Genevieve
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	The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam...

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Gulf Wars, SCA not Iraq.
2003-03-20 - 6:17 p.m.

Often I glory at the escapism in the SCA and thank goodness I have a place to go if only for a little while that means I don't have to think about the business overseas. yay. Go Team!

One of the many things that happened at GW12 is that Cuan came down with Strep. Ever since her return and scratchy/sore throat Gen has been noshing on the zinc lozenges every 4 hours. That damn Cuan! So faron my 3rd day back I still seem to be in the holding pattern of soreish throat, tired, but not sick sick. hmm...

So, Monday night, the 10th, Gen starts packing for GW. All I can say is thank goodness for the glory that is travel space bags. It enabled me to make it to a week of war, too many clothes in just two suitcases and two carryons. Rockin! I packed on Monday night between bits of watching TV and dinner and weaving. I was a crackhead. Despite that we needed to get up at 5:30 to finish getting ready and get to the airport on time, I still stayed up until 2am finsihing my 3rd tablet weaving project. I just had to have a new belt to go with my viking. Honest! Tuesday morning rolls around and Alan arches an eyebrow at the weight of my suitcases, but we make it to the airport, thru check in and get to the gate (furthest away, I'm cursed) with an hour to spare before boarding. Sadly the Starbucks was outside of the security point and there was no way I was going through that more than I had to. We get to New Orleans through Detroit (hey Jake! The Detroit airport is all about tile mosiacs on the walls and floor!) and get the rental car. Note: behind the rental car place was a pasture with a few minature ponies. It took all my restraint not to go play with them. So as we are driving out of town I am trying to convince Alan that a short stop in the French Quarter would do us good. Honest! He is unmoved and reminds me that there is no such thing as a short stop in the Quarter. After a small detour looking for decent food in Picayune (we failed) where Alan seriously contemplated buying a cheap but nice looking truck to drive home which only gave me delusions of the wonderful stuff I could buy... we made it to Hattiesburg to satisfy our Outback needs and go for a Wal-Mart and booze run. The Outback in Hattiesburg has fried mudbugs on the menu, and surprisingly damn tasty things too! We get things at Wally World such as a pillow for the Gen, sodas, snacks, etc. and then run to the booze place for bourbon for Alan, wine for myself, and champagne and chambord for the Meng. Finally we get on site around 8ish. We fighre their Majs should be there in a few hours so we had time to settle and get dressed. If you think TRM made it to Gulf Wars and were sober before 3am you got another thing coming. But they did get to see the great Beth Patterson (dammit Alan, we should have gone to the Quarter!). pout

Wednesday I wore my Italian, chatted with some Meridian and Ansteorran buds so missed Opening Ceremonies, but then had a good time scoping out the merchants, hanging with Angus and geeking with the glass-god that is Arab Boy. Then I stopped back by the cabin and front half of Havorc and Meng's tent that was the common tent and got to sit and chat and be your classic catty women, chatting with a new lady, and also doing emergency embroidery of a type I can't mention. We did manage to have a blast and that night was midnight madness so while the boys were so tired from fighting and all they wanted to do was talk about fighing, Bera and I went shopping and spent too much money and got to chat more with a now enebriated Arab Boy, and had a great time.

Thursday I wore my viking with new shiney woven belt (must get pictures of it) and did much of the same. I honestly don't remember much more than a sick Cu, my green sheet getting caught up in the HAZMAT bags of Cuan infected bedding, and moving the beds to avoid the rain that wanted to come in the cabin. Of course it was our wall that just had to leak, right over the bed, dammit! But we had packed extra bedding just in case and Lukas and Catarina (Mary) were nice and we all just scooted our beds over and in the morning put waterproof items by that wall, like a cooler and waterproof rubbermaid tub. It was actually a good thing as the only items that ever got stacked on the cooler was Alan's wool, which is a lucky thing considering the lack of horizontal surfaces in the cabin. Oh thank you to the goddess Mary Grace for getting Alan and I cabin space, for without it we surely would have been lost! Thursday also boasted the wet Royal Court under Meng's tent, thanks to the amazing Aetterbani acrobatic troop who moved the diving wall further back. And then Bera and Raynald of Wharram had the excellent idea of pine shavings to absorb the muck and make the inside of the tent more habitable, if somewhat like a Habitrail. we all felt a little like gerbils but at least our feet were dry. Thanks also for the glory that is allergy drugs. Mistress Drea di Pelligrini stopped by the party and we ended up chatting for hours catching up form the last time we had a major chat two years ago at Pennsic. She is so delightful. I tried to introduce her periodically around the party to other folks, and she ended up chatting with a guy from the West about living in small towns in Austria. She mentioned how we thru a good party! Props to Meng for that! Of course we only fed each other more on the next projects we want to do, but such is life. Meng, Melisande, Arielle and I helped polish off my big bottle of wine too.

Friday I wore Russian and was mostly a bum all day. There was some futzing here and there, and a goodbye to Drea since her husband decided they needed to leave on Friday for their 15 hour drive home, and stuff. I went up to the rapier field to watch Alan in the Rapier Champs tourney, only he didn't get called so I was a little perturbed, but it wasn't his fault. I headed back to the cabin, did some more string stuff, and that night after I put the bug in Bera's ear that her Champtions for the Rose Tourney's needed favors and she sat down to weave some that night (pass the crack...) she also taught me the basics of double faced tablet weaving wherein I made one very sad elongated bear and called it quits. Friday was also the A&S Champions Competitions and Bera and Brigit were the champions from Atlantia. Bera used my simulated satin belt as her entry and they were up on Thursday night having Susie write it out all nice. Well the judging sheets for this war were essentially stupid. (I'm not just venting here, I sent a nice letter to the lady in charge telling her they were stupid and why and what to try for next year dammit!) Essentially a quarter of the points were based on presentation and I think that is just wrong. Presentation was defined as the pretty table cloth you put it on, the science fair poster that goes with it, putting a belt on a manniquin! Now really, who packs a mannequin for Gulf wars to display a belt?!? The entire category was stupid and the judges comments equally so, except the documentation should be typed. Well, duh! If she hadn't done it the night before, and had access to a printer she would have. Of course the entries were all anonymous so these factors were not able to be taken into account. Don't even get me started! There is no perfect judging form, but this one was right up there with stupid.

Saturday morning rose a sleepy cabin of folks who had stayed up way too late chatting and weaving and a knighting on the field for Sir Dagonet. It was bittersweet, but mostly sweet. Badouin did the washing (since no vigil) and poured a bucket of water just over his head and made a nice speech about cleansing away old wrongs and hurts and the purity of the spirit. Havorc talked about the spurs (from Ragnarr) and he and Jason put them on. Gyrth spoke to the whiteness and purity of the belt, making anew even more applicable since it was made that morning by Kyneburh and Roland of purchases pieces. Ragnarr spoke of the chain, which was his and had been Anton's and the oath of fealty. Dagonet accepted his last blow unanswered from Cuan and then we was dubbed Knight! Everyone was teary touched by the moment. I couldn't help but hear the "Non nobis Domine..." going thru my head and realy wished I knew the words and had a voice that could sing them. I hummed that for the rest of the day. I wish I had been by Susie so she could have sang it. It was also the day of the Rose tournaments where Christian made it to the 4th round, and lost against the winner I think. Kieran of the Hell Hounds fought for her in the Armoured Combat Rose Tourney and also did quite well in it. The Rose tourneys at Gulf Wars are among my favorite things, I can't explain why. That night most folks packed out, but I wove a second better bear on the double faced set up and there was chatting and hanging out and packing and more visits from Westies, and stuff. Sir Dagonet hung out with us few that were left in the cabin that night, crashed/passed out from bourbon and beer on a spare bed. He was a lot of fun to hang with. I don't think I've ever really had that opportunity, but I'm glad I did and I hope to in the future. He's one groovy guy. And for the record Balynar, he's 24, I asked. punk.

Sunday was a liesurely wake up and finish packing and waking the Chris and Bera before we left for a big goodbye. We got on the road, with Padraiga's abandoned goody bag, met up with my Aunt and Uncle at their new swinging pad, and mosied on into the French Quarter. I know now why I like to go to Nawlins first. Aside from having a better likelihood of seeing Beth at O'Flarehty's, I also have more energy. We went into the Quarter for a few hours, had a good time walking about, had an early dinner, saw that Beth wasn't playing and went back to my Aunt's place. Alan and Pete smoked cigars outside in the rain in the courtyard, and Mary and I drank Tea and I ended up falling asleep in front of the TV in a comfy chair. I was in bed by 11pm. It was truly sad, and yet truly wonderful. Had a great night's sleep, a long hot shower with water pressure, repacked my bags so they were mostly even, had a yummy breakfast and got on the road to the airport. All in all it was a great, if laid back time.

I sent Kevin a message from my phone saying Mmm... gumbo. mmm... pralines. Miss you! just to be evil in the airport. We had beignets in the airport as well waiting for our plane and all was well. I think this was one of the best Gulf Wars ever! Perhaps it had to do with not having any obligations so that the most Pelican like thing I did was plung a toilet in the girls' room twice. Perhaps it was the high-speed/low-drag version that comes with flying. Perhaps it was having my sweetie there again. Perhaps because it didn't contain too much rain, royal stuff, screaming babies or other people's hems until 5am, but it was a good war!

I'm so glad I got to hang out with so many fun folks. I'm so glad I had a great liesurly time. I'm so glad I went.

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