Thinkity

Now that I no longer have access to the MKTAG to see if people are abusing me personally, I perused the Middlebridge to fill the void. ;-) I therefore perused the very long and laborious thread regarding A&S and the faire system. While this was a somewhat masochistic pursuit, doing it in hindsight was somewhat enlightening.

I'm debating about sending a note to the Laurel charged with exploring options regarding MY opinions.

We're all clear, by now, on the fact that I believe the Regional Faire system is no longer useful for much other than clogging the Kingdom Calendar. Granted, Kingdom Faire still has a purpose in life, but the person who commented that Faire is really about the documentation had it right. What we do NOT have is any venue that is intended to display and reward sheer workmanship. (No, I do not count the Craftsperson's faire. That's a bean count on clever ways to hide the mundane.)

I thereby suggest another venue.

Our very own Queen's Prize Tourney. To be conducted at whatever event the reigning Queen selects. Documentation is not required, but would be helpful. The set up is such: The artisan pre-registers his or her work, and selects a time slot. At the event, a panel of Laurels, selected for the purpose by Her Majesty, interviews each artisan. The work is presented, questions are asked, etc. With the advice of the panel, the Queen distributes whatever awards she wishes.

Is it objective? Nope. Neither is Faire. And with Faire, the attempt to remove as much subjectivity as possible via the Criteria (Gad, the all powerful Criteria!!!) also hobble the judges. It's nearly impossible to get a decent score in both Creativity AND Authenticity. With the suggested set-up, at least that element is removed. Though a generalized score sheet would be a decent idea.

Thoughts?

Spring Cleaning and rambly-ness

I scrubbed down my kitchen today. Then dumped the bucket of mud that resulted out. I was all proud of myself, then walked back in and it still didn't LOOK clean. Blerg. The walls were still all marked-up and dingy looking. So I drove to Home Depot, got a gallon of paint - and painted it.

I have several new problems. First - even with Behr's fancy new super paint, I'm going to need a second coat. Not a huge deal - I left the tape up, and there really isn't that much wall. It's pretty hard to paint over Kitchen and Bath paint - which is what I used.

Second - The ceiling is a wreck. I may crawl up there this weekend and at least lay some joint compound over the worst bits, and paint that too. I already have ceiling paint. Also need to paint the trim, but must wait until the wall cures in order to tape in to do the trim.

Third - I picked out a shade of blue that's a shade too light. It gets washed out by the green counters, green paint on the floor, etc. Plus, the floor is getting harder and harder to KEEP clean, as the finish wears off. I might just sand and paint that, too.

Fourth - in my various cleaning binges over the years - I've managed to scrub the glaze off the cabinets and the antiquing off the hardware. *sigh* Don't know what to do about that.

Of course, I have now made a clean spot in the house. Hrrrrm. I need to get the front room cleaned out in the next two weeks. Someone from the County is coming to video Rori at home. Whatevah. Before or after I will be washing down that room, too. It also needs painting. But I'm not sure what color. The trim in my house is white. And it's a very vintage 40's style layout. At some point in it's life, one bedroom was removed to make the front of the house one large room. There is one Behr palette I liked that had a deep orange-y pink for the walls, and accents in white, poinsettia red, and a pale milk-and-honey color. But I think the pink would be too much. Especially given the pale shade now in the kitchen.

I'd like to keep a vintage feel. Perhaps I should go surf some antique stores and collect magazines and make a mood boards. Wonder if there's anyway to give it a vague-ish steampunk/deco feel....