[MR] : A&S issue

[Amerie Helton]

 From the way you've described your woodworking, you are probably one  
of the best in the Kingdom. (I feel I can say this because my husband  
does woodworking, I've talked to other woodworkers, and have learned  
a lot from them I actually know how hard it is to hand cut dovetails  
and to *make* your own hide glue.) Anyway, this means few people are  
really qualified to judge your work. All I can suggest is that you  
find those few and get feedback from them.

Doing your stuff for the fun of it is really the way to go. You can't  
control getting "merit badges", you can only control the quality of  
your work and the amount of fun you have. That was my attitude before  
I received my Laurel in storytelling- I never expected to get one,  
tried to make my work Laurel quality, and had fun with it.

What area do you live in? Perhaps my husband, Lord Tom Drumbuilder,  
could give you useful feedback.

Yours,
Mistress Dervila

On Dec 2, 2011, at 10:41 PM, Phillip Jones wrote:


> When I submit a project to be judged, I expect to be judged. You  
> can imagine my dismay to return to the A&S table to find zero  
> comments on my sheet. After the second event with no comments on  
> multiple entries, I figured I was casting pearls before swine,  
> particularly with my woodwork.
>
> I'd still  enter projects had I received -any- feedback. I don't  
> expect a judge to sugar-coat, but I do expect them to comment. I've  
> incorporated more period technique into my woodworking, hand- 
> cutting dovetails or finger joints, making and using hide glue, but  
> I'm doing it for me, because I enjoy the process of building. No  
> one expects cooks to use period stoves.
>
> I too don't expect to be a peer; I feel no paths are open to me. I  
> can't do heavy combat, I've traveled at my own expense to every  
> kingdom in North America to teach diverse topics, typically three  
> or more classes, and frankly think that my service to the entire  
> SCA had long ago risen way above any reasonable rubric. You cannot  
> walk onto any field of combat and not see a product I helped guide  
> through development to sale. I don't need a stamp for my ego; I  
> know who I am and what I've done. I'll come out and play, but  
> because I think it is fun, and not for another merit badge.
>
> I don't hang out with any 'peers' who don't treat me as an equal,  
> and consider many to be close friends. Not being a peer doesn't  
> bother me much, I'd rather put my energy into helping someone learn  
> to fight, or freeing up my comrades from supervisory roles so that  
> they can go do things I'm no longer able to do. Coming to this  
> place of apathy brought me peace of mind.
>
>
> ghaltai  (ash tie)
>
>
>