Interests and Activities

The SCA has provided me with an excellent environment in which I have been able to develop my persona, Bhairavi. It has also given me an outlet for my creative energies and penchant for research, the fruits of which can be viewed on my Creations page.

I also keep a LiveJournal, if you're into a more day-to-day (Or in some cases month-to-month) glimpse at what I'm up to.

Some of my greater interests are: Rectangular patterning techniques, dance (Middle Eastern and Indian), jewelery making and woodworking.

There are a lot of other things I would like to learn more about, however the following are on the priority list:

Heavy Fighting: I've only been in armor twice and have slowly been working on my own set, since the first thing I discovered is that fighting in someone else's armor is really distracting. I also need to work on my arm and upper body strength. It is also something I need a lot of encouragement regarding, as I tend to get freaked out about how horrible I am and give up. This is actually a problem that derails many of my efforts.

Voice Heraldry: Bhairavi may be a performer, but the mundane woman behind her actually suffers from a touch of Stage Fright. I would love to have any reason to acquire some vocal training and be out where there's no hiding from people.

Brewing: I admit, the only reason I want to get into this is because I once had an amazing bottle of dandelion wine and would love to learn how to make it myself.

I adore the pageantry and romance of the SCA, and I adore watching Courts (especially Royal ones). Watch me real close during a Court and you will probably catch me trying hard not to cry. I am a big sap for that kind of thing. and Heaven Forfend I actually be called up, as experience has proven that I get really, really shaky and forget important things like my name.

I can on occassion be chronically shy, but have found a few ways to combat it. Volunteering for various tasks seems to be #1, and they've ranged from Waterbearing at my first event to acting as Lady in Waiting to Her Majesty Roxane of the East, with a lot of dishwashing and hauling of chairs and tables in between.

It was early 1993 that I was first introduced to Mary, known in the SCA as Mairi the Slightly Improper. A mutual friend of ours knew of my interest in Costume Design, and put me in touch with Mairi, who had similar interests. We hit it off fairly well, and she took me to my first event, An Tir's May Crown Tourney, 1993. I don't think I'll ever forget it, it made such a strong impression on me. The friday night we got there, I watched a Knighting ceremony, and the very next day, had the pleasure of watching that brand-new Knight win Crown. It was all just a little too fairy-tale to be true.

Mairi and I drifted apart after a while, but I was able to get in touch with the local Seattle group, the Barony of Madrone, and made a few friends there who I started going to events with. Shortly thereafter I started learning all sorts of important SCA skills, such as how to survive an all night Tablero de Gucci game. While living in An Tir I took the persona of LassarFhina ni Tigernan (A 13th century Irish woman.) I briefly became involved in a small household, but it ended up not working out, and we all have gradually drifted apart over time and space. I still keep in pretty good touch (I -could- write more often) with Cainder and Orflaith, who I will always consider family.

I lost touch with the SCA after I moved away from Seattle, and with all the moving around and being poor that I did for the next 2 years, most of my involvement was confined to doing online research and reading the rec.org.sca newsgroup. Fortunately, I met Portia in a Perkins one night and she helped get me back involved in the SCA in the Kingdom of Æthelmearc, and I started to meet some really fantastic people.
Some of them became my close mundane friends after a time, and it seemed only natural that we should form our own Household.

Unfortunately, my constant pursuit of a Better Career moved me to Chicago, and although I am not the most active member of Kyngesbridge, it is still a home to me.

Middle & Tree-Girt-Sea

1998-2001

I relocated to yet another Kingdom, Caid, in September of 2004. Caid has treated me very well and I have made some truly amazing friends in my time here. I have also had the honor of being inducted into the Order of the Lux Caidis, the Grant-level Arts & Sciences award of Caid. Sadly I didn't enjoy Southern California near as much as I enjoyed Caid, and have returned to the East Kingdom. Considering I've just started a 7-year B. Architecture program here in Boston, there will hopefully not be any more moving around for a while!