Hi everyone,
First off, I'd like to congratulate donnas for winning a signed copy of Beyond the Shadows. Go ahead and email me through my website with your address and I'll send you a copy.
I spent the day at my RWA meeting for the month. It was one of those times I really should have brought my camera. We had a couple of guys at the meeting who brought in a slew of weaponry and uniforms recreated from time periods ranging from the Jacobite revolution to the Revolutionary war. It was awesome.
Now it is going to set me on a whole new line of historical research, because I know at some point I'm going to have to use something from this in a novel. It was just too cool.
It never ceases to amaze me the wealth of very specific knowledge that people I know possess. While everyone here at the blog knows that I have a little thing for butterflies, not as many people know that I spent three years working for a bird-of-prey rehabilitation center fixing up injured hawks, vultures, and owls. I learned the ins and outs of basic falconry, and that knowledge has proven strangely useful from time to time, especially when I have to tie a random knot with one hand.
In my exploration of the world, I've learned about how to make beer, the best way to skin a mouse, (you don't want to know), and how to put on an authentic kilt where the pleats aren't sewn into the fabric. That last one is a bit of an ordeal, by the way.
So, now I'm curious. What strange things are you an expert on?
I think the day I stop being curious about the world will be the day I stop breathing.
How about you? What would you like to know more about?
Happy reading,
Jess
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Sounds like an interesting meeting.
I know how to make armor, candles, wine, and amaretto...go SCA. I know how to best feed a screech owl. I also know how to build 1/2 ton electro magnets. College was a really diverse learning experience.
Well Jess, It sounds like you have some cool experiences. I love meetings like the one you attended. Expert shows in anything historic are so intriguing. At one time I would attend Ren faires and dress the part. That's why some of my writing has a medieval influence.
I love going to Ren faires. I haven't been in years since the kids are so little. One day I'm hoping to have enough toss around cash that I can outfit my hubby and we can have some fun with that again.
Hmmm... I know how to bind books. I'm pretty good at mending them, too. I'm trained in library science in general, but book mending and book binding aren't common skills among librarians. {Smile}
I've done some fancy braiding, including some of the kumihimo style from Japan. {Smile}
I sew. I don't know if that should count. I mainly sew street clothes for me to wear day-to-day. That's very common among the older sewers I know, but the few other sewers I've talked to who are my age or younger seem to only sew costumes. I don't know whether that makes my skill more common, or less so. {Smile}
I also have done role-playing, writing, and other things that seem to be "wow, that's so neat" with some groups of people, and "well, course, doesn't everyone" in other groups. For that matter, library science is the same way. I've been in crowds where everyone knows how to search, and catalog, and such, and others where I'm the only one. {Amused Smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
Congratulations, donnas!
I would like to know more about everything, basically :grin:
I confess, though, that I don't have any unusual or interesting knowledge to share (or if I do, it's escaping my fried brain at the moment).
I have an uncle who is a book binder. He restores antique books for people.
And I'd love to know how to do more braiding and weaving. That's neat.
I would only work with an antique if the owner understood that I'm more used to working with library and newer books. Oh, my mends are good, but I but I don't know what will bring down the value of an antique. {Smile}
I enjoy braiding and weaving. They're fun. {Smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
Post a Comment