1) What are the hardest parts about 'coming out of retirement'? Easiest?

I never really thought of myself as retired. My activity level just fell really low. :) But, to answer the question: The physical obstacles are bad but the attitude issues are harder. Going to events is a learned behavior. Being well prepared and having your stuff well organized so that you can enjoy events is a skill set we don't pay a lot of attention. These skills were never my strong point. Getting back into the habit of going to events is difficult. The whole depression thing makes it harder.

The easiest part of this is re-establishing contact with all the people that make this whole thing worthwhile. In fact this part make the more difficult part easier. I know that if I'm missing something or I need anything, I know that there are a dozen people who will go to significant lengths to help me out. I think of it as my SCA safety net.

2) If you won Crown now, characterize your reign. How would it be different or similar to your previous ones?

I believe that dukes and duchesses should not compete for the Crowns unless they are committed to bringing something new to the Thrones. If I was king again, I would bring such cool stuff to the Throne that it would probably kick off a new Atlantian Golden Age. :)

Something Old: I would try to reverse the current (long time) trend of increasing Crown responsibility at the the cost of the effectiveness of the Great Officers and get back to the way Great Officers used to operate. Which is to say that the Crowns should concentrate on being the Kingdom's hosts and let the Great Officers do their jobs. Great Officers should do the vast majority of their jobs without ever consulting with the Crown. Somehow, the oversight role of the Crowns has evolved towards a management role. This is Very Bad. It Must Stop! The Crowns should get back to the Kingdom's Hosts Role!

Something New: I've got a whole bunch of ideas for cool stuff at court that I'm not revealing. I will say that I a new idea for frosted min-courts. I'll give an example of stuff I'd do: I would appoint four worthies as the Crown's champions. I would task each of them to find ways that the Crown can be a better influence in each of those four areas.

Something Blue: I think I'd find a bunch of ways to shake up the peerage orders. If I couldn't do it any other way, I'd just induct everyone I think deserved induction regardless of the opinions of the orders. The knights and laurels, in particular, will love my opinions on this.

3) What are the hardest parts about being a Knight? A Peer? What are the best parts?

For me, being a good peer and being a good knight are pretty much the same thing. This is mostly because I've been a knight so much longer than I've been a Pelican and the Ducal thing is irrelevant.

The hardest part has to do with the ideal. Kids learn about knights before they learn anything else about the period. How can any of us live up to the standards set by Arthur, Lancelot, Gawain, Roland, Richard Lionheart, Henry V, or any of the kings who succeeded on crusade? What other roles have period, and sometimes contradictory, treatises on correct behavior? So the best we can all do, is the best we can do, knowing that we shall fall short of our goals and the ideals of the populace.

Boy, that prior paragraph sounds so dour! It really doesn't s*** to be a knight! Being a knight is a kick! It's way cool! I get to pretend to be Arthur, Lancelot, Gawain, Roland etc. all rolled into one! What could be more sublime than being so committed to your kingdom that you'll wear a chain signifying your bonds! It's true and sometimes sad that when knights speak, people listen. The spurs somehow give us a bully pulpit. Not that all my bretheren deserve an instant soap box. But, I really love my bretheren. They really are brothers (some day a sister) to me. We bicker, we fight, some hate some others, but we're almost always honest with each other. There is very little of the cliques and behind the scenes machinations I saw in the order way back when.

4) How did you choose who to squire to? How do you choose your squires/proteges/associates?

I have been so lucky in so many ways in my life. It's enough to make me believe in the concept of the grace of god. One of the lucky events was meeting Sir Gyrth. Earl Gyrth, and Countess Melisande, were the people who taught me about the SCA. I think everyone knows that Gyrth is the best fightig analyst. He'd been developing his skills for a while when we met and I turned out to be the perfect test case. Sort of a masterpiece of SCA fighting analysis. He proved he could take a sow's ear and make it into a silk purse. I was eager, contemplative, analytic, stubborn, and goal oriented. In short, Gyrth was the perfect teacher for me. I can't imagine being anyone else's squire.

In the bad old days, I was incredibly lucky. I had a long series of wonderful squires. I formalized squire relationships way too easily back then. It has almost always turned out very well despite my lack of care in selection. For the last several years, I've chosen my students more carefully. I expect to establish a strong personal relationship with anyone before I'll consider a formal relationship (squire or protege).

I'm not sure I've answered the question. The short answer is that I judge each potential student relationship separately. We have to "click" on a personal level. Also, I have to be convinced that the student wants to follow a road towards a peerage. We get to map a different road for each student, we don't set any deadlines, but they have to be following their road. The best example, and probably the student I'm most proud of, is that of Sir Adenwald. What a "long strange trip" that was!

5) Outside of the clan, who were the people who had the biggest influence on you as an up-and-coming fighter?

A lot of this depends on what you consider the "up-and-coming" period. Strykar, Visavald, Fernando, and Sigfried, all had some minor influence. I really was a product of Gyrth's and Tsuneo's teachings. I can't state strongly enough how much Tsuneo helped with the "headology" stuff. To this day, it's difficult for listeners to keep up with us when the two of us start talking about fighting. Badouin and I make an extremely good team when teaching.