My Own Grandpa

I've finally updated the photo galleries for the kids:

Isaac
Delia
Both Together

I was just noticing the variety of books sitting on the shelf here at my computer desk.

( From Left To Right )

I was catching up on Psych last night, and couldn't place where I had seen the guest hottie (Rachael Leigh Cook) before. After checking IMDB, I realized that it must have been her 3 episodes of Dawson's Creek. I feel so uncool.

Just got back from doing the dance practice in Tuscaloosa with andrevarigaldi. It went very well, though attendance was less than I'd hoped for. We had about 10-12 people from Tuscaloosa and Huntsville, which was still enough to do pretty much any dance we could think of. We covered a whole lot of dances over 6 hours or so of teaching, and everyone seemed to have a good time.

We'd like to try doing this again next summer, and hopefully hit two different places. We'll need to do better at getting the word out, but I think the concept is sound. I took a few pictures, which can be seen here.

This is here mostly for my own future reference. This is a fresco from the Schifanoia Palace in Ferrara, painted from 1476-1484. In the center is a man wearing an unbelted giornea, with the fabric falling in natural folds. On the left is a man wearing a giornea with the small tubular pleats that are typical of the style. This indicates to me that this depiction of pleats is not just artistic license, but an accurate portrayal of the style.

ETA: This painting (Botticelli, 1483) also shows different styles of giornea. The man in the foreground, the man in the center with his hand raised, and the man on the right all seem to have giorneas with natural folds, while the man in red (right next to the horse's nose) has rigid pleats that start at mid-chest. Looking at the form of outer garments at the end of the century, I would guess that the rigid pleats are going out of style at this point and are being replaced with more unstructured garments. Either way, this bodes well for future Pennsic wardrobes. :)

The lady who has been cutting my hair suddenly closed up shop and moved to Alabama, so I decided to try something I could maintain at home.

I started this sculpt of Bernadette at the same time as the previous one. I wasn't sure if I was going to finish it, but it turned out okay. I like the pose much better than the last one.

This past weekend I was flipping through the internet and stumbled across the web comic Flipside. After reading through all the archives, I was inspired to get out the putty and sculpt a miniature from scratch again, based on Maytag, the jester.

Suns, Moons, and Rainbows

The red suit is being featured over at the Realm of Venus Italian Showcase. One of these days I need to make a new set of 15c stuff and/or get some decent pictures of what I already have...

Okay, I think I've gotten this out of my system for a while. I need to quit using spray primer; it's making the surface all fuzzy.

( Details )

( Details )

( Details )

I've finally gotten a time and place set up to hold a regional dance practice. If any of you are within day trip distance of Tuscaloosa, come on down! Here's the email I sent out to the lists and A&S officers:

Western Regional Dance Practice
Hosted by The Incipient Shire of Okeborne Keep
July 26, 2008
Tuscaloosa, AL

The Incipient Shire of Okeborne Keep will be hosting a regional dance practice on July 26, at the (air conditioned!) campus of the University of Alabama. The goal of this is to give the members of all nearby groups a chance to get together and learn some easy dances without the distractions of a full blown event. Garb is optional.

Classes will cover basic steps, simple dances from all the major styles of SCA dance, and the history and context of dancing in the Renaissance. There are no music activities planned, but musicians are welcome to attend.

Details and directions can be found here:

http://www.houseofpung.net/dance/rdp/main.html

--Lorenzo Petrucci

The van is being sold off to the mechanic, and last night we rushed up to a dealership on the other side of Atlanta to get a shiny new orange Fit. Glad that's taken care of (except for locating or replacing the AWOL van title, grr).

I got a rejection on "A Good Night's Work" (thanks to sirjcva for the title) this morning. It included some useful commentary, which makes me happy. They said that it seemed like part of a larger work, so maybe I should get off my butt and write "The Furhter Adventures of...". I still have to do a little more thinking on how the Manhunters' Guild fits into my evolving world, but I think I can manage it. I also need more characters...

This is a double portrait of desfontaines and jodybrai. Each portrait is about 1" x 1.25". Having a proper setting makes a big difference, I think. I have some more lockets (not as fancy as this one) that I'll be using in the future.

I've pre-ordered the box set of 4e D&D rulebooks, and I'm trying to decide if I want to cancel it or not. I haven't had a local gaming group to play with for years, so odds are good that I would only get to play with adelavanbrugge and a 6 year old if at all. I've read reviews that say the new rules are the best thing since sliced bread, and others that say they're a sign of the apocalypse. I've skimmed through the rules enough to get a pretty good idea of the mechanics, and I'm still on the fence. It seems to be simplified enough that it might work for the more casual sort of gaming I'd likely be doing, but I also agree that it seems too simplified and too constrained, and often just plain dumb. I can work around these things, but is it any better than working around the warts of 3e, which books I already own?

Has anybody out there played it? I need advice!

( KA&S )

( Vacation )

( Automotive )

I've been doing a little world building lately, and I needed to see how it actually worked in narrative form.

( Loria )