Calling stuff that one does not like or that seems outdated "medieval" is something that is... how shall I put it... not getting applauded very much by medievalists. Now, lots of snark can be released onto that topic, but I am not going to do it myself - instead, I am going to link you to Carl Pyrdum's blog, where you can read and laugh for yourselves.

In other and textile-related news, editing on our first Textile Forum Proceedings is going on - and I am utterly thankful that this work is done by somebody who is not me. I won't give an estimate of when it will come out, but I hope that there will be no unforeseen delays and that it is going to be not too far in the future.

The cat, by the way, has developed some sort of daily routine (well, routine in addition to meowing as if she were starving when it's feeding time). The part of her routine the most stable these past days? Her after-lunch nap. After lunch (and after the requisite bit of grooming), she settles down to take a little nap... which ends about an hour before her next meal, at six-ish in the evening. I am continuously astounded by cats' ability to sleep!

If you ask me, Jim C. Hines is a hero. Really.

Not only does he write awesome books that I really enjoy (that also feature kickass women), he has a blog and he uses it. But not only for the lighthearted, fun stuff (though you find that there, too) or for plugging his books, or for reviewing others' books.

He also tackles serious issues, and he does so in an amazing way. He writes about rape. About his issues with diabetes. About how words can hurt people. About his depression. About privilege, and about sexism on book covers.

So while I'm in Freienfels and thus not blogging, go read his blog.
(I'll be back to regular blogging on Friday, May 4. Star Wars day.Until then... may the force be with you.)

If you are a tiny little bit into typography, you will have heard of a font called Comic Sans.


If there's debate about only one font out there, it's surely about this one. Personally, I can't understand why some people hate it so much (and yes, I have used it - it is a font that is easy to read for me in bad lighting, which is the reason why I once chose it for song lyrics to print out).

And it looks as if I'm not alone in not understanding the hate: Project Comic Sans is taking the font to re-write well-known logos and symbols. Do check it out, it is not only funny - it also shows how much fonts are perceived as part of a logo even if you are not aware of it.

Doc, over at Medieval Cookery, has posted an article about how medieval a given "medieval" meal is.

And you can more or less use his three points - medieval ingredients, medieval recipes (or techniques) and menu (kit) consistency.

Speaking of medieval or not-really-medieval stuff, medievalists.net have outdone themselves. They have actually posted an interview (which is more or less really a plug) with a lady making "medieval leather clothing". I am not going to post a link to it - but I will tell you that I watched it, and that I could not decide whether to laugh hysterically or cry into my coffee. Leather garments in the Middle Ages are something that is not easily grasped due to the relatively sparse sources, and most leather finds we have are from shoes. Let's just say that the things shown in that video are not medieval in ingredients, recipes or menu consistency.

Wisely, medievalists.net have closed the interview article to comments.

Today's a holiday over here in good ol'Germany, so you are not getting a proper blog post.

Instead of blogging, I will be having fun and relaxing - but you might want to check out the open access journals that are still online for open access week, and there's a handy customised search engine right here, thanks to Doug's Archaeology blog.

Since there's not much to tell you about from my desk here, except that I'm busy doing all kinds of stunningly exciting things like my bookkeeping (argh!) and ordering an obscenely long list of books into the library from the archives, here are a few links to amuse you. And me, since I get to do some internet surfing first so I can find them.

Nice pictures from an archaeological dig, with German texts (old city fortification structures were found, for those who don't read German) can be found at the Schauhütte blog.

You can also surf to highly's place and learn how to insult a man who has turned down your advances (if you are a woman, that is) in late 12th-century French. Ah, time-honoured tradition of getting personal.

On a modern textile blog (catering to industrial production mostly) you can find some facts about linen (drawn from a modern linen producer). The fact that is missing there is that while linen has very high tensile strength - which means you can hang a lot of weight from a thread - it is actually not very resistant against friction, wearing through relatively fast. Still, it's an interesting list.

If you're waiting to see the TARDIS in a cathedral, at least in a photo, go visit highlyeccentric's blog. I am officially stunned.

HistoriAnn and Notorious PhD blog about conference etiquette and the job of a panel commentator, respectively. If you're going to conferences or being in the danger of moderating/commenting a panel, I do recommend these posts and their discussion.

If you are wishing to learn about medieval beans and how to prepare a bean dish, go read Andreas' recounting of a cooking test run (he's giving a seminar in fall).

But if that all is not tickling your fancy, you can always hop over to the Yellow Press of Medievalist Studies* and learn about medieval flamethrowers. Yes, flamethrowers!

* I realise that this may be a bit harsh - but I get their RSS feed, and that is just what I sort of think when all the flashy titles pop up. Yes, I know that much of it is the scholar's own fault. Yes, I'm doing that myself. I discovered medievalists.net a while ago and was totally excited for a time, but learned soon that their offerings (as always, duh Katrin) has to be taken with some salt. It's a service that will dig up articles and stuff about the Middle Ages, but they are not a peer review organ, and there will be outdated or disputable papers on there. That said, I still like to get the feed, if only to learn about medieval flamethrowers once in a while. And now this footnote is almost getting longer than the rest of the post.