frenchpony (frenchpony) wrote,
frenchpony
frenchpony
  • Music: The drum circle outside the library

Killing Time Before Batman

Easily the wackiest activity of my summer so far has been the fencing demonstrations. Coach Mike has this fundraiser for the fencing club where he contacts libraries all around the state that have the sort of summer programs where they round up the kids to do neat things and get them to read, and offers to bring himself and a few fencers to demonstrate Real Live Olympic Fencing. I've been to two of these so far, and they are a blast. Coach Mike picks up the cast for the day's show at the student union, drives everyone to the library in question, and we put on a show. Mike explains the three weapons, their history, the way they're used, and the safety gear, and we serve as his lovely assistants. We model the kit, demonstrate the weapons with each other if there are enough of us or with Mike if there aren't, and help with audience management. Mike tells a lot of jokes, gets the kids into the act, and at the end, we get seven or eight of them kitted up, and he fences sabre with them a little. The kids just eat it up. Mike talks in movie quotes, and just about all the kids know The Princess Bride, Lord of the Rings, and Zorro. And then there are college kids (who are automatically cool) with real weapons, dueling it out right there in front of them. Nothing says love like a roomful of nine-year-olds going "oooooohhh!" when you make a flashy épée touch. We make $100 plus mileage and lunch off of each of these demonstrations, and we have a blast.

Because I have six-hour-long summer shifts at the key desk, and the practice rooms tend to be dead on lovely summer evenings, I've been getting a fair amount of writing done. I'm fairly pleased, because I've just found a way to give a cameo to a character I really liked, but who I feared would be a one-story kind of a guy. It's nice to see him back.
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  • 10 comments

  • When Life Gives You The Crazy

    You just run with it. I dined at High Table tonight, mostly because one of my friends wanted to dine at High Table with me, and it was a tiny crowd.…

  • A Very Happy Birthday

    Happy birthday to fafojoy! Being me, we have to start the festivities with some music: And then there is the matter of a suitable…

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    dawtheminstrel asked me about what dining in college was like. It's such a wacky, weird, and wonderful experience that I figured it…