New Era, definitely

It's been awhile, hasn't it? I'm enjoying my new job. Working at the Oral History Center at USD, if you missed that memo. I probably shouldn't be posting this while I'm at work, but hey, you need quick breaks even from jobs you like, right? It's been a good experience: I'm learning new things, I have employers who care about what actually goes on, and who are motivated. My co-workers are easy to get along with. The work is interesting, and I can take pride in doing it, because it's something that actually needs to be done. It doesn't feel so futile, working here, you know? It's mentally stimulating work, so my brain isn't fermenting anymore, and I feel like this job could actually take me somewhere that I want to go--instead of being stuck in storage all my life. Ok, well, technically, I'm still in a "storage" room of sorts, but it's a dynamic storage room instead of a static storage room.

Hey, it made sense to me. Deal with it. :P

I'll be moving into a house in Vermillion this weekend. Rental. It's got a yard, and space for gardening, which is mostly what I care about! And I have a place to do all of those messy SCA projects that you don't want to do indoors now! Like retting flax!

I'm going to miss a number of Sioux Falls peeps. But I was already missing a number of Vermillion peeps, so what can you do? It's been great reuniting with some people down here tho. Well, not that I ever really lost track, but it's wonderful to be able to actually hang out with them again. And it's even better being in Vermillion this time around, because I got to choose to be here, instead of feeling like I was stuck here until I finished a degree. I really do like this town.

Of course, the timing was somewhat unfortunate...of course I had to start dating Boy in Sioux Falls the day before (literally!) I start a new job in a town an hour away. But an hour isn't bad, and I think that space is a good thing to have in a new relationship. It seems to be working, anyway!

I guess this means that any plans I had for grad school will be put off for awhile longer though, if I still decide I want to go. This job is grant-funded for 2 1/2 years...after that, who knows. I mean, I'm sure I could get out of it if I really wanted/needed to, but I'd like to finish the job I start, instead of being here to get things started, and then go gallivanting off to England or some such to take more classes. It's ok though...I'm still not sure what I want to go for, because all of the programs that look REALLY awesomely perfect don't really offer me too many future job prospects other than teaching college, which isn't something I think I want to do. And I just cringe thinking about how much MORE in debt I'd be when I finished a degree that wouldn't get me a job to help pay off said debt. Sigh. Well, I have at least 2 1/2 years to think about it!

So that's mostly what's new with me. What's new with you?

Oh...and I'm going to Crown Tourney this spring. In a week. As a consort. I still haven't decided if I want him to win or not...

Wish me luck, however it turns out!

New Era, or just a New Job?

I've FINALLY found a new job, which I will be starting on March 23rd, 2 days after we get back from Gulf Wars. I'll be working for the American Indian Studies program at USD, cataloging the collections in the Oral History Center. It looks like it will be an exciting job, if only I can figure out how to do it! I'm looking forward to it: to getting out of Sioux Falls, to getting away from hell...I mean, the Lab at Augie..., to being in a smaller town, and to having a new challenge. Oh, and to having my job provide me with health insurance and paid vacation time! But I do have some apprehensions about it as well. Mostly that I won't be able to do everything necessary for the job. It's pretty important that it be done right, and I have to figure out how to catalog this stuff on my own. It doesn't look like I'm going to have a lot of direction here! But I'm willing to give it my best shot. I will make something work! Anyway, so I'm nervous, but very excited. And not too nervous just yet, because I have Gulf Wars to get ready for first! One thing at a time. Wish me luck!

Changing Direction

Before I drifted off, last night, into a sleep full of many very strange dreams, I had what may have been an epiphany. Ok, maybe not an epiphany, but a very significant thought, anyway.

I miss horses. And dirt. And hay. And kids. And pulling weeds. And going for walks. And wind in the grass.

And I want them, more than I want England. More than I want an important job in an important museum. I'm not sure I can have both.

So I need to do some serious thinking about what I want to do, where I want to go, my personal goals in life. Maybe it's not as tricky as I've always thought it would be. Actually, thinking about it, there is an overwhelming sense of peace that has come with this realization. Maybe I've found the right track.

In Which I Am Tired, and Actually Want a Normal Week Ahead of Me

Last week was interesting, to say the least. A week of firsts, and then seconds. A week of disappointment and hope. A week full of many new things to think about. A week of spending a lot of time with very good friends, and other acquaintances as well. And, because of all that, a week of very little sleep.

I am physically and emotionally tired. I have plenty of things to keep me busy. Please be nice to me this week, Universe. And all the rest of you, too!

Admitting to SCA Snobbery

I went to a friend's birthday party this weekend. About 1/4 of the party-goers were people I know from the SCA, the rest being his "normal" friends. I've been to several of his parties before, and at every one, the SCA people tend to cluster together in the kitchen, telling fighting stories, describing (or working on!) the next A&S project, discussing travel details to the next event, etc. The rest of them congregate around the bar or the stereo in the living room, drink, play horrible hip-hop/rap/pop music and try to find someone to go home with/take them home.

The point of this story is not to say that SCA people are better than non-SCA people. While the majority of the friends I've made in the years since I began doing medieval reenacting are, indeed, Scadians, I have numerous friendships outside the SCA that I value every bit as much. I've just begun to observe that I don't seem to play well with "normal" people anymore. It is certainly possible for me to hold a non-historical-in-nature conversation, and even enjoy it, but I constantly come up with SCA stories, metaphors, phrases, that I want to insert into the conversation, and generally have to pass up, because, well, sometimes it just takes too long to explain! I've also discovered that I'm more attracted to men in kilts and/or tunics, with an overabundance of facial hair, than clean-shaven dudes in t-shirts and baseball caps. I'd far rather watch a good sword fight than the superbowl. I've been known to wear my tunics with jeans to class/work, and SCA jewelry goes with everything, right? I bring A&S projects when I go home to visit my parents, to work on and to show off. Garb is the most comfortable clothing I own. My bookshelf is filled with research material, and even the novels and movies I own are generally historical in nature.

Perhaps this post shouldn't be about admitting to SCA snobbery, but rather: Realizing a Need to Re-Learn Social Skills. But then again...I think I like my life this way.

I don't think I believe in second chances anymore. Life isn't generous enough to allow mulligans.

Second Chances

How do you recognize an opportunity for what it is, when it comes, instead of as just a passing event? How do you know that, in the future, you're going to regret passing this up? And when the merest glimmer of a second chance presents itself to you, how long do you wait for it to materialize into really, and truly, a gloriously forgiving second chance? How long do you wait until you realize that in waiting to see if it materializes, you're letting so many other things pass you by?

I hate waiting. But second chances are Providential. How do you pass that up, even if it means waiting a little longer?