I had another lovely day at Summer University. Universities tend to be some of my favorite events across the board, just for the diversity of knowledge I get to learn, the people I get to interact with, and the relatively low stakes of participation (i.e. if I'm working, it's probably minimal and it will be enjoyable work). I took a full day's worth of classes (the first couple of which I got to do on my balcony even!). It was lovely to be in garb, and has 100% solidified my love for my tan saya as a go-to summer dress. Additionally, I was awarded my Bachelor's and Fellows degrees at this session! So that's one major goal for the year accomplished. I'm definitely adding a University Masters as a goal for 2022.
Designing a Floor Cloth
This was a really exciting class for me. I've just recently acquired a popup for a day shade, and have been thinking a lot about my event presence as it relates to that. Having a floor cloth for at least the day shade, and maybe a small court chair cloth will make a big impact I think. There were some really beautiful images shared, as well as some great ideas for sources. According to the instructor, painted floors were a very regular feature in churches in particular. The class also included a really helpful list of sources for materials that I plan to consult when I get around to actually working on this project (likely as part of my 2022 plans).
Virtual Museum Tour: Uffizi Gallery
This was a really fun gallery tour! I had not planned on taking this class originally- I had a Canva class that was cancelled and Sof'ia was really helpful in popping me into a new class instead. I've taken classes with this instructor before, and am always fascinated with the tips and tricks given about museum presentation that can be translated into A&S display sometimes. The tour was done with a Google platform that allowed us to "walk" around the facility and actually see a lot of the important/big ticket items as they look in the gallery.
Video Documenting for A&S Panel
This was a class that I was really looking forward to, because it's a project Bea, Esa, and a few others having been tossing around for a while now. I got to TA the class too, which is always a great way to help out as far as I'm concerned. Documentation is something I struggle with. The kinds of papers I was writing in college are fairly different than what I think documentation-readers in Atlantia are looking for. Exploring alternative forms of documentation that might better serve my art is something that I have very strong feelings about. The panel did a good job of covering what would someone be looking for in documentation via video, how we can execute video documentation from both a hardware and software perspective, and how we can judge video documentation. I think this conversation after a year and a half of e-SCA is really poised to go somewhere great and I look forward to trying to video document something.
Beyond Banners and Shields
As I said in last month's recap post, my heraldry passed! So of course, I'm now fighting the urge to slap said heraldry on literally everything I own. This class covered SO many ideas of how one can incorporate their heraldry into kit and presence- everything from hard arts to food! Some of my favorite ideas included taking a stencil to a paint your own pottery place and making a set of feast ware, making or commissioning beads to use as tokens, making range buckets/quivers, a table runner/place setting indicator, and a cheesecake. During this class I started my current to-go project of a cup cover with my device embroidered on it.
The Pennsic Survival Guide
This class was interesting from the perspective of "have I asked myself this question?" On one hand, it's a lot of the regular advice people give to new Pennsic attendees, and a lot of good just going to regular event advice as well. But it did get me thinking about questions to ask myself about how I want to experience Pennsic, which activities and aspects of camping are important to me, and which I'm willing to compromise on for the sake of comfort/sanity.
MOL 102
Starting back in early 2020, I began the process of becoming a warranted MOL. Predictably, COVID derailed that. I'm getting back into gear as events start back up again, and wanted to make sure I had all the classes I needed taken on the record. It was incredibly helpful to go through tournament formatting again before I do a training session at Stierbach Baronial Birthday in August. I hope to have that warrant completed by the end of the year.