your mom (yes yours)

Tonight I got off work at 11:frickin:00 and I knew I had zero food in my apartment, so I went by the store and the only thing that looked good to me was this raisin toast (the sunmaid in the red bag?) but it had this dumb cinammon swirl in it, and I hate when good things are ruined by unnecessary cinnamon, so instead I bought a jar of apple sauce (cinnamon free, thank God) and I just accidentally dumped like half the jar into a bowl, a little more than I wanted really, and I so wish I had a nice pork chop right now. But I had pig for lunch.

Ack! How long has it been since I really posted anything on this blog? I've been so busy this summer, it's just whack. But for all this busy-ness I feel like my life is actually pretty boring (see above story).

Krystle was here last week, that was lots of fun. We ate a crapload of food and saw many fantastic Broadway shows. New to me were Wicked and Spring Awakening, both excellent in different ways. I have seen five shows this summer, but I haven't been to a movie since Harry Potter! Maggie, you're the expert, if I was going to see just one, which should I see? I guess other people could weigh in on this as well.

Work, work, work. Acutally now it's just work, work. Bloomingdale's, Avion feminin, but no more Natori. I have hung up my Wacom tablet stylus plastic pen thingy, er, I don't work there anymore. The other two are still keeping me nice and busy. Things are very exciting at Avion this week because we are having our show for fashion week next Wednesday! Also, if you need any summer stuff, you should head to your local Bloomingdale's for Big Brown Sale this weekend. The summer things are RIDICULOUSLY cheap. More so than ridiculous day down at the deli. And you know that was ridiculolus.

Well, I have finished my apple sauce and now I feel like barfing, so I guess it's time to go. Peace!

"A" "little" "precipitation"

Oh, Maggie. You want some preciptation? Check it out: we had the BIGGEST storm last Thursday. I mean, insane. I didn't really notice that much because I was at work, and for some reason (I think it's lake effect) the weather downtown is always different than it is other places in the city--I mean, it rained here, a lot, but it was nowhere near the kind of stuff I saw later when I went further out.

The storm was like a symphony (multiple movements). One happened while I was at work. It was particularly bad out in the suburbs where my aunt lives (and where I grew up), and on the northwest side of the city (where I live with my grandmother). Trees--big, old, stable trees--just crumpled and cracked open, blocking roads and falling on roofs and balconies (my friend Paul told me, "You step out on my balcony and immediately your face hits foliage"), etc. Power lines down, twisters, basement flooding--you name it, we had it. My grandmother's basement didn't flood, thank God, but there was a little bit of water in one small area, so of course she promptly freaked out.

By the time I left work, it had stopped raining. I got on the Blue Line to go home and, fortuitously, when I reached the California stop (the last elevated stop before the train goes underground for the Logan Square and Belmont stations) my friend Sandra called me, saying she was home (she lives about five blocks from the Belmont station) and did I want to hang out? I did, so I got off at Belmont and she picked me up and we were on our way to Target when another storm front moved in. It was raining so hard we couldn't see--buckets of water, and completely flooded roads. I was so glad I was in a car instead of having to wait the storm out in an uncovered transit center, looking in vain for a bus that would not come. Sandra drove me home, too. How awesome/coincidental is that?

In other news, my job hunt is still floundering. Many of you may remember me talking about that Mike guy (Kim, Bri, Scott, you met him briefly) who lived in my building and did the same internship as me at Ivan R. Dee? He was nice to me at work, but kind of a douche when we were around his friends? Anyway, he also wants to be in publishing, and he just moved to New York (he informed me on the email) but still hasn't heard back from any job prospects, same as me! So at least we're in the same boat. It's a leaking boat, but at least we're keeping each other company. I'll probably see him when I'm there in mid-September; I'm pretty much living for that trip right now.

I had a long talk with my mom yesterday and she said that if things aren't looking up after I get back from New York she will fly me home so that I can spend some time there (free of charge, free of grandma-related guilt), figuring I can apply for jobs from there same as from here. Which is so nice of her, and I appreciate how she's trying to be on my side about this New York thing now (she slips every once and a while, but she's been pretty good lately), but it's probably not the best thing for me to go home this early in the game. I feel like I'll just be sucked back onto the path of least resistance and start looking for a J-O-B in the Bay Area because I can (not that it's that easy there, either). But I know I won't be happy if I do that, even if most of the people I love live in California. So I don't know. Can I go out for a visit only? Will I be able to crawl back out of it if I do, or will I just cave to family pressure and move back home permanently? God, I hope it won't come to that--I hope things start picking up on the job front--but it would be nice to go home for a while. I don't know--torn! Like Natalie Imbruglia.

I actually disagree about The Nanny Diaries. I really liked it--I mean, I didn't read the book (wow, those words hardly ever escape my lips), but it seemed all right to me. I mean, I liked Scarlett Johanssen in it, and that's amazing, considering how much I've decried her acting talents and general likeability since Match Point. Plus, I mean, isn't Laura Linney amazing? The first thing I ever saw her in that I remember was The House of Mirth--remember when we went to see that in Berkeley? Wasn't Maggie on crutches? Good times! I mean, not the crutches part, but that was a good movie and it was fun to go see it together. Oh, but how gross was Paul Giammati in The Nanny Diaries? Ugh? He should not be cleanshaven, and I almost never say that about men. He did a great job acting--his character was supposed to be hiddeous--but still, when he leered at her? UGH. Anyway, I thought it was pretty good, although bogus stunt casting with Alicia Keys--that girl could not act her way out of a paper bag. Which is an expression I've never full understood.

I should stop blogging now. Even I'm getting sick of myself. Laters!

Water for Elephants and GREs

Hidy ho neighbors! Things in my corner of the world are going well. Working hard and staying on top of my workout. Although I'm sure eating 2 chocolate poptarts in one sitting didn't help! Its okay, I guess, as long as I work it off! I really need to work on a good work out play list on my iPod. Anyone have any suggestions for songs?

In the down time I've managed to do some reading (Anna you inspire me always with your 50 book reading challenge and blogging about it.) I just finished My Sister's Keeper and am currently reading Water for Elephants. I just picked up Giraffe at Costco and can't wait to start it and its a short read (bonus!) So if anyone is looking for some good books to read, I recommend those three.

Other big news, I registered to take the Biology subject specific GRE test in November. This GRE is required for a lot of the graduate programs I've been researching. Although I'm not sure yet whether I want to go back to school soon, at least I'll have the necessary test needed out of the way. Its really hard for me right now, deciding to act on what I need and what I want. I know I need a masters for my career field to put me ahead, but I don't know if its what I want right now.

This weekend was a nice movie weekend for me. Recommendations Death at a Funeral, Mr. Bean's Vacation (I know but it was stupid funny!) The Nanny Diaries was a big disappointment, but I read the book and the movie is nowhere close to the book. Superbad was ok, but not the best movie out there to see right now.

And it sprinkled this weekend! Oh the joys of a little bit of precipitation!

I too...am alive!

Hello friends,

I am so sorry that I haven't posted, but I check the blog frequently to catch updates on all of you. I miss you all dearly (Kim I can't believe you moved so close to my old apartment...bummer!)

I am safely in Texas now. After a disappointing temporary job, I am now back on the job market. I've been on a few interviews and am listed with 3 staffing agencies here in Houston. So far I haven't had any job offers, but I'm trying not to get discouraged and keep plugging away...my money is running LOW though! There are two interviews I am really excited about, with Commerical Real Estate companies, so I will let you all know how it goes (tomorrow and Thursday).

I met a really cool girl here, through my sorority, and her and I have been hanging out. Natalie took me to an Astros game and also to my first experience in a Houston bar. Oddly enough, that was a place called Chances. Yes, its a Lesbian bar (her sister is bi-sexual) and it was honestly SO MUCH fun. Now I can say I two-stepped with a Lesbian, yay me. I haven't really explored the nightlife too much, but I am getting around ok.

Other exciting news...my boyfriend is coming to visit me Sept 1st - 5th. Yes, you read that right...my boyfriend. Other than the fact that we miss each other very much, things with Ian are fantastic. All the things I thought I would be scared to hear he's said and it doesn't scare me at all! *funny how that happens* I am so looking forward to his visit and will definitely post some fun pictures of us! His dad and step-mom live close by so it will be nice to meet the other parents too. FUN!

I love you and miss you all and I wish you were here to experience all of this with me!

Hectic Schedule

Hey all!

Just checking in to tell you I'm doing well. I'm settling into my new place well. The majority of my stuff is still in boxes, but I'm working little by little. With work being so hectic I think I'll be all done by...mid-October!

Classes start on Monday so things are pretty crazy at work. I had to work this weekend for quite some time and I'm really looking forward to all of the comp time I'll get in the next weeks. I'm looking into getting overtime instead of comp time but we'll have to see how that goes. Recruitment starts in two weeks so I'm looking at a crazy hectic work schedule until my birthday!!

No real updates other than that, but if anything interesting happens I'll keep you all updated!

I'm alive...

Hello Everyone,

Just thought I would say hello. Very busy right now with work and all that biz. And my special visitor Krystle is here until tomorrow! More news to come sometime soon. Hope everyone is well!

Superbad was just plain super

Hey, spoiler muffins, if you haven't seen it and don't want to know, steer clear of the post!

I've been watching so many movies, it's sort of absurd. I saw Stardust twice, and even though I didn't want to (for various different reasons) I saw both Becoming Jane and Superbad. Now, I liked the previous Seth Rogen/Judd Apatow vehicle, Knocked Up, enough to see it twice in theaters (and to add it to my Amazon wishlist--I will be purching when it comes out in Sept.). But, of all the characters in that movie, the one I disliked was definitely the one played by Jonah Hill, whose character was also Jonah. And I pretty much expected his character (Seth) in Superbad to be Jonah from Knocked Up except in high school. Expectations met! It really was the same character, except they imbued Seth with just a little bit more pathos than Jonah got, being a secondary character and all.

Superbad was WAY too long. But if you can get past that, it's pretty great. Very funny, and, like Napoleon Dynamite, appears to take place in a timeless zone where at least the fashion of all eras is completely up for grabs and not up for discussion. The shining star of the film is, of course, Fogell, a.k.a. "McLovin", who was the funniest character and also the only one of the three (including Michael Cera's adorable geeky Evan) to get laid.

But here's the thing, friends. I get that hot girls (even vapid, cardboard ones like Becca, Evan's love interest) would like Evan--he's sweet, and definitely cute. Hey, I'm attracted to him, but who am I not attracted to at this point, right? But Seth? Okay, Seth's problem is not that he's overweight, it's that he's shallow and unpleasant and disrespectful to women. At least Evan likes Becca enough to wrap his lust in sweet, sort of gentlemanly behavior.

And TELL ME when there's going to be another movie about a schlubby girl getting the boy of her dreams for no reason other than she's really determined and nice and funny and smart. The last one I remember is The Truth About Cats and Dogs, and I'm sorry, but that barely counts. Also, Hairspray doesn't . . . okay, maybe that does count, but Tracy and Link are such characatures that it doesn't even seem remotely realistic. Come on, Judd Apatow--if you're really about the "common man" winning out, how about you give the common woman a chance?

I'll get off my soapbox. I'm getting a little dizzy up here, anyway.

I'm annoyed!

Cox Cable told me they would turn on my cable today between 8am-8pm. They did just that. But I have four cable outlets in my new place and they turned on the one I am least likely to use. I'm annoyed.

Now I have to call and ask them to turn it on in two more...grr...

More to come about the move...I've got quite the story to tell.

But for now, bed. I'm pooped. I hope I sleep okay in the new place!

It's vintage!

Tell me that Natalie Portman (as Anne Boleyn in the upcoming film The Other Boleyn Girl) and America Fererra (as Betty Suarez from Ugly Betty) aren't wearing the same fugly necklace:





The people at Mode would be so proud. It's not every day that somebody's able to bring back a fashion trend from the sixteenth century!

Working on My Fitness

For a long time I have been anti-gyms. I enjoyed going to the gym in college because it was free and not filled with weird old guys. Since college I've been trying to run and I haven't been too consistent with it. Therefore I broke down on Friday and bought a one year membership to 24-Hour Fitness. I think this will be good for me, it'll help fill up my time besides work and going to see movies. I can get off my ass and work out. I have a really good co-worker Verna as a gym buddy. Also, her sister is a personal trainer at the 24-Hour Fitness that we go to, so she'll be able to help us out on our form. I really want to feel good about myself and my body (and also look good for Ted when I see him in December.) So "I'll be up in the gym, just workin on my fitness!"

As for movies I saw Stardust this weekend with a coworker and loved it. It has a great blend of fantasy, drama, and comedy. Claire Danes, Robert DeNiro, and a superb Michele Pfeiffer are in it. The score in the movie blends in well through out and the costume designs are beautiful. Especially Claire Danes' first outfit. Its so plain and simple, yet elegant. Great acting and the comedy bits are perfect. Gotta love a movie with flying pirates.

Becoming Jane

Following my (apparent) summer tradition of attending the motion pictures on my Fridays off from work, I took in a showing of Becoming Jane today. I was a bit reluctant, mostly because I knew it wasn't going to end happily--I mean, it's a fact well established that Jane Austen did not, in fact, ever marry. So you know the flirtation with Tom LeFroy (which the film blew up into a full-fledged relationship, complete with clandestine kisses, a marriage proposal and a near elopement) isn't going to end well, or at least isn't going to end in marriage. I find this dismal, but I went to see it anyway, mostly because I cannot resist the charms of James McAvoy, whose IMDb photo is hideous but who is, in fact, extremely handsome (McAvoy, incidentally, was cast opposite the dreaded Keira Knightley in Atonement, which is a fantastic novel, as Robbie Turner and even though I generally am annoyed by Knightley I feel like they've both been excellently cast).

Anyway, I have to say that Becoming Jane was a LOT better than that recent Pride and Prejudice adaptation. Julie Waters, who I know best as Mrs. Weasley from the Harry Potter movies, was an excellent Mrs. Austen, although everyone in the world seems to think that Mrs. Austen should be a dead ringer for Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, which she certainly was not. At least she's less shrieky. I was less than enthused about Anne Hathaway's performance as the titular Jane, which is strange because I pretty much don't mind her, almost kind of respect her in a way, but she's A.) not British, and not convincing while playing one and B.) not nearly as charismatic as McAvoy, making their interplay vastly uneven. The emphasis this movie puts on particular relationships is strange--there is a lot of focus (far too much, I think) on Jane's brother Henry and his love affair with their cousin Eliza, the guillotine widow of a French comte. To what end this is, I do not know, except to highlight the fact that poor men (like Henry and Tom LeFroy) must marry rich women, just as poor women (like Jane and her sister Cassandra) must marry rich men, underscoring the idea that while rich men and rich women might marry each other, poor men and poor women (like poor Jane and poor Tom) must let go of each other and seek better unions, even if this goes against their every emotional inclination.

In truth, there is no overwhelming proof that Jane Austen and Tom LeFroy ever shared a serious attachment, much less aspirations of marriage (to each other, I mean). There are a few of Austen's letters extant that mention him, but only briefly and only as an object of flirtation, although she seemed to respect him a great deal. It is extremely possible that Austen's deeper or prolonged feelings for LeFroy (which can only be guessed at and imagined, not substantiated) might have been evident in letters Cassandra burned upon Austen's death (there were many, many of these). But, it's not extremely likely. Which is fine. I like the stretching of fact into fancy--it opens up new spaces for imagination. Plus, it's nice to be able to believe that a most beloved author, who wrote books that give pleasure to this very day, whose end was neither pretty nor uplifting, might have enjoyed a scintilla of true blissful happiness in her short life. For Austen, despite the fact that she seemed always to believe in love and the power of love until her dying day, was a spinster, sad and lonely and living with her mother, who died young, and who lived almost entirely in a world where her poor prospects would yield her neither luck nor joy in the arena of marriage. She had none of the good fortune of the Bennet sisters. She accepted one marriage proposal, from a Mr. Bigg-Wither, who was wealthy but whom she was not in love with--the movie changes the circumstances greatly, transforming Bigg-Wither into Mr. Wisley, the beloved nephew of a somewhat deranged Lady Catherine de Bourg-type dowager played by Maggie Smith, and set him in her youth rather than in her older age. I rather liked Mr. Wisley in the movie--sure, he was a bit dull, but he seemed as though he had hidden depths, and he certainly wasn't devoid of feeling or gentlemanly character, and he did work quite hard to make himself the sort of man Jane might like to marry. I was really irritated by her behavior towards him, but halfway through the movie I realized that this was something Becoming Jane had got right--because, according to her correspondence, Jane Austen was not the nicest or sweetest of people. She could be biting and ironic and cruel, which is what made her such a wonderfully sardonic observer of human nature.

The end of the movie was very sad to me, but I felt like Jane made the right decision in the end. She could not bring herself to marry a man who would lose everything because of her, and whose family, who he was helping to support, would sink deep into poverty if he lost the allowance his wealthy uncle provided him. Why they couldn't put off their union until LeFroy was out of law school and had established himself is kind of left unexplained, but oh well. Love stinks.

Time to Celebrate!

I got an apartment!!!

It's about two blocks from where Carrie was living in San Diego. ::sniff:: We could have been neighbors!

It's quite nice actually. It's about the same size of my apartment now as well. The living room it's a tad bigger and the bedroom a tad smaller. The kitchen has a nice window above the sink and has much more counter space than my current place. The bathroom is separate from the bedroom and there is a nice amount of closet space! It's on the first floor (sweet) and next to the laundry room (which backs up to the side of my living room). And I'm saving almost $250/month!

Very excited!! I get the keys on Wed. the 15th and I'm planning on moving on the 18th. I even recruited four very great people to help! And all I have to do is provide pizza and beer! Yay!

I went to Boomers! with some coworkers tonight. I had a blast! We got just SOAKED on the bumper boats by these twelve year olds (seriously all eight of us were just drenched) and I totally kicked butt at the go-karts! I beat all of my coworkers both times laping some of the slow ones and everything! I did not win at mini-golf, but didn't lose either. A coworker and I played Area 51 (flashback!) and almost won! We played DDR and I totally rocked at that too (which is actually really unusual seeing I am not very coordinated). There was no laser tag to which I was very disappointed, but other than that a great Boomers! They have a train to ride, a ferris wheel, a little roller coaster for kids, a rock wall, and batting cages as well! The place was fantastic! And I just love spending time with coworkers outside of work, you get to see such a different side of them.

Well, off to bed now. I have a meeting at 8am, which means I actually have to be at work on time. LAME.

I will take some time this weekend (as a break from packing) to post my thoughts on HP.

My thoughts on Harry Potter*

*This post is the same as the one I posted on my blog. Just a warning.

So. Harry Potter is over, huh? Never thought this day would come, gotta tell ya. I remember how I got into the series. I was in a bookstore in Chicago, probably over Christmas because I don't remember reading HP until after I moved to California, and we saw it sitting on one of those tables. I picked it up and asked my sister (probably nine or ten at the time) if she'd read it. She said she'd borrowed it from school but hadn't finished it. My mother, wet rag that she is, started harping on how "horrible" it was: "They make the little boy live under the stairs!" I was like, This I gotta read.

I joined the HP fandom while we were still three books from the finale; perhaps it's not coincidence that Goblet of Fire is my favorite. I can also give you an 85 page thesis about why it's the absolute best of the series--take that Steve Jones/Dwight Schrute!--but I won't. Not here. Not now. I guess what I mean to say by this is that, although I feel like Deathly Hallows, by virtue of being the end of the series and therefore kind of outside of the other books in terms of importance, I don't like it nearly as much as I did Goblet. So, whatever. Take that for what you will. I believe, if I were to pin down an order of the books from my favorite to my least favorite, it would go something like: Gof, DH, CoS, PoA, PS/SS, HBP, and finally OoP. Wow, Half-Blood Prince at number six, huh? Yeah, I guess that concurs.

I definitely liked Deathly Hallows better than almost all the other books. So why, when I think about what I have to say about it, can I only focus on the negative? I can think of a billion things I didn't like about it, but nothing I really LIKED about it the way I can think of many things I LOVED about Goblet. In fact, I think in terms of flaws I noticed, this one has the most. Because, besides being too many years long, most of what happens in Order of the Phoenix I can pretty much get behind. I understand why Harry has to be a pissed-off teenager, I'm just not so up for dealing with it for nine hundred pages, you know?

But here's a qualm I had with Deathly Hallows--why wouldn't anyone let Ginny fight during the Battle of Hogwarts at first? Rowling built her up to be this fantastic, strong witch--possibly the strongest among the main teenaged characters--and it seemed like this was going to be important, but then she was stuck in the Room of Requirement while everybody else got to join the fight? I mean, eventually she got involved anyway, but still. I couldn't believe that Harry, of all people, would ask her to stay out of the fray. He knows how strong and talented she is, she's proven twice before that she's perfectly capable of holding her own in battle, and I mean come on, if Neville fights and nobody bats an eyelash--love the kid, great in Herbology, but damn if he's not sort of a, let's say unpredictable, wizard at times--then Ginny ought to be able to. Is it because she's a GIRL?!?!?! (Wow, apparently the soapbox does come with the ovaries--who knew?)

And I also was confused by the Deluminator. I mean, the great thing about the world Rowling created is that she gave it this huge set of rules. Magic can and cannot do certain things, and I think that goes for magical objects created by witches and wizards as much as it does for the witches and wizards themselves. So when an object called the Deluminator is supposed to turn off all the lights in a given area, I assume that that's all it does. But suddenly, it also creates orbs of light that transport people places? Will it only work this way for Ron? Does it only work this way for people who have turned their backs on their friends and now want to return? I mean, that's a pretty specific use. What the hell would Dumbledore ever need that for? Is it also a vacuum? Can it make me a cappucino? I mean, if it can do two such disparate and highly unconnected things, what can't it do? The Deluminator: Deluminates, transports traitors, AND gets stubborn stains out of industrial linoleum! What?

This is neither a flaw or a triumph of the novel, but I totally called it on Snape! I knew he was the person who cast the doe patronus [Did I forget to mention that this post is full of spoilers? Sorry!] that lead Harry to the pond with Gryffindor's sword. I didn't quite understand why the pond had to be frozen, and also didn't really get how Snape knew where they were (this might be a failure of memory rather than of the book), but it's a good callback to the fact that Harry didn't hear anybody say Expecto patronum but that Snape was the one who kept digging at them to learn silent spells. Also, how did the doe patronus still exist when Snape had already apparently apparated out of there (again, might be failure of my memory here)? In Order of the Phoenix we learned that you had to really concentrate hard to produce a full patronus, and to keep it going. If Snape had already left, how did his patronus remain? But I did catch on fairly quickly that Snape's patronus was a doe because he was in love with Lily Potter--we kind of got a bit of that in Order with her protecting him. I figured, whose patronus would be a doe? Well, Harry's and his father's are stags, so if you think that Lily was pretty plugged in with her family then hers would probably be complimentary to theirs, and we know that patronuses can change because of strong emotion (Tonks' patronus proved that to us in Half-Blood Prince), and who else besides James was in love with Lily? Snape. There you go. I also knew that he was going to turn out good. I just didn't believe Dumbledore could be that wrong about somebody, and furthermore I didn't believe that Harry, Ron and Hermione could be that right about him. Throughout the entire series we've been getting scenarios where it looks like Snape is bad and the kids think that and then it turns out he's not only good, he's kind of being a hero. And all to protect a kid he doesn't even like! Snape has been one looooooooong lesson to the trio, teaching them how appearances can be deceiving and how good and evil are not mutually exclusive--that there's a huge gray area when it comes to morality. If he turned out to be bad, and they were right about him all along, well then there wouldn't be much of a lesson in that, would there?

There were also things I hated but I sort of accept. I hated that Harry and that snake were Horcruxes. I was so sure that they weren't. I accept the snake, but I hesitate to even call Harry a Horcrux, because a Horcrux is made on purpose, and Voldemort had no idea that a piece of his soul was in Harry. The curse that rebounded on Voldemort just sort of blasted a piece of his soul off and Harry accidentally swallowed it or something? Uh, I don't think so. Also, how could Voldemort not know? He's possessed Harry before--did he not get some kind of tingle? He couldn't tell at all that he was near a piece of his soul? This whole issue has sort of made me reevaluate exactly how plausible I think this whole Horcrux deal is in the first place, but whatever. Sometimes you've gotta give a little.

I liked the scene in the faux King's Cross Station where Dumbledore explained everything--I was wondering how anybody but Dumbledore could tie it all up for us in the end. I also liked that you end up seeing that Dumbledore is not as perfect as he seems, that there are flaws in him just as there are flaws in everybody else. I wish we could've gotten that earlier in the series, but I guess we did with the way that Dumbledore treated Harry in Order. I like how he can sometimes be wrong, and I think there's even a line somewhere in the series where he says that because he's so much more intelligent and talented than most wizards, he's usually right, but when he's wrong it's disastrous. Case in point right there.

I did not see Grindelwald coming--thought he was just background noise, never thought he'd actually be an important character. I don't know why, but that bothered me a little. I guess because if it randomly shows up in Book 7 I'm sort of going to have expected a trail of breadcrumbs. Mentioning something in Book 1 (like Sirius, for example) and then not touching it again for two or three books is all right to me, but keeping quiet for five whole books and then busting it out without any warning seems a little evasive, potentially manipulative, and far too coy to work as well as you'd like. Again, I accept it, but I did have misgivings. The Dumbledore infodump was a bit frustrating.

This is much the same way I felt about the Deathly Hallows--I like how the invisibility cloak is important in the end, but then suddenly it's ELDER WAND! and RESURRECTION STONE! (or whatever that thing's called) and you're like, "Who in the what now? Deathly Hallows? WTF?" I liked the new stuff, but I feel like it was just too much from all sides: DUMBLEDORE WAS BFF WITH GRINDELWALD! *WHOMP!* DEATHLY HALLOWS! *WHOMP* THE SNAKE CAN PRETEND TO BE A PERSON! *WHOMP! WHOMP! WHOMP!* Suddenly you're all bruised and you have no idea where it all came from. And I SO do not buy the explanation of why Harry ended up being master of the Elder Wand. It makes, quite literally, no fucking sense. I'm with her up to the point where Draco Malfoy is the master of the Elder Wand--after all, he did defeat Dumbledore by Disarming him, and that's all you have to do to get possession of the Elder Wand (I like how that harkens back to the fact that Harry's signature spell is Expelliarmas and how Disarming Voldemort saved his life in the graveyard). But the fact that, by Disarming Draco when the wand Draco was using wasn't even the Elder Wand, Harry became the master of the Elder Wand is pretty ridiculous. I mean, you're really broadening the definition of "defeat" there.

And I hated the epilogue. I know that she didn't want to do a Victorian novel finale where you find out what happened to every single person in the world, but I kind of would've preferred it. The epilogue talked mostly about their kids--I'm sorry, but I couldn't care less about their kids. It is not their kids that I've lived through this experience with. I want to know what's up with Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, George (sob!), Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Draco Malfoy. I do not care about Albus Severus (btw, Worst. Name. Ever. And half the kids in my first child's preschool class are gonna have it, bet your bottom dollar) and his siblings and friends. I'm glad they're there, nice to see them, but that's it. I want to know what everybody's doing for a living, who's the Headmaster of Hogwarts, who's married to who, etc. I want to know how Draco is not in Azkaban. The wizarding culture has dementors who suck the souls out of people guarding their prisons--it's not like they're all into turn the other cheek. I don't buy that Narcissa Malfoy's "saving of Harry's life" (since he couldn't die until Voldemort did, that wasn't really that big of a deal) absolved her entire family from paying the price for their Death Eater-yness. Also, wouldn't it have been funny if he ended up marrying a Muggle? But what's up with George? Who's helping him run Weasley's Wizard Wheezes now that Fred's gone? I thought Ron would, but Rowling said that Ron and Harry are both Aurors**. What happened to Percy long-term? Wouldn't it be great if he helped take over Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with George? UH, WHERE WAS CHARLIE IN THIS ENTIRE BOOK, YO? Did he die and I missed it?

I'll tell you one thing I did really love, though. I loved that scene in the forest where Harry resurrected his parents, Sirius and Lupin and asked them to walk with him to his death. Nice touch. I cried, first time in this book. I liked it because it's sweet and because Harry has learned so much and fought so hard and because he finally got to ask something of his parents, which he'd never been able to do before. But I also like it because it think it's quite a deft piece of writing--it mirrors the scene in the first book where Harry has to look in the Mirror of Erised to get the sorcerer's stone. It's got that same theme--selflessness--and it's closely tied to Harry "seeing" his parents. I don't think it's ridiculous for Dumbledore to have commended Harry for being a better man than he is--after all, Harry is constantly thinking of other people; he's very selfless, always has been, especially when it comes to his fate.

**Actually, according to this webchat J.K. Rowling did at the Leaky Cauldron, Ron did end up joining George at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Earlier, she said that Ron and Harry were both Aurors. Interesting, huh?

Potterific

First- I would like to say that I found Dublin, California at number 84 on the list of the 100 fasted growing suburbs in the US. Our hometown is FAMOUS!!!!!

Next- This weekend my mother was here to help me find an apartment. I have applied at two different places and I will let you know how things go. Jennifer and Steven came down on Saturday and we had dinner and hung out and on Sunday we went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the SD Natural History Museum. It was an amazing exhibit. It was actually very moving to see the actual documents that proved that the scripture we use today is almost identical to that written almost two thousand years ago. Anyways- they are here until December 31 if anyone wants to come visit and go see them I would gladly go again.

Finally- This weekend all three of my guests were reading HP7 and were at different parts of the book. Steve finished yesterday and he and I were having discussion all weekend in code in order to not spoil the book for my sister (who was only at chapter 9 while my mother was only two chapters behind steve). He emailed me today with his thoughts and I thought you all may find them interesting:

Kimberly,

As you have hopefully guessed by my subject line, I did finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on schedule. I found it a most satisfactory conclusion, and was glad that Ms. Rowling never copped out or cheated: she earned this ending, and like Dumbledore, had a plan the whole time to which she was able to stay true. I don't feel the need for further Harry Potter books, as the story reached its logical conclusion and then stopped. What follows are my lingering questions and thoughts, in order of import.

1) I was pleased to find myself correct in the notion that Snape indeed was the caster of the doe Patronus. It did seem a significant piece of information that we had not seen or heard of Snape casting one throughout the books thus far, and he was the most likely of the living characters to have been the mystery hider of the Gryffindor sword. I was glad but unsurprised that his redemption provided the near-climactic point of the book, and found his character arc both moving and ultimately redemptive. As far as I'm concerned, the complete picture we now have of Snape excuses all of his wrongdoing - I've been opining that in light if this new information, his home life was even less happy than Harry's with the Dursleys. And to see how he was ostracized and rejected by his popular classmates right from the start made me even more on his side. Really, in retrospect, what jerks James and Sirius were - Harry, even with his lack of parenting, was a vastly better person than his father. As I said, I think that we can now see Snape as nothing other than heroic and courageous. I absolve him.

2) Another Slytherin revelation: isn't Regulus a much more impressive wizard now that we've found out that he succeeded where every other Death Eater failed? Finding out about the Horcruxes is more than anyone other than Dumbledore ever managed - it's clear from Snape's recollections that Severus doesn't even know about them. So Regulus must have had a high degree of scholarly ambition to uncover this knowledge. He was just as much a hero as anyone else.

3) Biggest heroes, in order: Harry; Ron; Neville; Dobby; Hermione; Snape; Mrs. Weasley; Lupin; McGonagall; Flitwick; Kreacher. Most touching deaths: Dobby, Snape, Lupin. Biggest surprise: Grindelwald being a real character, with complexities and shading, and even some last-second heroism (telling off Voldemort, taunting him on the deathbed - that took guts).

4) Where does this book rank among the rest of the series? I still have a (possibly misguided) loyalty to Prisoner of Azkaban, which is still my personal favorite = I think she found the best balance between the brevity and economy of the earlier books and the labyrinthine plotting of the later books. I have always disqualified Goblet of Fire on the grounds that the big plot twist was something of a cop-out (oooh, it was an impostor all along!), although I grow fonder of it upon further reading. Order of the Phoenix was necessary but sometimes unpleasant, and Half-Blood Prince pales in comparison to Deathly Hallows. I'd still rank DH second in my personal pantheon, which I think now looks like this: PoA, DH, GoF, HBP, SS, OotP, CoS. It's nitpicking, and in some ways it's not even useful to rank the books individually - almost better to see them as one giant work, the way some Tolkien aficionados treat Lord of the Rings.

Well, this has been an immensely satisfying reading experience. I hope you were just as cheered by the conclusion as I was. Let me know what you think when you get a chance.

Take care,

Steven

I'm sort of a little famous by proxy

God, you guys must be sick of reading my posts. Anyway, this article about local colleges and universities providing stipends so that students can take unpaid internships was on the front page of the Trib this morning--and I'm totally doing something exactly like this. Veird, huh?

I have so little else to look forward to, it seems

Let me tell you about a movie that I'm really stoked to see come January (hopefully I can see it with Cambria, as I will have been in New York for months already--right????). It's called Fanboys, and it's an indie that got so much respect after it was finished that the director received additional funding to go shoot more scenes that they had to cut because of monies, etc. So that's good news. It's about a group of teenage boys (and, apparently, one girl) who travel to Skywalker Ranch to see Phantom Menace, that boring-as-hell first Star Wars prequel before it is released upon the request of their best friend who died* or something. If you check out the IMDb listing, you'll know why I'm really pumped to see it--not only is my new new fake boyfriend Chris Marquette** in it, but so is Kristen Bell (of Veronica Mars fame) and this kid Sam Huntington, who I didn't know by name but definitely by face. He was in two episodes of Veronica Mars during the first season, and they happen to be two of the best episodes in that season, and despite the fact that his character doesn't get tons of screen time and also is a drug dealer, he made him seem likeable and real. I was just watching those episodes the other day and thinking, "Why haven't I seen this kid in more things? He's great!"*** So now we know. Fanboys. January 2008. Who's with me?

*Actually, Linus is their former friend who is in the process of dying and who they have just reconnected with. They're going to Skywalker Ranch so that he can see the movie before he starts pushing up daisies. Chris Marquette is playing the not-long-for-this-world Linus, so y'all know there are going to be lots of tears coming from his corner, which is awesome because he is SO good at that (see: almost ever single episode of Joan of Arcadia). Sadly, he will probably not be the character to hook up with Kristen Bell's Zoe--I'm always so much more interested in characters when there's a 'ship I can board. It's a sickness, I know.

**Considering how long it took me to move from Shia LaBoeuf to Chris Marquette, God knows I'll probably have a new new new fake boyfriend by January, but who said exes can't stay friends? I know I didn't.

***I'm sure Scott was poised to correct me on this--apparently, Sam Huntington was that kid in Jungle 2 Jungle which, thanks IMDb, I was trying to forget that movie existed. More recently, he played Jimmy Olsen in that crapfest Superman Returns.

Moving

I apologize for not posting a lot recently, I do check in every day to see if anyone else has posted. And I leave comments!

This weekend I have been out apartment hunting with my mother. It's so tiring! All of the apartments we have been to are becoming a blur (mostly because they all seem to have the same floor plan...weird). Today we have two more, which brings our final total to...16 I believe.

Jennifer and Steve are here as well. We went to a Japanese hibachi restaurant last night and it was amazing. Yum. Then we played catchphrase (with only 4 people- very interesting) and called it a night. I think we may try to go see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Natural History Museum today after our two apartment viewing appointments. We'll see how that goes.

I miss you all terribly. Next time anyone comes to visit, I'll have a new place! Yay!

The Girl Next Door

And we're back to me being the only person who writes up in this piece.

So, in honor of my new new fake boyfriend Chris Marquette (who Kim and I decided I could never date in real life because he's too short, but in fake life he's a bit taller than I am), I Netflixed The Girl Next Door, expecting it to be one of those American Pie-esque jobbies, like Eurotrip or Van Wilder, that is funny in a crude, puerile way but that I sort of never want to see again or even admit that I actually saw. But it was not, friends! I mean, it was sort of crude and puerile at times (the most excellent moments of this came from my new new fake boyfriend, of all people), but it was also very sweet and smart and funny and interesting. Its soundtrack is a little predictable, sadly, but I completely enjoyed it and just added it to my Amazon wishlist, proof positive that I adore it if I want to own it.

The Girl Next Door, in brief, is about Matt Kidman, who is the unpopular class president who dreams of being the President of the United States one day. He's about one sixty-fourth of the way there--he's been admitted to Georgetown, but his 'rents can't come up with the cash for four years, so he needs a scholarship badly. Things start to go all pear-shaped for Matt when he falls for Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert), who Matt later finds out (from his horn-dog friend, Eli, played by my new new fake boyfriend) is an ex-porn star. When Matt insults Danielle by treating her like, well, a porn star, she jets off with her producer friend, Kelly, played to perfection by Timothy Olyphant to return to the biz. Matt pursues, blah blah blah, etc. The best thing about the movie is that it's NOT, as the title would suggest, about the girl next door--it's about Matt, and the fact that he's finally being released from fear and learns to live his life. Awesome. I love movies about that stuff.

So Netflix it, or wait until I buy it on DVD and then watch it with me, because it's great.