June 2023: Mundanity Strikes Again
My June goals were:
Finish my What’s and Why’s of Persona Development class materials and present the class
Finally complete the gonete and decide whether a third iteration is necessary at this point.
Complete the commonplace book.
Some of my extraordinary chosen family celebrating Tala getting her writ to join the Order of the Laurel. Photo credit: Saeuun hima
The very first weekend of June was dedicated to Storvik Novice. Novice is one of my favorite events on the calendar- it allows people a constructive and exciting space to try new things, to learn about the SCA and who we are, and is a generally chill event for just basking in the fun parts of the SCA. Bea has run the A&S for several years and I’ve loved getting to help. This year, I taught a class called A Novice’s Guide to A&S. It’s sort of a Part 1 to the class I had on the calendar at University in that they basically use the same in person display items, just slightly differently. More on that later. We had gorgeous weather for the weekend to go with delicious food and my favorite people. During evening court, my foster apprentice sister (that’s the accurate description but too many words for “she’s family”) received her writ for her elevation to take place at Pennsic. I won’t be able to be there but this could not come to a more worthy person. Tala is everything I look up to in research, artistry, mastery of her craft, and a commitment to the ever elusive PLQ’s.
To show our support for Tala, who does Amazigh (Berber) for her persona, Bea and I made 13th C Moorish. I had some blue linen that had screamed it when I bought it and finally brought it to life. This is officially my new go-to summer garb. The outer layer is so flowy and comfortable but I don’t feel like I’m wearing a potato sack, which is no small feat for 2 yards of unstructured linen. I need to make an appropriate under dress and convince my hair ties to not snap so I can actually have my hair fully covered as it should be, but I loved how I felt in this outfit. Getting to wear pants was an absolute plus.
Summer University was a smash. I took several classes that I thoroughly enjoyed, but I think my favorite was The History of Broom Production. I absolutely loved getting to see the depth of research and joy someone could get out of something as simple and overlooked as a broom and that to me is some of the most beautiful part of arts and sciences. My class went swimmingly that day! The What’s and Why’s of Persona Development aimed to be a very practical way of thinking about persona development and more importantly its direct application to how one can participate in the SCA. I think (and much of the feedback agrees) that I achieved that goal. The discussion in the chat was lively and I’m so thankful to have such excellent students and TA’s to keep University flowing smoothly. A Novice’s Guide and The What’s and Why’s could honestly use the same display pieces if they were in person classes, just with different labels. For A Novice’s Guide, the piece labels were focused on what sort of A&S someone might relate to explore through a specific object. The goal there was to show as much breadth as possible given the pieces I’ve created over the years. On the other hand, for The What’s and Why’s, that same display would include short descriptions of how I actively use each piece I’ve made in my SCA experience. For our next Northern University, I may see about doing those classes back to back in the same space to accommodate those dual displays. And to top that all off, I got my University Masters! Still to come what I plan to teach for Fall University.
Of course as soon as I said I was dedicating this month to finishing my two work-in-progress Pentathlon pieces, I also immediately agreed to do garb stuff for other people. Oopsie. Most of my month was spent working on pieces for Tala’s elevation, doing repair work for Gracie and John, and patterning new garb for them as well. I did also have one mundane sewing project to do for my mom too.
On the gonete, I did get the hooks and eyes removed, the fabric opened up, and the horsehair pinned on. I can already tell that this solution, while reasonable, is not going to be sufficient on its own. This is going to require a third version of this garment unfortunately. I think just one more inch of ease (after seam allowances) should do the trick but it’s disappointing to be so set back yet again.
Other mundane bits of life got in the way of SCA spoons. Now that it’s official, I can finally announce that I accepted a new job the first week of July! That transition and search took a lot out of me and has for the last couple months and I will be officially starting my new job on July 31st. The new job has me back at home full time, so I’m very hopeful about renewed vigor for projects.
So I’m going to be a bit more realistic here and say my July goals are:
Finish Gracie and John’s Pennsic clothing
Help out in any way I can for Tala’s vigil
Make SOME sort of progress on my gonete and commonplace book.
