[NR] A few of my Favorite Things, ..er People (long)

[Chandranath]

On Wed, May 23, 2001 at 12:14:07AM -0500, Jean Paul de Sens wrote:
> Ah Robert, the rose-coloured glasses fit so well :)  And like you I am happy
> to wear them.....

As some of you know, I used to wear actual, physical, rose-tinted glasses
(I have them still as evidence!)  I assert that when I had surgery done
on my eyes, it was to affix the rose tinting -- notice how Lord Jean Paul
and I got the procedure a day apart.

Before I throw in my doubloons, I apologize for having posted earlier sheerly
out of frustration, which I told myself I would not do.  I am not ashamed
of the things I said, but I would that I had waited to have something
constructive to offer.

I have not been in the Society long, but I have done some few things and
met some few people.  The ones that touch me I remember easily; the hardest
thing is to keep this message from being dozens of pages or more long --
and yet, as HL Robert properly notes, we have seen there are worse things.
Nevertheless, to all you that I name by name, understand that given the chance
I would gladly say more words to you.  Likewise to those who I leave out for
want of space.  To those who read this, I beg your pardon for the length of
this.

HL Rhiannon Redwulf is responsible for my Lady Emma and I being in the
Society, without exaggeration.  From the very first A&S meeting we
attended, Rhiannon's example of sharing in the Shire made me know that
this was something worth being a part of -- something I believe as strongly
as ever.

Lord Walter Robin already got mention by Lord Jean Paul, but I spelled his
name right. :)  Walter was my mentor -- a thankless job to say the least --
and hopefully always will be my friend.  A giving man, prone to avoiding
malice, and a pleasure to spend time with.

Lord Jean Paul de Sens does not get to escape.  From the day I met him, he
has been nothing but enthusiastic -- I could almost leave the sentence there,
couldn't I? :)  He has been nothing but enthusiastic in his encouragement of
myself, and anyone else, to do those things we set out to do.  His energy is
infectious -- if it were perfectly so, there would be nothing we could not
do in the Society.

Countess Octavia de Verdun I do not know well, which is my loss, but I
treasure the memory of seeing Count Daffydd and her crowned at ATYC, and
in particular the memory of having Master Ulf help poor, terrified me
present to Her (then) Majesty a sonnet I had composed on the spot while
watching the coronation.  I have heard that this sonnet has been kept
and few things in the Society have touched by as much as that thought.

While he's on the spot, Baron Ulf Gunnarsson.  It's almost unfair of me to
mention him, since one of the memories I cherish is him getting me hooked
on university coffee a decade before I ever attended an SCA meeting, but
no matter.  He and Baroness Maleah are dear friends to this family and
always will be.

Don Timothy le Corbusier and HL Therese Maria Giovanni, whom I am incapable
of listing separately.  Don Timothy is my friend and my Don, without whom
I might never have understood what is important in rapier, which is still,
I suppose, my first love in the Society.  HL Therese is my cadet aunt.  Or
mother.  Or something.  I've never really understood what, but my fondness
for her is great (even, or perhaps especially, when she shows me up).

Baron and Baroness Northkeep (for these, as I understand local heraldic
law, refer to Their Founding Excellencies in perpetuity) were merciful to
a neophite herald holding their court two Guardians ago, admonishing him
only "please don't call us Northcreep."  I am proud to say that despite all
of my other blunders in various courts of theirs, I have always managed to
avoid that one.  Sigen convinced me after a year or two that I really could
call her Sigen; I am proud to call both of them friends.

Lady Helene Quivremont, who thought by this point that I wouldn't mention
her, I'm sure, has helped my family more than I can possibly relate to you.
If there were a kingdom award for service to our daughter (and why isn't
there, I ask you), she'd be the first one to get it.  I am more grateful
than I will ever be able to say.  Lady Helene has survived my chattiness
while driving to distant events without once falling asleep or pushing my
head through a closed window.  For this, too, I am grateful.

Seigneur Etienne de St. Amaranth helped me through my first Guardian court,
and there being no rest for the generous, helped us all through the next one,
too, including his participation in the presentation of Award of Arms to
both myself and my Lady.  Don't worry, my lord, I won't tell them that you
smuggled a laptop and phone into your tent at Gulf Wars, for that would
be ungrateful of me. :)

Earl Barn Silveraxe scared the hell out of me for months if not years, through
no fault of his own (I'm sure he didn't ask to be that tall, that strong, or
that reknowned -- well, MAYBE the last one.)  Now I consider him a joy to
fight with, joke with, and most importantly, kill Trimarins with.  Also, he
brought me beef at Warlord when nobody else would, and that counts for a lot.

Ten must be enough for tonight; it's one in the morning and I'm teetering on
the edge of roasting friends instead of saluting them, as they each truly
deserve.

Every person I mentioned is from the Northern Region.  I say this not out of
some sense of conflict with any other region -- I tell you I could name many
names from all over the Kingdom and beyond -- but to underscore this thought:
what we share is greater than what we differ upon, and anything that attacks
that bond hits us where we live.  Curse the man who says I can be friend with
one and not the other.  We may be in troubled times, but allow me to quote
the words the great bard put in Henry's mouth when he faced overwhelming odds
as well:

    Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host
    that he which hath no stomach to this fight,
    let him depart!  his passport shall be made
    and crowns for convoy put into his purse:
    We would not die in that man's company
    that fears his fellowship to die with us.

We war not against the French nor against, God forbid, one another, but
against divisiveness, strife, and ill will.  Do we not know that it is said,
"Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every
city or house divided against itself shall not stand?"

In this cause, truly, he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my
brother; be he ne'er so vile, this day shall gentle his condition.

I abandon my soapbox to anyone else who wishes to wear the rose-tinted
glasses.

Chandra
of Ansteorra

--
Shri Chandranath, Cadet to Don Timothy, Pursuivant Extraordinaire
Northern Regional Virtual Scribe
Captain of the Plumes of the Shire of Mooneschadowe
( mka Russ Smith - http://www.randomgang.com/ )