Liz Williams's Blog, page 56

Facebook

Thanks to everyone who joined up on FB after I mentioned it on this LJ. I'm enjoying FB a lot more than I expected to, although this (or DW, which I haven't got to grips with yet) will always be the main blog, as I like reading longer material than FB generally provides. However, it's enabled me to catch up with a lot of people whom I'd almost lost touch with, and the ceremonial magic community seems much more active on FB (or I just haven't found it yet here), with some really interesting discu

The play's the thing

Mort, in this instance. I think you can access these but it's a Facebook link, so let me know if anyone can't: I'm not quite up to speed with FB yet.

You can see two of our shops in the background (Magick Box and the Cat and Cauldron) on this and the following link.

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=90537883433&h=ep5HN&u=0x-1O&ref=nf

mevennen @ 2009-06-06T15:53:00

Its ancient name is Avalon...
It has many healing springs...
A war leader named Arthur took refuge there...
And it has a shrine sacred to the goddess. Only problem is....
...it's in Burgundy.

Yuri Leitch is doing a talk on this on Sunday, 21st June, at 2 pm , Assembly Rooms. And here have I been telling everyone that it's actually the Canaries, following Isidore of Seville. Hey, my mind was made to be changed.

Actually, this is quite interesting:

http://www.burgundytoday.com/historic-places/myths-l

Elections

From the Grauniad:

"Hurley added that returning officers at the Gloucestershire count had reported unprecedented numbers of spoilt ballot papers, many scrawled with abusive slogans."

Whilst I normally disapprove of spoiling one's ballot paper...

One Labour activist says,

"I take an old-fashioned view that in times of national crisis we get behind our leaders"

I should indeed like to get behind our leaders, preferably in the dark on a high and lonely place.

The BNP seem to have taken one council, in

Rattus bravus

Wow. Either really brave or really suicidal.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1190772/What-squeak-Daring-mouse-whos-boss-scares-leopard-steals-lunch.html

Sound Bites for Showing Concern

I have not posted about the murder of Dr Tiller before, but I have been following events closely. This tragic death happened in the US, and I live in the UK, where the anti-choice movement has significantly failed to get off the ground, largely because we are a more secular country and because what Christianity there is here is not nearly so closely tied in with the right wing. Also, our right wingers are not as crazy, even if they do use their expenses to build duck islands or whatever the hell

Pagan Values Month

Elsewhere on the internet, it is Pagan Values Month, and never one to let a bandwagon trundle past when I have a free moment, I am duly following the sterling example of [Bad username: cavalorn"] and doing a post on Pagan Values, over on witchcraft_shop. If any interested person would care to follow me over...

Location, location, location

I've been a bit quiet over the last few days as I have been teaching. This entails rising at 6.30 and driving to Bath. Half a hour of the journey, which takes about an hour and a quarter, is within Bath itself: not a town built for the motor vehicle. It is in fact less than 30 miles away - we are in a Bath postcode here. But old winding country roads, agricultural vehicles and in the city, modern traffic means that it's a slow trip.

It is, however, beautiful. It takes me over the hills, which ar

Lilypup

...is doing well. She trundles about, picking things up (boots, pencil sharpeners, candles) and putting them in more suitable locations (if you happen to be a dog). She is a very affectionate little beast and has fallen in love with Tara, who is clearly Grandma: she jumps about, embracing Tara, washing her face, wriggling into her basket. Tara bears all this with the patience of, well, grandmothers everywhere. We have a little difficulty at mealtimes as we have not yet learned the difference bet

And another bag for the manners

There was an exceptionally rude woman in the supermarket this evening. She was buying a bottle of vodka and a couple of small bottles of tonic, and the cashier asked her if she wanted a bag.

"I can't carry them without one," she snapped.

"Some people bring their own," the cashier pointed out, which in this town is particularly pertinent as one of the Chamber of Commerce's projects has been a re-usable town bag, (which is a nice cotton one in two different sizes, not that I'd advertise).

"Are yo