Liz Williams's Blog, page 52

Owen Davies

treadwells has a very interesting review of Owen Davies' book on grimoires.

Welsh

I've just finished both writing a course and doing a course, both of which have taken up quite a lot of time in the last 8 months or so. I now need to concentrate on the writing, obviously, but have decided to make a start on learning Welsh - something I have been meaning to do for ages. My family spoke it up until the 1930s, when my grandfather died and my father and uncle got packed off to boarding school in England. So this is my attempt to reclaim the language of my grandfather.

It's not an

Pupdate

I have booked Lily into the vet for her Ladies' Operation. Our elderly Rottweiler, Tara, was bred far too early (I say "bred". She apparently got pregnant to some passing hound and was kicked out onto the streets of Cardiff, IIRC) and is still small for her breed. Not wanting to risk the same sort of thing for a nearly-teenage pup, she will go to the vet over the next couple of weeks and be spayed.

She has been to dog training over the last 3 weeks and is doing very well: she is clearly a bright

Happy Birthday!

To la_marquise_de.

Something en route via snail mail.

Guardian

I'm very pleased to have been name-checked in yesterday's Grauniad:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jul/13/british-science-fiction-writers

Charles Brown

http://www.locusmag.com/News/2009/07/charles-n-brown-1937-2009.html

Damn. I remember Charles well from various bars at various cons across the States, and a somewhat excessive pub crawl one summer's afternoon in Brighton, with (IIRC) Gwyneth Jones and some of the then-InterZone team. I always got on well with him and I will miss him.

A medical post

There's an interesting article in the Observer on why we are all so knackered: I am intrigued by the comments on sleeplessness, and why early morning dreaming is important:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jul/12/chronic-fatigue-stress-modern-life

I'm not sure I agree, although these things may affect people in different ways. Personally, I like the 24 hour information society, although I do choose to step back from it sometimes. But I do think too much artificial light, too little slee

Tibetans

This is Glastonbury Tibet week and for the last 5 days, crimson robed monks have been wandering about all over town. They have constructed a quite magnificent sand mandala over the last few days and are now deconstructing it.

I spoke to one of the monks and they like Glastonbury, partly because people don't stare and point (I am typical in having walked past 2 of the monks on Wednesday and not realising until some minutes later, simply because we get so many visitors of so many different faiths)

Congratulations!

...to a Glastonbury institution, Knight's Fish and Chip Shop, which is celebrating its 100 anniversary today. There's a nice article in the paper of Bill Knight's reminiscences: the shop was founded in Edwardian days by his grandmother and a friend, and he recalls fish being wheeled home in a barrow from the railway station by his dad (it's now brought in from Avonmouth trawlers by van).

We regularly get fish and chips from Knight's - I have been going there when in town for about 20 years. Hope

Dog training

We went again tonight. Regular readers of witchcraft_shop will know that today was the day that Lily dragged a wheelie chair twice around the shop. Once we get to dog training, however, it's like she's been replaced with another dog. She sits, lies, and walks to heel, generating cries of 'ooh, isn't she a little star!' from the training team. In the intervals, while other dogs bark their heads off or head for the door, Lily lies down quietly.

Since I am used to having the problem ones, this is s