(I swear this was a coincidence.  Me, Kyle, and Lavena, after court.)

RUM was fun and interesting.  I liked the site very much, because the Lake Lanier area is surprisingly cool, and very beautiful, and it’s very nice to take a dip in the swimming pool after the end of classes.

Particularly when you’ve spent an hour swinging a longsword dummy over your head in the sun.

(I’m very sorry I don’t have a picture.  I would’ve loved to see what I looked like.  I need a photographer.)

I took classes in Italian hair braiding, silk embroidery, Meyer’s rapier & longsword, basic zills, and cheater’s Middle Eastern dancing.  I really wanted to go to the spinning class that was supposed to be taught by Angharad from Rising Stone, so I could pick her brain about linen spinning, but it didn’t happen.

"Hairstyles of the Italian Rennaissance" – taught by Maestre Bianca Allegri da Vicenza – I’m definitely going to try the hair wrap on myself, as it doesn’t fall off the back of your head when you lean backwards as my Tudor wrap does.

"Embroidery with Silk" – taught by Lady Genevieve de Valois – I don’t think I’ll be doing any silk embroidery, as silk doesn’t seem to be very washable – but while we were waiting for the class to begin, I asked the assembled students about how they thought the dragonflies on ‘Allegory of Good Government’ were done – woven, embroidered, block printed?  More on that in a separate post.  But I think I’ll be embroidering.

"An Introduction to Meyer’s Rapier" – taught by Jean Michel D’Aix en Provence – Meyer’s rapier was a BLAST.  Except that I had a wooden longsword – we had a choice between rapier and longsword, and I’ve played with rapiers before, and not likely to get a good chance with longsword, so I picked that.  LOVED IT.  Especially the defensive move where you begin with an overhead guard (Ochs), and then swing the blade helicopter-style overhead to end on your other side Ochs.  I love how the hilt of the sword spins overhead to protect your cranium, and the leverage power of the pommel hand is really effective.  Not to mention you get to use your whole body – which as a dancer has enormous appeal to me.  Must take more longsword classes when I see them.

"Basic Zills" – taught by Lady Elspeth of Tal Mere – Zills are finger cymbals used in Middle Eastern music and dance.  I’ve always been rather intimidated by ME dance since it’s so different from what I know – but a ‘basic’ SCA class is a great place to embrace the fool.  Now I want my own set of zills.

"So you want to dance tonight: Basic Middle Eastern Dance Moves" – taught by Mistress Jadi Fatina al-Zshfahani al Samarkandiyya – This quickie ME dance class was just before the post-feast Hafla.  This was another ’embrace the fool’ opportunity – after being introduced to the basics by Mistress Jadi, she turned us loose to extemporize.  Ack!  I found using a scarf greatly helped my ability to listen to the music and stop worrying about having too many body parts that I didn’t know how to use.  (The Hafla food was really good too: dates stuffed with almonds!  and a fantastic spice cake.)

Feast was really good and very challenging.  I don’t eat beef, and prefer vegetables, but there were exotics like crawfish and frog’s legs to try, both of which I’ve wondered about.  Both were really good!  I can’t believe I like frog’s legs – but I do!

I managed not to spend too much money, but I got four really nice books, which I’m adding to the Bookshelf.
Castle, by David Macaulay  – I loved this book as a child, and now I have my own hardback!
Italian Painting, the Uffizi  – Ten years ago this summer I was sitting on the floor of this fabulous museum taking notes on its contents.  This fat book has lots of treasures that I well know – and many that weren’t on general display.
The Golden Age of English Manuscript Painting  – For Melbrigda and Lavena, who continue to gather kudos for their production of wonderful original scroll awards.  There’s a fabulous image of bees and hives…
Leben im Mittelalter, 1000-1500 (no link) – My German’s practically non-existent, but the images in this book are terrific, and show lots of everyday working scenes.  I expect my language skills will improve.

As usual, we drove home talking about the next A&S event we might attend.  Unfortunately, Summer Symposium is the weekend before we host Daggers & Hemlock, which won’t work, but Coronation looks interesting, on Sept 8, in Mobile.  Especially since Lavena will lend me her Roman legionnaire’s tent to try out.  I have committed to Harvest Moon in Tallahassee, on Sept 28, so that’s enough for September for sure.