Guy Fawkes Night

Remember, remember...

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Now playing: Ludwig van Beethoven, Philadelphia Orchestra & Riccardo Muti - Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67: I. Allegro Con Brio
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KC Renaissance Faire

A few weeks ago, I went to the Ren Faire in Kansas City with my father and brother. We've been going for the past seven years or so, and the last few times I've dressed up for it. I'm currently working on my chainmail hauberk, but it's only about a quarter done, so I borrowed my friend's for the weekend. I made the tabard (the cloth part that goes over the armor) myself, all stitched by hand. I usually tell people that I prefer the rustic look it gives, but in reality I'm just scared to use the antique sewing machine my grandmother passed down.

The aforementioned friend and I planned out this outfit a few years ago, based off the Templar knight uniform. We ordered matching helmets, gloves, belts, and shields. The plan was for both of us to go at the same time, but schedules haven't worked out, which is fine since I'm pretty lazy about working on my chainmail.

I definitely have an elevated level of respect for medieval knights. This was hot and heavy and uncomfortable pretty much the whole time I was wearing it. The helmet alone weighed ten pounds, the hauberk was forty, and with the sword and shield I was carting around a total of sixty pounds of steel (with a long-sleeved shirt, pants, leather boots and gloves on as well). Still, I lasted about three and a half hours, at which point my arms were going numb from the pressure of the chainmail. I'll have to do some research and see if I can find a way to distribute the weight a bit better.
At around that point, we stopped at one of the clothing stores, and I bought a doublet, which I had been wanting for a while anyway. I ran (well, walked rather slowly) back out to the car, swapped shirts, and put on my hat. This outfit was quite a bit more comfortable.

Next year, I want to have my hauberk completed, as well as a coif (a chainmail hood) and a blue tabard with a fleur-de-lis design. The leather store where we ordered our belts has a neat set of ringmail greaves and bracers that I think would fit nicely. It'll be a ton of work, but I'm pretty excited about it. Maybe I'll post progress here to keep me motivated.

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Now playing: Queen - Brighton Rock
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Moving Back to Blogger

I'm temporarily moving back to hosting this blog on Blogspot. There were a few things I didn't like about hosting it on a separate server, mainly the fact that paging went away. I've also updated the template (using one of the provided layouts at the moment) and added a few neat widgets. You might notice the Twitter update at the top of the sidebar - I've finally broken down and started an account. We'll see how it goes.

As far as the future is concerned, I'm thinking about finally making my site. Right now I'm leaning towards Python and Django, but we'll see. Short-term, I want to create my own template or at least heavily edit an existing one. Also, I'm not sure if my feed has changed because of the switch; guess I'll find out after I post this.

In other news, I recently attended KaizenConf, which was awesome. I'll be either posting a recap here or on The Pirates' Code. Maybe both. To sum up in a word though: enlightening. And the number of people in attendance who owned iPhones was staggering. But seriously, it was the most amazing event I've ever been part of.

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Now playing: The Raconteurs - Five On the Five
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Homemade Cookie Day!

So I guess today is Homemade Cookie Day. Last night, my mom and I baked four batches of these (about 120 cookies) and we both took them to work today. They're pretty time-consuming to make with all the different steps, but man they are worth it.

And don't mind the photo - it's one I took from the last time we made these, about a year ago. I was going to take a better picture to post, but... I ate all the leftover cookies.

Recipe courtesy Bake or Break.

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Now playing: TOKIO - Joushou Shikou (#-= Anime Academy Radio =- Best of Anime/Asian Music! (www.animeacademyradio.net))
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Talk Like a Pirate Day 2008

Avast me lads 'n lasses! T'day be Talk Like a Pirate Day 2008! 'Ave a mug o' rum, sing some shanties, an' above all, talk wit' th'boldness an' flavor o' speech tha' only comes from runnin' up th'jolly roger a time er two! Yaharr!

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Now playing: Klaus Badelt - Skull and Crossbones
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Camping Trip: Photo 02

Seen on the bank of the river at Devils Den Campground. Kind of reminds me of those stock photos you seen on business websites.

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Now playing: The Hives - Hate to Say I Told You So
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Camping Trip: Photo 01

Over Labor Day weekend, I went camping with my family in Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas. It was a beautiful campground with many things to do. There's a little river that runs through the campground, and while we were there, I came across this little fellow. He let me get right next to him to take some awesome pictures.

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Now playing: Klaus Badelt - He's a Pirate
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