. I have a lot of latitude in what I do, and I also get to lay the paper out and put it together on Abode InDesign. I am learning that and PhotoShop, so that's a real plus.
5. Since I am on the road a couple of hours a day, I am listening to a lot of books on CD. I hope to have some more formal reviews, but here's what I have listened to since my wife and I went to New Jersey for Christmas.
"Champlain's Dream," by David Hackett Fischer. Very thorough historyt of Champlin and the founding of French Canada. A little but of hero worship, but a lot of good background on the relationship between the colonists and the Indians, from Massachusetts Bay well into Canada. I also learned a lot about France in the time period from the 1590s to the 1630s.
"The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America," by Timothy Egan. Absolutely fascinating history of the founding of the US Forest Service by Teddy Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot. It focuses on a massive forest fire in Idaho and Montana in 1910 that helped the Forest Service overcome incredible resistance from mining and timber barons and start establishing itself as what it is today. Stories of good guys and bad guys, greed and heroism.
"The Last Stand," by Nathaniel Philbrick. I have been to the Little Bighorn, and I have taught the battle. While I was getting it right before, I now know a lot more about what happened, especially the dynamics of the 7th Cavalry and the major issues of the command. It's very thorough, and has a good deal of background on Sitting Bull as well. Philbrick is an excellent historian, and I do have his "Mayflower" as another book I am going to listen to. He does a great job of setting the battle in its pivotal place in the history of Native Americans. There are a couple of gory parts, especially about Sitting Bull and the Sun Dance.
It's tough to rank those there. They were all excellent.
Right now, the book from Ken Burns' "National Parks" series is in the CD player, but it's dragging a little. At six discs, it is shorter than the 10 discs of the pervious three.
As you can see, I am pretty much pursuing history (and maybe biography) at this point. I am always looking for suggestions.
6. I am still doing resumes, but I find that I keep getting behind on them because of this whole full-time work thing. ;) I am working one or two nights each week, and other nights I am just wiped out. For the couple of folks waiting for them, I am trying to get them out before I leave for Birka.
7. Took a gorgeous ride out in the lower Adirondacks Sunday, from Glens Falls, out across Great Scanadaga Lake, down through Broadalbin to Saratoga Springs and back here. A very pretty ride.
