Home of the Fandom Muses

Again, RL update rather than fanfic update....You'll still have to wait until probably September for that....

May as well post today as two days from now. I doubt anything major is going to happen to rattle my world.

And Happy Birthday to Neville Longbottom, and a day early to dearest Harry (yes, I'm pathetic, I'm wishing fictional characters a happy birthday. =P)

WARNING: LENGTHY DESCRIPTION OF HARRY POTTER-MANIA DOWN BELOW. SKIP 2 PARAGRAPHS IF YOU ARE UTTERLY BORED BY IT BY NOW. There's nothing too spoilery, I don't think, except possibly for the final quote which is hidden behind an lj-cut, anyhow.

I picked up my copy of HPDH pretty much around opening time at B&N, and had to wait in an actual line, which kinda bamboozled me for a minute or two. I chatted with a woman in front of me who had swung by the B&N the night before for the midnight party, and saw that a line had wrapped around the abandoned building next door (the facade of which is pretty darned broad) by around 9-ish and chose to wait until the next day to buy it. This made me kinda glad I hadn't gone. Went and bought 2 slices of Godiva chocolate cheesecake (YUM!) and put up with my sister driving to first Borders (which had a whole separate line for Harry Potter, apparently, but at that early in the morning was completely empty [HA! take that, evil Borders which competes with my B&N!]), then to the mall across the way so she could go to Suncoast, and then to Burger King where she actually had breakfast, before we went home. I read the entire way up until a little after we left BK, at which point I started getting carsick and regrettably had to put the book down. I think I was at about chapter 4 or 5-ish. Then, upon arriving home at about 10-ish, I promptly secluded myself in my room and read, being interrupted only for unimportant things like dinner and such. I finished the book in about 7 hours. Heh.

I can't say that I'm totallycompletelyohmygodwowhowutterlythrillingandexciting about the book, but.....I can say that I'm content. Yes, I'm content. Things I felt pretty darned sure about came to be true, and some of my suspicions were verified, and a few other thoughts were debunked. I was horrified by a few of the deaths, and I didn't understand why a few of them died until today, when I read a transcript JKR had, in which she stated why 2 of the characters had died (that their deaths had been an exchange for the reprieve of one character earlier). I would sort of have preferred the 2 characters to live and the other to have died, but...I'm okay with it. I will let it rest. I had wished there would be more conclusions in the final book, but having read 2 transcripts with JKR today, I have a few of my questions answered (one of which no one seemed to have ever asked!) so I am ready now to accept book 7 as it is (and begin writing a HP fanfic or two...)

My family went to Westport yesterday, but Mom didn't get to have fresh crab--they were only selling tuna. Drive was okay, I didn't have to do it so I was fine with it. My sister parked in all sorts of weird places, but whatever. We wandered up and down the boardwalk (or whatever it's called), checked out a few gift shops, lamented not getting fresh crab, and ate at the Half Moon Bay Restaurant (I think? It might just be Half Moon Restaurant or something). It was okay, but I think the next time we go we should eat elsewhere. $30 house specials....sheesh. My sister bought a bit of fudge and chocolates, and my mother a hat so her hair didn't fly all over the place, and I took a few pictures. Nothing too terribly exciting, though Mom has expressed the interest to go on a boat out to sea and watch the fishing.

After we got back from Westport, I decided I wanted ice cream, so I went out to Mega Foods (which, I discovered, is selling HP books. I don't know why this disturbs me more than knowing Fred Meyers does it, but...yeah. It's just weird to think my friendly, neighborhood grocery store sells HP), I bought my mother cantalopes (which she seems to be addicted to) before heading to Baskin Robbins (yay-ness!). Bought my mother 2 quarts of Cookes n' Cream and myself a 1/2 gallon of Nutty Coconut. Yumminess.

My mother watches this Korean variety show where they showcase people doing really, extremely strange/extraordinary things. One of their features was a young woman who very very literally puts superfluous amounts of sugar on everything. She and a friend were at an ice cream shop (a BASKIN ROBBINS ice cream shop, no less, heh), she got a big bowl of some ice cream (couldn't tell the flavor; the ice cream was completely green, though), pulled out a pint-sized container full to the brim with sugar, and began spooning sugar all over her ice cream. When she made one layer of sugar disappear, she spooned even more on her ice cream and ate away. My teeth hurt just watching it. There was also another segment showing a man who (with his wife/girlfriend) went around fields collecting bees/yellow jackets in a little cup with a lid and, using tweezers, stung himself with the bees, all because he liked the pain. *shakes head*

My mother bought the entire series of Dae Jang Geum. All 54 hours' worth. And no, this is not the "approx. 44 minutes" or whatnot kinda hour. This is a solid 1 Volume, 6 discs, 18 episodes, Approx. running time 18 hours with 3 volumes completing the series kinda 54 hours worth.

I'm now seriously considering doing the summer creative writing course in Rome in Summer '08. I would have to take out a(nother) loan to pay for it, but I kinda think if I put aside enough money to pay for the class and put the rest of it in a CD, the money in the CD will accrue some interest so that when I pay the loan back, it might be possible for me to pay that loan back before I'm 30 (which is not the same case as the other student loans I have). If I have enough money, I might even be able to buy Mom a bigger new TV, and the new TV we already have can go to my sister (that is, if she doesn't come up with some inane reason for not having it, like, "It's too big." In which case, I would happily take it off her hands). I don't know. It all depends on how much I take out, if I even decide to go. Life has gotten a bit complicated for me this last month, particularly in the university-arena.

I got some Korean newspapers/advertisements to translate for practice, but...none of my dictionaries are helping. And I can't type in Korean on my PC, so I can't use online dictionaries, and there are no Wireless hubs I trust around my neighborhood for me to use my laptop. *sigh* And on top of that, the Korean class I'm taking has now peaked at an enrollment of 27 students in a class which was only to be about 20 and in a room with a capacity of 25, and I'm still unable to enroll in it. I'm just glad I have an add-code, though now that I have thought about it I'm not entirely certain where that add-code is........Oh shit.......

I now have another thing to panic about. Must go now and calm myself with ice cream and well-written fanfiction.....

Mulan: My ancestors sent a little lizard to help me?
Mushu: Dragon, dragon, I don't do that tongue-thing. [does the tongue-thing] --Mulan

Jack: "You've never swung an axe in your life."
Nathan: "I've swung a lot of things that would surprise you." --EUReKA (all the Nathan/Jack fangirls swoon with the slashy innuendos)

And, so as to avoid censure from those people who have yet to read the final installment, a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows quote is hidden behind an lj-cut, with a bit of a minor spoiler regarding a character (any more than that, and I may as well just leave it out in the open for all to read)


Snape raised his eyebrows and his tone was sardonic as he asked, "Are you intending to let him kill you?"
[Dumbledore says] "Certainly not. You must kill me."
There was a long silence, broken only by an odd clicking noise. Fawkes the phoenix was gnawing a bit of cuttlebone.
"Would you like me to do it now?" asked Snape, his voice heavy with irony. "Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph?" --Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (for some reason, when I read that, it kinda reminded me of the Looney Tunes cartoon when Elmer is hunting Bugs and Daffy, and Bugs asks, "Would you like to shoot me now or wait 'til we get home?")