Belated Midrealm Coronation post

This past Saturday Fritz and I went to Midrealm Coronation, and had a pretty great time.

There was fencing (yay, fencing!), but unfortunately I was too damn tired after not getting enough sleep the previous two nights to enjoy it much. I was quickly eliminated from the double-elimination tournament, and too exhausted to bother with the bear pit. But, I did earn my secondary authorization for sword and dagger (before the tournament), and got some good advice from a warder (during the tournament; she beat me then gave me advice, how cool is that?). So, fencing wasn't a complete bust. (And luckily my fatigue completely subsided by the time feast rolled around; more on that later.)

The event had a Turkish theme, as the new Queen has a Turkish persona, so the feast was Turkish themed as well. The entire menu can be found here, but the highlights included stuffed grape leaves, homemade cheese with flat bread, Turkish coffee, and many, many desserts (including a baklava-like dessert made with what tasted like almond paste, and marzipan fruit trees). Unfortunately, some poor souls got up and left before the final dessert, a homemade cherry sherbert served over shaved ice. Oh well, more for the rest of us!

Fittingly, Mistress Hauviette, the feastocrat, was made a Court Baronness by the King and Queen during the feast, in recognition of her accomplishments in period cooking. And before the feast, during court, Shawn, who was also involved in the feast (she made the cheese, among other things), was awarded an Evergreen. Unfortunately, we only stayed at court long enough to snap a few pics, before going outside to enjoy the weather. So, I missed seeing her receive the award.:-( Congratulations Shawn, you deserve it!

In keeping with the Turkish theme, during feast we were entertained by Middle Eastern dancers. They were all very good, but my absolute favorite performance was Baronness Hauviette's sword dance. I'd seen her perform this dance at least twice before, but it never ceases to amaze me! Fritz took some pictures of her dance which, along with a couple of court photos, can be found here. (I took many photos of the event as well; as soon as I get a chance, I'll post them.) An amazing cook, AND an amazing dancer, talk about a woman of many talents!

Overall, this was one of the best events I've been to. Congratulations again to Shawn and Baronness Hauviette for their respective honors!

Quote for the Day: "A good motivation is what is needed: compassion without dogmatism, without complicated philosophy; just understanding that others are human brothers and sisters and respecting their human rights and dignities. That we humans can help each other is one of our unique human capacities."--His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Kate at The Accidental Hedonist responds to Wendy's spokesman Denny Lynch's claim that the company is non-partisan, despite the fact that 93% of their campaign contributions have gone to Republicans.

Dear Denny Lynch,

You can't sleep with half the lobbyists of K Street and still claim to be a virgin. Sorry.

Love,
Kate
...

Of course his remarks do answer a long standing question I had when I lived in Columbus (home of Wendy's International) -- I now know what they do with all the cow manure from their slaughtered cattle...They package it up and the Senior Vice President of Communications hands it out to the press.

Huzzah!

This weekend was busy, but a lot of fun. Friday night Fritz and I watched the movie Saved, which was *very* good, I highly recommend seeing it if you haven't already!

Saturday was Terpsichore, which was great! At court, Fritz was presented with a special ceremonial sword commissioned especially for him in his position as Captain of Cynnabar's rapier guard. The sword is absolutely AMAZING, definitely a work of art! Also, I was presented with my Cynnabar tabard, which I earned when I completed my primary authorization at Clancy Day two weeks ago. Very exciting! I look forward to wearing it when I compete at Coronation in two weeks. Fritz had to leave before the ball to go to Anna and Adi's wedding rehearsal dinner, but I stayed and hung out with Kathy, Lavinia, Patrick, and others whom I hadn't seen much of lately. I had a wonderful time; I even danced a little. (Though sadly, not with Fritz. Not that night, anyway.)

Saturday was Adi and Anna's wedding, which was beautiful. Adi and Anna both looked amazing; Fritz was the best man, and looked incredibly handsome in his tuxedo! It was a Jewish wedding, the only one I've ever been to, and if this was a typical Jewish wedding, I'm definitely a fan! The ceremony was short but beautiful, and the reception was a lot of fun! One of the highlights was the chair dance; Anna and Adi each sat in chairs and were lifted high into the air by Fritz and a bunch of others while music played. Such fun!

Another highlight was the fencing. Yes, I said fencing! First Fritz fenced Shana, Adi's first fencing instructor from when he lived in California, outside on the grass. He looked incredible fencing in his tux, and the two of them were very entertaining, drawing quite a crowd! (Had I had more comfortable shoes on I would have joined them, but it wasn't meant to be.) Then, Adi and Shana fenced for a bit, teacher versus student. If memory serves, Shana won--no free wins for the groom!;-( And of course there was dancing; Fritz and I danced a few dances together, which was wonderful! It was a gorgeous wedding, one of the best I've ever attended; best wishes to Adi and Anna in their new life together!

Today I took the day off from work, to rest after my busy weekend. Fritz had a couple of final best man responsibilities to take care of, then he took me out to lunch at Zingerman's, my first time eating there! Their food is amazing! I had a #73 (scroll down to turkey sandwiches), a side of macaroni and cheese, fresh from the oven, and a mocha made with Scharffen-Berger chocolate! The sandwich was delicious, I'll be having the other half for dinner tonight, and the macaroni and cheese was INCREDIBLE! Seriously, the best mac-and-cheese I've ever had. The mocha was extremely tasty as well. Zingerman's is now definitely one of my favorite places to eat! After lunch, we walked around campus for a bit, enjoying the beautiful sunny day.

Overall it was a great weekend, spent with many of my favorite people! Now, off to get the other half of that sandwich...

The British are coming! The British are...

Fencing Quote for the Day:

Office worker: Can you come in tomorrow, say, 6PM?
Intern: Naw, I got my fencing class.
Office worker: What?
Intern: You know, just in case the English attack again.

Courtesy of Overheard in the Office.com