Curto
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Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Wow... well, not quite a year, but danged if it hasn't been ten moons and more.
Okay... no longer Scoutmaster. That burned me out REAL quick, I got a replacement in July and now Scouting seems a distant memory. I may go back at some point, if my boys are interested again. Meantime, they learned much; I learned much; we helped out an ailing Troop, I think.
Not much going on these days with me and SCA fighting... I must have gotten burned out on that, too.
Big Recent News...
Just got back from DragonCon Monday evening. What a great event. I think I would prefer not to miss another one.
* Colin got to build a Robot and compete against others. We learned that we can use our dead cordless drills for motors, we will be building battle bots for next year!
* Conor got to play several games, and won a t-shirt and copy of War Rock
* Kelli, Claire, and myself attended a few Writer's classes; learned much, and we're really charged up about our writing projects these days.
We stayed in two rooms at the Hilton, one for Kelli and I, one for the kids. That worked very well. It's a bit expensive, but better than all piling in one room, I think.
So much that won't fit in here.
We saw the Cruxshadows Sunday night midnight.
Artemis - thanks for the awesome mead. I am inspired to go make more, now!
Thursday, November 9, 2006
November 18th, brewing day at my place!!
I'll be making an all-grain beer, an extract beer, and a batch of mead. There are at least three other people coming over to make their own batches of beer and/or mead. I'm really excited!
Feel free to come over anytime that day to just watch, learn, or even brew your own batch.
Well, I survived the backpacking trip. Trouble is, we had four Scouts who... well... they are no longer with the troop. Make that Six.
Four of the Scouts, we had to kick out for a combination of smoking, starting an unauthorized fire, and not staying with the group... which directly led to a boy being injured and getting 15 stitches in his head.
Additionally, one of our leaders lost his temper at the four boys resulting in a threatened lawsuit.
So, after getting back, I had to try and figure out how to apply the right process to deal with disciplining the boys. Turns out, I needed to get my Troop Committee to decide... but the chairman had verbally resigned the day we got back from the trip. So I verbally un-resigned him to get him to run the meetings while we dealt with this issue.
The silver lining here is that out Troop is starting to operate like other boy scout troops do, so I know we are actually in better shape than we have been.
The district folks must think we're doing okay... they have asked us (after we dismissed the boys) if we were interested in hosting the spring camporee for our District (about 50 cub scout packs and boy scout troops).
In other news... I'm progressing along the path to finish studying for CCNA to knock that out and move toward the CCIE.
Massage school is hopefully still in my future.
This week I got a cold, and I have learned to enjoy the subtle endearing qualities of Hydrocodone.
Much love to all... Curto
Thursday, October 12, 2006
3:08PM
An entry for a SECOND day in a row (i.e., the SECOND taunt from the Frenchman in Grail)...
I'm a little panicked now about the Backpacking trip. I need just to Breathe (like I was taught in Basic Training... Breathe... Relax... Aim... Squeeze)
I got the paperwork done, warnings sent... still havve to ensure Conor's pack and my pack are okay. Once we get there, this will be fun.
I'm studying for CCIE now... but I'll go ahead and pick up the CCNA cert along the way. I skipped the CCNA last time; and never got the CCIE quite completed... so this will be a good thing. Our manager wants the whole team 100% CCCNA rated. He knows they'll never get all of us past the CCIE test anyway.
Beer is brewing... I finally made another batch of my Christmas Stout (has honey, cinnamon, ginger, and clove). Cherry flavor in beer turns out to be a little trickier than I thought. Black Cherry is really subtle. Sort of a Goth Beer; wears black and skulks around in the corner, but not a bad sort, all in all.
Current mood:  accomplished
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
My first day back at LJ. I like the new login, lol.
My Scout Troop is going to Uwharrie for a backpacking trip this weekend. I hope I have made all the right preparations... we shall see!
Meantime, Kelli is heading out of the country again on Sunday, before I get back from the trip... yikes! I'll be Mr. Mom again for two weeks this time.
Thursday, June 8, 2006
Curto has become a calendar slave. I suppose by definition things I put on the calendar, are things I want to do... right?
I took a break from fighting for about two months. When I went back to practice, I had a great night fighting. Seemed like the break improved me.
Ooh! I got to teach a brewing class at SCA University in Virginia. Long drive for a one hour class... but I think the class went well. Next time, I'll try to do two separate classes and not cram quite so much info into one hour. More handouts is the way to go. I got to chat with a bunch of friends who certainly made the trip worthwhile.
Cheerio.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Curto is happy
Curto is concentrating on working with young people in this troubled region...
Curto is elected to Telecare’s Board of Directors
Curto is the voice of the Loggers
Curto is a Judge, surely a very "interesting" occupation in Sicilia
Curto is also available as guest soloist for symphony orchestra or chamber ensemble performances
I'll be here all week, try the veal.
Current mood: busy
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Recently I returned from a week-long SCA event known as the Pennsic War (http://www.pennsicwar.org)
Atlantia allied with the Midrealm this year, so it was red tape on my helm for a change.
I fought in three Tournaments... Sunday (right after opening ceremonies) was the Laurel's Hard Suit Tourney. I was fresh, my fighting was crisp; I finished in the upper half overall after a few very fun fights. There were four fields with about nine fighters in each fighting round-robin to determine the top of each field; I didn't quite make it to the finals, but I did receive the Chivalry prize for the day, a lovely veil which is quite fetching on my lady. I had made Atholl Brose for my entry prize, and my sponsor, Maestra Lucia, made a Psalter letter 'L' which was gifted to the nicest armor. The fighter was wearing Lamillar, an early period helm, and his garments were all done in celtic knotwork - very consistent in his appearance from head to toe.
Monday afternoon after the bridge battles was the Ladies of the Rose Tourney. I am disappointed in myself for only winning one fight for my sponsor, Duchess Padraigin. The fight was with another lefty; I got very keyed up and spent what energy I had left on him, only to find out AFTER the fight that it was a bye. For that fight, though, I left no doubts in anyone's mind. Thereafter, I took two losses back to back and decided that I will need to work on stamina in the coming months.
We outnumbered our opponents by approximately 2 to 1 in all the melee engagements, resulting in a final split of War Points 25 to 1. Holy Crap.
Time after time, they took the field against us and fought valiantly and with spirit. What a noble foe!
Near the end of the Mountain Pass battle on Thursday, Sir Bryce de Byram did it again - created a great moment for all within hearing. We (Atlantian forces) were on our Right side of the pass and had held the banner uncontested. In the final minutes, we (80 or so) had pressed those standing against us (20 or so at that point) against their resurrection point. Immediatley following the hold, Bryce began singing a song of valiant warriors, small in number, standing against larger forces. Nobody struck a blow, half the guys were crying as he finished. Most dropped weapons, crossed the line for backslapping bearhugs; after which we regained positions, checked that all were ready, and we swept over them in the final assault. An unforgettable moment.
So much more... no time to record everything; I'll probably post little bits and pieces as part of other posts in the coming months.
Friday, January 28, 2005
I forgot I wanted to update other stuff besides just tonight. Maybe I should backdate some posts... hmm... food for thought.
So... SCA fighting. Last weekend, went to Virginia for an event called Ice Castles. It was teams of three, there were six teams; round-robin format means we fought five teams. We won three of our five, which is good... but we probably should have won _at least_ one of those two fights we lost. We know what we did wrong so we can work on it for next time.
Several Knights of Atlantia show up at our weekly fighter practice (currently being held in my backyard); I am really lucky to have their participation. The quality of fighting here each week is excellent, and getting better.
Ymir (another SCA event) is coming up soon, can't wait for that! For a lot of folks, it marks the beginning of the tourney season... I'm glad I got my brginning last week.
After that, in March in Louisiana is Gulf Wars; that should be a GREAT event! Can't wait!
Hokay, so Legends is fun (even on Thursday nights... even if it's 80s night). I'm finding new friends and new relationships with old friends there... hooray!
So. Tonight I found out Kelli looks great in a mini-skirt at nineteen degrees at three o'clock in the morning. Oh! She changed her hair today... it's shorter, and redder, and OMG, it looks GREAT!
Sunday, December 26, 2004
I wonder... is there a name for the phenomenon where you recommend something to someone, and they turn their nose up with derision... and then later the same person comes back and touts the virtues of the product to you, incredulous that you don't use it?
Not that anyone I know would ever do that... just a passing random thought.
Wow... found out at Thanksgiving one of my relatives has the symptoms of narcissistic borderline personality disorder. That was pretty scary. I worry that she will attack her parents, and we'll get to diagnosis of the condition after something hideous has happened.
Had a great Christmas here at our place... Kelli's relatives descended in a drove. By the way... is there really a singular drove, or are droves always plural? I keep buying more lights and lighting accessories... next year, I'm puttin' every light up somewhere! Ooh.. Kelli finally broke down and put blinky lights on the Christmas tree. She was scandalized. Kelli makes the most magnificent Christmas trees I have ever seen, it's a special treat to know that the coolest tree in the world is at my house every year.
SNOW... got the first snow of the year last night, about three inches. This year, we were prepared... we already had sleds. That's a first... I have lamented MANY a year that we had to watch the first snowfall come and go without sleds for the kids. A good dose of satisfaction goes with that.
I go back to work tomorrow... and at the end of this week, on New Year's Eve, I should have an opportunity to end the year with a pseudo-annual Polar Bear club jump into a friend's swimming pool.
Must get back to brewing soon... an SCA friend wrote a song, and my beer (Stonecastle Ale) is mentioned in the first verse... I'd like to have more songs written about my stuf, so I better get busy brewing!
...but not before fighting. I'm REALLY looking forward to fighting this next year. I have so many plans... armor upgrades, tournaments to attend... siege engines to build. And practice, practice, practice... which puts brewing on hold for a while.
Time for me to go make lists and get busy!
Current mood: accomplished
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
a man with three buttocks.
Well, my games may seem silly by some standards. But this is one I can point to and say "at least I'm not doing THAT"...
http://www.afghan-web.com/sports/buzkashi.html
Apparently in this game "...a headless carcass is placed in the center of a circle and surrounded by the players of two opposing teams. The object of the game, is to get control of the carcass and bring it to the scoring area."
Might not be so bad if the scoring area were the KITCHEN or something, but nooooo.
Remember Rutger Hauer in that movie with the dog skull (Blood of Heroes http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094764/ )? I thought that was a bit grisly and far-fetched. Looks like they actually toned it down for the movie!
Some folks are thinking it might be a good idea to do this at an SCA event... who knows, it's so crazy, it just might work.
Lots of work done today by Curto. Actual work that is my job that I get paid to do. The cool thing is, there's always more! Yay!
I stayed home and worked from home so Kelli could go to visit the dentist, who is going to have a very cozy relationship with our family finances next year.
Scouts was chaos tonight, but the boys are having a blast. They built little catapults which we will use in the future to fling marshmallows at the cubmaster.
Current mood: doink-doink
Sunday, November 14, 2004
I'm a'workin' in the kitchen listening to NPR and preparing to bottle my most delicious Christmas brew. For some reason, Thistle and Shamrock did a tribute to Freddie Mercury and... oh my... they did Bohemian Rhapsody with Bodrain, penny whistle, and (I guess) an accordion or the like. I was so shocked I sang along (out loud,even).
A friend had given me some bottles, which I had planned to use for this batch. Wellllll.... apparently the friend didn't rinse the bottles... and perhaps stored them outside. I have been cleaning and sanitizing bottles all freakin' day... three times through the dishwasher, then Kelli and I had to engineer some super-special home-made homebrew bottle cleaning apparatus. FINALLY got the bottles cleaned, then sanitized... by now, these MUST be the cleanest bottles I have ever used.
So the Beer this year is made with a good dollop of honey; flavored with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice... ahhh... well, I think it's yummy.
Currently I am watching my 7-year-old brewer-in-training Colin fill the bottles with vim and vigor. Some folks may be scandalized to hear of my seven-year-old son helping me with my beer, but hey, it keeps me off the streets, eh?
(oh, I have to go now... he's demanding payment for helping)
Thursday, November 11, 2004
2:49PM
Fighter practice at my place last night...
Had four heavy fighters and two rapier folks. Probably the cooler weather, or the fact that I'v called off the last two, contributes to the lackluster turnout.
Idonea cooked awesome pork tenderloin, and made this off-the-cuff cranberry sauce that was delicious! Also had this cinnamon crumb cake thing with decaf coffee... an excellent finish to a good practice for me!
Tuesday, November 9, 2004
So I'm just thinking along through the day (as you do) allowing the cosmic word factory to deliver some goods my way.
I'm thinking that there are many kinds of religions besides the spiritual ones, or perhaps anything can become spiritual if one is a zealous adherent. I dunno.
But it occured to me that politics is kind of like religion in the way that things sometimes get said.
Like some christian friends of mine who say with perfect placid tones and unabashed certainty that this or that person is going to fry in hell; or perhaps that it's okay that somebody gets beheaded because they were doing evil work... or.. or.. you get the picture.
I have heard friends say things about George Bush with that kind of placid belief inherent in their tone that just amaze me, and I have to wonder at the acceptance they have for so many of the assertions that can never be verified, and can only be believed with faith. Same kind of faith that fundamentalists of most any stripe have.
Hmm. Well, not gonna change the world today. At least... not all of it.
This random though sort of came as I watched two friends discussing something and I was thinking "Ferver... that's fervor. That's real fervor!"
Then I sort of fixated on fervor, repeating it in my head.... fervor... then saying it in my mind with funny accents, fast and slow... hehee.. funny word...
...ferrrr vurrrrr.... frrverrr.... furrr....
fur... vair?
furr... like dogs... vert.. like green.
Weird.
Current mood:  weird
Friday, June 25, 2004
Well, here we are at another weekend... Curto dashes home to make last minute preparations for an SCA tournament this weekend, then tomorrow we'll dash to the event and run flat-out all day.
Sunday will find me back at work, dashing to get here on time, then dashing about trying to get work done.
I'll dash home sunday evening and try to mow the lawn before it gets dark or rains.
Whew.
I'm just a dashing guy.
Har! I kill me, with me great wit.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Saw something on SlashDot today about railguns being installed on Navy ships in 2011. So I read a little bit... who needs nukes? I liked this quote:
+++++++
Capt. Roger D. McGinnis, director of the Navy’s directed energy and electric weapons program office, said that while the “lethality mechanisms” of high energy weapons are classified, “Our bottom line is that if we can put millions of joules of energy onto a target, something will happen.”
+++++++
lol... "something will happen". ZAP!!
Here's the slashdot article:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/06/22/1839207
and here's the Navy brief, has a really interesting Projectile Comparison graphic on the second page of the pdf:
http://www.battelle.org/navy/railguns.pdf
I just hope we continue to use this power responsibly.
Looks like I am the same Calligraphy hand as Kelli:
Insular Majuscule- You are spiritual and well
rounded. People look to you for advice, but
sometimes find you difficult to understand.
What Calligraphy Hand Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Monday, June 21, 2004
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