#scadians

I lost my furbaby, Tipitiwitchit, last August. She was almost 18 and had been in my life for over 17 years. She is my heart and soul, and I still desperately miss her. She was loved by a LOT of people, so I actually have several pieces of art that friends and family have given me of her through those many long years.

I'm moving in August and I plan to put together a gallery wall where I'll include in the display some of the framed pieces that I have of Tipi. In addition, I've commissioned a VERY talented scribe to write the Gaston de Foix quote, “the moost defaute of houndes is that thei lyven not longe inowe,” to include with it.

Hey y’all. it’s been awhile. You look great! <3 I want to talk about libraries and interlibrary loan. So first off, libraries are still crazy-relevant, even if you live in a small town and have weird research interests.

Why?

Because of Inter-Library Loan. So when I think about ILL, I imagine covert library agents, usually wearing super nifty spy-gear, comparing legers and exchanging notes in seedy underbelly places. It’s very noir. In reality, it’s run by computer systems like WorldShare and iLLiad that link up the catalogs of various libraries so you can easily tell who has what and ask if they will pretty-please-with-sugar let you borrow it for one of your patrons. From the patron side, this is what you do: 1.Fill out a little form (usually online, but sometimes still paper) telling the librarian what you want to borrow.  PRO-TIP: Double and Triple check that your library definitely does not have this item. Also, if the item is less than a year old, considered a textbook, or is a ebook, most libraries won’t/can’t lend it. Also, make sure it’s available from libraries near you - or at least libraries in your same country. Worldcat is GREAT for this. So do your homework before you fill out the form. PRO-TIP #2: Include AS MUCH INFORMATION AS YOU CAN. Publication date. Place of publication. ISBN. OCLC number (which you can find on Worldcat). The more information you provide, the easier it will be for the librarian to find what you’re looking for. 2. Give the form to the librarian. 3. Wait. 4. Receive book. 5. Read book. (If needed, ask the librarian to request a renewal at least a week out from the due date.) 6. Return book on time.

From the librarian side, this is what it usually looks like:

Here’s a fun and developing story that may seemingly have nothing to do with the SCA, but trust me... it does.

I get to work this morning and see on my Facebook feed that our Sheriff’s Animal Services Unit has a parakeet up for adoption for $3, but you have to bring your own carrier. I look at this bird and think, “My Mom has said several times now that she would like to get a parakeet for Puddin.”

Puddin is my Mom’s elderly conure who was enchanted by my friend’s parakeets during our evacuation with Hurricane Florence. He loved to watch them and talk to them and just enjoyed their antics. Not to mention Mom has always loved parakeets. So I said to myself, “I would love to get her, but she will probably be gone before I get off work and can get across town to pick her up. Also, I am high-risk for this whole pandemic thing and I really shouldn’t be going out in public for that amount of time.”

And then I think... what are the odds someone would be willing to do it for me? Can’t hurt to ask. So I do. I post on my Facebook page asking if anyone would be willing to go get this bird for me. Four people respond to the post, and two people message me directly within 15 minutes. All of them Scadians. What do they need to do to get this bird for me?

That’s when it occurs to me. Scadians LOVE a good crusade. I don’t mean the noun, I mean the verb. “lead or take part in an energetic and organized campaign concerning a social, political, or religious issue.“ In this case: the social issue of my needing to adopt this bird for my mommy.

At this moment, one of my (literal - he’s a white belt AND white scarf) Knights in Shining Armor are on their way with a box with some holes in it to try and adopt this bird for me. By the time he gets her (if he does) and she gets to me, I will have a cage all ready for her to chill with my cockatiels until she can get to her forever home at my Mom’s house, two hours away.

The number of times I have had an odd request or a great need and made a inquiry, the first people to step up have always been Scadians. I’m not saying other people in my life haven’t been there for me and offered assistance, because they have. I have been super incredibly blessed with an amazing support system. But it’s reassuring to me to know that my Chosen Family is there for me as much as anyone else. I chose right.

Despite that fact, I have thoughts and opinions that I’d rather not have taking up real estate in my brain. So, yet another GNEW in the books…and holy hell I’m pissed off. If I have the opportunity to run the fencing again next year…I’m sorely tempted to not have any fencing happen. You wanna do some fencing at the war? Tough…should’ve done better last year. Your behavior was appalling. Nobody seems to want to take responsibility for the culture that they’ve created…and I’m exceedingly tired of participating in this nonsense.