Kihe Blackeagle

I've been MIA for -- well, just call it Way Too Long. Things have been busy here in North Texas, and I eventually simply gave up on some parts of my previous life for one reason or another ... limited resources, both energy and economics, tend to create those adjustments will-ye, nil-ye.

As for what I've been up to? Not enough, and way too much. My faux F-I-L has gone through a great heaping pile o' hurt, including (most significantly) reverse shoulder replacement surgery, diagnosis with advanced Parkinson's Disease, and now a fractured upper neck of femur with attendant partial hip replacement (ball, not the socket) - and subsequent dislocation. PLUS complications: be warned that Parkinson's patients should only be given general anesthesia if there is NO other alternative. Shorter summary: he will be in a long-term care facility for the rest of his life, barring serious medical miracle and / or substantial financial windfall.

Say it with me now, please: PARKINSON'S SUCKETH MIGHTILY

(I tell you three times today, and repeat tomorrow if needed...)

That's his tale, and my central burden for a while. I've been on driver, shopper, health care advocate/aide, and related service and support duty for most of the past three-plus years, and REALLY have not been able to get out to speak of. Have managed to keep up some writing along the way, but really REALLY need to get some of that output finished up and submitted.

Sometimes, being a conscientious and caring person who keeps his promises has far-reaching consequences.

was wild last night. Neighbor's tree snapped off nearly a foot below current ground level and laid down into their front yard -- leaving two of similar size standing that would have taken off part of their front roof / facade if they had also gone down.

No problems on this property, but other SCA folk across the area lost shingles and tree limbs or had power outages.

Tonight, the heavy stuff is headed in a slightly different direction and does not appear to be as organized (yet).

Pax ... Kihe / Adieu, Amra / ttfn - Mike

Another year in the trenches, manning the herraldic consultation table at Steppes Warlord (oldest continually-presented event in what is now the Kingdom of Ansteorra).

Will be displaying my hand-sewn banner in Ansteorra for the first time at a full-fledged SCA event (and it has additional work even since the last time it was out in public, too). Will be advocating for the A&S 50 Challenge in my copious spare time. AND just might let the voice out for a bit of a bardic competition, if my energy holds out...

Am I ready? Not quite yet -- but I'm getting there as fast as I can!

Adieu, Amra / Pax ... Kihe / ttfn - Mike

Have now started a first for me -- "pure" telecommute gig, part-time, teaching MicroFocus tools and prviding related technical consultation on policy documents, system configurations, "best practices", and so forth.

Working from home isn't new to me. Working from home directly for pay isn't new, either. HOWEVER doing all of the work on an engagement remotely, no travel, set-my-own-hours (except for the remote-classroom presentations [which I still get to reach an agreement as to scheduling for), work primarily at my own pace and under my own initiative: this is new.

So far, I likes it, I does.

Ask me again after midnight on 30th April, 2009. And again at the end of May. . .

Meanwhile, it is indeed Spring in north Texas. Serious amounts of allergens in the air definitely impact my health and well-being, and that of my friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and everyone else (whether or not they admit to it, this much pollen & dust & spores & smoke & other debris affects EVERYONE). Hope the team that developed Claritin, and the lab monkeys associated with Benadryl, were well and truly compensated for the boon they were able to grant us.

Pax ... Kihe

For what purpose, what reason, in what season?

I already maintain at least four: birth name, ordination / "Craft" name, Bard Name, and Society for Creative Anachronism persona name. And each of those becomes more complex as titles are added or left out.

Hmmm. Make that at least four: gaming name(s) count for something as well, and "Imperious Cat", Admiral of the Kzinti Interest Section within the Klingon Tactical Command, certainly made a big enough splash already.

Nicknames, too, although few of those seem to stick with me for very long except for those that relate back to those first four categories (my mundane phonetic intials led to part of my original SCA persona name, which led to an an old friend regularly still using that instead of the revised/more "authentic" and phonetically similar form I use now).

Then there are all of the OTHER use-names, email addresses, and ephemeral identifiers.

And at least one pen-name that I will never, ever, admit to anyone but myself that I ever have used or will ever use again (but I hold in reserve against SPECIAL needs).

Pax ... Kihe / Adieu, Amra / ttfn - Mike / With Dispatch, "Imperious Cat"

Well, it hasn't been a very good month so far here at the Murphy branch of House Dreamwind.

Tax season, and apparently the instructions I followed so faithfully on calculating Estimated Federal Tax payments last year lied to me (or I failed to make some adjustment for partial-year employment that was not spelled out in the instructions).

Automotive "Go Boom" season? Ever had the distinct feeling that the universe smiles even when it slaps you down? Trudging back from yet another basically disappointing "job fair", I stopped at the bread store. Went in, made my purchases, came back out, tried to start the car. Sounds emitted from the engine compartment such as one MIGHT hear if you added assorted scrap metal to a cement mixer. I stop the chaos, open the hood, get out -- in my "get-a-job" suit, no less -- and open the hood. Can't see anything caught up in the belts or other openwork mechanicals. Reenter the car. Turn the key. No response at all, beyond that dismal "click" that indicates the engine will not be starting again today without other attentions I'm ill-prepared to deliver.

Exit the vehicle, find a shady spot, place the call to Triple-A. (AAA is *cheap* insurance for just such emergencies, my friends & neighbors.) Alakazot, wrecker will reach me in maybe an hour. That's fine -- a repair shop is just across the street; if it weren't for traffic, I'd probably have been able to push the darn thing over there with maybe some minor assistance from a passerby or two. Call my lady, who informs me I just messed up by stopping at the bread store in the first place (miscommunication about the shopping list rears an ugly head at an inopportune time). Damn.

Wrecker arrives early. Driver tries to start the poor machine again. Nothing doing. Hooks the Stormtrooper** up, pulls it into a convenient space in the other parking lot, and drops it off. Elapsed wrecker time: maybe ten minutes.

I negotiate with the auto shop. They need time to do a diagnostic, and tell me it will be the next morning before they can attempt same. Fine, expected that, so I call Carol and she drives in to retrieve me. Thirty minutes, and we're back to the house in another twenty.

Shopman calls the next morning. Seems that somewhere along the way I must not have propitiated the proper Powers, or otherwise absolutely missed any warning signs, for my engine is pronounced dead on arrival, blown thoroughly, AND, oh, yes, their shop does not handle replacing engines. One diagnostice fee, please.

This is north Texas, DFW region, and a feller on job search just kinda absolutely has to have some wheels to get around. Besides which, how else am I going to get to the regular gaming session I have just wangled a seat in (FRPG, not gambling...)?

SO, I make a call and arrange to drop in and set things up with another shop, one I have used in the past and been reasonably well pleased with. (Even after subsequent events this round, I am *still* pleased with Christensen Tire.) Drive Carol's car over (short term, very limited availability) over and negotiate for redemption of The Wheels. Total is expected to be low enough that it makes more sense to replace engine than the vehicle, so I hand over my keys and sign appropriately. Deposit a mere grand, and wait.

First Call: yep, it's done for, about thirty pounds of scrap metal in the oil pan.

Second Call: (yes, there IS more) can't use the originally expected rebuild, have to go for the long-block, add a grand to the total BUT the resulting transplant will carry more than triple the length of warranty coverage (and some originally expected charges go away).

Third Call: the last yay-hoos to work with the torque converter used coarse-thread screws instead of fine-thread, the studs are welded in, and naturally one of them stripped off when disassembling the whole thing. Rebuild available locally, add a day and another chunk o'change to the total cost.

Two days later now, I have a vehicle back in my possession. It runs. I can get where I need to go, but do need to have Stormtrooper back in the shop in about five hundred miles (yes, rebuilt engines need break-in time and inspections too).

I'd try to go to sleep until May, but that wouldn't get the taxes filed or new income flowing.

Pax ... Kihe

** "Stormtrooper": the vehicle in question is a 1999 Ford Escort SE Wagon, for which a previous owner chose to have the back windows heavily tinted. Squint just right, and he does look a bit like a Star Wars stormtrooper's helmet with a one-piece visor.

It's not hard, he said, to be a bard -- at least for a little while.
Just slip the noose, and read some Seuss, and watch the children smile!
Or take a rip from some great road trip and channel some Beat servile.
From the top o' me 'ead, he said, and soon to be posted elsewhere, else while...


found this in a Gather update . . .

"from the group ¡ POETRY ! which is on the Goodreads site. I think it's a wonderful idea though I don't know where I could do this around here. POETRY BOMB! is on MySpace www.myspace.com/thepoetrybomb or you can e-mail them if you are interested in more information."

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It is 2009 and time for another POETRY BOMB! This year's Poetry Bomb is April 19th, at 3:30pm.

What is the Poetry Bomb?: The Poetry Bomb is a random act of poetry in celebration of National Poetry month. At 3:30pm on April 19th, the Poetry Bomb asks us to leave our homes and perform poetry out in the city, suburbs, parks, wherever people will hear it.

You can put together a poetry show, or you can go it alone as a solitary poet. All this event asks is to take ten minutes (or more) of your time to either showcase to the world that poetry is alive and thriving, or simply enjoy the show.

How do I get involved?: Not only is getting involved easy, we are here to help you through every step of the way. If you wish to read, pick a location that works best for you, and read April 19th at 3:30. Our only request is that you let us know so we can advertise it (if you don't want the exact location advertised, we'll simply mention the city, or area you'll be performing).

If you'd like to organize a show and would like some help, e-mail us at poetrybomb@gmail.com and we'll be happy to lend whatever aid we can.

If you already run a poetry show, and would like us to advertise your show, or would like to help us advertise the Poetry Bomb, please send us an email (poetrybomb@gmail.com) either with your show's information, or a Poetry Bomb flier request (please let us know what file format will work best for you)

So I'm following handful-of-dust's edict from the other day and doing the following:

Grab the book nearest you. Right now. Turn to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post that sentence along with these instructions in your LiveJournal. Don't dig for your favourite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

"So what ideas or events could produce another seismic shift?" _Future Files: The 5 Trends That Will Shape The Next 50 Years_, Richard Watson (registered copyright 2008)

cf.: http://kelpqueen.livejournal.com/

(Stealing a moment while packing madly -- contract ended, headed home to north central Texas [DFW area].)

Pax ... Kihe

The SCA A&S 50 Challenge caught my attention, and me being me I opted for the complete immersion: 50-50-50. Fifty Depth (works in forms already known), Fifty Breadth (works / styles in areas I am learning / adding), and Fifty Persona (make/acquire/integrate items&knowledge my persona would have worn/used/known).

Cumulative progress log:
Depth - My intent is 40 new bardic pieces composed and 10 additional / new / updated classes created AND presented. So far, I have completed two new compositions, performed once before an entirely new audience, and (partial credit only, as I only embellished something already prepared) boasted an equestrian into an Emprise. Have scheduled teaching session(s) based on The (UpdatesPending) Paper (_What *IS* A Bard? The Myth & The History_ -- previous incarnation[s] available via [pay-to-play, PDF] http://www.lulu.com/WizardsDen or [FREE! MS Word .doc format]http://bard.ansteorra.org/bardcraft/whatisabard.doc ), am working on a tribute piece for Mikal the Ram -- may Bragi's benches welcome him greatly! -- and more for my work-in-progress quasi-history of Moonschadowe (and House Dreamwind of the Shadowed Moon). Make that two-and-a-half, for now.

Breadth - My intent here is changing summat. Originally thought I would be creating more research papers and classes. I've changed that to involve and include more physical-creation activity. I make the current count of completed items at seven-ish, with three forms of new needlework / clothwork (sewn grommets, adding hand-formed fringe by stitching & tying raw edge of cloth, non-hooped embroidery) going into a heraldic banner, two new classes prepared and presented (_Basic Heraldic Design_ and a thoroughly updated _Everyday Ornamentation: A Roundtable_). I'll be adding a class on the creation of heraldic banners

Persona - still nailing down how to approach this one. The initial plan is for three complete new costumes of at least three major components each (one for each of the primary cultures comprising my LBPS**), three complete meals each consisting of at least three dishes, three documentable tales or poems for each costume-associated cultural area.

Yeah, I'll be busy between now and SCA New Year, Anno Societatis L (May 1, 2015).

Adieu, Amra / Pax ... Kihe / ttfn - Mike

** LBPS: Long Boring Persona Story. Have never tried to run it all out in one sitting, but I estimate that I could spin mine out to about 12 hours without much effort...

My result for The hardcore SCA Test...

The Queen's Champion

Take The hardcore SCA Test at HelloQuizzy