interviewed by hrj and (oops) <user site="livejournal.com" user

[cellio]

The interview meme is going around again, and in starting to respond to my questions from hrj I stumbled upon a way-overdue set from ichur72. Oops! And, ironically, there's some overlap. :-)

From hrj:

1) I know you play the hammered dulcimer and I believe recorder as well -- any other instruments?

I'm actually a failure at both recorder and guitar, two instruments widely considered to be "not hard". Oh well. In addition to hammered dulcimer I play bowed psaltery and bodhran, and sing. I have played appalachian dulcimer in the distant past; also piano (childhood lessons where the main thing that stuck was reading music, not playing piano). I have made simple stuff come out of an electric bass correctly when On the Mark was suitably desperate. See also question 4 in the next batch.

2) I'm always interested to see your posts about your religious studies (even if I don't read them all in detail!) What's been the most surprising or unexpected thing you've encountered on your path? And 3) what's been the hardest part of your progress?

I think the thing that surprised me most was how quickly I became a leader in the community. I grew up in a tradition where leading services required ordination; in Judaism any competent adult (adult male, if Orthodox) can do so. In my first year or so of being "official" I led weekday services several times at my congregation during rabbinic absences and Shabbat evening services at another congregation because they liked me (and my voice). Around that time the guys in the morning minyan also began the long, slow process of getting me to lead there. (It took me a while to develop sufficient fluency in a faster, Hebrew-intensive weekday service.) In addition to all that, I really did almost drop the phone when, not quite a year in, I was asked to accept a board nomination. I had thought board seats were for people with 20 or 30 years of affiliation under their belts. See also question 1 in the next batch.

As for what's been hardest, I think it's being something of an outlier, observance-wise, in both my congregation and my husband's family. Everyone is trying to be reasonable, but if something isn't your habit you're likely to make mistakes without realizing, like planning a restaurant outing on Shabbat. Then (in the family setting) I have to be the problem to be worked around. In my congregation, a common refrain is "Reform Jews don't do that", which is false -- I'm a Reform Jew and I do that. I think this is shorthand for "Reform Jews don't automatically have to do that", which is true, but the rest of that dictate is informed choice, and people sometimes forget that choices can go either way.

4) It's coming up on Pennsic: when did you first attend the War and can you remember your first impressions of it?

My first year was Pennsic XI. Having found the SCA the previous September at a college activities fair, I'd been hearing all year about this great event. I remember some logistics challenges in actually getting there (my ride fell through, the first borrowed tent fell through, ...), but then I was there -- Thursday night, which I think was the day it started -- camping in sort of a hodge-podge ("put your tent over there somewhere" was the extent of the camp cohesion), fighting in the biggest battles I'd ever been in (must have been 500 people on the field!), and I don't remember what I ate but it came out of cans or could be eaten without cooking, and it all felt kind of chaotic and fun at the same time. On Sunday morning a door-to-door salesman (well, that's how I parsed it at the time) came by with copies of the East Kingdom Songbook and I bought one. Oh, and it rained and my tent leaked. :-)

5) What song do you most enjoy singing (solo or ensemble)?

I have trouble with "best"s and "most"s and "favorite"s; I can't pick just one and there's context and... (more waffling goes here). Solo, what's slightly winning tonight is "Some Kind of Hero", which tells a compelling story that I can actually emote while singing, with a melody that fits my voice well. Ensemble favorites come and go; I'm currently enjoying Josquin's "In Pace" (despite it being SAB to my T), and I also quite enjoy singing Palestrina's "Exultate Deo" and Rossi's "Halleluyah Halleli". And bunches more. :-)

From ichur72:

1. What has surprised you most about Judaism?

In answering hrj's first question I talked about things that had a more personal effect, so here I'll think less personally. I think, even though I must have known this at some level going in, I've been surprised by how well the seemingly-opposite approaches of intellect and emotion can meld together -- two very different ways of encountering the divine and forming a connection, and each contributes to my experience. (I'm more naturally "head" than "heart", but our Shabbat morning minyan, in particular, has really helped open up the latter.)

2. What sparked your interest in SCA?

I saw these guys fighting each other with real armor and real-enough swords (ok, rattan, but not plastic or foam or some other fake thing), and that looked like way more fun than just rolling dice and talking about it. :-) Yes, my first impression of the SCA was "live D&D", which was quickly refined into something more complete and coherent. And no, I didn't stop playing D&D; in fact, my SCA friends taught me RuneQuest!.

So I started going to fighting practice (and RuneQuest! games), and that led to finding out about events, and from there I found out there were other things to do too, including archery, dancing, and music. Also service stuff; I'm sure the friend who told our newsletter editor that I'd be happy to take the job after her, without consulting me, had good intentions, and he was right that I did enjoy it, but... well, things were pretty easy-going and the people were nice so I said sure, why not.

It is not lost on me now, though it was then, that, having been a social outcast before college and not having learned the ropes of fraternities, sororities, and cliques in college, there was huge value in a group of friendly weirdos who actually accepted a fellow weirdo without many interpersonal clues. Looking back, I think we have collectively gotten less good at welcoming the people who are now like we were then. It might be an age thing; almost everyone I knew in the SCA when I joined was a 20-something (not the norm now), and maybe us older folks are less flexible and accommodating. Just speculating.

3. If you could live in another city in the US, which one would it be and why?

In principle I can live in another city if I want to (Dani and I have had the "are the jobs better elsewhere?" conversation), but I like Pittsburgh. In addition to having roots here, I like the blend of small-town/larger-town feel -- small enough to be able to walk places, not be packed in like sardines, and drive to work in 15 or 20 minutes, but large enough to support theatre, music, museums, a decent-sized Jewish community, good universities, etc. I would feel stifled in a place like New York or LA; I think I'd feel less stifled in Boston but would feel completely priced out. (Also, afraid to drive...) There are probably dozens of other cities with profiles similar to Pittsburgh, so if I had to move I'd be looking for one of those.

4. What musical instruments would you like to learn to play?

I want to learn how to play bowed strings -- viola da gamba, cello, perhaps double bass (but where would I put one?). I think I would prefer an alto- or tenor-range instrument to a soprano- or bass-range one; the former's high pitch (especially while learning to bow) and the latter's size (and corresponding price) are at play here.

5. What was your favorite place in Israel?

Even though, were I to make aliya, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to live there, I'm going to say Jerusalem. As a tourist I didn't experience the negative aspects you read about in the news (forget Arab-Jewish stuff; the Jewish-Jewish is bad enough). No, as a tourist I got to wander around a city with some real history to it, which I felt more of a connection to than I expected, with lots of activity six days of the week and a real change for Shabbat. I liked that.

I'm also mindful that we spent more time there than in any other single location, so that's going to skew things. I mean, yes, the three hours or so we spent in Ein Gedi were lovely, for one of many examples, but the others didn't get to grab as much memory real-estate.

Though one thing I know in the other direction: the only reason I would ever return to Eilat is the aquarium, and that alone probably isn't worth the drive from the next nearest city. The city just felt very generic-American to me; aside from some (but not all) Hebrew signs, I couldn't tell I was even in Israel. Maybe I'd react differently if I were more of a resort person.

The conventions ("rules" is such a strong word :-) ):

• Leave a comment asking for questions.
• I'll respond by asking you five questions to satisfy my curiosity.
• Update your journal with the answers to your questions.
• Include this explanation and offer to ask other people questions.

Fair warning: you might not get your questions from me until after Pennsic, so turn on that notification email or check back here.

Comments

[cellio]

But on the flip side, I have lots of friends in Boston, which is part of what makes it an interesting place to go. And there's enough high-tech that we could probably find employment. (Not likely to happen, though.)