bertana | Recent Entries

This is a ladies' XL Nike LIVESTRONG base-layer t-shirt:

What I can tell you about it: they run pretty true to size (it is too big for me); the fabric is entirely awesome-- it feels practically weightless.

How can you get it? DONATE to my LIVESTRONG page! Every $5 of donation counts as one raffle entry.

This raffle closes at 10pm on Thursday, July 22.

There are more raffles coming up: you can win my favoritest LiveSTRONG mug ever (er, not MY actual mug, but a mug in the same exact shape and style). In fact, THREE of you can win the same type of mug! There will also be an awesome LiveSTRONG bottle that I am ridiculously tempted to keep for myself. There will also be a cookie raffle.

If you would like to help support my LiveSTRONG effort, but can't donate, then please post links to this raffle info! Or, on FB, go to my profile and find my recent update about the raffle, then click "Share" to post it on your own FB profile. Spread it far and wide!

Thank you so much to everyone who either donated to my LiveStrong page, or who boosted the signal by posting the info & link on their own LJ. I am so, so lucky to be surrounded by so many generous, compassionate and supportive people.

The winner of the raffle [notified earlier today via e-mail, FB and Twitter-- sorry, I don't have access to LJ at work] is

mikekn! He will get two dozen cupcakes made by yours truly; I'm open to any flavor combinations he'd like, and we just have to figure out the time/place of delivery as works for both of our schedules.

In the week of the raffle, y'all helped me raise $250. NO JOKE, folks. Before this week, I'd had $120 total in donations, and as of the close of the raffle, my fundraising account has $370.

Then, later this afternoon, I got ANOTHER big donation, and jumped up to $470 total! Folks, I'm almost halfway to my personal goal of $1000! How awesome is that?

Thank you all again, so much. No matter what amount you were able to donate, I appreciate it so much. Especially knowing what the economy is like right now, and especially how many of my friends in the SCA are saving for Pennsic -- every penny you donate, or every time you share the link with someone else, know that I am hugely grateful for your support.

Also, you're all super smart and very pretty, and have superb taste. I'm just sayin'. ;)

The first of my LIVESTRONG raffles is wrapping up this evening! You have until midnight tonight to have your donation count as raffle entries for CUPCAKEY GOODNESS.

To donate, go here: http://philly2010.livestrong.org/maggi

Raffle ends at midnight tonight. Tomorrow, I will tally the total donations (every $10 in donations counts as one raffle entry) and have a non-donating co-worker draw a name from a hat.

There will be future raffles; possibly other baked goods, but also some LiveStrong gear. The Challenge takes place on August 21 & 22, and any donations up until August 16 count toward possible prizes for me and my team. (We can still accept donations, even past the actual date of the Challenge; but they had to give a date to say "This is when we will tally up the teams for prizes.")

Thanks to everyone who has already donated, and to everyone who has boosted the signal. You all rock!

Starting immediately, and going through midnight on Monday, June 21:

A $10 donation to my LiveStrong Challenge page is equal to one raffle entry. Larger donation = more raffle entries.

Winner gets 2 doz cupcakes, made and decorated by me. Type of cupcake and date of delivery will be determined after winner of raffle is announced. Lemon poundcake cupcakes with blackberry/raspberry buttercream? Totally do-able. Vanilla cupcakes with strawberry buttercream? I'm trying to get my hands on some essence of violet, so that's a possibility, too. Red velvet, with cream cheese frosting? Or carrot cake cupcakes with same? Chocolate cupcakes with cookies&cream frosting? All good ideas!

Must be local, or able to meet me within a reasonable drive for delivery.

Here's an example of the lemon poundcake with a layer of blackberry buttercream and a layer of raspberry buttercream:

These were my first try using a proper piping bag & tips; I got better as I went. And I just ordered some cool new tips, so I will be practicing with those to make the final batch look more awesometastic.

[Public Entry]

Forwarded from one of many lists:

The Society for Creative Anachronism celebrates its 50th year on May 1, 2015, and that will be cause for much celebration. I am starting early, and I hereby invite you to join the party!

Challenges have long been a part of Scadian culture, and I thought that a challenge of 50 things seemed appropriate for our 50th year. Since years in the SCA are counted as Anno Societatis, (year of the Society,) or AS, and Arts and Sciences (the lovely canopy under which so many of my interests rest) is oft abbreviated A&S, the A&S 50 Challenge was born.

The A&S 50 Challenge can take one of two forms; either Depth or Breadth. The Depth Challenge is to create/do 50 of any one thing - make 50 pairs of shoes for your Shire, pen 50 scrolls for your Kingdom signet, cast 50 coins blanks, make 50 pieces of garb, judge 50 competition entries, teach 50 classes, perform 50 songs, or even write a 50 page research paper; if you want to take your current work to a new level, doing 50 of it is bound to carry you a long way towards that goal!

The Breadth Challenge can be about either trying new things, (either completely new to you, variations on things you have done before, or even new to your household, local group, or even Kingdom), or about creating a complete persona package (things that your persona would know about, have, and know how to do). Both individuals and groups may enter, and can choose to complete as many Challenges of either type as they please!

The purpose of the Challenge is twofold; to learn and share of our learning, and to create and share of our creation. While we are edifying and beautifying our fair lands, we will also be serving both our populace and The Dream, and helping to make the SCA the very best it can be as it enters its 50th year.

Once you have decided that you want to jump in and join us (hurray!), we invite you to join our main networking forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AandS50ChallengeCommunity . Here you can meet other Challengers, share resources, support, and enthusiasm, and officially sign up to participate in the A&S 50 Challenge!

I think I might be adjusting to the current weather; I ran out at lunchtime without a coat, and now am listening to a co-irker say, "It's getting cold, feels like snow," and I'm thinking-- Huh, didn't feel that cold me.

I am also too hyper for my own (or anyone else's) good. I seem to be doing everything BUT work: e-mailing plans for two retirement parties, researching real and faux pearls and prices, pinging in and out of LJ, texting Master Jose with questions about this crazy gown that went from simple to not-so-simple to "am I actually going to get to wear this?"

So: here's the thing with the questions about finding beads and pearls and whatnot. I'm going to be making my 16th-C French gown soon. I want to get the trim ready to go before I get the gown made, because it seems easier to bead it to death BEFORE it's on the gown. If I cut the silk for the trim, I can put it on my little embroidery frame to bead and have a handy little project to take with me where-ever I go.

The trim as imagined by Bertana (with input from Master Jose, both when in NYC shopping and today, as we text back and forth) has gone through several permutations:

Version 1: A band of solid silk taffeta in a color that would pick up the flowers in the embroidered silk that will be the sleeves and petticoat.

Version 1A: A band of solid silk taffeta about an inch wide, with a darker shade of velvet ribbon, about 3/4" wide, centered on top. (So you're only seeing a little bit of the base silk, for contrast).

Version 2: The same band of solid silk, with two narrow strips of the darker velvet ribbon. This version came about because they didn't have enough of the 3/4" inch in the right color, so I got a spool (33 yds) of 1/4" wide instead.

Version 2A: Wider band of the silk, with the narrow velvet ribbon very close to either edge, and a strip of this cool antiqued gold lace down the center. Then we couldn't find enough of the antiqued gold lace, so this got scrapped.

Version 2B: Band of silk, narrow velvet ribbon close to each edge, single row of pearls and gold beads spaced out down the middle.

Version 2C: I guess C can stand for "current", because this is what I'm picturing now. The wide band of silk, edged by the velvet ribbon. Single gold bead about every inch; after the third, a grouping of tiny pearls. I'm pictured the pearls either gathered in a tight circle, or maybe in a circle around a gold bead. One suggestion was a gold bead with four rice pearls, so it would look like a cross. Another suggestion was a gold bead circled by small, round pearls, so it would look more like a flower.

This will be my first beading project. Am I off my rocker?

... here

There are the great experiences of War: the roar and clash of fighters on the battlefield, the pageantry of processing into opening ceremonies, the glory of the exhausted and exhilarated fighters returning to camp at the end of the day's battles (or at the end of the day's post-battle pick-up fights!] There is the inspiration and beauty of the arts displayed to lift the soul and bring a rather manic gleam to the eye ("I can't WAIT to make one of THOSE!"). There are the triumphant finds on merchant's row-- the smoke of campfires-- the hectic, swirling gaiety of the parties-- there is even that first moment when one comes around the bend on westbound 422, when the pavilions stretch out below you and stun your vision and you are swept into all of it, swept away from who and where you were and immersed in these Current Middle Ages---

And then there is just one lady, getting frustrated because her plans to transfer a line drawing onto her fabric so she can embroider at War just aren't working, and it's all getting kind of screwed up, and then she pauses in her muttering and looks up-- and this white-bearded Duke is tearing his kitchen apart to try to figure out a way to make her a makeshift light table so that she can more easily trace her design onto her fabric.

Pictures cannot capture the way that makes one's heart swell, or the depth of the gratitude felt, or the fact that it is only one reason of about 10 that Duke Deaton was my absolute hero this Pennsic War.

[Public Post]

Home again safe and sound-- the flight home was much nicer than the flight out, largely because it was only half full. Getting baggage at Philadelphia was an issue-- but it always is. My drive home from the airport was a breeze, I don't think I've ever had such an easy drive out of PHL.

Thanks everyone for the fabulous weekend-- I had more fun than can possibly be put into words, and it was so wonderful to see everyone!

Phone calls on the drive home from the airport = "Okay, glad you're home safe and sound, now turn around and come back." Don't I wish!

-I'm pretty sure that, if you listen closely enough to my breathing, there's a tiny 'squee!' on every exhale. I leave work at noon. I have two stops to make, then I'm on my way to the airport. I'm getting there RIDICULOUSLY early because the last time I flew, it took me almost two hours to get through security.

-Shanda, I did not make it to the French bakery last night. I suck, I'm sorry!

-Also: getting concerned because I have not been able to get in direct contact with

suzze. No response to e-mail, I haven't seen her on LJ in months, and last night was the first time I got her answering machine when I called (I've called a couple other times in the past week or so, and it just rang and rang.) I also left a message last night at her work number, hoping she'd get it today, but ... it just worries me that I haven't been able to actually speak to her. ARGH.

When: Sunday, July 15; 5pm

Where: Gavin & Camilla's house

Provided: Hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, sodas

You Bring: Yourself, your bathing suit & towel, and a side dish / snack to share

E-mail me to let me know if you're coming, so that I know how much food to get. I'll also be sending out an e-mail from home with directions, etc.

Any of y'all who are going to Pennsic: do you have an idea of what day you'll be arriving and how long you'll be there?

My boss wants my vacation requests soon, which I'm taking to mean "today", and I'm trying to get a better idea of when folks I want to see are going to be there. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking I'll put in for August 2 thru August 8.

Check it out: My Race for the Cure page for fundraising.

<td align="center"> Bertana's Amazing Mental Ability ...

You can turn wine into water. (But, sadly, not the other way around)

(Remember ... with great power comes great responsibility!)

'What is your Amazing Mental Ability?' at QuizGalaxy.com</td>

Mom had her follow-up appointment with the surgeon, and he was much, MUCH better with the bedside manner than previously. Also, he says he DID visit her immediately after the surgery, but she was still in the recovery room and might not remember. Since she doesn't remember any of the stuff she said to Doug and I (friggin' hilarious!), I can buy it.

Overall, her health report is A++. He walked into the room and said, "Oh my god, you look AMAZING!" Mom felt like she was having such a slow recuperation and he said, "No, no, you look so good, you have no idea." Apparently, he did THREE thyroidectomies on the same day. Of the three, Mom's surgery was the longest and most complicated. Of the three patients, MOM is looking the best and having the best recuperation.

Oh, and he did save TWO of her parathyroids, so that explains why she's having fewer and fewer problems with calcium ... and he said she won't have any problems at all going forward. He also said that her thyroid was so enlarged that he was amazed. Each lobe, instead of being about the size of a quarter, was about the size of the palm of my hand. Oh, and they had wrapped around her esophagus. He just kept saying, "Once we saw how bad it was inside, none of us could believe you could even breathe. It was just amazing."

And her biopsy was cleancleanclean. Mom is walking about three inches above the ground right now, she's so damn relieved.

Here is a link to the wonderful farm from which we get our raw dairy and a few other things. I love this place.

The downside to this idyllic little scene is that, being in a farming area, we also have [drumroll please] MEATPACKING PLANTS in the area. And when the wind is just right, the whole area stinks from the Hatfield Meatpacking Plant. Oddly enough, MoPac is nearer to us, and we never smell it (I can tell when it's Hatfield, because I have to drive right past it on the way to work) and we almost never smell the Pilgrim's Choice poultry plant, which is right in town. Nope, just Hatfield. Lovely!

Thankfully, a fabulous storm is rolling through right now, and all I can small is rain, and it smells WONDERFUL, and tomorrow the stink of Hatfield will gonegonegone!

My D70 was put in the mail TODAY, via USPS Priority Mail, and I will have it SOON! YIPPEE! Also, today I received a package from Bob (the friend who is sending me the camera)-- a poster tube containing two beautiful posters from the Grand Canyon Music Festival! He and his wife were just out to AZ for that and they picked me up a couple posters from previous festivals. Super cool!

That is all.

Current Mood: holding on to the happy

My SCA (and other) photo galleries are back online.

( Camp, Sweet Camp )

Now I just have to get out there and start taking new pictures to add!

YAY! Congratulations, Cecile! I can only imagine it was a tough competition this year, it sounds like there were some awesome entries.

Before too much longer, I'll be finishing up my primping and then will be heading out the door to drive over to Merck for my interview. I was hoping to catch my Mom at her desk to ask her a few questions, but she's been in meetings, so no go there. She knows the folks with whom I'm interviewing, and I wanted her opinion on whether I need The Interview Suit, or if I can get away with the Almost Suit (same skirt as the Interview Suit, but instead of a suit jacket, I wear a red silk sleeveless shell under a white silk button-down with black embroidery. It's dressy, just a step back from wearing the relatively heavy suit jacket, which I hate.) Since I can't get a hold of her, I'm going to take the safe default and wear The Interview Suit.

After the interview, I have to head straight over to CWC; I work there from 3-10pm today. So I won't be able to post anything about how the interview goes. Cross your fingers for me! I really don't know how hard they interview when it's just for a temp position. When I temped at Merck during college breaks, the Merck management didn't even interview temps-- they just let the temp agency handle it all, so this is a new process for me.

Okay, Random Pennsic Question: I've been told that, unlike at Estrella, you don't get to just drive up to your camp to unload. If that's the case, how in hell do I get a cot, a cooler, a duffle bag and a bin of clothing from my truck to Mariana's tent? Do I need to find a dolly that I can bring?

Current Mood: Interviews make me nervous.

Here's the entry from last year, with some of the info I found out about Locks of Love and what they don't do.

From what I understand, the Canadian organization Angel Hair is a much more upstanding and honest group.

... I am only $20 away from Goal Numma 2.

This year, I'm reviving my participation in something I used to do every year-- I participated in this all through university, and was part of a team that participated at my first major employer.

This time, I'm going it alone, and I need some help with the fundraising.

It's the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and my goal is to raise $200. My personal page on the race site is here. If you can pledge any support at all, I would really appreciate it.

Current Mood: determined, hopeful

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bertana

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The Bertana-English Dictionary

sprinkled generously with epithets

Recent Entries

Public Entry: New LIVESTRONG Raffle

Thank you! [public entry]

Cupcakes for LIVESTRONG [public entry]

Cupcake raffle! [public entry]

WANT. MUST DO.

Posty McPostalot strikes again (entry left public for now)

A few Pennsic pictures

Home again

General and squee-related (public post)

Cookout / Pool Party

Pennsic-goers?

Race for the Cure

ha! figures

General, Random and oh yeah: FANFUCKINGTABULOUS!

(no subject)

(no subject)

Interview prep and a random Pennsic question

Locks of Love

In other news ...

... with a little help from my friends.