A&S, I'm doing it all wrong.

[gurdymonkey]

I was coming back from my town run on my first full day at Estrella and I ran into a guy coming out of gate check in. He was wearing a tee shirt that said, "Because I'm the Laurel, that's why." I felt the need to approach and cheerfully inform him that I disagreed with his shirt. (Seriously? Our Society dubs people "experts" and we can't expect a civil and informative answer to a legitimate question?) Our paths were in the same direction and we had quite an amicable discussion in which Master Whoever He Is came to the conclusion that I'm Doing It All Wrong And Will Never Get A Laurel That Way.

So what else is new? I haven't specialized in one thing and Achieved Mastery (TM) of it. (Well, no, I'm a little busy writing poems and hand sewing clothes and doing woodworking with kitchen tools and looking up where the Jesuits established missions in the Far East and oh, I need better lanterns for my pavilion than those crap paper things from Cost Plus and hey, is THAT how the Japanese got muskets and Micah wants to teach folk dances at Coronet so let me see if I can get a copy of Ikema and it's Tuesday so I've got taiko and it's ALL fascinating, you poor, myopic Master Guy.) I'm not Getting My Work Out There by entering every competition from here to Pennsic. (Well, no. I Get My Work Out There on the web, which means I'm actually networking with people who are interested in the same things I am, most of them Not Laurels.) Why Haven't I Apprenticed To A Laurel? (Conversely why hasn't anyone asked me to be theirs?) Because it would not be a good fit, probably. Because I like my independence. Because I'd rather pick more brains than just one.

I can't and won't second guess the thoughts of a body comprised of multiple minds, even though I know I've probably been on and off that microscope slide for years now. Not everyone gets to be a peer. Not everyone needs to be a peer and I'm done worrying about it. Life is short and I have too much to learn.

So now there's this Wreath of Athena thing they're doing at March Crown, which due to imperfect use of the term "invitation"  was misunderstood on the kingdom e-list and there was some wrangling about what it was and who could be in it. It's basically a populace judged A&S contest, no documentation required, open to all artisans who wish to participate. People put their stuff on the table, other people look at said stuff and vote for what they like with beads. The person who gets the most beads gets a wreath to wear for the remainder of the event. You know, the kind of contest where ooh shiny is likely to beat out something not shiny but exquisitely executed.  It's an attempt to try something new and different and that's fine. It's just not my thing.

So, shit stirrer that I am, I just wrote the following to the list: In the name of Omoikane no kami, this artisan invites all and sundry to view her
old, new (and possible in-progress works depending on what the next couple weeks hold) at March Crown and any other event, where said work will be on display in the proper context as articles of use, namely upon her body and in her encampment. Tea, conversation, pretty things. What more could one wish?

I was planning on knocking out a new banner this weekend and doing a new piece of garb for myself in time for Crown anyway.

Comments

[maredudd1066.livejournal.com]

Please keep on "doing it wrong" (I know, you were going to anyway).
I agree, there's just too much stuff out there to concentrate one just one aspect of a culture (or in my case, even just one culture). Fortunately in Drachenwald we have Laurels with broader expertise as well as the highly focused ones. I know of one Laurel elevated for his total persona presentation in all aspects; another who, although officially elevated for his knowledge of dancing, is known as the Laurel of STUFF. My own Master has two doctorates in different aspects of Norse studies, but was elevated for carving (all materials, all periods).
I chose to apprentice to my Master for an understanding of how the Society works at the peerage level and chose to ask him because our personalities "matched".
It is quite possible/likely that I will not be elevated, and that doesn't bother me because then I'd have to attend peerage meetings when I could be doing more "stuff".
I use "the Laurels" as a resource when there is a recognised expert in something I need details of because many Kingdoms usefully list them by expertise, but I still need references WHOEVER tells me things; and I still do my own research as well.
Competitions: I enter if I've got something new and documented at the right time,or if I know who the judges are in advance and want to get written feedback (I made the "Youth's Leather Jerkin" from "Patterns of Fashion" by Janet Arnold, and had it judged by one of the curators of the Museum of London who had handled the original). If people are just going to judge on "Ooh, Shiny!" then they can see things on me or in my camp.
Laurel-level is such an obscure concept, that means something different to each individual, that elevation is often a matter of luck rather than expertise - your work happens to have agreed, in different facets, with the opinions of many individuals who all have slightly different ideas as to what is meant by "Laurel" and, more importantly, that has to happen just as they are voting on your name (Oh, and then the Royalty have to agree).
To MY view, whatever your professed area of expertise is, the only way to create work that meets MY standard is to so surround your brain with every aspect of the culture you are working within that three hundred years from now, scholars should have difficulty in telling your work from an original. (I've come sort of close, once.) In the meantime we do what we do because WE like it.
How depressing to base all ones leisure around trying to get a "badge" that may never happen.
Keep on having fun YOUR way and remember that not even Laurels are immune to the smackity fan.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

The part that really baffles me is the implication that in his world the goal should be the leaves. I much prefer the goal to be learning cool stuff and making wonderful things. I think you are meeting my goal on a regular basis. He can keep his...

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

...the kind of contest where ooh shiny is likely to beat out something not shiny but exquisitely executed.

That's what I hated about the Polyphonic Challenge, back in the day; little things like (frex) wondering why the judges thought that our piece, in unbarred notation with complex fifteenth-century rhythms was voted lower in complexity than the group that did a double-choir piece (Choir A: OOM-pa-pah! [rest] Choir B: OOM-pa-pah! [rest]; etc. ad nauseam). The judging on other groups' entries used to give me pause, too (lest you think it was sour grapes on my part :->); it bugged me to see a sensitively-rendered religious motet lose out to an extroverted madrigal performed by a quintet in flashy Elizabethan clothing, or a warhorse dance setting played by people in heraldic livery.* Apples/Oranges.
________________________________________
*Yes, presentation/ambience is important, but the music is the raison d'etre--or should be :-/

P.S.

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

He was wearing a tee shirt that said, "Because I'm the Laurel, that's why."

_

Tonstant Weader Fwowed Up :-P

Seriously? $#!+ like this is why I don't wear regalia most of the time; I would hate to be mistaken for That Guy :-/

[danabren.livejournal.com]

I have that shirt, but it makes me uncomfortable to wear it.

And shame on Nameless Dude for not introducing himself, and for saying that you're doin' in wrong. Bugger that. The SCA should have more people doin' it like you - for the love of study, rather than cookie-hunting.

Anyway, I'd scoop you up as my apprentice in a nano-second if I didn't have the worst luck with apprenta on the planet. So nyah :)

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

We did actually exchange introductions and had a delightful chat. I do hope I left him with his mind opened - or at least ready for a shibori dye job. (i.e., in knots).

[danabren.livejournal.com]

My error, I misread.

I'd still scoop you up, industrial equipment be damned!

[duchessletitia.livejournal.com]

I have a button that says "Because I am a Duchess, thats why". However you will notice I never wear it. It reminds me that I need to make sure my head does not balloon. :-)

You are not doing things wrong. there is not wrong.

Speaking as an intermittently competitive person 8)

[minstrlmummr.livejournal.com]

Interesting that Master Whoever took for granted that you and others would have the same goals as himself. I wonder if he makes the same assumptions about his nine-to-five fellow-travellers outside the SCA.

AFAIK, the last local artisan who was Laurelled was not, in fact, a product of apprenticeship (although he had chosen to compete in the past). Lack of a single visible mentor isn't a deal-breaker for any of the Laurels I know.

I did set a personal goal of an off-book performing repertoire of a certain length with a long-term deadline of next year's Bardic Champs (intermittent deadline Pennsic), but the prize I'm chasing this time is "three performances I can be proud of, of pieces I can perform without having to think about it." I'm chasing a thing I want to BE, not so much a thing someone else may or may not give me.

If he knew, Master Whoever would be so disappointed, I'm sure 8)

One of these years I swear I am GOING to go to Estrella, and when I do I look forward to seeing the House of Cheerful Monkeys...

[xrian.livejournal.com]

Most of the artisans I truly admire are well-grounded in several arts even if they choose to focus on one or two. I think the better of them for it.

Despite the sense of pressure felt by some, I don't think competitions are mandatory for anyone -- what is far more important is that they are Making (or Doing) Cool Stuff and letting it be seen, however they do that. I think I've entered maybe three or four competitions in 15 years.

[cayswann.livejournal.com]

I adore you. Have I mentioned that lately?

I like to say in my spinning classes, "The only wrong way to spin is to quit. You don't have to spin, but quitting is the wrong way to spin. If you want to spin, spin. Not everyone needs to spin. Spin or not. It's okay. But if you're spinning, you're doing spinning right."

I've never wanted to "do the competitions rounds" because I'm too busy enjoying life and the pursuit of cool things.

[marymont.livejournal.com]

I was given the Tshirt in question. I don't agree with the sentiment, and almost always only wear it when I'm working with one of my Apprenti. I do not take Apprenti who do not have a healthy sense of humor, so I know they understand that it isn't as dismissive as it sounds. I also wear it to Laurel Council meetings, where everyone there has a Laurel!

I do recognize that it could be misinterpreted, which is why I don't wear it very often in other situations.

[ladiesbane.livejournal.com]

When we met, in an SCA context, I assumed that you were a Laurel, for your peer-like qualities as well as your presentation, and was really taken aback when I was told otherwise. Then I wondered (given the Eurocentricity of my beloved new kingdom) who might be qualified to judge your sources or work. More than one person has told me, in no uncertain terms, that no Japanese visited Europe prior to 1600, and declined to accept proof to the contrary. Eventually I figured it would be more surprising if you HAD been elevated. I'm glad to hear it doesn't worry you, but jeez.