Last night pzoet and I chatted on the phone for about an hour about Children's programming at ECT (and other stuff). We came up with the idea of some sort of parent group. Not only will parents be able to bounce ideas off of each other but it would probably be a good forum for ECT organizers to join so they can keep current with ideas.

I suspect that it will be quiet for awhile but pick up pace closer and closer to full ECT planning time. The membership is open to anyone. Just another yahoo group for you to stick on your list.

Post message: ect_parent_group@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: ect_parent_group-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ect_parent_group/

Looking forward to working with all of you. I will send an invite to those I know don't log on to LJ very often. :)

Wow. What a fabulous ECT. It's just what we needed. Things have been really tough lately and this little pick-me-up did the trick. It was so good to see everyone.

I don't think I've laughed so hard in months.

My personal highlights:

Swing Lo' Sweet Chariot has now ruined Little House on the Praire for me FO-EVAH.

Ingmar: "Does it look like I'm from around here?"

Lederhosen

Hauk giving his credit card directly to Jon when Christine was put on the auction block.

The Viking Games boat race was just incredible. While everyone did technically go in this year, from the instant replay and stills it appears that Vingolf came in dead last.

Maddie gifted Jon with a glow ring and he named her Maddie the Generous. I was told that when a Skald names you it lasts for life. Thanks Jon. :)

The fact that on the first night, Larry of all people had to walk my husband back to the tent.

A woman taking both Viking of the Year and, more importantly, The Egil Award.

My husband's archery group. Wow. I felt really good with regard to my performance. Had there been a mens and womans section, I believe Team Fink would have taken both...Just as team Golden rocked the Mead Competition.

Greg, Jesse, and Ben firespinning

The year of the Asajew. The highlight being when the Scales and Tales lady told me her office told her were were a religious Jewish group.

Josh. Just....Josh. What a darling no matter how much he hates hearing it.

Being able to see the early stages of The Muppet as opposed to seeing the end stages (Ewwww.)

OK, OK, pictures. Click on "slideshow" in the upper right corner and make sure to click in the center of the first picture for captions.

http://flickr.com/photos/12225740@N03/sets/72157606934681759/

And....video. Both are a minute long...

Relaxing right now. Doing laundry. Scrubbing off 3 pounds of dirt. Watching The Two Towers cuz it's on.

I thought I took about 150 pictures. I was pretty off.

I took 220 and 2 videos.

Please stand by. This is gonna take a while...

Is it really only about eight days until ECT?

Seriously...EIGHT?

Damn. I better get to work. I kind of dropped the ball on this one.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho...and all that jazz.

So I've finally gotten the hang of making votive and small "jelly jar" beeswax candles. It's not as messy as I thought it would be and I'm learning the tips and tricks to reduce wax shrinkage.

My house smells soooooooooo good. We're going to have a very nice supply of beeswax candles for sale. Greg has a little more honey to bottle and hopefully we'll have another harvest before ECT. If not we'll probably have a harvest before the Fall Frolic.

In gardening news I have tons of tomatoes waiting to ripen, I've got three good sized cukes, I harvested a few string beans and the corn has sprouted that hair crap from the top.


Nothing else spectacular going on.

Hi everyone! I'm going to post the picture for my winning entry to the art contest at The 2007 East Coast Thing. For those who are unfamiliar, each year there is a theme. This year's theme was "Gods in the Modern Age." The art could be in any medium and I was proud to have my piece judged with other fantastic projects and ideas. There were three drawn images of gods represented today, as well as "Frigga's Dayplanner" and a beautifully carved gourd.

Before the cut, I'd like to thank every person who posed for pictures. I wanted the people involved to be outside the Heathen community so that the pictures were viewed as "Idunna" instead of so and so from this kindred. Some of you know a few of the models, but for the most part, I hope they were anonymous. These people, who are my friends and family, were great sports. They let me pose them, bring props, and dressed the way I asked. Special thanks to my beautiful daughter Meghan who suffered through, "Meghan...It's finally snowing! Get my coat and my bow. NOW!!! I need a Skadhi picture!!" Many of the models weren't Pagan or Heathen but were both excited to be a part of this project as well as excited to represent another person's gods. I spent a lot of time reading and re-reading lore and other people's UPG to try and come up with an idea for each god. Some gods were easy and some were very, very hard. I thank people like slate1198 for telling me her thoughts on the gods that are close to her. I hope no one was/is offended by my representations. Of course there is some humor, but it was done with the best of intentions and as a high compliment to the gods. Beware...there are 23 images so it might take a moment to load.

Here are the models:

Thor: Justin Ball Eir: Jennifer Snyder Odin: Matt Vassallo Bragi: Sean Mabus Volund: Solomon Matisoff Loki: John Jerant Frigga: Kathy Vassallo Hod: River Vassallo Freyja: Melanie Carl Frey: Keith Noll Gerd: Michelle Noll Fjolnir: Jaeden Noll Hel: Meghan Fink Skadhi: Meghan Fink Jord: Julie Berry Sif: Elizabeth Evans Idunna: Elizabeth Evans Nanna: Karson McReadie Tyr: Ron Baker Sunna: Mary Minnich Baldr: Zac McReadie Saga: Carrie Virmalo Forseti: Tim Evans Aegir: Jim Mosser Ran: Unknown Njord: Unknown sailor on Lake Nockamixon

( Art Contest )

What a wonderful event. All hail Vingolf for a spectacular time! It was definately hot and humid this weekend, but it didn't detract from the fun and spirituality of the event. I enjoyed helping Greg run the archery and was satisfied to know that the three people I taught to shoot (who had never picked up a bow in their lives) were able to hit the target on their first series. I decided to step out of the competition because I had an pretty big advantage with my equipment and experience. I thought it would be more fair.

The Thor blot was quite incredible. The heat of the weekend was broken just before the event as it began to drizzle. It's really hard to believe there was a coincidence when the thunderstorm began just as we invited Thor to his party. thunderer's offering was (I believe) accepted quite emphatically with a large rumble of thunder as he layed it into the chest. Then shortly after, man_of_thor's offering was accepted with the sky being lit up with lightning. Beautiful. The blot itself was silent. One by one people walked up to the chest, held their offering up to Thor, and layed it within the chest while the rain gently fell on everyone. I was trying to describe my thoughts and it wasn't really clear, but I'll try to clarify here. It was dark and we could only see faces in the flicker of the light from the fire. There were only one or two umbrellas (over a few of the really little children). Most people stood in the rain unshielded or with blankets or hood over thier heads. As people walked up to put in their offerings, there was almost a feeling that we were acting exactly as our ancestor's did. It was if time had been forgotten. I have been to a lot of rituals in my life and this was one of the most extraordinary experiences I've ever had.

The children's crafts were a hit. Kudos to pzoet for her scultptey hammer idea!
That was the best. idea. ever. We were pretty organized and clean up was great. The animal masks were adorable as well. I had a blast helping Maddie make a macaroni penguin mask. Cats, snakes, and other animals but only my kid would insist on not just a penguin, but a macaroni penguin... It was great being the Mead Competition "gopher" cuz I was able to "unofficially" sip the entries. hehe The staff was fantastic, of course, and I had a great time talking to some of the ladies. They really enjoyed the gift basket I made and gave them the last day. The Heathen Hold'Em tournament was a fan-fucking-tastic idea even though I sucked badly and was the second out. I need to re-read a couple of sections on "tournament stategy." ::sigh:: I'll do better next year. Oh, and I won the art contest! YAY! My next post today will be a copy of the photos so those who weren't able to come will get to see. My only regret was missing the Hidey Hidey Ho. Oh well. I heard bits and pieces of verses (what could be reconstructed the next morning through hangover fog...hehe) and it sounded like you folks had a blast.

Alrighty...picture time! Since this program is so highly endorsed by man_of_thor (and the fact that there were about 70 pictures), I used flickr this time. Click on the tiny URL below and behold the ECT goodness!

http://tinyurl.com/2qf7y3

Want? Take! Have! No credit needed.

This simply expresses my life right at this moment. LOL

Saturday was a good day. autumnleaf77 and thunderer came over for the day with the kiddies. The men worked on a project for ECT and the mommies and kiddies played all day. E and Mads did a fantastic job for how long the day was. They are toddlers so they have their good days and their bad days. A strategically timed nap for Mads helped to give them a little down time. After a pizza dinner and excellent company the visit ended. We watched Beowulf and Grendel from a DVD. I love Gerard Butler (how sexy is that voice???) and thought the production was fair(adapted a little freely from the original story if I remember my 10th grade literature class...). I thought the chick who spoke with a perfect American accent sort of detracted from the overall atmosphere of the movie, but it was still fun to watch and very entertaining.

I started the Spring semester yesterday. I'm taking a literature course and a comparative religion course (which I am sooooo excited about). The Comp Religion course is an honors compressed so it doesn't start until mid February. I checked the prof out and she only requires one essay a week (on the subject matter) and a short quiz a week to make sure everyone is doing the reading. My understanding is that there is no final exam in a traditional sense, as she counts the last weeks quicky essay for that score. Most excellent.

The lit class is a little more intensive which is why I'm glad I have a late start with the other one. I can focus all my time to getting waaaaaaaaay ahead on quizes and reading so I can devote time to the religion class and the papers. The lit prof leaves all quizzes and journal entries open so I could literally do the majority of the course work in a few weeks (which I intend on doing). I read the required novel already because when I got it two weeks ago it looked cool.

I have to say that this prof seems to have a morbid streak...not that I mind, of course. The novel is called The Lovely Bones and its about (for the most part) a teenager who gets raped and murdered. She's chosen short stories that include The Lottery (a favorite of mine), works by Poe, a story of a girl who had her wooden leg stolen by a con man, and a teenager that gets lured away from home by a serial killer. This is going to be an interesting semester. Those were only the first four required stories. Wow.

Well, that's it for now. I have some reading to do...not that I mind, of course. Next semester there is an awesome class called Advanced Composition that I'm dying to take. It teaches writers to use a variety of styles for non-fiction work. Just my style. :D

For the better part of the whole ECT weekend, my camera went MIA. It was later found under a bunch of wet clothes that I didn't want to touch until I packed, which is why I never looked for the camera there. However, before it was lost, I managed to snap a few pictures. Now please beware...if there is any residual nausea in your system left over from heavy drinking, these images might irritate it. Additionally, they are so sweet that your teeth might hurt.

( Tooth Hurting Cuteness )

We're back safe and sound. The house is repaired from the unpacking mess. The laundry is waiting for me tomorrow morning cuz it has to be done and repacked by Wednesday for the next trip. AHHHHHH!!! Stuffed ourselves on Chinese takeout cuz who wants to cook?

greenmanrn and I really want to thank everyone for the totally \m/ weekend. I know greenmanrn is completely modest so don't mind if I puff for him. He won the mead competition, the ax throw and the archery competition and had they done the overall winner, it would have been him. He was so proud of himself (as he should be!). All for the glory of Vingolf! OK, and it's REALLY cool to be the UberViking of the year! Just so people know, we didn't know flying_draugr very well last year and after winning the overall, we commented to each other that he WAS the most UberViking we had ever met (and had we met him this year he would have been the most \m/ viking). I think greenmanrn feels honored to be counted among people like fuzzy1313, flying_draugr, and thunderer. We're both excited and willing to help next years ECT in any way we can be useful. Willing slaves are usually always preferable to unwilling slaves.

Alright. Mush over.

We really missed Sarah Skull-Splitter! I hope her move is going well.

I'm totally jazzed to have made new friends and to have gotten a little closer to others we've been getting to know over the last year.

(EDIT) I just wanted to thank whoever it was for designating me Valkyrie of the Pretzels during Midnight Drunken Kubb. I was honored and hope I executed my office with dignity and efficiency. OK, OK. I'm just glad I didn't drop the damned pretzels in the dark.

Being in PA, I thought I'd post the Pocono weather forcast for those who might be interested.

Thursday: 73 High. Mostly Sunny. Low 55
Friday: 73 High. Mostly sunny. Low 57
Saturday 75 High. Mostly sunny. Low 60
Sunday 81 High. Mostly sunny. Low 61

Looks like the Gods are smiling on ECT this year! Low humidity and practically no chance of rain.