Thanks, gentlemen! The visa process is slow and the USCIS website info is as clear as the Mississippi. As my wife says, everything got so much more expensive and complex post 9/11. The green card should come once I get the next visa interview stage over with. And yes, I will apply for citizenship at some point.
Geoffrey, one of the guys I contacted is Blake Walker. He runs games at a local store (which stocks a nice line of Vallejo paints and other goodies, BTW =). As far as I know there's no particular scenario in mind for the upcoming game. Blake said he's in the middle of a painting frenzy and should have some British good to go for the game.
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Spearhead 2009 is coming up on 8/8/09 at the St. Louis Mills Mall. A one-day event it has games ranging from Napoleonic through to sci-fi. That Saturday looks clear so I think I'll trot along.
Nothing much is happening on the wargames front right now, although I've made contact with a couple of local gamers and have a SYW game in 15mm coming up in August. My primary occupation this last month involved figuring out the labyrinthine matter of "stopping the clock" on my visa so I can actually stay here with my wife. It seems from the pictures I've seen of the Perry plastics Napoleonic French hussars that these could be an interesting set. Due to be released early next year, the set apparently includes a head wearing the mirleton. Possibilities for conversion abound!
The Happy Couple.
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Your host and his lovely bride were married in Kirkwood, MO at 5.30pm on July 3rd. Luckily the beautiful dress did arrive in time for the wedding! A good time was had by all, and we'll be honeymooning sometime in the fall, possibly in Pennsylvania.
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My kilt is the Black Watch (modern) tartan, as worn by The 78th (Fraser's) Highlanders during the French-Indian War. As you may know I'm a member of a reenactment group that recreates the Grenadier Company of the regiment. The stockings are black rather than the usual red to avoid clashing with the bride's dress (women do think of these things!). The tan belt holds my sword, "peace tied" for the occasion, and the buckled shoes are surprisingly comfortable.
Members of my regiment "78th Fraser's Highlanders" with their 'musket faces' on.
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"Yes, dear..."
If I forget, then there will be fireworks! ;)
And now a word from our "Everything was going so well!" department.
After a long delay that was already cutting things too fine the dressmaker dispatched my fiancee's wedding dress to us by the wrong service. The consequence is, it won't be here until next week! Needless to say Cindy is most upset! Luckily her eldest daughter is back in town. An expert dressmaker, she's risen to the occasion and we're going all-out to find an alternative in keeping with our 18th century theme. With luck and a following wind, we'll have something ready by tonight. Even my famous sang froid has taken a bit of a pasting over this...GenCon. I've heard so much about it and would like to go. I have friends in the Indy area who'll give me a bed for the night. I'm not sure I can make it this year but I'll aim to attend next year for sure.
We're both going to be at the Koh-Koh-Mah reenactment event September 19 & 20, 10 miles west of Kokomo, Indiana. It's the meeting of the year as far as the French-Indian War reenactment groups are concerned. I've wanted to go for years and now I can! The link above takes you to the title page.
Just about everything is in hand for my upcoming wedding on Friday. We're planning a dress rehearsal this evening to iron out costume matters and so on. I've been amazingly relaxed about everything, possibly because I've not been entirely idle in my hobbies. They serve as a welcome distraction from planning venues, celebrants and reception menus and so on.
Jeff Bluebear's new project Mythic Fangarm Quest reminds me of happy times spent playing D&D in the 80's and 90's. My old group split up long ago and of course I'm in another country now; but even so I still have a liking for the fantasy genre. I'm in the early stages of planning a modular dungeon complex scaled to 25/28mm using the Hirst Arts system of molds. The Merlin's Magic casting plaster (appropriate name!) is on order.
Once the whole set-up is built and painted I hope to arrange a play session or two in a local games store. Then if I find a willing customer I'll sell the dungeon and begin anew. That's one of the beauties of the molding system. It helps fund further projects, be they more Hirst Arts molds, wargames figures - or even mundane real-life matters.
