catamariner

We are in Pensacola, doing various boat maintenance things and waiting for my father's estate documents to get settled. We expect to be in Bradenton/Sarasota in early November and Key West in late November and early December, from whence there will be at least one conference trip (hence the longish stopover). Bahamas Christmas if the weather cooperates! IM me if you want the link to our sail blog.

Performing sea shanties at Pirates In Paradise if I have to get there by kayak... any filkers to be in the vicinity of said revels?

Sail down to the Florida Keys this spring, then either through the Bahamas or up to the Chesapeake for the summer, then offshore to the Bahamas and down the Caribbean chain with the snowbirds next fall... and keep going down that chain. Be south of Trinidad by hurricane season 2012, maybe as far south as Guatemala. Write about it, to keep limber and keep friends and family informed. Write something else as well. Do science. Avoid the avoidable scary situations while having a wonderful adventure!

OK, so here's the plan: finish the third year of the military activation at the end of September. PCS (permanent change of station, a government-run move, for the acronymically challenged) to the Florida panhandle, where we purchased (end of last month) a 37' catamaran that needs a little refitting, rent an apt to sleep in while we do the refitting, spend Thanksgiving with the in-laws (also in FL), and head for the Bahamas in December, via the west coast of FL and the Keys (with a stop at the Dry Tortugas), and, cruise the Caribbean while researching and home-schooling for three years. With instruments, some internet connectivity, and occasional trips stateside. So by the second week of October we should be settled in down there, working on boat refitting. Oh, yeah, there will be a small cabin for guests, even(!), if you get yourself to wherever we are. One small cat aboard. Because it's a catamaran?

We're calling the boat Parallax. Because it's a catamaran...

Just got back from Friday Harbor Irish Music Camp. Hey, these things are tasty! Think I'll have another, maybe in late July... and/or October, more on that later. As one would expect, excellent musicianship, fun fellow folkies (say that with a mouthful of soda bread), All Things Irish -- or at least as pertain to fiddle, whistle, flute, more fiddle, concertina, button accordion, a little set dancing, a wee smidge of pronunciation, and occasional stolen moments when several inveterate singers would get together and exchange long and gory (well, gory if it's me, I like to stick to the basics gut-grabbing themes of life, death, and sex, as long as the tune, or at least rhythm, is compelling. Girl's gotta have a hobby!) Irish or even Scots songs. Mostly. Very fun. Recommended.

OK, right off, as a SteamPunk-themed event, must say SteamCom blew this out of the water. Look, it was a fun theme and no objections, but we were in the same hotel!!! The comparisons were unavoidable, and RustyCon was but a hollow memory of SteamCon in the matter of costuming (especially hall costumes) and participation (SteamCon in its first year had 1300+ in the doors; RustyCon did a bit better this year than in 2009, but it was still very small for a con, looked like 400-plus on the Saturday we attended). Whew, now that's out of the way.

Huge plus was getting to see Alexander James Adams in fine fettle (not to mention fiddle!), doing an excellent selection of tunes old and new -- and by old, he even went all the way back to (THANK YOU!!!) "Bound for South Australia." A shanty, even a newfangled Australian shanty, warms the cockles o' me heart! His lovely wife, "The Princess of Ka-Ching" was also present with the swag (and a petite yet sturdy Service Dog -- yes, the dog's song was played), and we came away with a Yule concert which apparently includes a ghostly appearance from a certain redhead. A petite fairy and her older female guardian(?) danced in the aisle interpretively, pretty much what you'd expect, and Vixy and S00j received props for their participation in the Sirens' song on the recent album as well as generally being awesome.

Laser Tag: THANK YOU! That was a great idea, it keeps the young ones entertained so the parents can do other activities. The room was PERFECT and the guy running it has a huge amount of experience, but they moved him to that room at the last minute, or he would have brought his barriers along. Next year, please? Barriers would have made it more fun and more challenging. Also, probably due to low attendance, the Laser room closed early - like, HOURS early. Thank goodness for cell phones.

Can you tell that I am getting as much filk as I can easily find preparatory to MISSING Conflikt?! Look, I'll be on tropical islands doing science, there's only so much sympathy I could expect given the circumstances, but the point, of course, is music rather than "poor me," so the next piece of delightfulness from RustyCon: The filk room was the domain of Dr. Anne Prather! Met her last year at Conflikt and we had such a great time -- terrific to see her again! She has a whole album's worth of stuff she's gotten ready for Conflikt: thank you for the wonderful preview, Anne! Much music and good advice to be had in the filk room Saturday night, despite the fact that we were astonishingly few in number.

Party On: O...M...G I can't believe the "dance" Saturday night was karaoke. Wow. We stopped by on several occasions, hoping to actually dance, but it was impossible; the room was very sparsely populated (Friday too, from attendee buzz), except for the few people singing karaoke, which were ballads as often as not, which made it impossible to dance and occasionally impossible to stand nearby in the hallway. So, on to the room parties. Those were good. The Pirates had an early lead over the BioHazard crew for drinks&dancing (Andy, you rock!), and being the shanty wench I am, I stayed with them until closing, but by that time the BioHazard room was fully warmed up, packed, and everybody was dancing (Alton, you dance divinely). Danced in there until it was too hot to keep on -- the last party standing, they closed the doors and kept going. Definitely in the spirit.

OK, scoops: 1) Hope you all had excellent short holiday, getting together with family, friends, the Orycon community or whomever levitates your particular saucer.
2) Time: I'm teaching a lot. It's a bad time vampire. The semester is ending soon. One of my colleges is switching over to a new online learning environment. That's an even worse time vampire. That said, I am also making progress on my research. I have two upcoming conferences (at which I am supposed to present papers) and a vacation, in the December/January/February timeframe. Plus Conflikt. [OMG added 04DEC2009: No, NOT Conflikt. Curses, foiled again!!!]
3) Started up with martial arts again, partly for my son's sake. I think I'm enjoying it even more than he is.
4) Still singing. Still reading SF/F and always looking for good subjects for filking :-)
5) Still lifting weights. It's endorphins, and it's good for ya, and it's fun -- and aside from a small issue with a shoulder impingement, it feels good, too. Would LOVE to hear what all y'all have been up to!

Fun! Filking all night. Irish theme for the onrushing St. Patrick's Day. Vixy and Tony concert excellent, encore was Mal's Song of course :-) 

We are all losing an hour now, sigh. So many wonderful filkers woth excellent voices and instrument skillz... !

I have completed "Gone To Hades" (formerly "Persephone"), a filk on a lovely young goddess whose mother simply doesn't understand her, for a contest Sunday which asks that you incorporate seven random words (on eof which is, in fact, "RANDOM."). I met a wonderful LJ filker here, she is awesomeness incarnate, and we are chatting now...