jamesq | Finally, a 12th Night That Worked For Me

Longtime readers will know that I've had a love/hate relationship with Montengarde 12th night for several years running. This year it was all love and no hate. Finally.

I got up nice and early and went to breakfast at the Belmont Diner in Marda. Got turned around trying to get back onto Crowchild. This was a little alarming as I grew up in this neighborhood. I guess the interchanges have changed more then I thought in the time since my folks were alive.

Archery was a fun shoot.

garething had a cool theme based off of Monty Python. I was on fire during the shoot. I felt really really good and I was on top of my game. Ended up with 49 points. Gareth wouldn't tell me how anyone else did though so I had no idea if I had won or not. Part of the confidence came from the fact that all the archers who were better then me weren't competing! Elias was running the event. Gareth was running the tournament and Dalton wasn't competing. The close competition was from Morrigan,

speed_ball_boy, Allister and

mallt's boy (whose name I've completely forgotten).

Later I went to the hall. I was supposed to be helping run the gate for two hours but I managed to show up late. Later, we ran out of change so I volunteered to go to the mall to get change.

There I was, standing in line at the Bank of Montreal on a saturday afternoon. In my kilt. At Marlbourough Mall. Evidently every single person in line was someone who: 1) Needed to actually talk to a teller. 2) Couldn't do it on any other day of the week. This meant a long, slow line. I was there for 45 minutes. It probably would have been quicker to just walk up and down the mall getting change off of every single vendor. I got back to gate just after my shift would have ended. Hopefully Melissa and Irisko weren't too swamped by me not being there. On the other hand, the next two shifts didn't have to worry about running out of change!

Then I socialized for awhile. Got a good chat in with

hislittlekitty and

vilashna. Lent a hand setting up the tables for the feast (an activity I enjoy because it makes me feel vaguely useful and also allows me to get a decent table.

kalchak's voice was also dying, so I did some ~~hollering~~ heralding for him. Despite my drill sergeants' voice, not everyone heard me. 300+ people in a hall make a lot of noise just standing around breathing. Assorted friends (

garething,

stephtopia,

conejita_diabla,

hadriel) sat with me at my table for the feast and also for court. I especially liked chatting with Devil Bunny during court - I got to be a big know-it-all, which never fails to make me happy! Oh, and there was a chick at the next table that was kind of flirty/sassy. ;)

The highlights of court were Malabar (the aforementioned

speed_ball_boy) and Hero stepping down (or rather, returning to the Hoi Polloi). Then Beothuk and Wilma stepping up as the new Baron/ess of Montengarde. The two of them are going to be supremely entertaining for the next few years.

Morrigan is the new Arts and Sciences champion.

blue_flydragon got second place.

zera82 and Findabhair both got their Award of Arms (I think the reason neither had them before is because so many people just assumed that they already had their AoAs).

vikvikingsson and

ya_inga were damned impressive in court (Inga, this is what I was trying to tell you after court). I've rarely seen anyone work a crowd like those two. It was a joy to behold. Too bad Borealis is going to get their asses kicked at Winter War. If I shoot, and Montengarde wins by one point, I'm taking credit!

conejita_diabla won the bardic competition. Dauphina was specially recognized for all her hard work in bardic in Montengarde. I wish I had the chance to observe some of the competition, but it was held in the coat room. Note to anyone out there planning an SCA event - Bardic and heavy fighting in the same room is not a good idea. Separate rooms or separate times are definitely called for.

The (personal) highlight of court was me winning the archery tournament (by a pretty fair margin too!). Not only did I win advanced, I won overall and got the chivalry prize. Not sure how I got the chivalry prize. To my mind, chivalry is this lofty ideal that one strives for. I certainly try to be chivalrous and honorable, but I fail so often that it just seems like an impossible goal. I feel like a fraud whenever I get called up in court to be recognized for service or "niceness". All I do is try to make myself useful so people don't mind me being there. Archery is so much less nebulous - score better then everyone else, win a prize. Straightforward. Chivalry prize? AoA? Golden Link? Not so straightforward.

For one bright shiny moment I'm near the top of the Avacal Archery Tournament of Tournaments (link goes to last year's scores, hopefully it'll be updated soon). Winning does not actually get me into the lead because Her Excellency Helene won second place, and because of the rules regarding distance, she's got 12 points to my 10 (620 K to Myrgan Wood, +5 points). I'd cry about the unfairness of it all, except I have every intention of checking out a Myrgan Wood event sometime this season. Then I'll get me some bonus distance points!

Grandmaster is looking like more of a possibility every week! It's been a couple years coming.

After court was more socializing. I spotted

wendy_licious with a cloven fruit in her hand and she just walked right on past me. She knows I want nothing to do with it, so I'm happy she did that. I also came close to getting

wackynephews to actually say "Macbeth". Sadly this goal still eludes me, but I shall persevere.

I've officially passed some kind of line. Before, I struggled to keep myself occupied at events - to hide from myself the fact that I'm a wallflower. Now, I know so many people the events aren't long enough to get to talk to everyone I want to see. As problems go, it's a helluva lot better then most, and I'll gladly take that "problem".

Rolled up my sleeves and helped the cleanup crew, but then I had to guide

pandorasbox and Bryan back to Pepperland. This meant driving like an old woman all the way back home by the slow but easy route. This morning there was pancakes.

As I mentioned before, I had a blast!

--- Edit ---

I completely forgot! Elias and Robert Faustus ran a fantastic event. It was well organized and the food was awesome. Peasant's feast are simple, yet tasty and filling. I bought leftovers for the roomies and they were appreciated.