Perceptions

[dennis guy grace]

At 11:51 AM 9/23/96 U, Stefan li Rous wrote:

>I was the one who made the original comment. It is currently $35. And yes, I
>consider the price increase "recent". Two years ago was not that long ago. 
>It wasn't until recently that most of the changes of that chaotic year were
>negated or their reverberations died down. (The increase was one of the
>things
>that stayed). I have only been in the SCA for seven years. There are many 
>people who have been in much longer. Two years is "recent" history.
>
>The point I was trying to make was with the amount of "persuant bitching and
>moaning" over that increase (the first in many, many years) what makes you
>think that an increase due to needing one or two additional kingdom
>newsletters
>or principality newsletters, will be accepted with any less "bitching and
>moaning"?
>
>I didn't say this was a deciding factor, just a point to be considered.
>
>Stefan li Rous
>

M'Lord Stefan et al,

True, price increases always rankle.  My question was in part asked out of
innocent ignorance (I was uncertain of the current pricing) but was in part
related to astonishment with yet another vagary of SCA time perceptions.  

I have often noted that an absence of six weeks from local fighter practices
or of, say, four months from Kingdom and regional events creates the
perception of disapppearance or retirement.  A friend of mine stopped
attending for four months, some seven or eight years ago, so that he could
concentrate on school work necessary to his mundane professional
advancement.  When he returned, half the fighers had never met the gentleman
and the remainder were shocked to find him renewing his interests.  I myself
suffered a back injury several years ago that necessitated my missing six
weeks of fighter practice, with a recurrence of circumstances a year later.
In the first instance, several local fighters were surprised to see me
return to practices.  In the second instance, a knight in our neighboring
barony two year old (I later learned) voiced the opinion in a peer circle
that I should not be considered because I no longer fought.

Yet you call two years "recent."  I understand your perception, but I find
it fascinating nonetheless.  As for my comment about the "persuant bitching
and moaning," the perception of "expense" by members of the SCA has long
troubled me.  Compare feast and site fees with any other recreation offering
the same benefits (meal size, time in a jovial atmosphere, large-scale
organized entertainments, etc.), and you have to find the SCA incredibly
inexpensive.  Add to that the reduction of site and/or feast fees offered to
members in many Kingdoms, a full-size quarterly publication, and
registration with multiple international databases, and the $35 fee is
miniscule (and I'm a grad student married to a free-lance artist--we've
lived below the poverty-line for six years).

As to the intent of your initial missive, M'Lord, I concur.  Money will be a
consideration for many.  Even if we ignore the possibility of any of the
Principalities becoming Kingdoms (an idea which I continue to contend should
be a concern _only_ if some particular group is already dissatisfied with
being part of Ansteorra _before_ they become a Principality), each new
Principality will generate its own newsletter.  This new newsletter will
probably cost somewhere in the vicinity of twelve dollars per annnum if
produced monthly (my economics here may be a bit out of date--lo siento).
Back in Artemisia, I remember "plugging the Principality newsletter" being a
frequent order of business, as many Principality citizens chose to forgo
said document in order to forgo the cost.  As for subscribing to other
Principalities' newsletters, as I've already said in a previous missive,
this practice is usually a waste of money anyway.  The important events in
the _other_ Principalities always make it into the Kingdom newsletter.

I have more to say on the matter of Ansteorran Principalities, but it will
have to wait until I have compiled a bit more research material.  Besides, I
fear my addition to this string is becoming tedious.  Until later I remain

Yours in e-Service

Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace
_________________________ 
  
Dennis G. Grace
Postmodern Medievalist
Assistant Instructor
Division of Rhetoric and Composition
University of Texas at Austin

Any errors (syntactic, typographical, socio-political) couched in the
forgoing document have been included in support of an ongoing hypertextual
metafictional experiment.  This particular bit of heteroglossia, however,
should not be perceived as in any way related to said experiment.