19 March, 2009

Fabulous Blog Award - Edit (Alternative logo)



Thanks to Gabriele at The Lost Fort for awarding me this. The recipient has to name five things they are obsessed with, and then name five other blogs they think are fabulous.

I'm going to modify the terms slightly and name five things I'm enthusiastic about:


  • Early medieval Britain. Sometimes called "the Dark Ages" (a term I dislike), also sometimes called Anglo-Saxon England (but that misses out the British, Pictish and Scottish/Dal Riadan kingdoms, which are just as interesting), or post-Roman Britain (but that puts too much stress on the Roman Empire, which although it was undoubtedly hugely important was not the only influence).

  • Historical fiction (no surprise there).

  • Walking and cycling - in mountains I walk, in the lowlands I prefer to cycle.

  • Cookery. In the sense that used to be described as "good home cooking", i.e. things that are good to eat, have some resemblance to the seasons, and don't take vast amounts of time to prepare that could be used for doing other things.

  • Needlework. Includes embroidery, dressmaking, knitting and quilting, among others. And I can also darn socks.



Five other recipients:

  • Meghan

  • Constance

  • CW Gortner

  • Nan Hawthorne

  • Scott Oden (who is, or was until recently, writing a book about Orcs, so the picture that goes with this award is supremely and deliciously incongruous. Anyone fancy Photo-shopping an Orc into the pic in place of the dog? Or in place of the girl, if you're that way inclined)



Edited: someone took me up on this suggestion. So here it is, the world premiere of a brand-new alternative logo:


12 comments:

Gabriele Campbell said...

Lol yes, Scott so needs and Orc variant of that award. And a corgi for Constance. :)

I can understand, and somewhat share, point 1-4, but I'm hopeless with anything that involved needles. There would be a bloodbath if I tried embroidery. :)

Passages to the Past said...

Congratulations to you and your nominees!

Nicola Griffith said...

How about calling it the Heroic Age?

Carla said...

Gabriele - Yes, I thought of the Corgi too! Sometimes I wish I could work Photoshop :-)

Amy - thank you! I saw you'd already received the award so I tried to spread it around.

Nicola - Michelle Ziegler's got there already with that, hasn't she? I like the term; it seems to fit the society very well. BTW, what's happened to Gemaecca? I was thinking of it for one of the five, but it hasn't been updated for ages and I wondered if it's dormant?

Rick said...

What a cool logo!

I was going to make the case for 'Dark Ages' (people at the time might have needed sunglasses, but they're dark ages to us). But on second thought I like nicola's idea better, the Heroic Age.

It isn't just Arthur, either - the whole 'Celtic' element in modern fantasy, indeed arguably the entire genre, is pretty much a projected version of the British Heroic Age. And the name also links to the Greek Heroic Age, that other poorly documented era that left an outsized memory.

Constance Brewer said...

Award variants can be conjured... :) Thanks, Carla. Now I have to define 'obsessed' as it pertains to me. Hmmm...

Kathryn Warner said...

Congrats on the award! I didn't know that you liked needlework - I'm a great fan of cross-stitch, but can't knit to save my life! :)

Carla said...

Rick, Constance, Gabriele - new variant of logo duly created :-)

Rick, Nicola - the minor niggle I have with "The Heroic Age" is - what about all the people who weren't heroes?

Interesting parallel with the Greek Heroic Age. I suppose if there isn't much/any documentation, the heroic legends are all there is. It probably also helps that there aren't any inconvenient facts to bring the legends down to earth.

Alianore - thanks.

Rick said...

The people who weren't heroes? They were busy staying out of the way of all those troublesome heroes wandering around the countryside!

Comparisons to the Greek heroic age are fascinating. There is essentially zero contemporary documentation. Just ruins, legends, and later historical Greece, all connected in some way.

Carla said...

Indeed! And growing the crops and paying the rent that kept the heroes in food and armour :-)

I'm not an expert on the Greek Dark Ages at all, but the parallels are eerie.

Constance Brewer said...

Psst. Carla - I made a Corgi themed logo. I'll try and get my post up in the next day or two. Been fighting Mr. Flu. He was winning, for a bit.

Carla said...

Constance - a Corgi would be cute! Hope you're feeling better.