At Sword's Point

It's going to be beautiful outside this weekend, so naturally I'm spending it inside. All day today I'm on deadline for a magazine piece I'm writing. The piece should have been a breeze, but it hasn't been. I'm not getting the words and the structure to do what I want them to do. Now, though, I'm up against a deadline, so I'm going to do the best job I can in terms of execution and send it. Better to be good and on time than brilliant and too late to publish. Editors don't like that stuff, and I like this editor, so best to be as pro as I can be. I'll go into the content and treatment when it's closer to publication, but I love the magazine it's running in-- one of the best around these days.

Tomorrow, I'm fencing in the Crescent City Open, as an unrated épeeist. I thought the tournament would be challenging for me, especially considering I haven't fenced competitively in 12 years. But I had no idea this would turn into such a huge event. According to the AskFred information site for fencing nerds, this could be an A2 event.

For those of y'all not familiar with fencing arcana-- it's the third to highest-rated competition. Fencers work hard to earn their ratings from A to E. It usually reflects one's experience and ability. To win an A rating requires winning a major tourbament, for the most part. A fencers, naturally, are very, very good. An A rating is hard to come by. Bs also mean excellent fencing. Cs and Ds mean competent guys, and Es mean good enough to have done pretty well once or twice in small tournaments.

I'm unrated.

In the épee division, of 57 entries, 17 are As and Bs. I'm in a lot of trouble. Even to earn an E rating in this size tournament, one would have to finish in the top 12. That's not going to happen unless a lot of As and Bs beat up on each other, and then I manage to get extraordinarily lucky with more than one of them, which I don't see happening. But it should be fun anyway.

The tournament starts at 8 a.m. at the Hilton on Poydras. If you're bored, come on by. Don't cost nothin'. But be quick if you want to see me. I suspect I may get eliminated quickly enough to walk down to CDM and get a consolation cafe au lait and plate of beignets for second breakfast.

But my new épee arrived today from Leon Paul (in busted carton-- thanks US Postal Service in NYC). It is, if I may say so, beautiful. Maybe I'll fence better with it (kind of like relying on new shoes to run fast, but...)