Diversion and Almost Famous

I've been in a funk for the past couple of weeks, and then I came across this. This is why I love You Tube.

Also there's a huge photo of me in the local paper today, along with Meg, Emily, and Vincent. They did a whole article about the local role playing game designing and playing scene. I bought six papers!

What Should I Say?

I have all these things I could write about, such as JiffyCon, my new autoharp, my wedding anniversary (#9 today), my present rpg character and the awesome game we're currently playing, Christmas dinner planning. I can't decide which one should have a full post. So here's what I'll do: Here's a quick summary of each of the things mentioned. If anyone wants to know more, let me know, and I'll make full post.

JiffyCon
I ran Acts of Evil and Steal Away Jordan during the day. At dinner I had the most disappointing crab cakes ever. Later in the evening, I played Murder Ballad Blackjack and we told the story of "The House Carpenter/Daemon Lover". With SAJ, I cranked up the supernatural, complete with a hellhound, evil haints, and a wheelin' dealin' Devil at the Crossroads. This was one of my favorite games yet. I find the extra supernatural stuff takes some of the pressure off the players, but the GM can still throw the crap at them, like the threat of being sold away (why not make a deal with the Devil to prevent your friend from being sold away?) Like fantasy in your role playing games? There ya go!

Murder Ballad Blackjack didn't work as I had planned, but I liked the way it worked. It needs work, and I'm getting abck to working on SAJ revisions in December, so I think I'm going to let simmer, then come back to Malice. So please, someone play MBBJ!

My New Autoharp
21 chords on a zebrawood body. It has a sweet sound, good action, stays in tune, is fun to play. I'm practicing a little every day. Chris and I had a fun little jam session this weekend, and I showed him how to play a murder ballad. For now, I'm learning to strum chords to accompany my singing. Here and there I try to pluck melodies. Most of all I'm getting my folk music geek on.

Happy Anniversary to the "Ellingsgards"!
As of November 28, Chris and I have been married for 9 years, together for almost 13. This year we went low key and low budget. Friday we left the kids at my in-law's and came home. We had grand plans to clean the house, but the most we did was put a load of laundry in the washing machine, and a load of dishes in the dish washer. We slept in, had breakfast at Kafe Koko, drove to several antique shops, almost bought an old mantel clock, ate more food, had a jam session (see above), watched Orlando and 28 Weeks Later. We went to East Heaven Hot Tubs, ate appetizers at the new restaurant in Northampton, and saw Beowulf. I really liked Beowulf. I'm sure many others would beg to differ, but It's like the movie version of Murder Ballad Blackjack, Beowulf style. And I love Ray Winstone's voice. And there was a dragon. And medieval garb. And the queen played a harp. As Chris put it, it was a "Fwamish" movie. In other words, it had elements which I would love, and thus be more forgiving of the work as a whole.

One For the Road: Elizabeth Rutherford/Ben Smith
We're playing Prime Time Adventures. Our show is One for the Road, an 18th century drama/farce set in Yorkshire England. My character is Elizabeth Rutherford, a cross dressing highwaywoman. Benjamin Smith is her alter ego, also the name of her Scottish cousin who taught her how to be a highway robber. This really deserves its own post. I was inspired by another character from the Poisoned game we played at JiffyCon. When we're done with the game, I'll do a little write up. I watched Orlando, because I imagined Elizabeth/Benjamin looked like Tilda Swinton.

When I had really short hair, I was always afraid of being mistaken for a man. I was once. My hair was shoulder length, I was on an airplane strapping Bea into her seat. The man behind me said, "excuse me sir..." He was as stunned as I was. I think it was the height, not the hair. It hasn't happened in a long time, but I wear skirts about 70% of the time.

I'm really into folksongs about women disguised as men, and then go off and do "manly" things like become soldiers, highwaymen, etc. They tend to do it for the love of a man, though, rarely because they want to do something they're not expected or allowed to do (like kill and steal?). Elizabeth dresses like a man because she likes it, and gave it up (temporarily) because she fell in love. This isn't going to end well.

Christmas Dinner
I'm roasting a goose again this year. And there will be blodpudding, and Getjost cheese, and Tonya's bringing collard greens, and I'm going to make cranberry relish, and maybe a pecan pie. Hopefully my father in law will bring glog. In the morning there will be venison sausage and mimosas. My parents aren't coming. My dad is recovering, but he's still not ready to travel. We'll go to Memphis in February.

My Lovely Daughters
My kids are beautiful, smart, witty, and a joy. I have nothing more to say about them.

So what do you want to know?

Play Amistad with Me

Crossposted at Stone Baby Games...

I’m running a session of Steal Away Jordan at JiffyCon this Saturday. I’m trying to decide what the setting will be, and here are some that settings I’m toying with:

An Amistad-esque journey. Not quite sure where it would begin. I’m thinking I could encourage the players to stage a mutiny and go from there. It could be interesting if through most of the game, the subjugators were the stronger soon to be slaves. One of the conflicts might include divisions between the slaves of different villages. (The title of this post does not indicate what setting I've actually chosen.)

That Wikipedia article has several links to other revolts. That could be fun, too. I really want to see a good rebellion. Successful or not, of course.

Seth Ben Ezra was researching a Civil War era game. (Hey Seth! Have you played it yet?) This idea excites me as much as a good slave revolt.

I also want to play Kindred. I could play any of these and still have an unfortunate time traveler.

Folk Story Narratives heavy laden with devils with souls in their mouths, flying slaves, and trickster rabbits.

A more fleshed out version of that 18th century Carolina Rice Plantation I demoed a thousand times at GenCon. This is really the least appealing to me.

Come to JiffyCon and find out for yourself! I’m also running Acts of Evil. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some Murder Ballad Blackjack playtesting in, too. It only takes an hour, folks!

Strength of Strings

It's on it's way. My custom built 21 chord chromatic B model zebra wood autoharp by Timbreline Music. I have the UPS tracking code. As I type this, it's still in Colorado. Estimated delivery date is this Thursday. I have a good feeling it will be worth the wait.

The arrival of a new autoharp makes me want to finish putting the Lumbert Mountain Music diatonic chord bars on my OS EBH/R. (That's an Oscar Schmidt autoharp made in the 70's) Steal Away Jordan forced autoharping to the back burner this past year, but since I'm working on a game where folk music is an integral part of play, I'll have good reason to get strumming. Murder Ballad Blackjack will have the lyrics and chords to about 25 murder ballads.

My heart's all a-flutter! I'm also expecting some blodpudding to show up on my doorstep any day now. Blodpudding, autoharps, what joyful things arrive by mail.

Indigo Girl

I've been doing this off and on for years. Sometime between October and January, I color my hair black. My hair is naturally black, but the sun turns it reddish, and then I henna it mahogany in the summer, so it doesn't stay black for long. In the past I've used Miss Clairol blue black, and other "safer" herbal coloring kits from the health food store, but since I henna my hair, traditional color doesn't stay in very long, and it makes my dreads very unhappy. Tonight I'm trying something new: indigo! The recipe will follow.

Indigo reminds me of the film Daughters of the Dust, and Nana Peazant's indigo stained hands. (Daughters of the Dust is a Steal Away Jordan inspiration, too).

I need 2-3 boxes, bottles, or jars of any hair coloring preparation to do my hair. Three will cover it all.

Here's the recipe I used:

• Approx. 8 oz. or so of indigo (aka "black henna"). That was one jar of Rainbow henna (black) and 4.2 oz. of indigo from Acadia Herbals. I could have used another 4 oz, and Rainbow brand is very gritty. Too gritty for dreads. Normally I henna my hair with henna gel, but it's expensive given how much I need.
• 2 c. water
• 2 c. apple cider vinegar (I almost used kombucha)
• 1/2 cup black tea (an afterthought)
• 1 package of pectin (1.75 oz)
• Essential oils of ylang ylang, petitgrain, and vetiver (because indigo and vinegar smell nasty when mixed together)--about 1/4 teaspoon total.
• latex-free gloves (found in my lab coat after work last night)
• Plastic bag
• Towel

Bring the water and vinegar to a boil. Whisk in the pectin. Boil for 1 minute. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Add essential oils to indigo powder (I may have used too much, but it smells better than it would have if hadn't used them at all).
Mix the indigo and liquid together and let stand for 20-30 minutes.
It should make a gel. If half of my indigo wasn't so gritty I think it would have. It was more like a muddy, sandy gel.

I smooshed it all into my hair. It got everywhere. Halfway through the process I took off my shirt, put the bowl into the tub, held my dreads over the bowl, andsmooshed the indigo into my hair. Towards the end I just stuck the dreads in the bowl and mushed them into what was left. I needed more, but I coated most of my hair. Then I covered my hair with a plastic grocery bag, and played on the computer for a couple of hours.

I hate the rinsing part. It took 20 minutes to get all the henna out of my hair, where it usually takes an hour to rinse out all the henna cream. I still have a little plant matter in my hair, but not enough to be annoying or look gross. Next time I'll keep it on overnight. I didn't want to sleep with mud/henna in my hair, covered by a plastic grocery bag and a towel.

The next morning...
I looks much more natural than the hair dye, and my gray hairs are still visibly gray. The ends are still a little reddish brown, so I think I'll order more indigo, or some Surya henna cream, and do it once more in a few weeks. The powdered indigo wasn't as messy as I thought it would be. My dreads love henna. They feel silky smooth (for dreads) every time I henna them, even with the henna cream.

So here are my hair observations. Since I don't spend mych time on my hair on a daily basis, when I do something big like color it, I think about it lots.

• My hair is inconveniently long. I have to move it out of the way when I pee, I sit and lay on it (and get stuck), it entangles people, and I close it in car doors and windows, among other things. Even still, the benefits and conveniences outweigh the inconveniences.
  
• I spend more money per year on monthly eyebrow maintenance than I do on my hair. All I buy for my hair is henna, soap (the same I use for the rest of me), conditioner (which Chris uses up before I ever would), and hair oil, which I make myself. I splurge from time to time and buy a scarf or a hair toy, but I find people give me these more than I buy them.
  
• I spend very little time on daily upkeep and styling of my hair. A little water on the scalp, a little oil all over, and I'm good to go. If I want to get fancy, I can put my hair in a bun in 37 seconds, and do a half bun in 16.
• Strangers ask if it's all mine at least twice a month. (yes, it is, random man at the Y)
• I always go first whenever I play Aquarius.
• I find hair styling rituals fascinating. And shaving one's head is just subversive. (In a great for you, but no thanks for me way)
  
• I love to see people's reaction when I tell them I grew my hair out from less than an inch. (There's a picture elsewhere on my blog of me in my pixie cut)
  
• In my contraband drawer, I keep a Ziploc bag of my kitchen trimmings (I trim the nape of my neck every few months--the parts that won't dread, even after 9 years), and dead dread ends (the ends get thin, and I pull them apart). Next to my bag of White Rabbit candy, my fine fancy chocolate, and other items I won't mention publicly. It's the hair-cutting as an act of subversion thing.
  
• I think about cutting it short all the time. The thought makes me laugh.
• I have nightmares twice a year or so, where I get a haircut and regret it.

More about Daughters of the Dust.

Mystery Murder Ballad

This afternoon, as I returned from the Y,
I went to the co-op, some dinner for to buy
I espied Farmer Tom, in the Co-op parking lot
And I chanced upon his truck, and we talked for a spot.

He told me about his crop this year at Three Sisters Farm
We talked at length of murder ballads amidst the park'ed cars
He gave me a snippet of a song, and I pass on to readers fair
Now I would like to hear it, but the details of it are bare.

I pass along the hints with the hope a reader might know
The who, what, and wheres and how one might just go
About getting a copy of this haunting murderous tune
For my Murder Ballad Blackjack game, which I want to play again soon.

And here is the snippet. I'm not sure if I have it all correctly. I'm transcribing Tom's writing, and the only thing we found to write with and on was a crayon and an envelope.
The closest thing I've found is "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter" as recorded by Mike Waterson.

"...She said Sailor, O Sailor come spare me my life.
When out of his pocket he drew a sharp knife.
He ripped her and tore her and cut her in three.
Then he laid his poor Mary underneath a green tree....

O green grow the laurels, and red grows the rose
and the raven will follow wherever he goes.
A cloud will hang over his...head
And he will never rest easy
Now that Mary being dead."

Name that tune! Please!

The Awesome Thing I Can't Yet Tell

Is going to drive me nuts until all is confirmed. Once confirmed, I'll announce it in full at Stone Baby Games, because it has something to do with Steal Away Jordan. So without spilling the beans prematurely, I'm going to talk around the issue:

Back when I was looking at colleges, my grandmother really pushed for me to go to an historically Black women's college in Atlanta. But I didn't want to. I didn't want to live in the Dirty South anymore. I opted for a women's college in Massachusetts.

My grandmother would be proud. I've been invited to speak at that college, as part of a 2 day event on black women and the moving image, and I have the chance to talk about this project that I worked on for the past year in a different circle.

I am just blown away that someone might want to hear me talk about my project. I'm honored, excited, and feeling a little validated. It's not just because someone saw what I did and liked it enough to invite me to an event (and I think they're going to pay me!). There are very few people from my cultural/ethnic community engaging in the creative endeavor that I engage in (rpg design). The thing I did is very much about the strength and struggles of my cultural/ethnic community. Lately I've been doubting myself and the thing I did, but this invitation that I can't yet disclose reassures me that I did do something pretty damn cool, that's less controversial and easier to "get" for some folks because they are working with a similar subject matter (strengths and struggles of my ethnic/cultural community).

Is that vague enough? I think I even lost myself.
**See the update in Comments!**

The picture is of Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman pilot.