Interview Answers
Jun. 10th, 2003 01:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jducoeurIn ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alienor's journal, I found The Interview Meme, which is kind of neat, if more challenging than most LJ memes. She asked the following interesting questions of me; here are the answers...
1. If you could change one thing about your Laureling ceremony what would it be?
Hmm. My Laurel ceremony was pretty anticlimactic, actually. Pleasant, but the moment itself made little impression upon me.
I guess the true answer is that it would have been nice to have something particular to me about it. At the time, that would have been pretty weird -- most ceremonies were fairly cookie-cutter and simple at that point. (Even vigils for Laurels were pretty rare then.) Over the years, though, I've found that these things are more meaningful if there's some sort of appropriate customization to it, if only a little bit. (msmemory's set the tone for that opinion -- she had always said that she wanted a vigil in a drafty chapel, so her friends took it upon themselves to create the best simulacrum they could. I still don't think I've ever been to a cooler vigil.)
2. What is the best thing about being Carolingian?
There are several possible answers -- I'm a tad chauvanistic about my Barony, and don't mind bragging. The breadth and depth of the arts means I always have something new to play with; the constant influx of younger members keeps things vital; the processes and structures appeal to the process-wonk in me.
But probably the correct answer for me is, "attitude". There's a largely-unspoken consensus attitude towards the game, which I generally summarize as, "Period Is Good". Less concisely, it's a feeling that it's appropriate to be as period as you conveniently can be, but that it's up to you to define what's convenient for you. I find it the best balance point in the SCA's tension between the "fun mavens" and "authenticity police", and it leads to a rather experimentalist view of the SCA that I find a lot of fun. I suspect that I'd chafe in a group that was more set in its ways. It also carries a connotation that different people approach the game differently, even within a single Barony, and that's okay -- there's a fair amount of wiggle room for varying interpretations.
3. If you could change one thing about Freemasonry what would it be?
Wow; there are a lot of things I'd change about Freemasonry at this point. Fond though I am of the organization, it has a bunch of problems.
I guess the one thing that would make the most difference to me personally would be to have the ritual matter to people. As far as I'm concerned, the ritual -- the teaching of moral and spiritual lessons through immersive symbolism -- is what makes Masonry distinct and special. But most Masons are embarrassed to be doing something so esoteric, and most of them don't see it as terribly important. The result is things like the "one-day class" that's coming up in a few months, where they're going to shove 5000 guys through the degrees in a single day, by converting it all to a play. That offends me terribly, mostly because it underscores the declining importance of the ritual in the organization.
Or to look at it another way: Masonry is in a process of transition, and I sincerely believe that the club that comes out the other end is going to be a useful, socially-productive charitable organization. But it isn't the club I thought I was joining, and it's not the one I'm interested in.
4. If you could offer one piece of advice to the SCAdian tired of interpersonal politics, what would it be?
Tougher. I actually haven't been through this degree of politics within the SCA, so I have to take the question at a half-step remove. Fortunately (in a fashion), though, I've been through it on the LARP side of things, so I have some idea where you're coming from.
Personally, I dealt with it by separating the parts of the activity I liked from those I didn't. I like playing LARPs, and I love writing them, so I've moved over to focusing on that. Running the conventions was making me crazy, mostly because of the poisonous bad blood between several of us on the concom. I recommended very strongly that we should recruit a bunch of new folks who weren't involved in the politics, and then those of us who were embroiled in them should drop out of the day-to-day running of the convention. That was mostly successful -- after six years of mostly the same faces running things (many of whom couldn't stand each other any more), we now have a good new generation coming in, and most of the old ones either had the good sense to drift out or got forced out.
So my advice is to focus on what you enjoy, and try to get away from the scenes that raise your blood pressure. It sometimes means dropping away from activities you like to do, but you have enough imagination that you ought to be able to fill the time with stuff that's more fun.
(Which raises a side-point: the SCA is what you make of it. The thing I've found most fun within the Society is inventing new activities and then spreading them. Don't feel limited to the models that others propound.)
5. And if you were asked to share your knowledge about games in either a Pennsic class or TI article, which would you prefer and what does that say about you?
Hmm; never thought of it that way. Not an easy question at all -- I've done both the publishing thing and the class thing a lot, and they scratch different itches.
I think I'd honestly have to say the TI article, although only by a nose. Partly, that's sheer ego: the article has more permanence, and can touch a lot more people, and I confess that I like having that kind of impact. Also, I can refine and polish an article in ways that I really can't do with a class -- I like to prepare my classes, but not over-prepare them lest they get dry and lifeless. The result is that I never cover precisely what I intended, since the class always winds up taking a few side turns I didn't anticipate.
Still, running a class is almost always more fun. I suspect that if I answered this question in a different mood, the answer might come out differently...
alienor's journal, I found The Interview Meme, which is kind of neat, if more challenging than most LJ memes. She asked the following interesting questions of me; here are the answers...1. If you could change one thing about your Laureling ceremony what would it be?
Hmm. My Laurel ceremony was pretty anticlimactic, actually. Pleasant, but the moment itself made little impression upon me.
I guess the true answer is that it would have been nice to have something particular to me about it. At the time, that would have been pretty weird -- most ceremonies were fairly cookie-cutter and simple at that point. (Even vigils for Laurels were pretty rare then.) Over the years, though, I've found that these things are more meaningful if there's some sort of appropriate customization to it, if only a little bit. (
msmemory's set the tone for that opinion -- she had always said that she wanted a vigil in a drafty chapel, so her friends took it upon themselves to create the best simulacrum they could. I still don't think I've ever been to a cooler vigil.)2. What is the best thing about being Carolingian?
There are several possible answers -- I'm a tad chauvanistic about my Barony, and don't mind bragging. The breadth and depth of the arts means I always have something new to play with; the constant influx of younger members keeps things vital; the processes and structures appeal to the process-wonk in me.
But probably the correct answer for me is, "attitude". There's a largely-unspoken consensus attitude towards the game, which I generally summarize as, "Period Is Good". Less concisely, it's a feeling that it's appropriate to be as period as you conveniently can be, but that it's up to you to define what's convenient for you. I find it the best balance point in the SCA's tension between the "fun mavens" and "authenticity police", and it leads to a rather experimentalist view of the SCA that I find a lot of fun. I suspect that I'd chafe in a group that was more set in its ways. It also carries a connotation that different people approach the game differently, even within a single Barony, and that's okay -- there's a fair amount of wiggle room for varying interpretations.
3. If you could change one thing about Freemasonry what would it be?
Wow; there are a lot of things I'd change about Freemasonry at this point. Fond though I am of the organization, it has a bunch of problems.
I guess the one thing that would make the most difference to me personally would be to have the ritual matter to people. As far as I'm concerned, the ritual -- the teaching of moral and spiritual lessons through immersive symbolism -- is what makes Masonry distinct and special. But most Masons are embarrassed to be doing something so esoteric, and most of them don't see it as terribly important. The result is things like the "one-day class" that's coming up in a few months, where they're going to shove 5000 guys through the degrees in a single day, by converting it all to a play. That offends me terribly, mostly because it underscores the declining importance of the ritual in the organization.
Or to look at it another way: Masonry is in a process of transition, and I sincerely believe that the club that comes out the other end is going to be a useful, socially-productive charitable organization. But it isn't the club I thought I was joining, and it's not the one I'm interested in.
4. If you could offer one piece of advice to the SCAdian tired of interpersonal politics, what would it be?
Tougher. I actually haven't been through this degree of politics within the SCA, so I have to take the question at a half-step remove. Fortunately (in a fashion), though, I've been through it on the LARP side of things, so I have some idea where you're coming from.
Personally, I dealt with it by separating the parts of the activity I liked from those I didn't. I like playing LARPs, and I love writing them, so I've moved over to focusing on that. Running the conventions was making me crazy, mostly because of the poisonous bad blood between several of us on the concom. I recommended very strongly that we should recruit a bunch of new folks who weren't involved in the politics, and then those of us who were embroiled in them should drop out of the day-to-day running of the convention. That was mostly successful -- after six years of mostly the same faces running things (many of whom couldn't stand each other any more), we now have a good new generation coming in, and most of the old ones either had the good sense to drift out or got forced out.
So my advice is to focus on what you enjoy, and try to get away from the scenes that raise your blood pressure. It sometimes means dropping away from activities you like to do, but you have enough imagination that you ought to be able to fill the time with stuff that's more fun.
(Which raises a side-point: the SCA is what you make of it. The thing I've found most fun within the Society is inventing new activities and then spreading them. Don't feel limited to the models that others propound.)
5. And if you were asked to share your knowledge about games in either a Pennsic class or TI article, which would you prefer and what does that say about you?
Hmm; never thought of it that way. Not an easy question at all -- I've done both the publishing thing and the class thing a lot, and they scratch different itches.
I think I'd honestly have to say the TI article, although only by a nose. Partly, that's sheer ego: the article has more permanence, and can touch a lot more people, and I confess that I like having that kind of impact. Also, I can refine and polish an article in ways that I really can't do with a class -- I like to prepare my classes, but not over-prepare them lest they get dry and lifeless. The result is that I never cover precisely what I intended, since the class always winds up taking a few side turns I didn't anticipate.
Still, running a class is almost always more fun. I suspect that if I answered this question in a different mood, the answer might come out differently...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2003-06-10 11:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-06-11 06:56 am (UTC)1. Do you consider yourself more an "arts" person or a "service" person? Why?
2. The traditional Fannish Dichotomy: do you think of the SCA more as a way of life, or more as a hobby?
3. Do you like to argue? Do you like to debate?
4. What do you think is the single most important quality an SCA branch can have?
5. What would you like to be doing professionally in ten years?
(no subject)
Date: 2003-06-11 04:21 pm (UTC)I'm willing to be interviewed.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-06-12 06:04 pm (UTC)1. What quality do you most look for in an apprentice?
2. What do you think is the most useful/effective thing about the Atkins diet -- the low-carb rule, the restricted calories, the discipline it imposes, or something else?
3. How did you first find out about the SCA? (I know how you actually started in it, but I have no idea how long you'd been aware of it at that point.)
4. Which do you most enjoy in Commedia: writing scenarii, directing or acting?
5. Which quality do you consider more important personally: compassion or integrity?
Re:
Date: 2003-06-12 06:48 pm (UTC)There are two (look, it's only the first question and I'm hedging already). First is talent. Although I believe I can teach anyone to teach a good story, teaching someone to be a good storyteller is a different matter. It helps a lot when they already have some of the basics. That being said, the quality I most look for is the ability and desire to fulfill the role of apprentice (in the theatrical sense of "role"). Someone who understands that part of this game we play is to present the image of master and apprentice -- to sit at my feet (sometimes literally), to protest loudly that my punishments are too stern, to boast about me to the other apprentices, to (or appear to) carry my heavy things. In point of fact, I can carry my own things, and I can't think of a time when I inflicted a punishment on an apprentice -- but the ability and desire to create the illusion for others is important to me.
2. What do you think is the most useful/effective thing about the Atkins diet -- the low-carb rule, the restricted calories, the discipline it imposes, or something else?
Atkins doesn't restrict calorie intake, but it's often such a pain in the ass to find something that is fast, convenient, and palatable to eat, that I just end up eating less. I am sure the chemical process of ketosis does all of the things that the literature says it does. I am also sure that, except for the first time I tried the Atkins diet, I am never in ketosis. So, for me, it's really the effective reduction of calories.
3. How did you first find out about the SCA? (I know how you actually started in it, but I have no idea how long you'd been aware of it at that point.)
There was an article in TSR's magazine, The Dragon (back when it still had a "The"), complete with photos. Now, I believe the article refered to the SCA as "The Society for Creative Anarchy", but I could be misremembering. I think I still have the issue somewhere.
Because I'm a big geek, I took some time to web surf. It was The Dragon #24.
4. Which do you most enjoy in Commedia: writing scenarii, directing or acting?
It's not the writing. Not that the writing is so bad, but I have other ways to get my writing jollies. These days, I think it's directing. Directing is infinitely more frustrating when it goes wrong, and is a greater test of my patience, communication skills, leadership qualities, and ability to organize. But, when something goes right, I get to take a step back and say "I made this -- and it's good!" and that's very, very satisfying.
5. Which quality do you consider more important personally: compassion or integrity?
I'm going to take "personally" to mean "Which quality do you consider more important in yourself...". I think it's compassion. There are too many reasons and too many situations where the rules need to bend, even the rules one sets up for oneself. I would like to think that if a friend was hurting, even because they did something I considered morally wrong, that I would help them first, and talk to them about their behavior afterwards.
Interesting questions. Thank you.
Interview?
Date: 2003-06-11 10:52 pm (UTC)Re: Interview?
Date: 2003-06-15 03:24 pm (UTC)1. On par, has having the second house been a good thing or a bad thing?
2. What do you think is the best quality of your local SCA branch?
3. What is your favorite aspect of the SCA? Of LARP?
4. What is your least favorite aspect of the SCA? Of LARP?
5. Between your various activities, do you think that your life is too busy, not busy enough, or about right?