aggienaut: (Default)
[personal profile] aggienaut

   Sailors, modern sailors of square rigged ships (or ketches, schooners, brigs, and all things that are pointedly not "ships") tend to look a bit scruffy. When you're living out of a seabag and if you really want to shave you have to do it in a tiny dim closet sized room that's pitching about, and there's no one around to impress, so you don't get around to it as often as you might otherwise.
   They also wear a lot of things lanyarded to their belt or beltloops. They have a phrase -- "if you like something, put a lanyard on it. ...if you love something, ... leave it home." These lanyards are usually made out of seine twine (sailor duct tape!), and in fact, almost anything can be fixed with seine twine.
   And they do tend to use "avast" and "belay" in every day conversation. They may give you driving directions involving turning to "port" or "starboard" without thinking about it. Or ask you to tack the salt across the table. When a task is complete they'll tell you "that's well." They might even say "arr," ... but probably if -and ONLY if- they happen to have a toothache.


   Beekeepers also tend to be scruffy. Some good scruff protects your face from bee-stings. You'll also often see them walking around with either duct tape connecting their pants to their boots or their pants tucked in to their boots, which means they just came from tending the bees and didn't fancy getting them in their boots or up their pant leg.
   They tend to talk in analogies to bee behaviour -- swarming, obsconding, buzzing about.


   One might have seen me yesterday walking about with my pants tucked into my boots and a very long lanyard hanging from my ever-present camera, and one of my shoes is laced with seine twine. Admittedly I don't think I've shaved in a week (and it didn't stop a bee from stinging me in the eyelid the other day, RUDE!), and if you'd talked to me I might have casually referenced belaying my work for a bit to go pollinate subway for lunch; or avasting early to abscond before my way home was shoaled up by the swarms of students getting out of the school I must pass by to get home.
   This past weekend I was up in the rigging of the brig Pilgrim helping unbend (ie downrig, ie take off) the sails for the winter; this upcoming weekend I'll be crewing on the schooner Spirit of Dana Point for the transit down from Santa Barbara to Dana Point; and the week in between I've been looking after bees in boxes.
   For most of the last six months I was a crewmember on the topsail ketch Hawaiian Chieftain, and for most of the next two years I will be doing beekeeping in Africa through the Peace Corps.




This LJ will often include pictures, often unrelated to anything. This, however, is a (bumble)bee on a tallship.


   As far as LJ Idol is concerned, I try to avoid the usual "here's some random anecdote I pulled out of my past that fits the prompt" entries. If it's particularly apt I might pull out some story from my life but more often I prefer to write some kind of story that has some kind of point, and I try to make each one as different from every other one as I can. Anyway, you'll see what I do.
   In the mean time I made an index of my entries from the first season I participated in LJ Idol and have been working on an index of last season.

   It was technically impossible for me to remain in LJI until the very end last year, and this year I'll be cut short even sooner -- I'm scheduled to leave for Africa in February. Unlike last year though, this year I shouldn't have to post half my entries from internet cafes in obscure places.


That's well.

Date: 2010-10-29 09:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] blackmavriq.livejournal.com
It is well, though you forgot to mention anything about shank....I mean sheeting things, and the differences between sailors and pirates and professional beekeepers and experienced beekeepers, or how there's a lot of not talking going on.

Date: 2010-10-29 09:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] comedychick.livejournal.com
Awesome humour, man :D

Date: 2010-10-29 10:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fortitudehigh.livejournal.com
It sounds like you have a fascinating life!

Date: 2010-10-29 12:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] millysdaughter.livejournal.com
Any time I walk in a brushy area, I tuck my pants into my socks to prevent ticks from getting in.
Edited Date: 2010-10-29 12:27 pm (UTC)

Date: 2010-10-29 05:01 pm (UTC)
ext_8730: (Default)
From: [identity profile] maerhys.livejournal.com
Beautiful photo! Your life sounds really exciting.

Date: 2010-10-29 06:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] belgatherial.livejournal.com
Awesome. :)

Date: 2010-10-29 07:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] i-id.livejournal.com
Aw, poor little guy is all wet.

Date: 2010-10-29 07:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] teenagewitch.livejournal.com
Nice bee, but still huge!

Date: 2010-10-29 07:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] majesticarky.livejournal.com
I'm looking forward to reading more about your adventures this season! They excited me last season : )

Date: 2010-10-29 08:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gaea-rising.livejournal.com
Very intriguing - I can't wait to read more. The photo is beautiful.

Good luck!

Date: 2010-10-29 08:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] joeymichaels.livejournal.com
Sorry that your season will be truncated, but always awesome to see you in the game.

Date: 2010-10-29 08:27 pm (UTC)

Date: 2010-10-30 02:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dance-of-flame.livejournal.com
OMG. That picture is absolutely gorgeous and also gives me the heebee jeebees. I'm phobic of bees and anything else that flies and stings/bites. o.o

That tall ships thing? I envy you that. That's awesome. :

Date: 2010-10-30 04:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] i-id.livejournal.com
Was she the man-overboard?

Date: 2010-10-30 01:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rattsu.livejournal.com
Beekeeping in africa? Aren't the bees there all kinds of crazy?

Seriously, looking forward to reading as much as you're able to post.

Date: 2010-10-30 06:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chandrielle.livejournal.com
Oh for fuck's sake. Is it that time already?

Date: 2010-10-30 07:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alphaloria.livejournal.com
I look forward to hearing more :)

Date: 2010-10-31 11:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] basric.livejournal.com
I do like the bee. Look forward to reading your entries. Good Luck.

Date: 2010-11-01 01:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Lol I love the icon!

Date: 2010-11-01 01:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Thanks (:

Date: 2010-11-01 01:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Oh you'll hear more alright... :D

Date: 2010-11-01 01:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Hellz yeah!

Date: 2010-11-01 01:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
I had rescued the poor bee from a cup of coffee

Date: 2010-11-01 01:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Reading the rest of your (homegame) entries from last season is still on my to do list!

Date: 2010-11-01 01:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Thanks. No bees were harmed in the taking. In fact, they were UNharmed!

Date: 2010-11-01 01:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Thanks! (:

Date: 2010-11-01 01:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
I had hidden her in JB's coffee cup I mean uhh she fell in his coffee cup. ;D

Date: 2010-11-01 01:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
huge and adorable!

Date: 2010-11-01 01:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
thanks (:

Date: 2010-11-01 01:27 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Thanks. (: I try to keep it interesting

Date: 2010-11-01 01:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Yeah it makes a lot of sense. What's weird is a bunch of my coworkers absolutely refuse to get higher backed boots, prefering instead the standard workman boot, and thus if they don't want to get stung in the ankle they have to wrap their ankles in duct tape -- which I think looks a whole lot sillier than god forbid wearing tall boots.

I think I made a whole entry about this once.

Date: 2010-11-01 01:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
I was freaked out that she might drown or not survive!!

She did though, and flew off into the sunset once dry (:

Date: 2010-11-01 01:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Thanks, I do my best (:

Date: 2010-11-01 01:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Thanks (:

Date: 2010-11-01 04:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chandrielle.livejournal.com
you're crazy.

Date: 2010-11-01 04:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] millysdaughter.livejournal.com
Combat boots seem like the most sensible choice.
Those boots can take a serious beating and keep on working.

Date: 2010-11-01 02:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lawchicky.livejournal.com
So glad that you joined LJI again even if you can't finish the season. Some of your entries last year have stayed with me because they were so interesting!

Date: 2010-11-01 06:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] joeymichaels.livejournal.com
The stuff that was really interesting to me at the time wasn't so much my actual pieces as the "number of readers per day/number of votes" articles. Assuming LJ's counters are all correct, I frequently had +20 more voters than readers.

Date: 2010-11-02 03:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mstrobel.livejournal.com
Aww, that photo is gorgeous!

Date: 2010-11-02 08:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] i-id.livejournal.com
My goal, I think this year, is to last longer than you in LJI.

Still going to try that NaNo idea?

Date: 2010-11-02 10:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
uhoh! :D


Nah I decided it would be irresponsible of me to start another daily distraction when I urgently need to be cramming French as much as possible. d:

Date: 2010-11-05 12:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Oh and they're not actually as bad as "africanized" bees here. The hybridization apparently brought out the worst of both worlds!

boots

Date: 2010-11-05 12:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Yeah, they really are the logical choice in a profession where we're climbing around in boots all day anyway and could really benefit from ankle protection. I'm pretty sure the reason the other guys won't wear them is because combat boots seem suspiciously punkish or something and they're "good hard working blue collar americans." I really think its something weird like a sense of more significant meaning to what shoes you wear that makes them all opt to wrap their ankles in bright red duct-tape rather than god forbid wear combat boots.

Boot entry

Date: 2010-11-05 12:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Ah I went and dug up the entry I wrote about it. Lots of fun discussion of boots in the comments there (:

Re: boots

Date: 2010-11-05 01:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] millysdaughter.livejournal.com
I spent too long living on base, I guess...punkish is NOT what comes to my mind.

Re: Boot entry

Date: 2010-11-05 01:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] millysdaughter.livejournal.com
Your paratrooper boots are pretty much the same as the "jump boots" the cute guy wore for his combat boots with his uniform. They had to have a very high shine on those puppies!!!!

Re: Boot entry

Date: 2010-11-05 01:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emo-snal.livejournal.com
Yeah "jump boots" is another word for "paratrooper boots" (:

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