Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award

        Last month the fabulous Janice Floyd Durante at Books of Wonder and Wisdom tapped me for the "Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award."  Thanks, Janice!  It's fun to be connected.  This is the sort of thing that makes the world wide web feel like a web.

        So, the rules are that I tell seven interesting things about myself, and pass the award along to some other deserving blogs.  It's taken me so long to pass it on because I listed seven interesting things back in January, and I'm afraid there may not be seven more interesting facts about me.  Is it interesting to note just how placid, privileged, and pleasant my life is?  Certainly I feel unusually blessed.  But here goes: another list of factoids about moi.

        1.  I've kept a journal since 1979.  The first few years were rather intermittent, but I've been writing just about every day for about 28 years now.  (Wow, what a scary thought!)  And what do I find to write each and every day of a placid, privileged life?  Not much, I assure you.  It's a sad, sad addiction that I feel this need to set the day's thoughts in order even on those all-too-frequent days when I've had no thoughts worth remembering.  It's an even sadder addiction when I steal from my own children to sate the craving…  Yes, one evening a couple months back, when I was ready to sit down before bed and write, I found myself without a new blank volume.  Desperate, I grabbed my daughter T's composition book from school, cut out the used pages, and settled down with a relieved sigh to start a new volume of my journal…  (Don't worry.  School was out.  She didn't need it any more.  Really!)

        2.  I love llamas!  Llamas are marvelous!  And yet I've never done a block print of a llama.  (I did a vicuña, for the V for my animal alphabet, but no llama.)  The reason is simple: I'm afraid I don't know how to do the Best Llama Block Print Ever, and anything less than the best would be too terrible a disappointment.  But I still hope that someday I'll carve and print a tribute to the wonderful llama, and when I do you'll know that I'm finally feeling myself to be a master.

        3.  It's too hard to choose a favorite color, but much easier to name my least favorite color: pink.  Actually, I freely admit that pink has its place in this beautiful world of ours, but in my opinion that place should be a much smaller one than it currently holds - especially in toy stores.  I never fail to feel shocked by the disparity between the aggressive pink of the designated girl aisles and the violent black and red of the designated boy aisles.  Why must toys be marketed this way?  (But enough about Society, this is supposed to be about me me me.)

        4-7.  Well, I'm a couple factoids short, but I'll be a bit short on the blog-sharing part, too.  Actually, I think I'll let that part do double duty, and sneak a few facts about me into the following list of cool blogs…

        *  My Dream Dollhouse

Making doll houses of all themes and scales was one of my main hobbies as a child.  I built houses for various small toys, I built houses of all different materials, and as I got older I concentrated on creating standard 1:12 scale dollhouse miniatures.  I haven't made any miniatures in years, but I still love to look at them.  This blog has lots of great photos of amazing miniature creations.

        *  History Myths Debunked

I love history, but not the battles and governments type.  I like the fascinating glimpses into what life was like for people in other times and places. How would it feel to be alive in a different time?  How would I be a different person if I lived in a different world?  This blog is full of the intriguing tidbits that inform those questions.  (Good stuff for writers of fantasy set in different types of cultures, too.)

        *  abigailsateliers

I have a hate-hate relationship with today's fashion world, but I've always had an interest in historical costume.  I like the historical research and emphasis on accuracy in this blog (although I might wish the punctuation were as accurate as the sewing!)  I also like the way she's interested in people as well as their clothing.

        *  animals, animals, animals

If you've been to my web site and seen all the block prints I make of animals, it won't come as a surprise that I love creatures of all kinds.  As a kid I watched natural history specials on PBS every week, and that was pretty much the only TV I watched.  Here's a fun site celebrating the wonderful diversity of the animal world.  It's truly amazing, beguiling, and curious!

And finally, another crop of interesting block printing blogs.

        *  eraser carving and printmaking

        *  Mangle Prints

        *  hanmade

These artists do such beautiful work, and show such great inspirations.  I love to see the way other artists work.  And of course I feel a kinship with all the other artists out there doing block prints.  Go, team, go!

[Blog award rules: Thank the blogger who passed on the award to you, list 7 interesting facts about yourself, and pass the award on to 10-15 other deserving blogs.]

[Picture: Vicuña, rubber block print by AEGN, 2010.]