Journal entry for July, 2002.

The days have been long and hot this summer. I'm convinced the weather has changed dramatically since I was a little kid. I don't remember temperatures ever rising above 100 degrees in the summer, and there was a lot more snow. But then, maybe that's part of getting older. You start comparing stuff and thinking "hey, things sure have changed."

The other day I helped with an SCA demo for about a hundred Cub Scouts, ages 8, 9, 10 and 11. I wore my red Tudor dress, and the French Hood I made last month. Afterward I walked around Salem in full dress. It was most interesting. People approached me from everywhere to examine the dress and ask questions.

Some were surprised, some were thrilled, and kids were delighted. But every once in awhile I'd get a stare from someone who disapproved. It was like I had stepped outside the boundaries of "normal" and assaulted them. However, it was fun, for the fun peoples' sake. While standing in line at Shopco, a lady shouted from the next register, "What country are you from?"

"England, 1530," I called back. "Wow," she exclaimed. "You look good for your age!"

In another store a little girl saw me and her eyes filled with wonder. It was like someone had stepped out of a movie or something, and walked into her world. She came running over and felt my dress to see if I was really real. She turned to her mother and begged eagerly for a picture of us. Nobody had a camera, but I let the little girl give me a hug (I felt like those stuffed mascots that walk around Disneyland and entertain kids).

Anyway, it was an afternoon to remember. And to top it off, I was walking to the car in the Target parking lot when a man driving by rolled down his window and shouted "huzzah!" He zoomed away before I recognized what it meant. "Huzzah" is the period way of saying "hurray!" and is widely used by the SCA. He was probably an SCA guy, and may have had a true appreciation for the authenticity of my outfit.

Hey, I'm young. What can I say?! You only get one chance at this life... and there's millions of people to live it the "normal" way. Walking around in pubic in a 16th century dress may be crazy, but it sure is fun.

For the past few weeks I've been taking ASP classes, courtesy of my Dad. He's an excellent teacher, and I've learned more in the last few days about computer languages (and that dratted thing called math!) then in the last year on my own.

I have a funny little phobia of math, which learning ASP has brought out. When anyone mentions the word "math," or says, "hmm, what would that be... if I graduated in '73, and I bought the house in '78..," my brain freezes and the adrenaline kicks in. I blink, pretend to count on my fingers, and quickly agree with whatever conclusion they come up with. (Tell me, does anyone else suffer from this?? I'm not bad at math... I just freeze when put on the spot.)

Anyway, you can't have that kind of phobia and understand programming. You have to face math, like it or not. It's been a good exercise, and I freeze a little less each time.

To finish up this journal entry, I will quote Ralph Waldo Emerson: "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." 

Godspeed!

Brooke Revere