Dreams

"I'm going to be unconscious, hallucinate, and have partial amnesia about it."

"OK, sleep well."

I sometime find it odd how much we take dreaming in stride, and how little we think about our dreams.

Do we dream because we are human, or are we human because we dream?

Are our dreams our subconscious trying to talk to our conscious?

Are dreams windows into alternate dimensions, where we see through the eyes of our parallel selves?

Science has reached the point where they can identify when someone is dreaming, but no one, as far as I know, can tell us where dreams come from.

ZZZzzzz...

From the Frontlines: Warren War

This past weekend, the Canadians once again tried to invade the US, but the valiant forces of Aquaterra were able to stop them and capture Point Roberts at Warren War.

The weather was nice and mild. Warren War this year had possibly the vaguest schedule yet seen in the SCA, with morning court on Saturday being listed as "Opening court will begin at the time of Her Majesty's choosing."

At morning court Her Majesty was presented with a tiny cup of coffee grounds and informed that this was the entire crop grown on Point Roberts this past year. Both Aquaterra's own Baron Hauk and the Baron of Lion's Gate felt that they could do better, and were forced to go to war to determine who would get the land in order to prove it.

Eight fighters showed up for rapier; four Aquaterrans including myself, two other southerners, one local, and one Canadian. This rather small invading force was augmented by everyone except the native Aquaterrans, and further bolstered by a large arsenal of Rubber Band Guns, including an RBG musket. We fought hard, but ultimately lost. I did have some success in one scenario reloading RBGs and firing past my fellow fighters to pick off the opposition. In addition to a road battle with RBGs there was a Champion's Duel, a Papal Ascendancy scenario (Spanish and Italian Popes), Capture the Useful Chainmail Stick (with RBGs), and a free-for-all. In addition to loosing the war point, I was unable to find two of my RBG shot after the last scenario.

I threw knives, watched Bocci Biffy Ball between the Sergeants of Aquaterra and Lion's Gate (we lost), and then came evening court.

For those of you who didn't already look at the image above, look at it now. That, my friends, is an Award of Arms. :-) It was presented to my by the Queen herself, from her hand to mine. She also gifted me with a token of her favor (the necklace in the top-left corner) to mark the event. Now I *really* need to work on my name and device...

There were three entrants for Bardic including myself, including only a single person from Lion's Gate. Again, however, numbers failed to prevail. This was an unusual bardic contest, being judged mostly on keeping in persona for the pieces. I did the Prologue to Henry V. I couldn't restrain myself, however, from making my second piece 'Dear Kindly Local Herald': a filk of Officer Krumpke (West Side Story) about the trials and perils of submitting one's name and device to the college of heralds. Once again, the Bunny Bard is someone else. Sigh.

Despite the losses I witnessed, however, Aquaterra did prevail overall.

On the Move: Extension #2

Week 9 (extension week 3): 33,436 :-(
Week 10: 48,199 - over 15,000 steps on Friday.

Roulette, Satisfaction, and Blueberries

Everyone has heard of Russian Roulette. Many people have heard of Polish Roulette (it involves a semi-auto pistol).

I am officially declaring one of my range techniques to be German Roulette. In German Roulette, you load one or two snap caps (or spent casings) into a revolver; the rest of the chambers get live rounds. You then do the classic spin-the-chamber and snap it in. Now shoot. If you're trigger control is good, when you pull the trigger on one of the blanks, the pistol doesn't move. If you're me, it dips a little. This shows you that you're causing the pistol to dip a little when you fire a live round too... of course when you fire a live round recoil makes it impossible for you to tell.

No, I didn't invent this technique, nor did I think it up independently. I am, however, designating it as German Roulette for easy of conversation. Let the Internet take note.

Also, and mostly unrelated, I officially declare that as a group of lions is called a Pride, a group of house cats should be called a Satisfaction. Again, let the Internet take note.

If it weren't for blueberries I'm not sure I could have made it through today. Thank you, blueberries, for being so yummy, especially in milkshake form.

Dance!

Saturday I belly danced in public for the first time.

"Belly danced? Aren't you a guy?"

Yes, and yes. Belly dance is a broad form of dance that is not limited to the cabaret-style most people think of. In my case, I'm dancing with a sword, demonstrating balance and control of it while moving to the music. :-)

The photo probably conveys a better idea than words will.

I was somewhat nervous going in, but it went quite well (I didn't drop my sword!), and I got a few compliments afterward. I'm glad it was a small audience - that made it easier to focus on my routine. The trip to Ellensburg, WA was long, but the conversation along the way was interesting.

The troop I am part of is called "Emerald Rain". Eight of us (seven women, including the instructor) went to Ellensburg to perform.

On the Move: Extension #1

I've decided to keep tracking my steps with the pedometer I used for Boeing's On the Move program, though on a weekly basis rather than daily.

Week 7 (extension week 1): 36,500 steps - I didn't wear the pedometer for one day this week as I was in SCA garb.
Week 8: 40,630 steps

From the Frontlines: Midhaven Champions

July 31st was the Shire of Midhaven Champion's tourney. I entered in rapier and bardic, and won neither. Handing over the bardic champion's regalia was a little sad, but I wouldn't have had it any other way if I'd been the judge.

I also got one of the highest compliments a bard can get - the winner performed one of my songs! The new An Tir warsong I wrote for Aquaterra's Championship early this year, in fact.

It appears that the Bards of Key Point and I will be dueling for quite some time to come. I'm looking forward to it. :-)

After the bardic competition (single entry - mine was 'Life's Flame' with a few guitar chords and notes that I'd managed to learn for it), we did a bardic circle. Among other pieces, I improvised an ode to chocolate in its many forms. Last night I was told that my bardic abilities impressed another bard enough that they sought out my bellydance teacher (thinking she was also my bardic teacher), and spoke to her at length about how good I was. :-)

Overall it was fun, and I'll be back next year for sure.