[NR] This weekend

[Chris Backus]

Man, I had a great SCA weekend this weekend!

Saturday I got to go to the park and fight as much as the heat would
allow.  I always enjoy fighting Donovan, Puck, Elric (although I don't
think I got to fight him this weekend), and Angelina.  I even got to
fight Tristan, the current Queen's Blade of Honor holder, who came all
the way up from Houston for our picnic.  I also got to fight William,
a new fighter from Eldern, who is going to be teaching school in
Northkeep.  Then I chilled out and chatted with everybody.  Hung out
under Elric's tent and drank his sodas.  Ate some of the sausage,
which worried me because it was homemade, but it has treated me
well : )  I didn't have enough time to hang out with
everyone, I barely saw a lot of people because I was trying to fight
all day, but it was still really fun.

Sunday, Asoph and Bunny helped me get my armor fixed up for Pennsic.
Helped me = did it while I watched and really tried to help  : )  I
bought most of the stuff from Tristan way back when, plus a helmet I
got from Aaron Harper, some plastic I got from Benedict, and some
knees I just got from Tristan.  I'm really excited about getting to
fight in the war.... what a rush that'll be.

So for me there was absolutely no strife this weekend.   I didn't
really have access to my computer.... hmmm, wonder if the two are
connected?  I think the tendency for email crud to get blown out of
proportion is undeniable.

So what are my solutions to the issues we're seeing up here?  There
are no easy solutions, but I think we should:

1.)  Try to avoid negativity in email.  Email is super-convenient, but
anything which
can even be construed as negative, including constructive criticism,
is easily taken badly because there is no way to clarify intent as
instantly as you can in converstation.  There are no non-verbal
cues.  Also, as I am learning from a book my cadet brother, Walter
Robin, loaned me, soldiers find it easier to kill at a distance.
Similarly, people find it easier to be rude with the distance email
gives them.
I'm going to try to keep this in mind, especially because I'm such a
horrendous impulse emailer.

2.)  Seek fun, avoid anti-fun activities. If fighting = fun, then
fight more.
If bardic circles = fun, then go and listen or sing.  If politics =
anti-fun (for you or everyone else)
avoid it!  Will the SCA stop if we don't resolve all our problems by
rehashing them constantly?  I kinda don't think so.

If anyone wants me to walk through an arch and commit myself to trying
to be better, I'll sure do that.  People thrive on ceremony and
ritual, so it might help.  I think the line leaving the arch should go
right to the fighting, the drumming, the dancing, the bardic.... I
think concentrating more on our favorite activities than on politics
will help us more than anything.
Idle hands do the devil's work (just an expression : ), so get
busy!  Have fun!  Don't leave yourself time to sit and bitch, that
time is wasted and can better be spent having fun.

I sat on this email for a day and plan to make that a habit.  Maybe it
helped make it a better email,  maybe it didn't, but I bet it'll stop
me from sending most of the really stupid emails I write.

Hawkins