2003-07-03 - 1:25 p.m.

**Entry 2 for today**

Wow. BdB asks thought-provoking questions.

1. You are a member of the Board of Directors of the SCA, Inc. The BOD has many vocal detractors that criticize it. What is the part of the BOD that most Scadians don't see? What are it's merits in your mind?

I don't think most SCA participants realize how much work is involved in being on the Board, or operating at the Corporate level. Most participants seem content to carry on doing SCA things until the Board has an impact on their part of the game/world. But with 25,000 members in seventeen kingdoms and over twenty countries, something is happening in *someone's* corner of the world all the time, so we hear about it. Even in my tenure on the Board (three and a half years, ish) I've seen a large increase in the number of banishments (for all three of the usual reasons - perverts, thieves and sword-wavers, plus some new ones!) and crap that goes on. If each kingdom banishes one person a year, that's slightly more than four banishments to be discussed, investigated, reviewed, etc. per meeting.

Plus there's the day to day administrivia of selecting officers, selecting new Board members, approving budgets, approving official manuals, making changes to the governing documents, going over petitions from groups (for status changes, etc.) At most meetings we meet with the local royalty and/or kingdom seneschals, plus anyone who may be involved in an issue we're discussing.

In addition, meetings are long and tiring. We customarily arrive at whatever scenic location on a Thursday evening, chat a little and have a drink (on our own tab, of course), then retire. Meetings are from 8:30am until whenever on Friday (frequently 1am), including working through lunch and sometimes through dinner (or with a brief break for whatever culinary wonders we can acquire at the hotel). Then we get up in the morning and put on suits to face the public from 9am until whenever we finish, followed usually by a party or postrevel of some sort. Then Sunday we fly home. And contrary to at least one person's perception, no, we do not get paid for it!

So I think people don't realize how much work it is, and how little fun it is.

As far as merits, they're arguable. A lot of the stuff we handle are "someone has to do it" sorts of tasks, and we're a logical "someone". I think in some ways we serve a purpose as a straw man for everyone's anger & frustration at how the organization runs or doesn't run (although this makes serving on the Board painful - I haven't been the object of this much venom in several years...). Sometimes we make good decisions about things (we always *try* to - it doesn't always work!) and it's useful to have an oversight group made up of people from different kingdoms, who bring different perspectives to the table.

2. Name your five favorite beers, oh Peer of Beer!

Eek. That's a hard one because it's so situational. I'm just back from Belgium, so I'm still kinda jonesing for Kriek (Belgian cherry lambic). Certainly high on my list is Deuchar's IPA, from the Caledonian Brewery in Ediburgh. For Pennsic, nothing beats really cold pilsner or lager, such as Stoney's (Official Beer of the Pennsic War!). For sheer drinking pleasure, probably Red Hook IPA or Wild Goose IPA.

3. What is the biggest challenge you face in being married to an Englishman?

The fact that no matter where we live, half our friends and family are an ocean away.

4. You've dealt with serious burn-out, all the while still being a very active member of the SCA. Since burnt-out is so prevelent, what advice can you offer to your fellow SCAdians about how to deal with it?

Don't be afraid to step back. (I just gave that to a certain German this week!) If it's not fun, don't do it - find new and different ways to participate (new art, new service, new martial arena, new groups of peeps to hang with) or take some time off. Try not to let the SCA award structure (and its inherent flaws) get to you. The inequities of the award structure, and the fact that in essence awards are given by a guy with a big stick, are the parts that have come closest to spoiling the SCA for me. (Thanks, Anton.)

And a side caveat on this one: try not to let the fact that you're having a bad time of it spoil it for other people. I really failed on this one (and to those people whose parades I rained on, I'm deeply sorry. Mea culpa.)

5. You have walked many paths in life. Name three not taken. (I.E. Life or job choices that you did not make)

There are so many to choose from, so I'll give you more than three. I didn't attend high school, really. I didn't study in college so I didn't fulfill my potential in that regard. I didn't move away from DC when I thought I would. I didn't stick with fighting when I first started (or any of the times since then....) I dabbled in arts but didn't pursue them. I didn't make a harder push to stay in England. There are so many things in this area - relationships I didn't pursue or didn't pursue hard enough (or didn't get out of when I should have!); schooling; jobs; living arrangements; finances; hobbies; avocations; friendships I wish I'd pursued, or hadn't spoiled. Oh, so many paths untrodden....

Thanks, B. Very much to think about.

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