[Ravensfort] Answers for Mr Hoffpauir...was...Your (good) rant...

[Kief av Kiersted]

Greetings all...

First an observation. I see at pattern at work...after "laying
low" for years some folks are now "playing in the SCA again"...
Just before and during the current Baronial polling... Deja vu...

And once more it seems that I and Lorraine are to be the
"foils"... Some people just like to stir things up...any way and
anytime they can...

Too bad...I, for one, will not accept that role assigned to me by
the malcontents.

In the following letter Mr. Hoffpauir rambles on about some
memories he has, some factual, some almost factual...and some
that have confused the Hel out of me...

Please find my comments intermingled with his...

--- "David R. Hoffpauir" <env_drh at shsu.edu> wrote:

> I'm sorry good sir, I do not agree...
> 
> ....please be patient and hear only softness in my words....

That, sir, I cannot do...for your words are, in many cases, hard
and cold.
 
> The problems started with you and Marius.  That is the root of
> everything. 
> >From that the circle grew. You escalated what was a squabble
> over possession 
> of the Baronial water pump into a fight with one sentence.... 
> "I'll just 
> take your fcuking key."  That was Black, White and Sort of
> Gray, 1994.  Mr. 
> LeJeune was the autocrat, it was roughly 3 pm in the afternoon,
> in front of 
> the kitchen, in the road, we had guests to the Barony of Ravens
> Fort all 
> around, women and children.  You said it at the top of your
> lungs.  It was a 
> powerplay on your part, said in an ugly flush of anger, because
> you had 
> control over nothing more precious to Douglas B. LeJeune than
> his access to 
> that site....

You will find that the trouble "between Marius and I" goes far
deeper than that...and I am not the only one that has had large
amounts of "trouble" with Mr. LeJenue's actions... Your memory of
this incident amounts to "selective memory"... 

There were *plenty* of other incidents...all about "Doug" having
his way...with **everyone and everything**... I had decided that
enough was enough...and in telling "Doug" no...I incurred his
"wrath" have have been his *target* ever since...nothing
more...nothing less.
 
> Was Doug blameless?  No, he was right along in there with you. 
> I wish I'd 
> have slammed both your heads together and gotten it over with
> right then. 
> Or, dropped my pants and let you both have a go at it.  That's
> what it's 
> felt like ever since.  Indeed you did take his key.  You took
> them all, save 
> mine.  It predates the SCA on our site, a wonderful old
> gentleman gave it to 
> me.  I know had he seen both your actions that day, he would
> have probably 
> excused us all.

Yes...I did take them all...because to leave anyone with a key
was to show favoritism... So, to be fair...I asked everyone to
return all copies of the site key. Save you...because Mr. S. W.
Dorrell Jr. viewed you as a good neighbor and had given you a
personal key to the site... That's the way it's done among
"Gentlemen"...a handshake is much better than a piece of paper
with "lawyer speak" typed on it. Witness the land you aquired
from the Dorrell Ranch...gratis...simply to avoid the need for
"paperwork".
 
> You and Marius were once the two hardest working people on that
> site.  You 
> both built, toted, mowed, cut trees, sweat, hammered, organized
> work days 
> and to both go much credit.  You did it for others.  As Baron,
> you were two 
> of my greatest assets.

Yes, we were among those that worked the hardest...you were...HE
Brian was and is...so was Adaulf (pardon my mispelling)...Mr.
Epps as well...and many, many others.

I still work out there...still for the good of others...each and
every time there is an event...and do not ask the Ranch owners
for anything in return. I spend many extra hours each year mowing
other parts of the Ranch property...assisting the owners in many
different ways...to assure that we, here in the Barony...can
continue to use the site. And, simply, because that is what good
neighbors do. 

> Had not your consort involved herself
> in the 
> argument by grabbing Marius by the goozzle at Rennfair, that
> day would have 
> likely passed into the history books, as a minor squabble.  I'd
> seen you two 
> find a comfortable amicability before.

I really do not know why you are bringing in all this material
that has absolutely ***NOTHING*** to do with the current
concerns. It is just plain misdirection on your part.

However, since you brought it up...*smile* Has anyone ever
thought to ask Mistress Lorraine exactly **why** she allegedly
"grabbed (LeJeune) by the goozle at Ren-Faire..."...? The answer
might just be enlightening to many...especially women...*bigger
smile*

Don't forget Mr. LeJeune really *hates* to be told
"no"...........

> He could always out work you though and you never liked that.

Now with this comment you have really started to lose me...
*Many* people can "outwork me"...Hel's Gate man...that is
obvious. You used to, Brian, Balda, shucks...many *women* can and
have "outworked me"... And, sir, it does not bother me in the
least...just makes me want to work harder...that's all. Besides,
the sweat is all for the benefit of Raven's Fort...
 
> That's just 
> an observation, I don't know how true.  But I can say, you
> really don't like 
> self-starters, because they do things without your permission.

I do completely disagree with you here... I enjoy "self-starters"
when they consult with the rest of the work force and the folks
in charge to find out what the overall **plan** is... 

What I dislike is *chaotic instigators* that get others to do
deeds and then sit back and watch the fireworks... Tell me
this...who exactly urged you to tear down that privy? Did you
think to ask if there was another use planned for it?
 
> Remember the 
> privy?  I do, it's the only time I've ever been in a yelling
> match with you 
> and been the direct recipient of your anger.  Well unless you
> count that 
> night at Defender two years ago when our toast was
> interrupted..... I was at 
> your knee, remember? ....but that one wasn't really with you. 
> :)

Yes, David, that was *with* me...as soon as you started screaming
at Lorraine.
 
> Additionally, no one tried to have anyone thrown out of the
> SCA.  I know 
> what you are referring to as evidence.  I have a copy of it. 
> Shall I share 
> it?   I know who solicited it.  She asked me for the same, but
> I didn't 
> comply.  It's probably a good thing.  Need we rehash why she
> asked for it? 
> I'd rather not.  So far, I've seen and heard nothing save
> babblings and 
> musings to support your claim, and a lot of anger.  It is stale
> and old and 
> has no merit.  Please drop that charge or prove it to us
> definitively.  You 
> know me well enough to realize, if I'm wrong, I will admit it.

This is also "misdirection"...turning the discussion from the
*unanswered questions* onto a "sidetrack"...

I know not of what you speak... I know of no document to support
the statement I made about having anyone thrown out of the SCA...
Now...LeJeune has *made that comment* several times...in front of
various witnesses...*shrug* 

But, since he has never had the nerve to even try and discuss any
of this directly with me...it is just "hear say" on my part...
Still...plenty of people know the truth of the matter... So, why
don't you drop it?
 
> I am not attacking you.  I'm merely jumping back to times
> before those you 
> mention to offer memory for things that far predate most
> everyone who will 
> read our words here, but are caught up in the argument, none
> the less.  I 
> think that is healthy for us all.  Let them decide the truth in
> things or at 
> least form their own opinion.  I would love to finish that
> toast someday in 
> the spirit of friendship with which you initiated it.  You
> heard my toast, 
> but we never got to yours....  you know why as well as I.

I say to you again that you are using "selective
memory"...grabbing bits and pieces out of time and context to
serve your purpose...

Oh, by the way...I did say my piece that night with the horn of
Holy Mead... Just before I handed it to you...if you think back
you may remember the words I said to you...just before you drank.
"Mead was given to mankind to impart wisdom and to loosen the
tongue so that one can speak not only the truth but what one's
true feelings are..." You heard those words...accepted the horn
from my hands and drank of it... 

Shortly thereafter when Lorraine asked me why I was drinking with
you... *You* started screaming in our faces...very angry and
hateful... Seems that my words to you...which any student of
Northern European culture would have recognized as a
*caution*..."took root" and you did, indeed, speak your true
feelings towards Lorraine and myself...

...very loudly and in great anger...in front of many guests of
Raven's Fort...including Peers of the Realm...Regional and
Kingdom Officers...and other Nobles. Perhaps everyone has a lapse
every now and again...
 
> ...and just as an aside, to make a point....  I have but once
> in my adult 
> life truly needed another person's help, someone to lean on
> when the world 
> went utterly and completely dark.  Do you recall that day? 
> August 12, 1995, 
> 8 am, sharp.  It was you I reached out to and you came.  In the
> events that 
> ensued, you put your belt on the line.  We had our event on our
> site, thanks 
> to you and you alone and your action healed a grievous wound. 
> You could 
> have lost it all.  Sometimes our finest hour, is but a moment.
> I admire you 
> for that one solitary action if nothing else and I have never
> forgotten it.

I, too, David, remember that dark day...I still grieve over it.
Often I pass by that place and "speak" to our old friend in
passing... I am still waiting for his answer... Oft times I think
I have a glimmering of the "why"...*shrug*...one day we shall
both know.

That was a day of deep shock for many...of all involved I think
that you and Mr. Dorrell were effected the most by the incident.

And, yes, David...I did come that day...simply because it is what
friends...and good neighbors...do for each other. Help each other
in the time of need...true need...not some game.

Would I do it for you again today? Yes...because we haven't split
that far apart...yet...although some of your actions towards me
and others have stretched what was once a warm friendship near to
breaking. And, yes, I too have added my own actions into that
"stretching"... I am not blameless....
 
> regards,
> dsd

I wish for you Luck...in whatever form the Gods bestow it on
you...so you can grow and your sight become clearer... It is what
They did to me...and I am still finding out the consequences of
that Luck.

Still your good neighbor...

Kief