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Pictures will come later, but here's a brief account of Ellid's adventures at Pennsic:
The drive down was quite smooth. I made good time to Buffalo and spent the night at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alphasarah and M's house. TRex is gorgeous (and smart!), the house is fabulous (I want their downstairs fireplace, badly), and their hospitality was most welcome. They also live almost exactly three hours from Cooper's Lake, so I was on site, unpacked, and in garb by 1:30 on Saturday afternoon.
It was incredibly good to be home - Bergental's encampment was fabulous, and it was lovely being around my friends for a whole week. I so needed the break!
Highlights:
- The House Runnymede Dinner on Monday night was extraordinary. For those in other kingdoms, House Runnymede is the landed barons and baronesses of the East. Each barony takes a turn hosting a Pennsic dinner for the household, and this year it was our turn.
The theme was a Roman dinner, complete with invitations on papyrus bycountessinn and islenskr, a five course meal by Mistress Eleanore using recipes from Apicius, and everyone in Roman costume. I ended up announcing the courses, plus I took pictures of everything: food, the arrival of each guest, the servers, the banquet area, the entertainment (by Clan Tynker), music provided by shalmestere (whose name LJ is refusing to post), hudebnik, and several others, a whole roast pig, and so on. We worked hard, and it showed - it was the talk of the War, even in non-Eastern camps.
And now I've been converted to the practicality of Roman garb for the War because it's comfortable and cool. *ack*
- The arts and sciences display. The artisans of the Known World brought their best work, and I took lots of pictures. The award for Insane Artisan of the Year goes to a card-weaver from the Midrealm who's duplicating a Coptic curtain...and he's using over three hundred cards!
- Shopping. I didn't buy much (a couple of books, some fabric), but I did discover Folump Press's Dragonspire books (fictionalized accounts of a Midrealm group's history - yes, they're fiction, but oh dear God is some of it familiar!). I also found that Billy & Charlie's, maker of pewter pilgrim badges, also has a fascinating adult selection, the originals of which are all from the Low Countries.
- Classes. The printed class schedule was a bit of a mess, unfortunately, but the people at A&S point worked hard to make sure that every new class was publicized and had people going to the right place. I took a few, schmoozed, and generally did my best to relax.
- Medieval Clothing and Textiles 4. It wasn't the talk of Pennsic, but *every single copy of #4*, at every bookseller, was gone by early in the week. The stock carried by my favorite bookseller, Small Churl Books, sold out before I arrived! Expect a rash of St. Birgitta caps next year....:)
- Lunch in Pittsburgh. I had lunch with Denise on Friday at the 17th Street Cafe. She's doing well, and oddly enough, feels the same way about her job that I do (see below). She's planning to use what Betty left her to go back to school and pay off some debts, and start a retirement account - at one point she asked me if I thought that was what Betty wanted her to do, and I said yes. Betty wanted us to be taken care of, and I can't imagine a better way for Denise to use her money.
- The One True Spring of Pennsic. There was a small drainage trough in the merchants' area. Someone labeled it "The Shrine of St. Dissentery - one cup cures constipation" and left peacock feathers as offerings. I didn't actually sip the holy water, but oddly enough, it seems to be working at long distance....
As for me, I've come to the decision that I'm leaving my job, even though I haven't found anything new yet. It's all but impossible to interview while working there, and after some recent incidents, and a lovely week spent feeling human again (Pennsic was the first time in almost a year I've slept consistently without the aid of medication), it's clear that it's not worth the struggle any more. Thanks to Betty, I don't have to worry about funds for a while, so right now I'm deciding exactly how and when and for how long I'm going to give notice.
But I'm giving notice this week. This is simply not worth it any more.
The drive down was quite smooth. I made good time to Buffalo and spent the night at
alphasarah and M's house. TRex is gorgeous (and smart!), the house is fabulous (I want their downstairs fireplace, badly), and their hospitality was most welcome. They also live almost exactly three hours from Cooper's Lake, so I was on site, unpacked, and in garb by 1:30 on Saturday afternoon. It was incredibly good to be home - Bergental's encampment was fabulous, and it was lovely being around my friends for a whole week. I so needed the break!
Highlights:
- The House Runnymede Dinner on Monday night was extraordinary. For those in other kingdoms, House Runnymede is the landed barons and baronesses of the East. Each barony takes a turn hosting a Pennsic dinner for the household, and this year it was our turn.
The theme was a Roman dinner, complete with invitations on papyrus by
countessinn and islenskr, a five course meal by Mistress Eleanore using recipes from Apicius, and everyone in Roman costume. I ended up announcing the courses, plus I took pictures of everything: food, the arrival of each guest, the servers, the banquet area, the entertainment (by Clan Tynker), music provided by shalmestere (whose name LJ is refusing to post), hudebnik, and several others, a whole roast pig, and so on. We worked hard, and it showed - it was the talk of the War, even in non-Eastern camps.And now I've been converted to the practicality of Roman garb for the War because it's comfortable and cool. *ack*
- The arts and sciences display. The artisans of the Known World brought their best work, and I took lots of pictures. The award for Insane Artisan of the Year goes to a card-weaver from the Midrealm who's duplicating a Coptic curtain...and he's using over three hundred cards!
- Shopping. I didn't buy much (a couple of books, some fabric), but I did discover Folump Press's Dragonspire books (fictionalized accounts of a Midrealm group's history - yes, they're fiction, but oh dear God is some of it familiar!). I also found that Billy & Charlie's, maker of pewter pilgrim badges, also has a fascinating adult selection, the originals of which are all from the Low Countries.
- Classes. The printed class schedule was a bit of a mess, unfortunately, but the people at A&S point worked hard to make sure that every new class was publicized and had people going to the right place. I took a few, schmoozed, and generally did my best to relax.
- Medieval Clothing and Textiles 4. It wasn't the talk of Pennsic, but *every single copy of #4*, at every bookseller, was gone by early in the week. The stock carried by my favorite bookseller, Small Churl Books, sold out before I arrived! Expect a rash of St. Birgitta caps next year....:)
- Lunch in Pittsburgh. I had lunch with Denise on Friday at the 17th Street Cafe. She's doing well, and oddly enough, feels the same way about her job that I do (see below). She's planning to use what Betty left her to go back to school and pay off some debts, and start a retirement account - at one point she asked me if I thought that was what Betty wanted her to do, and I said yes. Betty wanted us to be taken care of, and I can't imagine a better way for Denise to use her money.
- The One True Spring of Pennsic. There was a small drainage trough in the merchants' area. Someone labeled it "The Shrine of St. Dissentery - one cup cures constipation" and left peacock feathers as offerings. I didn't actually sip the holy water, but oddly enough, it seems to be working at long distance....
As for me, I've come to the decision that I'm leaving my job, even though I haven't found anything new yet. It's all but impossible to interview while working there, and after some recent incidents, and a lovely week spent feeling human again (Pennsic was the first time in almost a year I've slept consistently without the aid of medication), it's clear that it's not worth the struggle any more. Thanks to Betty, I don't have to worry about funds for a while, so right now I'm deciding exactly how and when and for how long I'm going to give notice.
But I'm giving notice this week. This is simply not worth it any more.
