whogeek | Conference happenings

So I spent this past weekend at an archaeology conference, mostly for people who do experimental or recreational archaeology. There were a lot of presentations of papers, which was interesting, but boring at the same time, and Saturday afternoon we actually got to do some hands-on stuff. I got to try my hand at making a viking bead with glass (it broke, unfortunately, but I had fun trying), I made some cordage (thin cord made out of various plant materials) and made a bracelet with what I made. The best part was that I got to smelt some iron. We weren't actually smelting from iron ore, but rather from some scrap iron, to make a lump of iron that could potentially be worked into a blade or something. So now I have a 536 gram lump of blade-quality iron.

AND I FINALLY KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY ARCHAEOLOGY STUFF!! I want to learn blacksmithing, and do experimental stuff, and maybe work at a living history place or something. I mean, before it was just "archaeology, cool stuff, get to dig in the dirt!" and all the other archaeology students I talked to were like "what's your concentration/focus?" and I just didn't know. But know I really do know, and it's such a fantastic feeling.

Anyways, I feel like I've been so out of touch with people on lj, and I haven't posted in ages. So how are people doing?