Travel Log 4-20: Witches in Fiction Giveaway!

 Well folks, you have come into some unexpected largess. Or at least one of you lovelies has.
     A few years ago I went into one of my few fangirl  joyfests. I got to go to a Terry Pratchett book signing. Luckily it was a fairly small book shop and so I got to listen to his talk on modern fantasy fiction and stand in line to get a couple books signed. Now being a complete noob in to the book signing etiquette I in fact hadn't brought any of my personal copies to be signed, but rushed immediately upon entering the establishment ran to purchase a couple copies of his discworld series, which I am sure made the booksellers do a happy dance.
     What I was not to know at the time was that the book tour that he was on was to be the last for Sir Terry before his early onset Alzheimer's diagnosis.
      So while you will pry my personalized copy of Thud from my cold dead hands, I am offering up this to you my wonderful readers-

A signed copy of Hat Full of Sky!!!!!!!!!!!
    Signed by Sir Terry himself, in person!!!!!!
Here's a little blurb about the book itself, which is the second in the Tiffany Aching series (and if you haven't ever read The Wee Free Men, or if you have a young girl growing up that you care for you need to check this series out).
From Harper Collins:

Terry Pratchett Books for Young Adults

Available Formats:
Paperback
Hardcover
E-Book
Audio

A Hat Full of Sky

Something is coming after Tiffany ...
Tiffany Aching is ready to begin her apprenticeship in magic. She expects spells and magic -- not chores and ill-tempered nanny goats! Surely there must be more to witchcraft than this!
What Tiffany doesn't know is that an insidious, disembodied creature is pursuing her. This time, neither Mistress Weatherwax (the greatest witch in the world) nor the fierce, six-inch-high Wee Free Men can protect her. In the end, it will take all of Tiffany's inner strength to save herself ... if it can be done at all.
A Story of Discworld

 So here's the rules:
   1. Be or become a follower of Lost in Astral Space.
   2. drop a comment on this post with your favorite fictional witch! (please leave your email in your post so that if you win I can contact you!
Extra entries:
   1. visit Pagan Culture and leave a post on any of Magaly's wonderful fiction posts and drop a comment with the url for her post that you commented on here (ok that sounded less confusing in my head...)
   2. Be a participant in The Witches in Fiction Blog Party!

This giveaway is open to international entries and will end on May 1st with the winner being announced on May 2cd.

Good Luck everyone!!

Travel Log 4-19-2: Witches in Fiction #6 (or my Grannysims)

Magaly over at Pagan Culture is being kind enough to host this little get together, so here is my contribution to Witches in Fiction.
   My Favorite Non Alive Person (or A Tribute to Granny Weatherwax).

Granny Weatherwax ( captured here by Paul Kidby the official Discworld portraitist check out his site at http://www.paulkidby.net)

Here's my Granny wisdom for the day:
 From Hat Full of Sky:
'I make my own,' she said. 'Every year. There's no hat like the hat you make yourself. Take my advice. I stiffens the calico and makes it waterproof with special jollop. It's amazing what you can put into a hat you make yourself. But you didn't come to talk about hats.'

     This is from one of the Tiffany Aching series (Tiffany is a kind of mini me for Granny and is speculated to be at least as powerful, if not possibly more powerful than Granny someday) If you want a great post on Tiffany check out LJ's guest post over at Pagan Culture.
      This quote is really the reason that I have started on the adventure of making my own ritual tools. I have played at it here and there for quite some time, and you've seen some of my tutorials and here's my cool craft posts. But lately I've really gone from coveting the fancy, shiny baubles that I see all over the web and really looking at the serviceable, personal ones that I have made as the better choice. As Granny says- 'it's amazing what you can put into a hat you make yourself'.' It truly is amazing what you can put into a life you make yourself.

Travel Log 4-19: Children's TV Tuesday

Here's the next installment of my series examining children's programing from the perspective an adult held hostage and forced to watch it.

This week we're going to visit a show that I actually really like.

    Olivia from NickJr.
        I actually really like this show. Olivia is a little girl who lives with her mother, father, little baby brother William and her little bother Ian. She has a great imagination and is constantly turning everything into an adventure. She is a little fashionista and an artist. She has a best friend that she is staunchly loyal to, and a friend/ nemesis in the girl next door Francine (who has OCD parents that showcase how great Olivia's laid back parents are).
        The family is loud, loving, and supportive. I especially love the dad, who when confronted with Olivia trying to ship Ian off to Siberia explains that it really isn't feasable to pay for the shipping, complete with a fee caculation that ends up partially on the wall. There is even a line that constantly gets quoted in our house from the dad on this series. He is sent to the store with the children while his wife is home working on her event planning business. He proceeds to accidentally leave Ian at the grocery store and Olivia (despite being envious of Ian's piano skills) tells him that he forgot Ian before they get home. The dad retrieves him and when he's explaining it to Mom when they get home and she tells him how could you forget one of the kids at the store he replies- "Well maybe next time you should put them on the list of things to bring home."
     Yes folks, that's what kind of show this is.
      Now if only I could get my boys to watch it more than they watch Yo Gabba Gabba

Travel Log 4-18-2: The Battle For The Living Room

 Ok I have to share this with you all because I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants.
      First thing you have to know is that I have arachnilepsy (the funny dance you do when you walk into a web). I HATE spiders with an all burning passion. I have been known to run out of a room and refuse to go back in until someone has gone in and killed the spider plus given me confirmation of the kill (I usually DEMAND to see the squashed body) before I will set foot in the room again.
     But tonight I was brave.
     I was a shoe wielding amazon that took down the horrid beast (all 3cm of it- the legs count!).
     This is how the cage match with the 8 legged monster went down...
     It was a normal evening here in our little house. The weather was gray and chilly out, but we were inside doing our usual routine. The kids were safe in another room watching a movie (Meet The Robinsons). I was on the computer and the Hubby was folding clothes and chatting to me.
     I happened to glance over at him, and SAW IT.
     Back lit by our living room lamp, there it was. 8 Legs and a tiny body, hanging by a thread from my dear hubby's hair.
     I froze in horror.
     Then I lept into action.
      I screamed for my hubby to hold absolutely still and looked around frantically for a weapon.
     I grabbed up one of my sneakers and ran to my husband.
     The monster was now sitting on his hair, right behind his ear.  I then looked away and attacked the horrendous thing with my trusty shoe.
    And thus, after many whacks of the shoe to my Husband's head, and one very quick shower, the Ordeal was over and the monster Vanquished!

Travel Log 4-18: Witches in Fiction #5 (or my Grannyisms)

Sorry I didn't post anything this weekend, it got kinda hectic over here, but we had fun. Went shopping and got some new summer tops, got all the easter shopping done, decorated our eggs (there is an awesome tutorial on how to do silk pattered eggs here and it really works! We had a lot of fun). And then on Sunday my dad and I took my Monkeyman to the classic car swapmeet. Hundreds of classic cars and classic car part and accessory  vendors. We have a '65 mustang that we're fixing up so we got a ton of ideas and some upholsterers numbers. It was a great weekend!
 Now on to business!

Magaly over at Pagan Culture is being kind enough to host this little get together, so here is my contribution to Witches in Fiction.
   My Favorite Non Alive Person (or A Tribute to Granny Weatherwax).

Granny Weatherwax ( captured here by Paul Kidby the official Discworld portraitist check out his site at http://www.paulkidby.net)

Here's my Granny wisdom for the day:

Granny Weatherwax had never heard of psychology and would have no truck with it even if she had. There are some arts too black even for a witch. She practised headology - practised, in fact, until she was very good at it. And though there may be some superficial similarities between a psychiatrist and a headologist, there is a huge practical difference. A psychiatrist, dealing with a man who fears he is being followed by a large and terrible monster, will endeavour to convince him that monsters don't exist. Granny Weatherwax would simply give him a chair to stand on and a very heavy stick.

    This one helps to remind me that sometimes, in this world of over evaluated second guessing, that my instincts are something to trust and be valued. Even sometimes acted upon. The 'rational' world of today wants us to believe that there is nothing beyond our basic sense. Everything else is explainable and simple. As a witch I have to agree with Granny and if I think there's a  monster I'm going to get my own chair and a very big stick.