[EK] History of a SCAdian... (fwd)

[clevin@ripco.com (Craig Levin)]

Poster: clevin@ripco.com (Craig Levin)

> >Here's a question for the list:
> >
> >How did you first get started in the SCA and how old were you? What made you 
> >stay?  What did you do to develop your personna and why did you choose
> >it/them?

I started about half a dozen years ago, at Bradley University,
which part of the territory of Illiton, in the Midrealm. I was a
sophomore at the time, in the physics program. A friend of mine,
who worked at the radio station, had somehow made contact with
some people in Illiton, and he said that it was really a great
way to spend the weekend. He told me and a few other friends what
we needed to do-find some tunic-like shirts, make a cloak (a
hideous thing which I still have someplace in Chicago), and show
up at Rokkehealdan (Rockford, Ill.) for an event, and we'd see
for ourselves. He was right.

Of course, it sort of helped that I was developing towards the
SCA anyway, and that's why I've stayed, I think. One of the first
hardback books I ever owned was a bowdlerized edition of Le Morte
D'Arthur, and my reading habits haven't changed overmuch-except
that they're not bowdlerized anymore, and aren't always in
English. When my limits as a mathematician were shown up, and I
had to abandon physics as a major, I turned to history, because
I'd gotten good grades in my history courses. Also, I'd been into
fantasy novels and role playing since I was in grade school, and
fencing when I was in high school (though I haven't done it in
some time since).

Being both a SCAdian and an academic mediaevalist has had its
share of ups and downs, but my pursuits in both are linked. I
would as soon give up my mundane mediaeval research as my SCAdian
work, even if they probably will be no more than hobbies while I
work at something else. 

In the SCA, I've found companionship, thousands of people who're
interested in the same things-more or less-as I am, and it's one
of the last outposts in honor in a world which has increasingly
forgotten that the coins of civilization are made from the ore of
honor.

I started my persona, Pedro de Alcazar, almost as soon as I'd
heard about what a persona was. My core interest in physics was
really astronomy, and my family has owned a sailboat for many
years. Someone who was a seafarer, or from a seafaring culture,
was sort of a natural choice. Also, I didn't see myself as a
Northman; just not my thing. Also, I liked the culture of the
Renaissance, and, frankly, I wanted to be something other than
English.

Portuguese seemed to be the right choice-seafaring and late
period. Besides, I'd gotten interested in heraldry, and since
Vikings didn't do heraldry, and the Portuguese explorers did, it
seemed to be natural to make a Portuguese gentleman and explorer.
I haven't looked back from Portugal, really. The more I look at
that country's culture, the more fascinating it gets. I made the
switch from explorer to herald when I got more deeply interested
in heraldry.

Dom Pedro de Alcazar
Barony of Storvik, Atlantia
Pursuivant and Junior Minion
Watch this space for new coat of arms!
-- 
http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~clevin/index.html 
clevin@ripco.com
Craig Levin
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