I am the biggest blog-posting loser ever! Not only has it been months since my last post, but I’m only posting now about a list of stuff I want that I just updated.

I went sailing again today! Here’s the link to LAMI’s website (TopSail Youth program) so I don’t have to explain it all.

This was my second sailing training day and my goal for this time was to go up in the rigging and help set sails – and I totally did it! And Patrick & Brenda brought a camera…

Going Aloft

It was scary at times, but not as bad as I was expecting! I also went up again to help tie up the sails on the way back in (which I wasn’t expecting to have the strength left to do!) Go me!

So now I’m almost ready to go on trips with the kids groups – I just need to get fingerprinted and take a drug test. They have 3- and 5-day trips and some of the crew encouraged me to sign up to volunteer on a 5-day trip right away (which I was already contemplating…) I think it’ll be fun!

Here’s a few more pictures:

Just got down off the rigging! Triumph!

Brenda and I are big dorks!

Patrick hauls on a line!

Yup, and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, either. I did not get the summer internship I applied for, but I’m not really broken up about it. I’ve got lots of fun things planned for the summer, and I intend to enjoy myself!

Also, I’ve been kicking butt and taking names in Algebra:

Algebra exam #2

Algebra exam #1

Wow, I almost forgot I *had* this blog! I’m going to make up for the past two months of silence with an epic post here…

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been working furiously on some art projects for a competition in my barony (in the SCA). The event is called “Arts & Archery” where they have a competition in both (can you guess?) arts and archery. The two aren’t combined, they just have them both at the same event.

The winner of the arts competition becomes the barony’s arts champion for a year and to enter the competition you have to submit 3 things (that you made) following these rules: (taken from the event description)

1.   Primary Interest
Each contestant will submit one entry of their best work from their primary area of interest, such as: bardic, culinary, costuming, textile making, scribal, woodworking, metal-working. (This is a dry site, so any brewing entries MUST be non-alcoholic.)

2. Secondary Example
Each contestant will also submit one entry in an area different from their primary, though it may be related to their primary interest. For example, if your primary interest is bardic, and you submit an original poem as your primary, you may submit a performance of a period work as your second entry. Likewise, if you submit a carving under a woodworking primary interest, your second entry could be a jewelry box.

3. Breadth of Knowledge
Each contestant will submit a third entry unrelated to the first two. It is suggested that among the three entries each artist include an example of fine art (judged on its aesthetic qualities, such as a painting or a costume), and practical art or science (judged on its usefulness and precise recreation, such as recreating medieval pigments, or building a scale model.)

As you can see, it was a bit of effort just to qualify! But all the entries were great (some were fantastic!), and everyone was very supportive of each other.

Somehow I managed to get all my projects finished in time. for my primary interest I entered my Lyondemere mini-tapestry (the one I started a million years ago.) For my secondary example, I submitted the (handwoven)  linnen coifs I made for Patrick & Brenda. For my breadth of knowledge example I made a hardback book, which was actually the easiest of the three. They all came out well, though the coifs are a bit stiff (because of the linen yarn I used) and I don’t want to look at the tapestry again for at least a year (not because it’s bad but because I’ve been staring at it for weeks and I’m sick of it!) My documentation* came out alright, though there was a lot more I could have added if I’d had time.

So, how did I do? In our Baroness’ words, I “came in a very close second”… to a LAUREL!!

Now, I know that Laurels don’t walk on water or anything, but I’ll have you know that I lost to a woman who has been in the SCA a long time, is extremely talented and SUPER nice! Frankly, I would have felt bad if they’d picked me over her ‘cuz I’d have known it was because they were just being nice.

It was good for me to push myself like this, I think. This was the first time I’ve ever entered a competition in the SCA (that wasn’t archery), and I was a little nervous. Entering this competition gave me a deadline and made me finish some projects (which doesn’t happen as often as I’d like). It was also reaffirming to see that my work held up against the scrutiny of People Who Know Stuff.

I pushed myself to do my best work and I’m proud of myself for finishing what I started!

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* Kelly helped me out BIG TIME with my documentation (and proof reading). I am very lucky to have a best friend who is an MLA style nut. You rock, dude! When I come visit I’m bringing a bottle of Patron with your name on it!

This evening I went out and took some more factory pictures. I just can’t get enough of these factories! These ones in particular have been tempting me for ages because I drive past them every time I go to the studio or my storage unit.

Turns out it was pretty easy to get these pictures. I parked my car near the Trader Joes (2nd & PCH) and walked along the road till I reached the bike path that goes right in front of these pretties! People on bikes looked at me kinda funny, but I encountered no security trouble* at all this time+. Kind of a let down, really.

I uploaded about a dozen of the better pictures I took tonight on the digital camera. Check out the link to my Flickr account on the right to see them.

Yesterday I got “my” (one of them belongs to Dad) film-cameras out of my storage unit. I bought some 200 and 800 speed film and had a jolly time playing around with the different camera settings. I also took the tripod out and got some night shots from a bridge about a mile away. I had the telephoto zoom lens on too – boy did I feel cool! I’m going try and drop off the film tomorrow. Then I’ll cross my fingers and hope that some of them came out!

* It’s possible that these factories are a water treatment facility, and thus not very high up on the terrorism danger list.

+ Last time my run-in with “the law” consisted of a nervous security guard approaching me and taking down my information.

Well, the title says it all, really. Tomorrow I begin my 2-3 year journey to art conservation school. “2 or 3 years? What the crazy?!” you might ask. Many of you aren’t asking, because I’ve already told you. But if you haven’t heard it yet, here’s the story:

In the USA there are 3 schools (that are worth it) that offer art conservation masters programs that include a focus on textiles. They are the University of Delaware at Winterthur, NYU and Buffalo State College. Though art conservation is not a particularly competitive field, getting into these programs is extremely difficult. Each of these schools typically accept 8 – 10 new students each year for the art conservation masters program. (Don’t ask me how many apply because I don’t know. Hundreds, I suspect.)

These schools also have long lists of admisions requirements.  I have compiled a list of the classes I need to take to make sure I meet the requirements of all 3 schools:

Math (prerequisite for chem.)

Chemistry (1 year)

Organic Chemistry (1 year)

French (reading proficiency, NYU)

German (reading proficiency, NYU)

Art History (lots more)

Anthropology

Costume/Fashion history

Drawing

Painting

As you can see, this is a lot of coursework. Probably about 3 years worth. It’s possible I could do it in 2 if I took a full load and took summer classes, but I hope to be doing awesome internships during the summers. (More on that when they come to fruition.)

I’m starting off this “pre-program” program with Algebra and French. French should be interesting since I have had no luck to date pronouncing french words.

And I have officially decided to kick Algebra’s ass.