Weekend recap.

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Colorado is a very long way away.

While this is usually not a problem, as I don't mind long road trips, one does have to drive the length of Nebraska to get there. I-80 through Nebraska is about 20 miles or so (maybe 30) longer than I-90 through South Dakota, and it is BORING. And DULL. And it's ALL THE SAME. At least SD is different sorts of dull, depending on where you are. To quote an email I wrote on Friday:

"Colorado is a very long way away. 16 hours. Kind of like the drive to Pennsic, but with bigger mountains and you don't have to go through Ohio. But you do have to go through Nebraska, which is much longer than Ohio and at least as dull if not more so. Except that Nebraska appears to have haystacks. Not, I know, a major reason to recommend it except that they're kinda cool looking on a "Hey, are those *haystacks*?" sort of level. Which in itself should tell you rather a lot about the whole Nebraska experience."

The bits of Wyoming that we drove through did not look overly much like the bits of Wyoming we invaded. This in itself is cool, because it potentially means that if one has to drive vertically through Wyoming that one might get to see Different Sorts Of Terrain. Which is Extremely Unlike driving through Nebraska.

I won't say I will never again complain about driving through Ohio, because, well, it's Ohio. But I won't complain as much about central west Minnesota. North Dakota, OTOH, is worse than Nebraska. And there are no haystacks.

In the car (both directions) I: braided a silk cord, pearled the bottom hem of E's dark blue gown, sewed the side seams and sleeves for the yellow smock. I talked fabric and garb with Ari. I did not work on my homework, because I did not want to throw up.

Friday there was hanging out, then there was Dalmore 12, then there was bed.

Saturday I went to scribal classes and learned how to draw leaves. It helps when the carpet in the conference center is an acanthus pattern... *g* I learned about "Celtic Calligraphy" in the Book of Kells, and did not correct the teacher even once. But I did get to show off by being the only one in the class who could read Latin. *grins* I also went to the knotwork class, and this time the heavens opened and the angels sang and it made sense.

In the leaf class I sat next to a lovely woman named Mirianna, whose contact information I must give to the WS because she was doing some phenomenal gold and pearl work that is going to be the frontpiece of a German. The leaf class was cool (it also helps when the instructor is a professional trainer and has some idea of how to teach). There was art. There was giggling. Lots of giggling. But now I know how to draw acanthus leaves, which is rather more than what I started the class with. I still suck at drawing leaves that aren't teardrop-shaped, but now I have technique with which to suck at drawing non-teardrop-shaped leaves.

In the calligraphy class I learned that the hand I (and pretty much everybody else who studies calligraphy or paleography) had thought was called insular half-uncial (or, in some cases, insular round) was actually insular minuscule. And it's pronounced minuscule, not minuscule. Which left me wondering what the heck the hand I (and pretty much everybody else) thought was insular minuscule was actually called, and additionally how it was pronounced. But I was Exceedingly Well-Behaved and did not ask this question of the teacher, but only cringed quietly to myself. Nor did I utter a single peep when she explained that two letters together is called a diphthong*. Or ask, given her definition of diphthong, what a ligature** was.

*Technically, sorta kinda this is one of the definitions of diphthong, if you argue that one of the definitions of diphthong is digraph, which has as one of its definitions "a group of two successive letters". However, it more commonly refers to a pair of letters that make one unified sound, like ch for instance. Which is also the more common meaning of digraph.

**A ligature is a written character consisting of two or more characters written together, which may or may not make a separate sound. A/S minuscule is full of ligatures, making it an incredibly graceful but somewhatly difficult to read script. And yes, I know "somewhatly" is not actually a dictionary word, but it sounded cool.

The knotwork class was exceedingly nifty. You draw dots. Then you draw lines. And hey presto! you have knotwork. So now I have no excuse for doing any of the Carolingian/Ottonian styles that involve knotwork. Knotwork makes things spiffy. Gold makes things spiffy. Gold knotwork will make things more than doubly spiffy.

After the knotwork class there was a nap. Then there was feast. Then there was beer and cookie. And ice cream. And then there was dancing, briefly. Then there was hanging out and Glenmorangie 10. Lots and lots of it, after which there was actual sleep. I have now figured out the key to a good night's sleep. I'm not sure if the beer and cookie are required, but the whiskey certainly is. So it's not necessarily a *good* key. If nothing else, it would get progressively more expensive as my alcohol tolerance went up. And it wouldn't do my liver much good, either.

Then, sleeping in, homework, driving to Sioux Falls and discovering an exceedingly cool (and extremely electric thunderstorm had beat us there. Leaving at 10 the next morning, home at 2. Whiny cat. More homework. Pizza. More homework. Sleep.

Nebraska is just as dull in the other direction.