[Bards] From Eleanor Fairchild - on Eisteddfod

[Marie Adams]

Responding to Truly's question on why more bards didn't compete at
Eisteddfod: the main reason I wasn't there, is because I just got back
from Illinois the previous Monday, which took 12 hours with a fussy baby.
I just didn't feel like taking another 6- or 7-hour trip so soon. But
that's kind of beside the point; if I had been there and decided not to
compete, these would have been the reasons:
1) I just plain don't like doing documentation. I do it if I must, but
it's really a drag for me.
2) I have several period pieces, but most of them are short and I'm not
sure I consider them of the caliber for this competition.
3) I have never heard what the Kingdom bard's responsibilities are. I've
never made it to Gulf Wars, and may not for quite some time, due to my
family responsibilities, so competing there would be out of the question
for me.
4) I have several original pieces, but don't know how to document them.
None of them are in specific period styles, like the sonnet, and one is
the style of Dr. Seuss, which I'm sure would make everyone laugh but
wouldn't be what the judges are looking for.
5) Since this is the Premier Bardic competition of Ansteorra, I assume
there would be "premier" bards there, and I'd be afraid of not measuring
up to them. Like Robert, I don't want to compete if I think I can't win,
although I would have competed if I could have made it down there, just
for the heck of it. I don't like the thought of being "not good enough";
not that I'd have a nervous breakdown if I got kicked out in the first
round, just that I don't like going into something feeling certain I'll
fail, and that everyone else is better than me.

Anyway, that's enough out of me. Hope this helped answer your question.

Here's to making it to Eisteddfod another year!
Ly Serena Dominicci