Better bookstore than I thought.

Just yesterday I discovered Half-Price Books in Roseville.  I have never stopped there before because I thought it was one of those places where for 99 cents you can get a biography of Dr. Phil or a full-color book on the fish of Minnesota.   It turns out to be a legitimate bookstore, complete some first editions and a decent Sci Fi section.   I had trouble getting past the Bs (Baum, Bradbury, Bujold) and was tempted to buy all the Philip K. Dick novels in stock.

For $26 I am now the proud owner of:

Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks

The Pollinators of Eden by John Boyd

Humpty Dumpty in Oakland by Philip K. Dick

Also, filling my “author I’ve never heard of” quota, War for the Oaks by Emma Bull.  I almost didn’t get this one. 

Pro:  Woman Author. 

Con:  Contains Fairies. 

Pro: Set in Minneapolis. 

Con:  Contains Fairies.  

The tie-breaker was that the cover says that Neil Gaiman says, “Emma Bull is really good.”  As I just finished reading Gaiman’s Stardust* yesterday so I guess that’s fate or something.

*I realize Stardust features fairies as well, but they are in a traditional fairy setting (ye olde England) as compared to War for the Oaks which described as “modern urban fantasy.”  Here goes…

Shameless Self Promotion – and Peeps!

Out, Out Damn Spot!

Hey everybody!  I’m back and you won’t believe everything I accomplished in a week without blogging.  Most importantly, my awesome friend Carrie had the fantazgreat idea to make a Peep Diorama.  We were planning on entering the prestigious Washington Post contest, but decided we should support our local community so we opted for the Pioneer Press instead.  The Pioneer Press Peep Diorama contest has been around 7 years whereas the Post is only in its 3rd year.  There is a nifty prize, but Carrie can have that.  I only want the glory.

So here’s what YOU CAN DO:

The panel of judges will take into account how many votes the various submissions receive.  The leading entry as of this writing has 1700 votes.  So drop everything right now, go to the Pioneer Press website and vote for our diorama – MACPEEP. In the unlikely event you think some other diorama is more deserving of the winning title you should of course vote with your conscience.  (traitor)   If you are related to me you have to vote for MacPeep even if you aren’t appropriately appreciative of our artistry and brilliance.  Remember, I have never won first prize in anything so this is very important for my self esteem.

Special thanks to Mark, Steph and Craig for their artistic eyes and helpful contributions.

Below are photo details of our diorama, additional pics are on Flickr and check out Carrie’s documentation of The Making of MACPEEP.

Thank You Thank You for your support.  Tell all your peeps!

Vote here – page 13 under “Vote”.

The Wyrd Sisters

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and tongue of sheep,
Wool of bat and blood of peep,
Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Banquo Appears

The Guthrie at Night

Vote MACPEEP!

Unique Holiday Gifts by Local Artists

If you are looking for a special handmade gift,

check out this great work by local lady artists.

Holiday Art Sale

featuring

Pottery by Lesley Witt

Jewelry by Connie Kuhnz

& Purses created by Molly Diers.

Here is Molly as my lovely assistant.  Although it looks like she thinks the whole event is verging on catastrophe.

Holiday Art Sale

Where & When

2212 5th Street NE

Minneapolis, MN 55418

(click here for map)

Saturday December 5th

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

& Sunday December 6th

Noon – 4:00 PM

Molly Made

Peek at Molly’s handmade purses at mollymadepurses.blogspot.com

Horse Hair Pottery by Lesley Witt

“The horse hair firing method is taken from the Native Americans who used this technique to honor a favorite horse or celebrate the birth of a horse.

I start by throwing my shape on the wheel. Once the piece is trimmed and dried, I coat it with many layers of terra sigillata, a slip of extremely fine clay particles. A hand buffing with a cloth creates a  glassy sheen. The piece is first bisque fired to 1900 degrees. Allowed to cool, the pot is then brought back to the kiln and refired to 1000 degrees.  At peak temperature, the hot piece is removed and I apply the horse hair by hand. The cinging hair on the heated surface creates the distinct look without the use of any glaze.”

For more information about the sale, contact lesleywitt@hotmail.com.