The magpie's nemesis

Please cast a vote to help a very worthy cause!

piperx — Sat, 15 May 2010 02:48:20 GMT

No, this is not a vote for anyone on American Idol. This is a much better cause, and it takes the same amount of time.

A good friend's son has formed a student-run group which is competing for a grant to install a Solar Photovoltaic system and implement a number of renewable energy curricula in their high school. The recipient of this grant is decided exclusively by popular, online vote.

Voting is only open until May 15th at 11:59PM (That’s Saturday). Not sure of the time zone except that it's in the U.S. so don't delay. Detailed below is the short process it takes to cast a vote.

To vote:

Go to brighterplanet.com, and register - this only requires an email address, password and username. That's it!

Once signed up, select the "Project Fund" tab, select the "Belgrade High CARE Project", and cast your three votes. (Your effort is worth THREE votes, not one!) The direct link is: http://brighterplanet.com/project_fund_projects/146

You can read the project proposal here, as well, if you want to ensure your votes are going to a good cause. Currently, the kids' cause has got the most votes but there is formidable competition from a filmmaker who would use the grant money to purchase video equipment. You can ask yourself, which do you think is a better cause: purchasing yet more film equipment for a filmmaker? Or supporting a student-run organization what wants to use the money to implement Renewable Energy Solutions in their high school?

Please vote and then share this with everyone or anyone you know. Or just link here - it's totally public. It really is a great cause and the kids have worked so hard on this. To help, all you need to do is vote!

Thanks so much for your time!

Politics - What's wrong with community organizers?

piperx — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:00:22 GMT

I admit that I didn't watch much of the Republican National Convention but of what I did catch, it seemed that the running theme of the convention was to insult Obama as much as possible while at the same time, trying (and failing miserably) to be just like him.

Here's Obama's typically classy response (no teleprompters needed):

Oh, and GIP!!

Political conventions

piperx — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:24:42 GMT

So, some evangelicals thought we should pray for rain in Denver this week to spoil the Democratic National Convention. No such luck - it was sunny skies and beautiful today.

Yet, next week during the Republican National Convention, hurricane Gustav is expected to hit the coast just as the Republican National Convention is starting.

Interesting. I wonder if it has occurred to them that, you know, maybe God is trying to tell you something.

"Your son Rip is on line toot"

piperx — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 03:31:58 GMT

I giggle like a 4-year old every time I hear this commercial. Tell me I'm not alone?

Books meme

piperx — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:06:43 GMT

What we have here is the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, underline the ones you've read for school, italicise the ones you started but didn't finish.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina Reading this one now, but it's very slow going.
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre It's possible that I originally read this for school but I've read it several more times for pleasure so I'm bolding it.
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged To have finished this would have caused physical pain.
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian : a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault's Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & Demons
Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver's Travels
Les Misérables
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela's Ashes : a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People's History of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield

Movie meme time

piperx — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 03:57:13 GMT

From penny_sieve

Post five movie screencaps from films you love/enjoy/consider a guilty pleasure. See if your flist can guess what films they are!

I tried to pick true guilty pleasures and movies that were different from the ones I always do in these memes.

All guessed but #2 which was "Seems Like Old Times". Classic Chevy Chase/Goldie Hawn, written by Neil Simon. SO funny!

Happy Leap Day!

piperx — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:15:25 GMT

It's funny to think that if my daughter had been born two days later, we'd be celebrating her "first" birthday today. ;-)

This is the list of all 80 films that have won an Oscar for Best Picture. Bold the ones you've seen. Hubby and I noted the ones we'd seen during the Best Picture montage during the Oscars last week so this was very deja vuish.

Wings
The Broadway Melody
All Quiet on the Western Front
Cimarron
Grand Hotel
Cavalcade
It Happened One Night
Mutiny on the Bounty
The Great Ziegfeld
The Life of Emile Zola
You Can't Take It with You
Gone With the Wind
Rebecca
How Green Was My Valley
Mrs. Miniver
Casablanca
Going My Way
The Lost Weekend
The Best Years of Our Lives
Gentleman's Agreement
Hamlet
All the King's Men
All About Eve
An American in Paris
The Greatest Show on Earth
From Here to Eternity
On the Waterfront
Marty
Around the World in 80 Days
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Gigi
Ben Hur
The Apartment
West Side Story
Lawrence of Arabia
Tom Jones
My Fair Lady
The Sound of Music
A Man for All Seasons
In the Heat of the Night
Oliver!
Midnight Cowboy
Patton
The French Connection
The Godfather
The Sting
The Godfather Part II
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Rocky
Annie Hall
The Deer Hunter
Kramer v. Kramer - I remember seeing this in the theater and falling asleep during it. (Hey, I was nine!)
Ordinary People - Just saw this the other day! Couldn't tear myself away from it.
Chariots of Fire
Gandhi
Terms of Endearment - I'm sure I've seen this although I can't remember much about it.
Amadeus
Out of Africa - Seen parts of it but not enough to give myself credit.
Platoon
The Last Emperor
Rain Man
Driving Miss Daisy
Dances with Wolves
The Silence of the Lambs
Unforgiven
Schindler's List
Forrest Gump
Braveheart
The English Patient
Titanic
Shakespeare in Love
American Beauty
Gladiator
A Beautiful Mind
Chicago
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Million Dollar Baby
Crash
The Departed
No Country for Old Men

44 out of 80. Somehow, I thought it would be more.

Random spammage

piperx — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:20:11 GMT

Blast my husband for sending me a link to this site. Half an hour later...

Here's another loltastic one: Penny Arcade Parody

Lunar Eclipse tonight for most of us

piperx — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:20:42 GMT

In case you didn't know. I'm pleased because my sky looks like this right now:

This is actually a picture I took about a month ago from my back porch. It took several days to get. It seems that the magical time only ever lasts a second less than the time it takes to find a camera and get it set up to take a picture.

Having been inspired by a flare-up of my Everest obsession since reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, I've decided that I should take a day this summer and hike this range from one end to the other. I've hiked its paths many times but I've never made it to any of the peaks.

Anyway, here's hoping for a nice clear sky tonight.

Super Upset

piperx — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:14:10 GMT

I started watching the Superbowl at halftime, not really caring who won but I was on the edge of my seat by the end. Holy crap, that was such a good game!! I love a good upset.

Heh, I'm l33t!

piperx — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 03:38:46 GMT

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Reality-Based Intellectualist, also known as the liberal elite. You are a proud member of what’s known as the reality-based community, where science, reason, and non-Jesus-based thought reign supreme.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

My son and sleep... again. Oh, and Doctor Who

piperx — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:41:13 GMT

I don't know who I was kidding when I said that he had won the battle but not the war. He so thoroughly kicked my ass last night, I have to concede that he won the war a long time ago. I'm just a fledgling rebellion. Thankfully, my dear husband is going to cater to his whims tonight. Hopefully, his demands won't be hourly reassurances like it was for me last night. Oh yes... HOURLY. The only break he took was from 3:30 am to 5:45 am. It wasn't a break for me though as my daughter chose to crawl into bed with us at 4:30 am. Her timing was too perfect. I suspect she's on his payroll.

Anyway, I didn't just log in to complain about my lack of sleep. I've recently gotten into Doctor Who and am jonesing for more episodes. I have the SciFi channel and BBC America but could any of you tell me if there are episodes available online for download?

Drive-by post

piperx — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 04:04:12 GMT

I was going to write an entry yesterday but it's a really good thing I didn't considering I was functioning on three hours of sleep thanks to my almost two-year old son. He was awake from midnight until about 3:00 am. (I hadn't gone to bed until midnight because I wasted a couple of hours watching Transformers. It caused me to laugh in a few spots but it's a depressingly great example of everything that's wrong with Hollywood. But that's a whole other post.) It's hard to think clearly at 3:00 am when you haven't had any sleep yet and I ended up catering to his every whim.

Dear son tried to pull a repeat performance last night as he clearly wasn't interested in going back to bed at 2:00 am but this time, I was prepared. He put up a valiant fight but I prevailed and he even slept until past 7:00 am. The war is far from over, but I won the battle last night.

I'm really wishing I had a paid account right now just so I could post a poll for Superbowl weekend: New York vs. Boston. If any of you want to run with it *nudge nudge*, it doesn't have to be just about sports. Manhattan clam chowder or New England clam chowder? Who has the better accent? That sort of thing. I'm telling you, it's begging for a poll!

I think I forgot to say anything earlier so many thanks to rhrsoulmates for the card and the warning! That cheered me greatly. And very happy and very belated birthday wishes to you too.

Latest news headlines (SSDD)

piperx — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:12:50 GMT

Fuck, I have just had it with people committing unthinkable acts against small children. PLEASE, just do everyone a favor and throw your own worthless ass off the bridge FIRST. Okay?

Damn, what the hell is wrong with people?

WOW!! BIG HP NEWS!!

piperx — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:44:40 GMT

I don't know if anyone has noticed but I've really fallen out of the fandom the past few months. I've had a hard time working up any kind of enthusiasm for any HP news. But this week, I have been unable to contain my excitement over the biggest HP news in months. No, years.

I am of course referring to the news of the casting of Blaise Zabini as Louis Cordice. OMG OMG OMG DUDE!! I can't believe no one is freaking out over this news. I mean, hell-ooo! He's only the most important character in the movies! And the books too! The repurcussions of this decision are surely being felt throughout the fandom right now. They just better not cut a millisecond from any of his crucial scenes!

I'm off to find the discussions about this fascinating development.

Heroes

piperx — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 03:40:36 GMT

Just want to say I DON'T TRUST WEST. Never have.

I've been less than crazy about the season so far. The West storyline irritated me the moment it started. We're supposed to believe in that whole big school, the two with super powers just happened to meet up and become fast friends? No. That's just stretching my credulity a bit too far. And um, looking in her windows? Yeah. Creepy much?

The only way this storyline will be redeemed for me is if we find out that West is spying on Claire for the Company. I had little to no hope of that in previous episodes but now I'm starting to think it might actually happen. My faith in the show is just a bit brighter with that in mind.

Last week's episode was an improvement but tonight's episode was the first one I can say I truly loved. Sylar and those poor, ignorant Wonder Twins. Matt's mysterious absent father. Claire being such a teenager. HRG being such a Dad. Angela, the ice queen, being afraid for her life. Katrina girl's blossoming power. Poor, poor little Molly. All these things, I loved.

I'm starting to think I might have judged this season too soon.

Pumpkin spam!

piperx — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:41:26 GMT

Can't. Stop. Laughing.

This one is just cool.

Those with weak constitutions might want to skip the last. :D

More here.

Book meme

piperx — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:43:28 GMT

Gosh, I haven't posted in forever.

I was going to post my results of this Civics quiz but I don't think I want to embarass myself. That quiz was so hard, I couldn't even finish it.

Instead, I'll do the book meme.

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users (as of today). As usual, bold what you have read, italicise that you started but couldn't finish, and strike through what you couldn't stand. (Please note; all originally foreign language books which I claim to have read, I have only read in translation). Add an asterisk to those you've read more than once. Underline those on your to-read list.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina - on my shelf, waiting patiently for its turn
Crime and punishment
Catch-22
One hundred years of solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The name of the rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities - I can recite the first couple of lines. Does that count for anything?
The Brothers Karamazov - Also on my shelf waiting. I think I might have started reading this at one point but I can't remember now.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius So much love for this book!!
Atlas shrugged So much hate for this book. I don't think I even finished the first ten pages.
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books What I'm reading now. I'm about 4/5 of the way through so I'm giving myself credit. A nice inside view of Iran.
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury tales
The historian : a novel
A portrait of the artist as a young man I have this one on audio book.
Love in the time of cholera
Brave new world
The Fountainhead
Foucault's pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A clockwork orange
Anansi boys
The once and future king
The grapes of wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & demons
The inferno
The satanic verses
Sense and sensibility
The picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One flew over the cuckoo's nest
To the lighthouse
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver's travels
Les misérables
The corrections
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Dune
The prince
The sound and the fury
Angela's ashes : a memoir
The god of small things
A people's history of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A confederacy of dunces
A short history of nearly everything
Dubliners
The unbearable lightness of being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita Greatest work of fiction ever written.
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an Inquiry into Values - Another waiting patiently on my shelf.
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity's Rainbow
The Hobbit
In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The three musketeers

Memes

piperx — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 20:34:21 GMT

You Are a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed.
Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

H/G vs. Trio in DH

piperx — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 05:00:41 GMT

Did I mention that I really, really loved DH? Not sure if I did or not. Just wanted that known.

I loved it so much that I've been lapping up fan fiction again for the first time in years. It's odd. It's that old feeling of not getting enough. Even odder still is that the characters I'm most interested in are Harry and Ginny. I was a little unimpressed with how this pairing was written in HBP, but DH seems to have completely renewed my love for them.

I haven't been able to put my finger on why I fell in love with the H/G pairing again. It's not like there were a plethora of scenes devoted to them. There was really only one followed by fleeting moments and thoughts throughout the year. It wasn't until I was reading an old essay I had written but never posted that I understood why I loved it so much.

The essay was essentially about how the H/G relationship was at odds with the trio relationship. I've always believed that the trio was the most important relationship of the series and would always come first with Harry.

(This is what I wrote in Nov 2005)"I believe that JKR has her own priorities when writing this story. Obviously, the main plot is Harry vs. Voldemort. But when it comes to relationships, there is only one relationship that has remained consistently in the forefront throughout all six books so far. One relationship that I believe she considers untouchable and vital to Harry's very existence. From the troll scene to the pivotal moment before Harry faces Voldemort under the trapdoor in book one, JKR makes it clear what is most important for Harry: friendship. She has Hermione state it outright as she hugs him at the end of PS.

"Books! And Cleverness! There are more important things—friendship and bravery."

Many H/Hrs point to this scene as romantic foreshadowing, but that demeans the true importance IMO. What is important is friendship, plain and simple.

The trio friendship goes through many trials and tribulations throughout the books. Harry fights with Hermione in PoA and Ron in GoF and both of them in OotP. He learns to rely on other friends at the end of OotP. Romance moves into high gear as relationships sprout with members outside the trio. But at the end of HBP, it's made crystal clear what the state of the trio is. Despite the fights and the jealousies and the side romances and the life-threatening situations, the trio is stronger than ever. This time, it's Ron who reminds Harry, and the readers, that nothing will break up the trio. That they're with him whatever happens."

So where does a love interest figure in?

(Again from Nov 2005)"The question that I've had in my head for a very long time, since at least PoA, is how will Harry have a meaningful romantic relationship that doesn't usurp the importance of his relationship with Ron and Hermione? There seemed to be three options for this relationship. 1. Harry would not have a romantic partner. 2. He would have a girlfriend who was not part of Harry's circle of trust (the trio). 3. There would be a fourth member of the trio. (Note: destruction or disintegration of the trio by death or any other means is not an option. This is what I believe and I also feel very strongly that this is the way JKR is going.)

Harry being a confirmed bachelor is certainly an easy option though wholly unsatisfying for the vast majority of fans. Luckily for us, it appears as though JKR is not going down that road.

JKR chose the second option for Cho Chang. Cho was never invited into the trio's friendship. There was never any pretense that she would be. Nobody believed it would last, JKR made that perfectly clear. Obviously, this is not the right option.

That leaves the third option: introduce a fourth member of the trio. Many fans were resistant to this option, as was I. It would completely change the dynamic of trio. The preservation of the trio is a priority according to how I believe JKR is writing the books. So, this is not a good option either. It seemed to me that she was in a lose-lose situation with Harry's love interest. There was really nothing she could do that would have satisfied everyone or well... me. This is why I've always been particularly interested to see how she handled it.

When it finally happened in HBP, I was surprised that she chose some aspects of option two and three. I think, in hindsight, that was the best route she could've taken. I'll admit that it was not all I hoped for. To me, it was a situation that would require an extraordinary bit of magic, but JKR has always been able to come up with that magic in the past, so my hopes were high. I admit that the result did not live up to them.

However, she did do the thing that I considered most important and that was keeping the trio intact and just as strong as ever. All things considered, I was pleased by the end product. The trio is still the main relationship as H/G was conveniently ended. Harry had a nice relationship with a girl who was suited to him (IMO)."

After I reread this recently, I realized why I liked the H/G relationship so much in DH. I liked it mainly because it was on the sidelines and it didn't interfere or draw focus away from the more important relationship of the trio. I was quite wrong about option #2. It turned out to be the perfect way to handle H/G, IMO. It was like a comfort zone that Harry could retreat to in rare moments. Someone who had eyes for him only. Someone who would wait for him and be there for him. Someone who made him happy and made him laugh. Someone who was tough and had a strong personality in her own right. H/G was something to look forward to at the end. But most importantly, it stepped aside so that Harry could have his time with Ron and Hermione.

I've always thought that a fundamental problem of any romantic pairing involving Harry is that it would be in the shadow of the trio's relationship. In DH, I think JKR did the right thing by relegating the H/G to the sidelines. She's been incredibly consistent on this. The trio has always been most important and that's what it came down to in the end. I was incredibly pleased with how she handled H/G and it's only increased my affection for them.

Oh! Forgot to add, if you have any post-DH fic you want to recommend, please do!

Jo's acknowledgements - No spoilers

piperx — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:04:39 GMT

I don't know if anyone else has seen JKR's acknowledgements on her site. It's behind the "Do Not Disturb" door, FYI. This part really stuck out to me:

"As for my children, my two youngest do not really know what Harry Potter is all about yet. Looking forward to sharing the books with them when they are old enough keeps me from feeling too sad at having finished."

Me too, Jo. Me too.

piperx — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:47:21 GMT

Once again, I almost got stuck at Chicago O'Hare yesterday. Just as we were safely aboard the plane, the pilot announces that we need to deplane because of a problem with the plane's oxygen system. I was sure I would be spending the night but luckily, there was another plane available.

I'm associating the delay problems with the airport but most everyone else was blaming United. I'm sure chickadilly would back them up.

I was really surprised that I didn't see a single person reading DH at the airport, until I got to Chicago, that is. I was sitting there in the terminal and I suddenly looked up and found myself literally surrounded by people reading it. Men and women. Mostly young but there was one grandmotherly type who had the British edition. At least one besides myself was rereading it. (A young girl who just got back from an anime convention in Baltimore where some asshole was holding a sign with the names of the DH dead.) Everyone was excited about it and talked about it giddily. There was also one guy who was inexplicably reading a worn paperback copy of PoA. Trying to catch up maybe?

So to all those people who didn't like DH, you don't have to like it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But let's make one thing clear: you are in the minority.

How much did I like it? Best Potter book of the bunch. I'm sure if I worked very hard at it, I could come up with some criticisms but for the most part, it was sheer perfection. A lovely end to an enthralling series.

Er... I'm back.

piperx — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 22:37:04 GMT

Yeah. I didn't get very far. I forgot two cardinal rules of flying:

1. If you have more than one connecting flight, fly early in the day and

2. Don't fly through Chicago.

*head desk*

You can't tell me that "weather delay" is not code word for "we messed up and don't want to pay for your hotel room in a strange city".

Luckily, I was still at home when I found out that I wouldn't make my destination tonight so I opted to get a flight out first thing tomorrow morning. The nice ticketing agent even gave me a $25 coupon for my troubles.

Ah, whatever shall I do tonight? I really don't know. Hmm... perhaps I should just curl up with a good book. *eg*

Heading out...

piperx — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:21:42 GMT

Apparently, it's a good time to get away from the internets. I'm going to catch my plane in an hour so I will see some of you shortly. For the rest of you, have a fantastic week and I'll see you on the other side!

Obligatory end of HP post

piperx — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 15:28:14 GMT

I keep thinking back to when I first started reading the books almost eight years ago. I had my little stack of three books and would occasionally try to picture what a stack of seven would look like and wondering if I would make it that far. It was the great unknown. I wanted to know how it was going to end so badly. And I wasn't even halfway through the series!! When I thought ahead to the seventh book, it seemed like a lifetime away. And it was, really. I've created two new lives since then. Moved twice. Bought two houses, sold one. Quit my job. Lost my mother. Made many cool new friends and travelled all over the country to meet them.

I won't lie that there was a selfish fear that something would happen to JKR before she finished. I kept hoping she was driving safely and not operating any heavy machinery. This was four books away from the end. A LOT could happen in that time. She could decide that she didn't want to finish them. A "rocks fall" scenario. Keep us all in suspense for the rest of our lives. These were very real fears of mine that caused more stress than I like to admit.

I also keep remembering that the last two book releases ~~made me pregnant~~ coincided with conception. Let me just say right now that that AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN this time around. The idea is kind of... horrifying.

*****

I'm rereading the Horcrux chapter of HBP and something just occurred to me. Dumbledore says that Voldemort reserved significant murders for making Horcruxes. In his next statement, he turns around and says Voldemort used the Muggle caretaker to make the last Horcrux. It's oddly contradictory and I don't think Dumbledore didn't catch the contradiction. I don't believe that Voldemort would have considered the Muggle worthy of a Horcrux. It's possible that Voldemort relaxed his standards because of his desperate situation but I think that's unlikely.

I also had a thought that someone has probably come up with before but I haven't seen it. I believe in the popular scenario that Voldemort will suffer a fate worse than death. But what would be worse than death for Voldemort? I think being locked in the Love room in the Department of Mysteries would be a fate worse than death for him. Maybe that's where they're at on the cover.

Oh, and Draco, for all his teasing of Harry for his dead parents, is going to lose one or both parents himself.

*snerk* My daughter just came out to show me that she had dressed herself in her wahleecon t-shirt. Funny that she managed to dig that out of her drawer when I'm in the middle of this post.

I probably should say something about the OotP movie, which I saw last week. I liked it a lot. It had a very different feel than the others. But honestly, I thought about it a total of five minutes before I turned my thinking back to Deathly Hallows. I just don't much care about the movies. I didn't even know the movie was coming out on Wednesday until I started to see all the premiere pics on my flist. My feelings for the movie, or lack thereof, only confirm to me that my time in fandom will most likely end with DH. I don't know if I'll stay on LJ or not. What's coming will come.