Madge said it well:

"Ohmygodyoucrazyharrypottertypes!"

I finished The Deathly Hallows Yesterday.

DO NOT SCROLL DOWN AND READ THE REST OF THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE BOOK!!!

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I was right. And yet so wonderfully wrong at the same time.

But I'll tell you my heart skipped a few beats.

As I finished the final page, I was nothing but content.

It was bittersweet, but in the end, Harry's story was finished the right way.

The answer comes in two weeks' time.

I’m going to expose some of my dorkiness in this post. It’s about the final Harry Potter installment: The Deathly Hallows.

I’m kind of stressed out about it. I’m worried about what’s going to happen in this book (let’s say it right now, I have a funny feeling I’m going to be really pissed off), and more importantly, I’m worried that I’ll find out what’s going to happen before I get to read it myself.

For that reason, I’m staying away from all news stories about the book and JK Rowling, and the “will Harry die?” theories and yada yada yada.

But that still couldn’t keep my imagination from wondering if it’s going to happen. And I’m wondering if this is how—read no further if you don’t want to hear it.


I am wondering if perhaps Harry is somehow the final Horcrux. When Voldemort tried to kill Harry, Dumbledore said himself that some of his powers were transferred to Harry that night. I’m thinking that the final showdown will be Harry killing Voldemort or Voldemort killing Harry and in doing so one will destroy the other.

And I’ll be mad. I’ll be livid. And the series that I’ve loved so dearly will become bitter to me every time I watch one of the movies or re-read one of the books because I know, in the end that Harry will die.


Hopefully I’m wrong. JK, don’t let me down.

It's going to start raining again

Items of note on this Wednesday:

~ I am so in love with the bed I bought, but it makes it very difficult to get my rear in gear in the mornings. I mean, if you were sleeping on clouds, would you want to get up?

~ I have successfully made Zuppa Toscana soup at home, and it tastes every bit as fabulous as it does at the Olive Garden.

~ I absolutely cannot stand Country Crock commercials. I don’t know what it is about them, but they drive me completely crazy. The cheesiness factor is too overwhelming, I hate their “let’s not show the actors’ faces” thing they have going on, and the voice-overs make me want to gag. And the chick sounds like maybe she was once a man.



~ I am currently reading Mountains Beyond Mountains for a class, and it is really excellent. Have any of you read it? The sub-title for the book is The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World. I mean, that alone tells you you’re in for something crazy. I’m only 1/3 of the way through, and it’s already making me feel bad about myself because of all the incredible things this man did by my age. That’s not the point of the book, of course, but it’s really good. Go read it.

~ I’ve decided that this guy in my class would really hit it off with my best friend. I don’t know the guy very well, though, so I’m not really sure how to approach it. Should I just say “OK, I know this sounds weird but I think you’d really like my friend?” I suppose it’s worth a shot. Any suggestions on how to go about this? Usually when I hook people up I know both of them well so I can organize a group outing.

~ Why do some people have common sense while others have none at all? For example: A few weeks ago, we had a staff meeting that happened to fall on a coworker’s birthday, so we had cake at our meeting. Someone brought the extra cake and the knife used to cut it to the back room so people could graze the leftovers. When the cake was done and gone, however, whoever put the knife away did not bother to wash it. We wanted to use it today and it was covered in crusty old chocolate from weeks ago. I mean, hello!

~ And what would a Junniper post be without a statement of some item that I bought that I didn’t need nor can really afford?? But it was so pretty:

I mean, it has polka dots on the inside lining! Now Spring needs to get here so I can wear it.

~ Funny video for the day:




~ That’s all.

Yowza

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows comes out July 21st.

Yikes!

And in a very illustrative example of my prime nerdiness I was immediately disappointed because my friend's wedding is that day so I will not be able to march out and buy it and proceed to read the whole thing over the weekend without leaving my apartment lest the climactic ending of the book be uttered in my presence before I have read it.

*ahem*

ANYWAY, the world is a little less funnier today, and a little less liberal. Molly Ivins has lost her battle with breast cancer.





I met this woman in 2002, and she was a firecracker.

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This video makes me laugh every time I watch it:


You kinda gotta give the guy some credit...at least the sleaze has a sense of humor.

::::::

And I'm going to apply to participate in the National Education for Women's Leadership program in Oregon this summer. It's a six-day extensive program to introduce women to leadership opportunities, so I'm really excited about it. It's not guaranteed that you'll get in, though, so I do have to take that into account. They don't accept everyone, it's pretty competetive. So keep your fingers crossed for me! :)

MUAH!

There's the sugar!

OK, Beta seems to be behaving a little better. Maybe it was just the switch that made people anonymous, but those who were previously anonymous are no longer.

Happy Dance!



I have to admit, I had a fun time adding “Labels” to my posts (which didn’t take very long thanks to Mr. Hijacker). I had an even more fun time looking at what a write about the most.

At the moment I have 24 different labels—which seems like a lot, but hey, I talk a lot.

You’ll be surprised to know that post-hijacking, I’ve only talked about Shoes 3 times. That’s it! I’ve talked about Recycling Guy 4 times, so he trumps shoes.

I talk about Portland and Oregon a lot (10 total). Then I made a label entitled “Only Me” which refers to bizarre crap that happens to me (rats-in-toilets, parking tickets, etc.). Only Me appears 8 times.

The number one topic post-hijacking? Sinus Fiasco.

This makes me very sad. Sinus Fiasco owns 12 posts. *sigh*

So goal for 2007 (which, ladies and gentlemen, is only 19 days away) is to be able to stop talking about my Sinus Fiasco. Obviously, the month of January will still have some tidbits, but after that, no more sickness please! I had enough in ’06 to last me through the aughts. No more bronchitis/sinus infections/root canals/pink eye/flu/food poisoning/whatever. Done. Finito. Bring on the Vitamins!


In other news, I am finding it very difficult to resist buying all of the DVDs and CDs that just have to come out right before Christmas that I really want but cannot afford. Namely, The Devil Wears Prada, Little Miss Sunshine (Dec.19), Taylor Hicks’ Album, Pirates of the Caribbean, and I know there was something else, but I don’t remember what it was. Evil, evil I tell you! But I would guess that Santa is probably going to bring me some gift cards for Christmas, so I’ll put them to good use. ;)

In other other news, I just finished reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter, and it was excellent. Highly recommend.

Schneikies

Good attempt at my ridiculous movie quotes. Tristan obviously won, but it was a valiant effort by all! I went ahead and added the answers in case you’re just dying to know them, as I know you all are!

I have a book recommendation for you all. The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman, is really interesting. He published The Lexus and the Olive Tree back around 2000 or so. He’s somewhat of a globalization expert, but his writing is really excellent. He’s also a journalist, which I think helps him write well.

I also can’t stop listening to KT Tunstall’s album, “Eye to the Telescope.” It’s been a while since a female solo artist caught my attention (I don’t know why, but usually it’s the menfolk that I like to listen to). The best songs on the album are definitely “Stopping the Love” and “Heal Over.” So whenever you feel like chillin with some chick music, I’d recommend a listen.


And I bought a lovely wallet that I didn’t need and couldn’t afford, but I don’t care so what are you going to do about it?? Isn’t it pretty? I got the blue one.


In other news, just how hard did this dude have to hit that painting to actually puncture it? I demand a study on this, as I am quite horrified.

In other other news, I’m feeling a bit snobbish today because about 10 of my classmates have done their debates for class, and I’m really just not impressed. I mean, I know it isn’t a cutthroat debate by any means, but some gusto wouldn’t hurt! Of course I’m probably jinxing myself and I’ll get a crappy grade on Monday when I do mine. Humph.

In other other other news, I re-potted my two plants in my office, and they’re already looking a little perkier. I am not a domestic goddess. I can cook and I can clean, but that’s about it. I don’t sew, I don’t make miraculous furniture arrangements that look like Trading Spaces attacked, and I do not have a green thumb. I kill plants regularly. I finally just bought some silk flowers (that look totally real, by the way), and they’re much prettier and low maintenance.



OK, that’s enough rambling. Off I go!

Is it Friday yet?

I recently decided to re-read all the Harry Potter books (I mean, it’s been years since I read Sorcerer’s Stone). I’ve gotten through the first two already, and as I was reading I kept getting more and more annoyed at the things they altered or cut out of the movie versions.


I know it’s asking a lot to be totally faithful to a novel, but sometimes the changes are just outright annoying. Like little details that have no merit in changing. For example, Dudley is supposed to be blonde. Or in Chamber of Secrets when the Phoenix heals Harry’s arm after the Basilisk gets him—the book does it in front of Tom Riddle, but the movie waits until Harry has “killed” Tom Riddle. Or when Harry stuffs the diary in his sock to give to Malfoy in the book, but in the film the sock is inside the diary.

It’s just annoying.

ANYWAY.

In other news, I was horrified by this story. The kid is sixteen. He has every right to decide what treatments he receives. Furthermore, he has the support of his parents, who would make the executive decision anyway. Total and complete bullshit. For a country that goes on and on about freedom, we are certainly restricted within our own lives. We don’t have the right to die if we’re suffering, you can’t get married if you’re gay, they’re trying to ban flag burning. We are seriously going backward. Let’s just go on back to the days where women couldn’t vote. It’s embarrassing.

OK, rant over.

I challenge you to do this quiz about me. I’ll admit, the questions are tough. And you can’t cheat and look back through my old posts to find the answers because, well, they were eaten by the Internet. These are all things I’ve talked about on my blog at some point. And yes, I’ll admit most of them you’ll probably say “Huh? Like I know!” But I promise I won’t judge, AND here’s a free invite to make one yourself!