Welcome to Deckles and Dragons!

Please grab a mug of ale, sit by the fire, and listen to our resident minstrel sing of heroic deeds.  Your quest is about to begin!

 

In honor of my inaugural entry (and to practice inserting images), I present to you a dragon!  This little beastie lives in the margins of a book of hours at Boston Public Library.  I don't know whether this particular fellow breathes much fire, but he is rather too badass for only four heads—he decided to sprout another one at the end of his tail. 

Anyway--why am I blogging?  As is often the case, the tale begins with a work of fiction.

A few weeks ago, I watched Torchwood: Children of Earth for the very first time.  The experience was traumatic, distressing, and amazing.  When the story haunted me for days afterward, I did what any self-respecting student of literature would do to exorcise those demons—I wrote a paper about it.  Not with the hope of doing anything with the final product.  Really, what use have I for a study on the manipulation of genre literacy in a science fiction television show?  But the process was inspiring, and not just because it helped me find catharsis.  It helped me remember that writing—that geeking—is something that I really love. 

Back in college, I wrote a column for Luther College Chips called Geekitude, in which I reminded readers that we all have a little geek inside, waiting for us to supply her with a telephone booth so she can don spandex and save the world.  Or a certain blue police box, so she can travel through time and space with the Doctor…Anyway.  I’ve decided I miss it.  So Deckles and Dragons will be Geekitude in a new and expanded form. 

My motives for blogging are also utilitarian.  Recently, I have recognized a certain slippage in my writing abilities, in the same way that my fingertips are now smooth and uncalloused from not touching my cello in months.  Muscles must be exercised, or they atrophy.  Deckles and Dragons will be my treadmill.

Finally, why “Deckles and Dragons”?

A “deckle” is the frame of a mold used in hand papermaking (a “deckled edge” is the rough, untrimmed edge of a sheet of handmade paper).  Meanwhile, dragons are awesome.  Many of you probably also recognize the “D___s and Dragons” reference.  The elements in my blog’s title are meant to reflect the primary aspects of my current life: geekery, creativity, and librarianism.  I should clarify that these realms are not mutually exclusive.  On the contrary, they overlap, feed into each other.

Future blog entries will address any of the following topics (list is not comprehensive):

science fiction/fantasy, steampunk, arts and crafts, interior design, hobbits, anglophilia, gaming, mythology, rare books, manuscripts, librarianship, felines, auctions, garage sales, antiques, history, writing, linguistics, medieval times, trebuchets

I hope it proves to be mildly entertaining, at the least.

 NOTE: please be patient as I blunder my way around Blogger.  This is the first time I’ve done anything even remotely resembling blogging since my livejournal days a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away back in high school.  Things may shift and change on the blog as I get adjusted. 

Comments, suggestions, and advice are welcomed!