Showing posts with label Archery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Archery. Show all posts

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Writers Are Passionate People, But Can They Be Multi-passionate? Yes, They Can!


I’ve written before whining and moaning about my writing difficulties and insecurities.  But have I told you about the other things that I'm passionate about?  For one, I like to make jewelry.  I find myself staring at women in the street, the bus, the train or when I’m out to lunch.  No, not that way; I’m looking at their jewelry and trying to deconstruct it with my eyes so that I can figure out how it was made.  Then decide that I can do that. 

Another passion of mine is Archery and I try to enjoy the sport whenever I can.  Sadly it isn’t as often as I would want, but I try to do it once a month.  I’m also passionate about Halloween and love to dress up and make my own costumes which can be a bit time consuming.

Next up on the list of passions is that I like to go to The Renaissance Faire.  Last year, I dressed up in a blue Renaissance gown and pretended to be a Princess.  I had my hair braided with flowers and gave a slight bow of the head when the occasional peasant curtsied before me saying “My Lady”.  I really enjoyed that part.  Soon, it’ll be time to go again so I started looking online for a new gown because a girl, I mean a Princess, can’t go to The Renaissance Faire two years in a row wearing the same gown.  It’s a rule, look it up.  It’s in the guidebook of Renaissance Faire etiquette that I made up.

I found several gowns that I liked but unfortunately they were priced a bit beyond my budget.  Apparently my kingdom’s coffers aren’t as full of gold and jewels as I would like.  The reality is that I don’t have a budget for such things but you know how it is.  When you really want something you figure out a way to get it even if it means siphoning money from the utility bill payment.  Not that I would do that, of course, but I did think about it and was sorely tempted.  

But something happened instead.  I got this crazy idea.  You see, I looked at these dresses and decided that I can do that. Why not?  Just cut a few pieces of fabric, pin them together, stitch and voila – instant Renaissance gown.  This crazy wonderful idea wouldn’t leave my head, so I bought the fabric and I’m going to dive right into making this gown.  I don’t have any formal sewing training but my motto is “make it work”, so I’ll repeat it over and over like a mantra until the gown is done. 

Hopefully the end result won’t scream "amateur home-made dress!" So this is now my latest passion that I have to schedule into my life and maybe it won’t intrude into my writing time too much. I might do another post and upload progress pictures.  Wish me luck!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Archery

I belong to an archery club and we met up yesterday at the range.  It had been a while since we had an event and it was good to see them again.  This a great club because everyone is friendly and their energy is wonderful to be around.  I shoot a left handed recurve bow with a 25 pound draw weight.  However, my goal was always to shoot a long bow (think Robin Hood).  Long bows tend to come in heavier draw weights and when I started out, I was pulling at 20 pounds.  So I had to work my way up by developing my strength.
 
My friend Paola has been shooting an English long bow for a while and when I expressed my wishes to her, she let me try out her 30 pound long bow.  I was able to successfully pull the full draw weight and shoot.  I’m not a marksman and am glad when I hit any part of the target, but the fact that I was shooting a long bow had me on cloud nine.

I’m so excited and can’t wait to purchase my own.  One of the wonderful aspects of being a member of this club is its members, like Paola.  From the first day I joined, she has been friendly and welcoming and has shared her equipment with me.  She’s a great person and I’m glad that I met her along with all the other members of our club.  They’re the best!

Saving my pennies for an English long bow has been added to my to-do list, and hopefully by the summer I’ll be tagging along with one of my own.