[Nfb-krafters-korner] (no subject)

Mon Jul 26 22:03:38 UTC 2010

Sorry about that; I suppose "SCA" might seem vague to someone who
hasn't come across the term before.  SCA stands for Society for
Creative Anacronism, and the group is a living historf/historical
reenactment group that recreates aspects of a time period ranging from
600 A.D. to 1600 A.D.  The reason crafts are relevant is that many
members of the SCA, myself included, engage in a variety of crafts
ranging from textiles to leather to metal, you name it.  And they also
do have fencing.  '-)

Hope this clears things up a bit,
Terrence

On 7/26/10, Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) [E] <Terry.Powers at nih.gov> wrote:
> Can one of you explain what a sca is, please.  Is this a religious group,
> craft group, a group that holds a craft fair, I have no idea?  What does
> crafts have to do with fencing. I thought fencing was a sport?
>
> Terry Powers
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jewel S. [mailto:herekittykat2 at gmail.com]
> Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2010 11:26 AM
> To: List for blind crafters and artists
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] (no subject)
>
> I'll kinda stick my big nose in here. I was a member of the SCA for 5 years.
> I have been considering if I would be capable of returning to the group.
> After I lost my vision, I found it very hard to participate, as very few
> people were willing to show me around and even if I learned the layout of a
> site, it'd be different the next time based on tent set-up. The only site I
> can count on being fairly similar every year is Pennsic, but...that's at the
> same time of year as the National Convention, which I plan on attending next
> year. Can't do both...way too costly. I have considered doing an
> every-other-year schedule between the two.
>
> When I was in the SCA, though, I was an illuminator. A pretty good one, if I
> do say so myself, and my Award of Arms and other awards given because of my
> work as a scribe agree with my assessment of my talent. After the injury
> that took my site, I was lost...scribing was my whole life in the SCA! Most
> of my Scadian friends are scribes, and I spent most of my time at events
> working on scrolls, seeing that scrolls were ready for court, doing
> last-minute scrolls, or displaying my work in competitions.
>
> Now, I know there are other crafts I could do in the SCA, like
> basketweaving, garb-making, woodcarving, and even embroidery (though it
> wouldn't be the same for me, who did freehand embroidery based on how I
> thought it would best represent fur, feathers, clothing, etc)...but it is
> hard for me to imagine the SCA without scribing.
>
> >From my experience, the SCA is a hard place for a blind person to fit
> in. Most of the attendees are not disabled, though there are some people
> using motorized scooters. I have not seen a single blind person in the SCA
> in the five years I participated. The layout of sites is absolutely a
> nightmare for the blind person. Tents are placed according to size and
> space, not in any special layout, except for the vendors, ropes and stakes
> are sticking out everywhere with only an orange tie to warn peple, and
> travel to activities may be across a field, a field and a road, through the
> woods, or any combination of landscape.
>
> If my health improved, I would love to return to fencing (I gave it up after
> trying because of chronic pain and fatigue), but the problem with a blind
> SCA fencer is that the combat area is rarely flat, often has holes that
> fighters can twist ankles or fall over, and fencing is done in a 3-D
> fashion, not the back-and-forth of Olympic fighting.
> When I tried it before, I found I couldn't really wear my glasses under the
> fencing mask, so I was very impaired in my vision before, but I also often
> fell over holes in the ground, rocks, and lost sight of my opponent, who may
> have retreated quite a distance.
>
> Now, I'm not saying the SCA can't become a place that blind participants
> would be welcome. I am only saying that it will be a difficult road for
> anyone trying it now. They have silent heralds (deaf interpreters) who are
> rarely used in Atlantia (the kingdom I live in), but I have yet to see any
> accommodations for blind participants. Some of the indoor sites (like
> schools for University) did not even have Braille to mark the doors and I
> was scolded for standing at the schedule book for too long (I was using my
> handheld CCTV to copy my schedule, given to me in small-type print, onto
> another paper with a 20/20 pen since, at the time, I had enough vision to
> see that).
>
> That is just my experience with the SCA. I would love to hear about your
> experience, Terrence, and anyone else who has tried the SCA.
>
> ~Jewel
>
> On 7/24/10, Marianne Denning <mdenning at cinci.rr.com> wrote:
>> Terrence, what is your role in SCA?  I have been interested in SCA for
>> many years but have never pursued it.
>>
>> Marianne Denning
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Terrence van Ettinger" <terrencevane at gmail.com>
>> To: <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 10:50 AM
>> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] (no subject)
>>
>>
>>> Hello, all,
>>> Just thought I'd go ahead and give you all a bit of an intro, having
>>> just come on board last night.  I do a couple different crafts,
>>> mostly things I've taken up in the SCA over the past 3 years, some of
>>> which I practice fairly regularly, others I sort of dabble in.  My 2
>>> most frequent craft types are kumihimo braiding and lucet, though I
>>> am trying to pick up inkle
>>>
>>> weaving more consistently.  I also have a coiled basket that I've
>>> been working on sporadically for some time now, and occasionally do a
>>> bit of leather work.  I think I've leaned toward the cord-making
>>> methods so much because of their portability.  For a while, I was a
>>> woodturner, before I moved to take my current job, but that didn't
>>> work out for a number of reasons.  I have also dabbled a bit in Origami,
>>> but it's been a while.
>>> It's something I mean to pick up again at some point though and learn
>>> a few more designs.  I'm looking forward to hearing from everyone and
>>> perhaps picking up some new ideas.  And if anyone has questions about
>>> anything I've mentioned, I'll be more than happy to explain/answer
>>> anything.
>>>
>>> Terrence
>>>
>>> Twitter: www.twitter.com/terrencevane Kingdoms Live Code: bgc5a6
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>>
>>
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>
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