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Walking down to where we rehearse, I was disgruntled. I had to wear a dress for this gig, and I have no long dresses in my closet that are not black. Eric said "Sunday dress," which means something I would wear to church. I don't go to church, but I think I got the idea, and it wasn't black. So I have to wear the only dress in my closet which is not black, and it is slightly below my knee. Horrendously short. Which means I had to shave my legs. Ugh. And it would be cold. Frustration abounded. I had not eaten dinner, because apparently they only served breakfast today. However, after rehearsing, rushing to the President's house, discovering they were 45 minutes behind so we had to wait, driving to my house for a pitch pipe, and coming back, there was food and my mood had improved.
White asparagus with sorghum and caviar and some sort of sour-creamish dressing was the salad, and it barely filled up the tiny plate, but it was pretty. Caviar is not all it's cracked up to be. Salty vinegary little balloons of fluid. Hm. But then came the main course, and as musicians back in the drawing room we got it before anyone else. Rare beef, artichoke hearts wrapped in lean bacon, barley with saffron, and three shrimp, each with a little pile of seafoodish seasoning on top. And dessert. Pistachio cakes, hot and gooey in the middle, with an artistic swish of chocolate syrup to drive it around in and a small pile of candied pistachios on the edge. I ate my own and half of Jennifer's. Eric and Max ate the other quarter of Jennifer's. I won. And then we sang.
Musician is the best job. No one expects you to be high-class, but you go to the events anyway. I just went to the fanciest dinner party ever, and I didn't have to know the rules of society. It was disgustingly civilized, but we ate our food behind the drawing room and didn't have to keep elbows off the table or anything. Reception dinner for the President of Rice. I did resent having to wear a dress, but the food was good enough to make up for it.
I got an email.
I have found out about your works through cosplay.com I was interested if you can show my what swords you have made. Also, would you be able to make an automail arm? I would like to see some of the sword works you have since I collect. Well, thanks ahead of time.
I replied.
I am a complete amateur at swordcraft, and I improvise more than I plan, but I have made two swords with fencing blades, a dagger, and I have a katana (with a real blade) in the planning stages. I don't currently have any pictures of them, but I will get some to you as soon as I have access to a digital camera. The first is a foil with a rebar hilt I welded together, wrapped in pleather with a fairly attractive braid pattern. The crossbar curves down over to make a kind of guard, and there is a loop at the bottom which can be placed over the wrist. The second sword is a fencing saber with a similar rebar hilt, but I've wrapped copper wire around it and melted it on. It is rather attractive also, if I say so myself. Quite unique. The dagger, on the other hand, is probably too unique to look good to anyone but me. It was made of an industrial-grade metal file, but I ground the rasps off and cut the corners with a blowtorch, so it is quite sharp. The hilt was made of many pourings of molten copper and has a globular, lava-like surface. It's not very solid, and would probably break if I dropped it.
I might be able to make an automail arm (costume, I'm assuming, since it would certainly not be functional), if I had a detailed plan and could get access to sheet metal. Which I could. I could also improvise. With measurements.
Thanks for your interest.
White asparagus with sorghum and caviar and some sort of sour-creamish dressing was the salad, and it barely filled up the tiny plate, but it was pretty. Caviar is not all it's cracked up to be. Salty vinegary little balloons of fluid. Hm. But then came the main course, and as musicians back in the drawing room we got it before anyone else. Rare beef, artichoke hearts wrapped in lean bacon, barley with saffron, and three shrimp, each with a little pile of seafoodish seasoning on top. And dessert. Pistachio cakes, hot and gooey in the middle, with an artistic swish of chocolate syrup to drive it around in and a small pile of candied pistachios on the edge. I ate my own and half of Jennifer's. Eric and Max ate the other quarter of Jennifer's. I won. And then we sang.
Musician is the best job. No one expects you to be high-class, but you go to the events anyway. I just went to the fanciest dinner party ever, and I didn't have to know the rules of society. It was disgustingly civilized, but we ate our food behind the drawing room and didn't have to keep elbows off the table or anything. Reception dinner for the President of Rice. I did resent having to wear a dress, but the food was good enough to make up for it.
I got an email.
I have found out about your works through cosplay.com I was interested if you can show my what swords you have made. Also, would you be able to make an automail arm? I would like to see some of the sword works you have since I collect. Well, thanks ahead of time.
I replied.
I am a complete amateur at swordcraft, and I improvise more than I plan, but I have made two swords with fencing blades, a dagger, and I have a katana (with a real blade) in the planning stages. I don't currently have any pictures of them, but I will get some to you as soon as I have access to a digital camera. The first is a foil with a rebar hilt I welded together, wrapped in pleather with a fairly attractive braid pattern. The crossbar curves down over to make a kind of guard, and there is a loop at the bottom which can be placed over the wrist. The second sword is a fencing saber with a similar rebar hilt, but I've wrapped copper wire around it and melted it on. It is rather attractive also, if I say so myself. Quite unique. The dagger, on the other hand, is probably too unique to look good to anyone but me. It was made of an industrial-grade metal file, but I ground the rasps off and cut the corners with a blowtorch, so it is quite sharp. The hilt was made of many pourings of molten copper and has a globular, lava-like surface. It's not very solid, and would probably break if I dropped it.
I might be able to make an automail arm (costume, I'm assuming, since it would certainly not be functional), if I had a detailed plan and could get access to sheet metal. Which I could. I could also improvise. With measurements.
Thanks for your interest.
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