Eythain's version of events

Eythain's version of events

Since the cat is out of the bag I might as well tell the tale of the DB Sewing Circle, as seen from my point of view.

It all started back just over a year ago (28 February 97... Hey! That means it took _exactly_ a year from conception to execution! Cool!), when the snide remark from Lois McMaster Bujold to David Brin that "My fans sew!" came to the attention of the Brin-L list. His challenge was clear: Can we let this happen?

The answer: "No!"

A multinational effort got started, soon encompassing no less than four nations spread over three different continents.

It was about this time that I got involved. My contribution was meagre, and not at all in the making of the Brinsters outfit. However, a chance comment that we might consider doing a contract or a warranty or something to give with the rest was enough for the Goddess Herself (Jo Anne) to sink her shining fangs into my innocent flesh.

With some discussion between me and the others, I ended up with the text for the contract as:

I, David Brin
Most graciously accept
These Gifts made by the
DB Sewing Circle

And the text of the warranty as:

These products have been made according to guidelines set by Jijo's Council of Sages. They are guaranteed to dissolve in one hundred years or less. If they fail to do so, please return them to the DB Sewing Circle, where they will be promptly destroyed.

(If you think the warranty sounds strange, remember, these are _sooner_ products)

There was some discussion of how to make these; in the sooner spirit, they shouldn't be made using anything overly technical (we discussed using an Buyur relic, but decided against it...). Initially the thought was to do both on wood, but that turned out to be an unwieldy solution for the warranty simply because there was _way_ too much text.

The wooden plaque with the warranty was made and pictures of it (and me) can be found at http://www.fc.net/~frog

Another solution had to be found for the warranty, and Julia Thompson (who'd been brought in by then) offered to cajole a friend into doing it as calligraphy on paper (sent by John Gunnarson from Sweden). I'm not sure whether they used my exact text in the end, but I think I'm strong enough to take it even if they didn't.

Well, to make a long story short, after much confusion Jo Anne finally made the drop yesterday. There's _much_ more to tell, but this is pretty much my involvement with it.

It's fun when a plan gets together, which this one (after several false starts) finally did.

Eythain Lazh