i make things

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Warning: If you have not finished the book yet stop reading because I'll probably divulge something that you don't want to know.

Okay, I loved this book. Loved it! It turned out just as I'd hoped it would. There were several surprises that were good and bad. I loved that Harry and Ginny got together and that Neville was a professor of Herbology.I hated that Tonks, Lupin and Fred had to die. That was seriously sad. I knew that Harry would live and defeat Voldemort. The whole Deathly Hallows thing was certainly a twist. I didn't see that coming. I loved that Snape was vindicated. After reading the series over and over I had split loyalties over whether he was good or bad but I went with my very first impression, that Snape was good and he did everything for a reason. Seriously, I figured he hated James so much because he was in love with Lily. All of the great authors of our time wrote stories about men fighting or disliking each other over a woman. Now that's not exactly the case with Snape but it is a part of it.

One thing I kept thinking over and over was how the book mirrored the rise of Hitler. It did, think about it, Voldemort was working behind the scenes, gaining power,torturing and incarcerating people that were "Muggles" and supposedly inferior.Once he had power he used propaganda to confuse and instill mistrust amongst wizards. He singled out class of people. Why, because he feared them above anyone. His death eaters and scavengers were like the SS, rounding up people. Friends turned on each other and gave them over to the government. It all fits. I could probably sit here all day and draw comparisons. Interesting, isn't it?

I'm glad she kept the thread of friendship, courage, bravery, doing the right and honesty as the constant thread. She also showed the flaws in each character, how Ron could back out on Harry and Hermoine but then come back and save Harry's life. How Lupin would try to leave Tonks pregnant but then go back to her, how Dumbledore was inherently flawed; greedy, power-hungry, but he changed and became a better person, how Harry would save Draco even though they were mortal enemies, how Wormtail saved Harry to his own peril, how Dobby sacrificed his own life to save Harry, how Kreacher became endeared to Harry because of Harry's actions. The list goes on and on.

Some things I didn't like, besides the deaths were how in the middle of the book it slowed down, bogged down a bit, in fact, but I think it all fed into the story. Harry, Ron and Hermoine ran into trouble, were stuck and were bogged down in the search for the Horcruxes. I hated that Mad-Eye had to die and that Umbridge got away with keeping his eye on her door. The evil twisted old hag.

Overall the book also contained humor in the face of danger. I liked she inserted some laughter and jokes mostly by Ron. It kept it from being depressing at times. It showed that to persevere you have to have friends, courage and laughter. Kreacher was hilarious when he grabbed Mundungous and was beating him with a pot. I laughed hysterically at that and then he asked Harry if he could hit him once more. Too funny. Fred joking about being holey was funny too.

I liked how Harry named his kids James, Lily, and Albus Severus. In the end when he said that he was named after the bravest man he knew was touching. {tear}

In summary, I could keep writing but I really don't need to because I think all of the blathering has proved that I loved this book. It is probably my favorite. It's hard to say. Anyway, it turned out great, had some great lessons, stories, twists and turns to it without ruining the story. It even had a conclusion that I liked. Not that Ms. Rowling is supposed to write books that just appeal to me, but it could have been a disaster at the same time.

I'm sad that I will no longer be having the enthralling anticipation that I've had coming up to this last book. All the discussions and debates with friends and family are over. No more midnight parties and staying up until 5 in the morning reading the book (12:30-5:00 am, 9-11, 11:30-1:00, 2-3). Overall, I am so glad that my sister introduced me to these books. They are great beyond measure, something that any kid or adult for that matter should read. With that I'm going to say thanks J.K. Rowling for such an excellent series. I wish you would continue it but everyone's story ends at some point and onto the next great adventure.

Harry Potter and Happy endings

Many people have been discussing the upcoming HP book #7 and how it will end. Everybody and anybody has a theory as to who will die, what will happen and so forth. Of course it you step back from the details the real question is, will it be a happy or sad ending. Meaning, will Harry die, will he get back together with Ginny, etc.

That discussion inevitably leads to whether or not the reader is the type of person who likes a happy or sad ending. What I mean is, if the book has a sad ending (ex. Harry dies) will you not want to read the series again? Will you be left with a horrible feeling about books? Will you not want your kids to read it because it's unhappy? The list of questions goes on and on.

I think, for me, I generally don't like sad endings because I get enough of that in my life. I want to read about happiness. I know it's fiction so I can separate between real life and not but can little kids. Should society give kids happy endings until they are older or should we prepare them for the future? Should we give them some happiness as children and then break it to them later? What's the right answer. Should we try and protect them from hatred, cruelty, death and unhappiness until they are older?

Honestly, there is no right answer. It's one of those questions that you can't answer. Oh, some people think they can but really it depends on your opinion as an adult and what you went through as a child. Some children would do well to just dwell in happiness and others would not.

p.s. If you get a chance read Stephen King's article in Entertainment magazine this week. He wrote about HP. He's a genius. Nobody puts it better than Stephen King. If I ever got the chance to meet him, that's what I'd say. He's real and he writes in a very real way. So, Stephen, if you happen to ever see my blog. Thanks for that article, nobody could have written it better.

Questions above Love

Here are some questions above love from my trusty book "4,000 Questions for getting to know anyone and everyone".

1. Which areas of your past are most important for you to discuss with a fiance? Well, as I'm married I'll have to dig back into my past for this question. I would say their past and mine. How many people they've slept with is definitely number one in my book. I want to know if I'm going to marry a slut/man-ho. I want to know if they were protected for sure. That's a biggy. That's about it. I guess my last question would be, "Have you dated anyone that's a criminal, serial killer, rapist????
2. When discussing your love life, do you tend to exaggerate, understate or be factual? I am definitely factual which probably means my love life is pretty boring. I can definitely say that I'm not a romance novelist when describing my love life. I probably could but I choose to be truthful.
3. What was the largest age difference you had in a relationship? Well if we count only men I've dated then I'd have to say 5 years. I've never really dated anyone that much older than me. 5 years is the same as my parents so I don't consider that to be too much older.
4. What traits do you require in a partner? Um...well, clean because I'm messy, for one. A sense of humor, that have to laugh at my jokes and think I'm funny or it just won't work.  Has to like to watch movies (Yes, Ryan does but he hates going to the movie theatre). Has to like listening to music and going to concerts. Must be patient (to deal with me.) Has to love my family (is that a trait?).  Okay, I guess that's enough and I didn't really include that many traits but oh well.
5. In your relationship, who is in charge of vacation planning? That would definitely be me. Ryan stinks at planning. I mean really stinks. We'd be sleeping in the back of our vehicle if he had his way and we'd bring our own tub of peanut butter and a loaf of bread for food. I'm sure we'd keep some sort of device on our car roof to catch rain for water. We'd walk aimlessly around for 30 minutes and then go back to our vehicle to rest. Yeah, basically he's a big poop-stain when it comes to vacation plans. I love planning so I do it. I plan vacations all the time. I love it. So...anybody want me to come and visit? I've got a couple trips in the works so far. Of course, I have to have the moolah too so I can't see everyone.

So, tell me, what are your answers? Either post a comment, email me or post it on your blog and give me your blog address. I want to see what everyone says.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Okay! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out on July 21st! Sweet huh! I thought this was definitely worthy of a blog post! Along with breasts and "junk" of course.

Harry Potter

I started reading the Harry Potter series a month or so ago. I am now up to the 6th book in the Series, the Half-Blood Prince. I can't help it but I love reading those books. They are so much fun. I've probably posted a dozen or more times about reading those books but they are so fun to read and they let my imagination wander.

Anyway, when I started reading the series again I decided that I would look very closely at Snape to see if she gave any clues away in the books leading up to the 6th about whether or not he is really on the good side or has he really chosen the dark side? It's so hard to decide really. He seems so evil most of the time and he is a smart wizard so it's hard to say if he had Dumbledore fooled the whole time or not.

I guess what it really comes down to is whether or not J.K. Rowling is going to have Snape overcome his rotten childhood. Will he be able to overcome growing up in a horrible household, having bullies pick on him at school, etc. Or will he use all of that and turn out to be just as bad as Lord Voldemort?

So I was thinking about just today when I was reading the book. Rowling shows several different people with difficult childhoods. It's like a theme for her. She constantly shows characters with horrible childhoods either overcoming it or not. For instance...Harry, he had no parents and was left with his aunt, uncle and cousin who more often than not treated him with cruelty and disdain. He dislikes them but he doesn't let it affect him. He even saved Dudley from the Dementor in book 5 even though Dudley often hurt him and made a mockery of him.

Then there's Sirius who went against his rotten childhood by just getting up and leaving at the age of 16. He went against his pure-blood loving family even though it meant he was pretty much disowned and burnt off the family tree. That took guts.  Okay, he wasn't completely pure because he wasn't very nice to the house-elf Kreacher but we'll just leave it at that.

Hagrid, who never knew his mother because she was a giant and not very "motherly." Then he lost his Dad when he got into Hogwarts. Did he let that affect him, nope. He just kept right on going. Also, being that he was a half-giant, he didn't let that get him down or let people criticize him for it.

Neville Longbottom had a nasty childhood. His parents weren't killed like Harry's but his were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange. Then every Christmas he had to go and visit them and suffer the sadness of knowing that they had no idea who they were. Then to boot he had to grow up with his "overbearing" Grandmother who wears a moldy overcoat with a fur trim and a vulture hat. Then he's basically a squib because he can't do much magic and his parents were famous.

So...will Snape learn to live-and-let-live or will he turn that deep-seated hatred into the darkside?

Reading Harry Potter

A couple of weeks ago I thought it would be a good idea to read the Harry Potter books again. I haven't read them in awhile and I needed a relief to the heavy workloads I've got. I am not able to read through them as fast as I would like but then again I don't have as much time as I do at other times of the year.

So here's a picture of me reading in my hotel room last week.

legs crossed, laid back, three pillows by the light of the end-table lamp.

the Good Orgasm Guide

So Michelle bought this book for a friend of hers (bachelorette party) and I was reading it because I've never felt the need to buy one but since she has, then I can read some of it before she gives it away. (written by Kate Taylor)

So I was perusing through and this quote struck me as kind of funny.

"The only way to become a sex goddess is to act like one." Yeah, because that's going to hide my unsightly features. :)

Conspiracy of Fools

So I finally finisehd this book. Wow! A little long-winded but an amazing maze of the Enron scandal. 700 pages of the maze, in fact. To sum it up, the book was about all of Enron's dealings and fraud that led them to finally go bankrupt.

The whole time I was reading this, from an accountant's perspective, all I could think of was how stupid they (executives at Enron) were. They thought they were the biggest genius's on the planet but in actually they were stupid and greedy. And the worst part was, that because people didn't understand what was going on they just assumed it was right. So instead of asking for further clarification on something that confused them, they took the easy way out and didn't ask for help. My assumption was they didn't want to look stupid in front of people they "assumed" were genius's.

It made me, literally, sick to my stomach, that people could get away with such fraud. There were plenty of times people could have stopped it but they didn't. Too greedy. Way to greedy. Too arrogant. For example, at one point the CEO resigned and he was thinking about getting another job and remarked that he had $50 million saved up and he could live on that for a little while. Come on! 99% of the American population live on less than $1.5 million dollars their entire lifetime, I think he could live on that amount and he was getting close to 50. The greed...

This is sort of petty but it made me glad they were busted and made an example to everyone where greed can take you. Glad because they didn't get away with it.

One thing that bothered me about the book was the author told a bit about the past of the executives mainly involved and one item shone through quite often. All of the big-wigs were poor farm kids or laborers who made their way up the ladder. If one didn't know better, you'd assume all people from that background would be greedy like those executives, but I know better. They just had a power complex, I think.

Pride and Prejudice

So I read Pride and Prejudice. Actually before Angela's Ashes but I forgot to post about it. So, here it is.

Pride and Prejudice (P&P) is a wonderful book. It is a romance novel. That sort of surprised me I guess. Not sure why, but it did. The characters are spectacular. You learn so much about what they are thinking, how they make decisions, etc. I've never felt so connected to a character before or been able to follow their line of thought so clearly and concisely. You become the character in a way that you never can with modern-day romance novels.

The language and diction used is fantastic. I'm not used to reading novels that this one, set in the 19th century but I got used to it quickly. Jane Austen uses words like thither, mischance and my favorite felicity (some of you may recognize this sentence from You've Got Mail). I had to use the dictionary more than I'm used to but hey it was worth it. Most of the words I can ascertain by reading the sentence a couple of times so it wasn't much of a trial to read it. It actually read faster than what I thought.

I couldn't put it down because I wanted to know when Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet would get together. It was tormenting me until the end.

Angela's Ashes

I finished reading Angela's Ashes on Saturday morning and I was befuddled because I couldn't understand what the title meant. There was really no mention of it in the book. Was it a metaphor for something? Do "ashes" have some symbolic meaning? I was confused so I googled the book and...

I found an interview with this comment in it.

UM: I was waiting for the metaphor about the title to reveal itself. Other than a few things I never really got a strong feeling of what that meant.

FM: That's because I think I settled on the title before I ever wrote the book. I intended to bring it up to 1981 when my mother died in New York, when she was cremated and we took her ashes to Ireland one week and scattered the ashes on her family's grave site. The title just stuck with me and I couldn't let it go even though it really doesn't have much to do with the book. Unless you want to start getting academic and start saying it was the ashes in the fire that she was gazing in.

UM: Yeah, I thought it was either the Woodbines (cigarettes)...

FM: Yeah, they killed her.

UM: ... or the fire.

FM: Scholars will probe this, I hope, in the future. It will keep them busy.

I guess I wasn't being stupid. He really didn't have a point for it. I had thought about Angela gazing into the ashes of the fire but I wasn't quite sure what that meant. I guess I kind of thought maybe he meant Angela's Ashes symbolized her marrying a shiftless drunk who eventually left her to starve to death with three kids. So basically the fire of her life was out, you know and all she was left with were the ashes. Then I kind of thought maybe that Frank, her son, who wrote the book, is the Phoenix rising from the ashes. True kid rising above poverty to make a better life for himself and his family. Anyway, I guess I'm just babbling now, but at least I know that I'm not stupid. :) Chalk one up for me today.