Thursday, June 30, 2005

Out of Touch

My Dearest Kendrah,

I can't believe it's been so long since I've written! These past two weeks have been so busy with Pre-College, I've barely had time to visit the White City and the work there is piling up. My In-tray is over-flowing with unread scrolls, the city's road repair project has gone horribly over-budget and I caught Eowyn trying on some of my heirloom jewelry! I think she thinks she can make a move on the King while I'm busy comforting 140 homesick 16 year-olds! She'd better behave herself...Faramir's family doesn't have a reputation for acting in a reasonable manner when confronted with emotional upset!

Speaking of emotional upset, my real-world supervisor is making the staff take all sorts of "learning and development" classes this summer. I just finished one that was supposed to help me determine my leadership style. It seems I'm an introvert who doesn't like to work on teams unless a) I choose the team b) I tell the team what to do c) they go away and do it and d) bring me back results. Perhaps this is why Lord Elrond and I get along so well...birds of a feather and all that.

Anyway, the next class is called "Assessing Your Emotional Intelligence." I had to go online and fill out one of those ridiculous "assessment tools" where you have to respond to there statements with multiple choice answers like "Never true of me, sometimes true of me or always true of me." You're supposed to take the test in a quiet place where you won't be interrupted, but since it was one of the few days I had time to spend with Aragorn, he was hanging around while I was filling it out, reading over my shoulder.

“So what does ‘emotional intelligence’ mean?” he asked. I started to explain a bit about how it’s the way we react to certain situations blah, blah, blah. He looked at be in disbelief for a moment, then said “That’s easy! “Just suck it up! The Shadow cannot conquer forever!” “OK,” I say, “I agree, but the boss wants us to go to the class, and until I’m queen and can quit my day job, I need to pretend to be interested in her opinions!” He looked suitably abashed and I moved on with my assessment.

Now, I’m not sure how much these people KNOW, but I began to get suspicious when some of the questions read: “I see things other people don’t” Aragorn chortled. “Like Elves and Hobbits you mean!” I ignored him and moved on. “Other people think I’m strange.” Aragorn can hardly contain himself! “No one thinks you’re strange dear! Well, Celeborn looks at you funny sometimes, and Eowyn is freaked out by your mediocre riding skills and Imrahil thinks...” That’s enough!” I cut him off. “I have to finish this.” Next question: “I find it difficult to focus on reality because I’m so involved in my fantasy world.”

That was it. Aragorn was on the floor laughing uncontrollably, tears running down his face as he giggled! I finished the rest of the test as quickly as possible after that while he tried to regain his composure. When he finally calmed down, he brought me a beer, kissed me on the forehead and whispered sweetly, “Don’t worry dear, you fine. You’re perfectly fine.”

Enough for now. I need to get home and do some laundry. I’m glad your classes are going well. Let’s hope you can prevent Leggs from causing any permanent damage to your professors at least until after the finals!

I’ll talk to you soon and promise to be more diligent in my letter writing.

Your Affectionate Friend,
Corwynne

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Classes

My dearest Corwynne,

Finally, I have a working keyboard. We have something like fifteen in the house and this is the only one that works.
Well, at least Logan has lots to play with.

So I have been taking some classes at the community college. And the man who teaches one of the classes and I have developed a competitive relationship.....who is funnier....of course you and I know that I am funnier, but he hasn't realized yet. His humor includes quite a bit of glaring at me, which is pretty funny. Well, Leggs showed up in class one day, while he was doing the glaring routine. To Leggs' credit he waited to talk to me before defending my "honor".

So I explained to him that he was just being funny. He seemed confused but agreed that he would be allowed to live. So I thought all was well until the next time I had class and the teacher started glaring. Leggs suddenly appeared behind him bow drawn and let fly. I came very close to reacting. Luckily I noticed just in time that it was a suction cup arrow. And like that Leggs was gone. Later that night, when I was at home working on some school work, I heard his voice behind me......"Now, that is funny." He was gone before I turned around, but I must say I agree with him.

That is really all there is to report. The settlement seems to have settled into a routine as has my real world home. Hope all is well with you,
Your affectionate friend,
Kendrah

Friday, June 17, 2005

Just checking in

My Dearest Kendrah,

I was sorry to hear about the state of your numerous keyboards. I hope your palantir box will become fully functional again very soon.

Not much has happened here in past week. Last weekend my brother and I painted the living and dining rooms. Unfortunately Aragorn was conveniently called back to the White City for some apparent "emergency," so he wasn't available to help. I think he was pouting because I wouldn't take his decorating advice. He thought, instead of painting, I hould cover the rooms in tapestries depicting heroic deeds of the Fellowship during the War of the Ring. He also suggested we ask Gregor in to design and install some fake beams for the ceiling to give the place a more Meduseld-like look. I gave the notion serious consideration, but after realizing how long it would be before I had enough tapestries to cover all the walls and how expensive that was going to be, I opted for a five gallon tub of white paint. (I think we should go ahead with the tapestry project anyway...if it works into Gregor's design, we can use them in the throne room).

I must be off! Pre-College calls.

Your Affectionate Friend,
Corwynne

PS. Deana and Eric have returned safely with Mai and she is adorable!

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Cell phone

My Dearest Kendrah,

I'm so pleased the impact study is working out in our favor! I can't wait to start importing!

It;s been a busy week or so here with pre-college and subscriptions. And I was gone memorial Day weekend at Wellspring, our big Druid festival and National Meeting. Which is when I decided Aragorn needs a cell phone.

Picture it...there I am, drinking, sitting around the fire and gossiping. People are drumming and dancing. I notice that suddenly people are dancing naked. No big deal right...not my thing but I'm not paying too much attention. Then I feel a tap on my shoulder. Image my horror at turning around and seeing Aragorn, glaring at the naked women with a look of profound disgust and saying "We need to talk." Since the people I was with aren't familiar with my alternate reality, I mumbled something about needing more wine and excused myself.

"What sort of obscene heathen display is this?" he demanded. So I began to explain exactly what sort of heathen display it was, when I realized I had no idea WHY he was there. "What are you doing here, anyway?" I ask. It seems he had a question about the cat's feeding schedule and wanted to check in about it. He says he wouldn't have bothered me, but he wasn't sure how else to contact me. He apologized for being gruff and said he understood that we do have different interests (he for example enjoys orc hunting, which I do not) and he should be more understanding when I'm off performing obscene heathen rites. Of course I forgave him, and we decided to invest in a cell phone family plan. This way, he can simply call if he's worried and not have to go through the trouble of bending space and time. We've decided to include Faramir in plan as well, making it easier for him to get in touch if need arises. Fortunately, Aragorn is all about using technology while he's in this reality so I don't have to deal with any superstitious nonsense or call the phone a "far-speaker" (or its Elvish equivalent).

Well, must get back to subscription orders.

Hope to talk with you tonight
Your Affectionate Friend,
Corwynne