Family matters in the 18th century

I'll recap a few things about the Stanhope family, since I'm probably confusing many of you. With a few added bits, just because.

Allan is Stephen's uncle, older by 6 years. Allan's father was the previous Earl and his older brother (Stephen's father) is the current Earl.

Good so far? Allan usually refers to his mother as "my mother," because they are close. He calls his brother "Hugh" because they are not close and it irks Hugh, ie, the Earl Stanhope, who desires more respect.

Allan's mother is Stephen's grandmother, but Stephen is a bit overawed by most adults and refers to her by her title, the Dowager Countess.

See, an earl's wife is not an Earl-ess. England has no Counts, but for whatever reason, the Earl's wife is known as a Countess. The widow of an Earl or other titled man adds Dowager to her title, until/unless she remarries. Her daughter-in-law is the Countess, so it keeps people from being confused.

It isn't typical for a title and a surname to be the same (ie, he's the Earl Stanhope and his last name is also Stanhope) but it is correct in this case. It's a null title now, although the surname is still around.

Also, here is what Wikipedia has to say about the unreliable narrator.

Think about who's doing most of the talking and if that term applies.

Allan's Good Intentions

If you've ever tried to lose 5 lbs and ended up gaining 10, you KNOW what this feels like. 

'A Dearth of Dragons'

Allan is my go-to character for tragicomic drunken monologues. The fae don't seem to want to talk- I have trouble getting them to take the stage, and they give me the worst trouble with dialogue once they're there. Going to have to sort that out- soon- anyway, what do you think of Allan's argument?

What is greatness? Does it really call for dragons and princesses (or equivalent daring deeds)? By phrasing it mythically, is he excusing himself from having to be heroic in any ordinary scenario? Is he protecting himself from failure with a creative excuse for not trying?

Or is it just a bunch of meaningless drunken rambling?

Chilblains etc

The last few weeks in brief:

-The other desktop died- the motherboard, unfortunately. Not sure when we can replace it.

-Sold an item on Ebay for AT LEAST 3x its worth. I'm still in disbelief over that one. Too bad it was on the work account!

-Chilblains- not just an English malady!

-Gloom, Doom and Woe!~ (typical of this time of year)

-Snowpocalypse. Hit repeat.

-Management wants a lobby full of spring flowers, real flowers, grown from seed, in just one month....riiiight!

-Kaibil beret, you are a LONG way from home.

-A....blender...with a mineral ring.... that adds OXYGEN to the water and has AWESOME Life-Changing Properties?? And it sells for $200 used? Pull the other one! 

Pantsless Gnome on a Paddle

Today's strange find at work


At work, I must keep my sense of humor in check. But since I'm not at work, let me point out that this David the Gnome look-alike isn't wearing any pants.

Lumberjack pants and mysterious glass thingies

Something I've noticed about vintage clothes:
the weirder and uglier they are, the more some people are willing to pay for them. I'm talking in particular about a pair of men's vintage pants, in an eye-popping red plaid wool. I'm sure they're warm. I do like some of the detailing, like the watch pocket - how many pants do you see with watch pockets any more? There are buttons inside the waistband that will fasten to your suspenders (braces), and you don't see that much either. But the color and the elastic cuffs at the ankle? The pants would look at home on a lumberjack or a clown. I think they're for hunting, actually. The starting price on the auction is $39.99.

Now I have more mysterious glass objects! 

These were with a bunch of drink stirs, but they're thicker and heavier than any drink stir I've seen. 

They're 1.2 oz each, or 4x the weight of that Sharpie. 

It's a very purposeful shape, isn't it? 

Do they curl hair? Tatt lace? Inquiring minds want to know.

I've finished reading A Woodland Feast: Native American Foodways of the 17th & 18th Centuries, and have started reading The Pageantry of Elizabethan England. Pageantry is a very tongue-in-cheek account of Elizabeth's reign, so if you find most histories too tedious, give this one a try.

Aille Fails his Dex check

Aille fails his Dex check in 3...2...

Was thinking about the geography of the forest this morning. I don't think I've made clear that it covers a sizeable area. It can take a good while to walk from one place to another, mostly because (from the human point of view) the forest hugs the slopes of seven hills that run more or less north to south. There are "shorter ways" but they're not in good repair.

The burial mound and plague ruins lie just south of the southernmost hill. The spring where Allan met with Siloen and later Soreny is on the second-southernmost peak. It's the cleanest source of water, so it's only natural to run into people there. Between there and the fourth-from-south hill is a bit of a boggy area. It's not good for much and it's often flooded, so mostly they skirt around it or take the shorter way if in a hurry.
The river near where they are clear-cutting runs between the four southern peaks and the three northern ones, effectively cutting them off from each other.

Now from the human point of view, if you cross over the ridgeline, it's rough, marginal land, and a far ride to a civilized town. I say "human point of view" because when the Folk go to the other side of the hill there are four hills, arranged in a circle around a lake (where they were digging clay) The three northernmost hills slipped away some time ago and the fourth one is trying hard to secede; but what that will do to the lake, they're not sure. They've had other troubles to deal with.