Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Well, this is just too appropriate
I like this little blog called Indexed. A girl makes pithy little diagrams on index cards and scans them in. This one is very appropriate given my move last week (which just finally, almost really, ended yesterday with the final import of stuff from my old apartment to the new, even though we still don't have plates or a dining room table. And may never end up with the latter, given how small our living room is!).
Friday, July 27, 2007
JK Rowling speaks
SPOILERS. Don't read this if you haven't finished Harry Potter 7.
But otherwise, do. And then we can discuss at length.
But otherwise, do. And then we can discuss at length.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
I'm opening the closet, now I'm opening the closet
Awesome, awesome, awesome:
R. Kelly is to issue 10 new instalments of his cult video series "Trapped In The Closet."
R. Kelly is to issue 10 new instalments of his cult video series "Trapped In The Closet."
The original "hip-hopera" became a huge hit two years ago, especially in the U.S. where the DVD sold almost 250,000 copies.
Following the story of a man named Sylvester (Kelly), the drama featured 12 cliffhanger episodes with bizarre plot twists based around used condoms, midgets, and bed-hopping.
The 10 new episodes will be released on DVD on August 21.
According to Billboard.com, these will find Kelly portraying an old man named Randolph, complete with a pot-belly and a fake white beard that nearly falls off mid-scene, as well as a preacher in a grey Jheri-curl wig and garish orange suit.
In one of the final chapters, Kelly's Sylvester character talks business with a Sopranos-esque mobster who is eating a giant plate of spaghetti.
I am already planning a viewing party. What beverage do you think is most appropriate? I am thinking coke and rum, in tribute to another R Kelly masterpiece. It can't be a forty, because, see, R Kelly is too classy for that.Saturday, July 21, 2007
I used to worry with
I used to worry with Silvia that jk rowling would die before she finished the last book. But now i am worried that i will
Friday, July 20, 2007
I quite liked this way of describing Facebook, since it's a much more accurate description of how I use it:
Zuckerberg: ...Our whole theory is that people have real connections in the world. People communicate most naturally and effectively with their friends and the people around them. What we figured is that if we could model what those connections were, [we could] provide that information to a set of applications through which people want to share information, photos or videos or events. But that only works if those relationships are real. That's a really big difference between Facebook and a lot of other sites. We're not thinking about ourselves as a community — we're not trying to build a community — we're not trying to make new connections.
Zuckerberg: ...Our whole theory is that people have real connections in the world. People communicate most naturally and effectively with their friends and the people around them. What we figured is that if we could model what those connections were, [we could] provide that information to a set of applications through which people want to share information, photos or videos or events. But that only works if those relationships are real. That's a really big difference between Facebook and a lot of other sites. We're not thinking about ourselves as a community — we're not trying to build a community — we're not trying to make new connections.
TIME: Why do you describe Facebook as a "social utility" rather than a "social network?"
Zuckerberg: I think there's confusion around what the point of social networks is. A lot of different companies characterized as social networks have different goals — some serve the function of business networking, some are media portals. What we're trying to do is just make it really efficient for people to communicate, get information and share information. We always try to emphasize the utility component.
Interview with Mark ZuckerbergBriefly
My dad called me today in hysterics because he realized the reason I asked him to ship me my old Halloween costume cape was because I was dressing up for Harry Potter tonight.
It begins?
The revelation at the end of Half-Blood Prince [very vague spoiler!] about the multiple remaining horcruxes struck me as the kind of thing most fantasy writers would use as the basis for a whole new offshoot of books, Robert Jordan style. I mean, it took J.R.R. Tolkien three whole books just to cover the destruction of one powerful magical item, and Rowling plans to locate and dispense with four of them, plus Voldemort himself, in just one volume?
Couldn't agree more.
But that's mostly just because I WANT an offshoot, on some deep level.
Dammit.
11 hours to go.
Couldn't agree more.
But that's mostly just because I WANT an offshoot, on some deep level.
Dammit.
11 hours to go.
And not just that, but before we go to get Harry, my friends and I are going to Chili's for margaritas and an Awesome Blossom. Extra awesome. It's an Office tribute, because now that Matt & Julia are obsessed with the Office, Julia wants to go to Chili's. For some drinks. And second drinks.
So I will liveblog our Chili's Office tribute, and then I will liveblog the awesomeness that is the freaking Harry Potter party. Stay tuned.
Thinking
I was going to write something angry. Actually I did. And I just deleted it. Instead.
One thing I love about Northern California (one of many!): the dusty smell of oak trees at night, when it's finally cooled off after a very hot day. It's sort of funny because I'm highly allergic to oak, but I love it just the same. I was putting the mini-fridge (ok, beer fridge) out to defrost tonight and got a big whiff of it and I felt like I was a little kid again at my grandparents' house in Redding, where it's insanely awfully hot all day but at night it's finally bearable. And that's what oak makes me remember - that immense relief from the heat, that laziness of a summer night, the comforts and frustrations of family. The stones in the backyard, the strangeness of the sunroom, the cool leather chairs in the living room, all these very tangible, inexplicable feelings I won't ever feel again - that's what oak is to me, and that's why I love it. It's so enduring and fleeting at once.
It makes me feel good about moving. (Something I am in the middle of writing about right now and will hopefully post on tomorrow.)
And it makes me feel good about life.
One thing I love about Northern California (one of many!): the dusty smell of oak trees at night, when it's finally cooled off after a very hot day. It's sort of funny because I'm highly allergic to oak, but I love it just the same. I was putting the mini-fridge (ok, beer fridge) out to defrost tonight and got a big whiff of it and I felt like I was a little kid again at my grandparents' house in Redding, where it's insanely awfully hot all day but at night it's finally bearable. And that's what oak makes me remember - that immense relief from the heat, that laziness of a summer night, the comforts and frustrations of family. The stones in the backyard, the strangeness of the sunroom, the cool leather chairs in the living room, all these very tangible, inexplicable feelings I won't ever feel again - that's what oak is to me, and that's why I love it. It's so enduring and fleeting at once.
It makes me feel good about moving. (Something I am in the middle of writing about right now and will hopefully post on tomorrow.)
And it makes me feel good about life.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
The Princess Bride, and some ramblings about imaginary friends
This post from BWE is actually hilarious - speculating on what the cast of The Princess Bride has been up to for the past 20 years, based on publicity photos. I almost laughed out loud at work and in fact the security camera definitely spotted me a few times holding back the giggles (chipmunk cheeks, they happen). This in a nutshell is why I love the Best Week Ever blog. Actually it might not be the blog so much as its writers. Alex Blagg is always funny and Michelle totally has the same exact crushes on celebrities that I have.
(Side note: I have this problem with becoming attached to my Internet friends and referring to them as though I actually know them in a vague way. You can catch me saying things like "This girl whose blog I read" and then my friends will ask "Wait, do you mean X real person that you know?" and I will have to respond in the negative and explain that no, they're just someone whose blog I discovered and they half write about themselves which is why I feel more attached to them than I should, and then half write about some subject I find interesting like pop culture or home design, so I have a legitimate excuse to read the blog in the first place. The sad thing about it though is that the people actually want readers, and want them to "engage" with their blog or some shit, and so I am actually in many ways their ideal audience, but because there's a lingering stigma about being friends with people you meet on the internet, I can't actually be friends with them. Or maybe they all live in New York or something and are legitimate Internet personalities whereas I am not, I just write this little blog for my audience of 12. I think part of the reason why I like these people out there on the Interweb is that I want their jobs. Or their readership. Or to hang out with them while doing the same job for the same readership. Or maybe I just really like reading. And things. And people who like things and write about them. Tangent concludes now.)
(Side note: I have this problem with becoming attached to my Internet friends and referring to them as though I actually know them in a vague way. You can catch me saying things like "This girl whose blog I read" and then my friends will ask "Wait, do you mean X real person that you know?" and I will have to respond in the negative and explain that no, they're just someone whose blog I discovered and they half write about themselves which is why I feel more attached to them than I should, and then half write about some subject I find interesting like pop culture or home design, so I have a legitimate excuse to read the blog in the first place. The sad thing about it though is that the people actually want readers, and want them to "engage" with their blog or some shit, and so I am actually in many ways their ideal audience, but because there's a lingering stigma about being friends with people you meet on the internet, I can't actually be friends with them. Or maybe they all live in New York or something and are legitimate Internet personalities whereas I am not, I just write this little blog for my audience of 12. I think part of the reason why I like these people out there on the Interweb is that I want their jobs. Or their readership. Or to hang out with them while doing the same job for the same readership. Or maybe I just really like reading. And things. And people who like things and write about them. Tangent concludes now.)
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Pitchfork roundup (possibly part 1 of 2)
Pitchfork was pretty much amazing. It wasn't exactly that we listened to the music that much and there were definitely some kinks that could have been worked out on that front (putting people like Girl Talk and the Klaxons on the stage crammed between the tennis courts and the street was not so much a great idea) but it was all around a ridiculous good time. We documented well via Twitter but it is arguably completely incomprehensible to anyone who was not Orges, Cristina, Dan or me this weekend, so I figured I'd do a little documentation blogstyle. Trust me, I'm not including everything. We are inappropriate.
Cristina is excited about something, possibly just her outfit. We needed to blend in with the hipsters, so she wore formal shorts, layered tanks, and a vest, plus the bangles (on Day 1). I wore a tube top with a lacey shirt worn as a jacket and formal shorts as well. I think Cristina wins the hipster competition.
Orges wore a Miller shirt with a bass on the front (why? Not sure) and he latched on to this hat that Cristina had bought which was very much a girl's hat.
The headliner on Day 1 was Yoko Ono. She was crazy and awesome at the same time. What a throwback. The whole first 10 minutes of her show was dedicated to this art film project crazy thing she made showing people how to say "I love you" to the world and the universe (not kidding) with a flashlight. I recommend. The above picture shows how we reacted to Yoko. Also we reacted by finding flashlights (which had been handed out to people sometime during the day) on the ground and flashing them at each other for the rest of the weekend, plus by telling people "1, 2, 3" or "i. ii. iii." which means, you guessed it, "I love you." Oh Yoko.
The view from Orges' window, if you strategically take a picture without the giant building in it.
My artsy photo of the weekend, this was taken where we had brunch with Dan's parents on Sunday. I love the china. It is inspiring me to build a collection of dishes purely from thrift stores. Ooh, project!
I'm a little in love with the El. So cool looking. And so functional!
Again. I feel like I'm in another era.
Back to reality, or at least, our "weekend of hedonism and play and irresponsibility" brand of reality (which, as I was saying to Dan yesterday, is both a reality check and the complete opposite of one - it's totally not how I live my daily life, but it's a reminder that it could be, and that this is what you should strive for) - Dan and Cristina pose in their Day 2 outfits alterna-prom style, and Orges takes a sideways picture, which I love because of the way the El looks in the background.
Waiting for our train. I like the rusting paint under this awning.
A study in patterns - lots of stripes and shadows and ripplings of light. I love that I took this picture.
This guy's outfit was so awesome to me that I took a covert picture of him on the train. I love how he managed to perfectly match his shirt with his jacket. And make it look actually cool, somehow. This weekend was sartorially inspiring really.
The license plate was from Kentucky. I think they roadtripped.
There were about 5 sunsets on Sunday because the clouds kept covering the sun. This was one of them, during Of Montreal. And those are Dan's glasses.
Of Montreal. I think. And the banners and the lighting. I love this picture. It was right around this time that Dan & I got on one of our rhapsodic "Our lives are too awesome, our apartment is going to be too awesome, gardening hey" things and our Twitters started to make no sense.
Here we are, waiting for the Klaxons to go on.
Final tally...
Bands we actually watched: Yoko, Clipse, Mastodon (Orges' idea, clearly), a few songs from New Pornographers, the Cool Kids, Of Montreal, Jamie Lidell (omg), Junior Boys (pretty damn good live actually), De La Soul, and like 3 songs of the Klaxons.
Bands we heard from a distance: Cat Power (a bit), Grizzly Bear, Voxtrot (better on CD I think), Battles, Iron & Wine (barely heard him though)
Bands we attempted to hear but failed to hear because of the crappy Balance Stage or whatever it was called: Fujiya & Miyagi, Klaxons, Girl Talk
Food and drink consumed: lots of cheap ($4!!!!) Goose Island IPA, delicious pulled pork sangwiches with coleslaw (inspiring all of us to learn how to make pulled pork sandwiches), vegan ice cream, fried cheese curds (only one, Orges and Cristina finished them before they could get to me and Dan), my first authentic (or semi-authentic) sweet tea, a slice of apple pie from the farmer's market that Cristina brought from Ann Arbor, disgusting pizza, and something that I didn't eat but the others did called cevapcici or something like that... etc. I said hedonism, didn't I?
Twitter messages: Oh, thousands. (Maybe not, but I felt like quoting Bridget Jones when she's keeping track of "alcohol units.")
For you to check out, since for me Jamie Lidell was my "discovery" of the weekend:
He looks all soulful and normal here, but he's actually crazy. He wore a crazy hat made of streamers and half the time his soul singing is layered over crazy beats and stuff. I am minorly obsessed.
Cristina is excited about something, possibly just her outfit. We needed to blend in with the hipsters, so she wore formal shorts, layered tanks, and a vest, plus the bangles (on Day 1). I wore a tube top with a lacey shirt worn as a jacket and formal shorts as well. I think Cristina wins the hipster competition.
Orges wore a Miller shirt with a bass on the front (why? Not sure) and he latched on to this hat that Cristina had bought which was very much a girl's hat.
The headliner on Day 1 was Yoko Ono. She was crazy and awesome at the same time. What a throwback. The whole first 10 minutes of her show was dedicated to this art film project crazy thing she made showing people how to say "I love you" to the world and the universe (not kidding) with a flashlight. I recommend. The above picture shows how we reacted to Yoko. Also we reacted by finding flashlights (which had been handed out to people sometime during the day) on the ground and flashing them at each other for the rest of the weekend, plus by telling people "1, 2, 3" or "i. ii. iii." which means, you guessed it, "I love you." Oh Yoko.
The view from Orges' window, if you strategically take a picture without the giant building in it.
My artsy photo of the weekend, this was taken where we had brunch with Dan's parents on Sunday. I love the china. It is inspiring me to build a collection of dishes purely from thrift stores. Ooh, project!
I'm a little in love with the El. So cool looking. And so functional!
Again. I feel like I'm in another era.
Back to reality, or at least, our "weekend of hedonism and play and irresponsibility" brand of reality (which, as I was saying to Dan yesterday, is both a reality check and the complete opposite of one - it's totally not how I live my daily life, but it's a reminder that it could be, and that this is what you should strive for) - Dan and Cristina pose in their Day 2 outfits alterna-prom style, and Orges takes a sideways picture, which I love because of the way the El looks in the background.
Waiting for our train. I like the rusting paint under this awning.
A study in patterns - lots of stripes and shadows and ripplings of light. I love that I took this picture.
This guy's outfit was so awesome to me that I took a covert picture of him on the train. I love how he managed to perfectly match his shirt with his jacket. And make it look actually cool, somehow. This weekend was sartorially inspiring really.
The license plate was from Kentucky. I think they roadtripped.
There were about 5 sunsets on Sunday because the clouds kept covering the sun. This was one of them, during Of Montreal. And those are Dan's glasses.
Of Montreal. I think. And the banners and the lighting. I love this picture. It was right around this time that Dan & I got on one of our rhapsodic "Our lives are too awesome, our apartment is going to be too awesome, gardening hey" things and our Twitters started to make no sense.
Here we are, waiting for the Klaxons to go on.Final tally...
Bands we actually watched: Yoko, Clipse, Mastodon (Orges' idea, clearly), a few songs from New Pornographers, the Cool Kids, Of Montreal, Jamie Lidell (omg), Junior Boys (pretty damn good live actually), De La Soul, and like 3 songs of the Klaxons.
Bands we heard from a distance: Cat Power (a bit), Grizzly Bear, Voxtrot (better on CD I think), Battles, Iron & Wine (barely heard him though)
Bands we attempted to hear but failed to hear because of the crappy Balance Stage or whatever it was called: Fujiya & Miyagi, Klaxons, Girl Talk
Food and drink consumed: lots of cheap ($4!!!!) Goose Island IPA, delicious pulled pork sangwiches with coleslaw (inspiring all of us to learn how to make pulled pork sandwiches), vegan ice cream, fried cheese curds (only one, Orges and Cristina finished them before they could get to me and Dan), my first authentic (or semi-authentic) sweet tea, a slice of apple pie from the farmer's market that Cristina brought from Ann Arbor, disgusting pizza, and something that I didn't eat but the others did called cevapcici or something like that... etc. I said hedonism, didn't I?
Twitter messages: Oh, thousands. (Maybe not, but I felt like quoting Bridget Jones when she's keeping track of "alcohol units.")
For you to check out, since for me Jamie Lidell was my "discovery" of the weekend:
He looks all soulful and normal here, but he's actually crazy. He wore a crazy hat made of streamers and half the time his soul singing is layered over crazy beats and stuff. I am minorly obsessed.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Pitchfooooork
I'm off to the Pitchfork Music Festival this weekend. It should be wholly ridiculous and amazing and awesome. And the tickets cost $35. And I'll be seeing Orges AND Cristina. And we're liveblogging the whole thing via Twitter, which besides being unspeakably cool and nerdy is also really stroking my Web 2.0 ego. I have such a surge of excitement within me right now that it feels like I'm either a) just about to go on a date or b) just drank a very strong cocktail or glass of wine and can feel the burning in my throat still. More b) than a), but really a little of both. Keep up with the live blog this weekend if you want and pardon any drunk texting. That may happen.
I'll update you on the awesomeness when I get back Monday.
I'll update you on the awesomeness when I get back Monday.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Score!
Dear Emily,
Thank you for your order with Keplers.com. Your “Gringott’s Bank Promissory Note”, good for admittance to Kepler’s legendary Midnight Magic and Wizardry party the night of July 20th will be held at Register One under your last name as indicated on your order. You may pick it up at any time during regular business hours.
Please note that you will need your “Gringott’s Bank Promissory Note” to exchange for one copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows after midnight July 20th, or any day thereafter.
The party starts at 9pm and we look forward to seeing you there.
Thank you for your order with Keplers.com. Your “Gringott’s Bank Promissory Note”, good for admittance to Kepler’s legendary Midnight Magic and Wizardry party the night of July 20th will be held at Register One under your last name as indicated on your order. You may pick it up at any time during regular business hours.
Please note that you will need your “Gringott’s Bank Promissory Note” to exchange for one copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows after midnight July 20th, or any day thereafter.
The party starts at 9pm and we look forward to seeing you there.
Can I call this a diptych?
(From the Slanted Door, in the Ferry Building, with Becca on Saturday. With one cocktail, dim interior lighting, and the blindness of fog outside, it is a fun opportunity for a picture. I love the silhouettes. And then the second picture is clearly in Dolores Park, where I got weirdly sunburned while Dan and I talked roommate situations.)
(From the Slanted Door, in the Ferry Building, with Becca on Saturday. With one cocktail, dim interior lighting, and the blindness of fog outside, it is a fun opportunity for a picture. I love the silhouettes. And then the second picture is clearly in Dolores Park, where I got weirdly sunburned while Dan and I talked roommate situations.)
Monday, July 09, 2007
'arry pottah
i am on tenterhooks for the newest harry potter book. i re-read books 5 and 6, just to prepare myself and boy did i overshoot. i am ITCHING to read the next book. I'm going to chicago this weekend to see friends i haven't seen in months, but I'm already excited about the weekend FOLLOWING that one, the day that harry potter comes out! (also the day that i'm moving.) seriously, seriously excited.
so i've been doing a lot of thinking about What Will Happen. I kind of feel like no matter what, it will work out the way it should, but i have this issue which is that in my head i rewrite/edit the harry potter books to make them better, more impactful as annoying people say, more subtle, and so on. i do think they are very good. they are funny and the characters are great and the little details (funny names, puns) are fantastic. but i keep thinking about all the great fantasy tropes and motifs that she IS using and all the ones she's NOT and how the books could almost be better if she borrowed even MORE from previous works and build them into these stories. like lately i've really been feeling like i want harry to get his quest on. it would be a complete departure from the earlier books and so i don't really want it to happen (it could, if hogwarts ends up closed in the beginning of the 7th book), because the school setting is part of what makes harry potter so unique and fun, but i would love to see an alternate universe where harry goes on a (i won't say frodo-ish, but) taran-wanderer like quest. you know, him and his buddies against the elements, all bleak and depressing and burning-of-harp (if you never read the lloyd alexander books, then pardon my references). i know it wouldn't fit, but still.
anyway so the point is i've been thinking a lot about harry potter, and how it should end, if you're thinking great themes of fantasy and hope and triumph over evil and such. should harry die, in other words? is snape evil (no!)? will draco go evil, or will he falter and turn good in the end (not sure. he's being set up for option 2, but if snape is good, which he IS, dammit, then it seems like they need another conflicted-is-he-or-isn't-he character to fill snape's shoes, and draco is right now the only candidate)? what the hell is going to happen? who is going to die? they (the critics) say hagrid. i can see that, because he's relatively "disposable" especially as of late, mostly whines about his creatures that are dying or forbidden. but it seems like a copout and i can't quite imagine j.k. pulling that move (really, the death of you-know in book 6 was the most predictable thing of all the books, but that kind of thing sort of has to happen to send the hero out on his own, like i said, taran-wanderer style, obi-wan kenobi eats it, and so does gandalf, temporarily). i will actually throw something if she kills hermione, ron, or ginny. or neville. or luna lovegood. will i if she kills harry? i don't know. i can't quite picture harry's death being sad... i mostly just imagine it being sudden and awful or, worse, pointless. what good will it do? unless he pulls a grand sacrifice, and has to die in order to kill voldemort ( i.e. if harry is the horcrux, god forbid), then what will harry's death do for these books?
well it's a good question. i'm all jumbled and indecisive and taking all of this far too seriously. i feel like j.k. could totally kill harry off. i'm about to contradict myself but... it's fitting. it's what should happen. i had the idea for a chapter called "the boy who died" long before this dude did (or at least before i read his idea). it would be... poetic and parallellllllllistic (or something like that). and it's what harry's purpose is now, whereas everyone else has a much quieter, simpler one: to live normal lives. harry's was never normal and never can be. so it would be in a way fitting if he died for a higher cause. anyway. i'll finish up here because most of what i have been thinking about can be summed up in this article by (surprisingly) one of the Lost writers that was in the new york times today. i hate it that people with "official" modes of expression, like new york times editorials, get to say things before i do. or maybe i hate that i don't say them before i read them. i've been thinking about this stuff for several days, i just was too busy getting sunburned in dolores park to write anything down. renewed focus is what i need! an avowal of dedication, abstinence (namely from food and drink), simplicity, joy, all that good stuff. perhaps once i have finished reading harry potter.
(This wasn't a bad editorial either. Love the Beatles reference.)
so i've been doing a lot of thinking about What Will Happen. I kind of feel like no matter what, it will work out the way it should, but i have this issue which is that in my head i rewrite/edit the harry potter books to make them better, more impactful as annoying people say, more subtle, and so on. i do think they are very good. they are funny and the characters are great and the little details (funny names, puns) are fantastic. but i keep thinking about all the great fantasy tropes and motifs that she IS using and all the ones she's NOT and how the books could almost be better if she borrowed even MORE from previous works and build them into these stories. like lately i've really been feeling like i want harry to get his quest on. it would be a complete departure from the earlier books and so i don't really want it to happen (it could, if hogwarts ends up closed in the beginning of the 7th book), because the school setting is part of what makes harry potter so unique and fun, but i would love to see an alternate universe where harry goes on a (i won't say frodo-ish, but) taran-wanderer like quest. you know, him and his buddies against the elements, all bleak and depressing and burning-of-harp (if you never read the lloyd alexander books, then pardon my references). i know it wouldn't fit, but still.
anyway so the point is i've been thinking a lot about harry potter, and how it should end, if you're thinking great themes of fantasy and hope and triumph over evil and such. should harry die, in other words? is snape evil (no!)? will draco go evil, or will he falter and turn good in the end (not sure. he's being set up for option 2, but if snape is good, which he IS, dammit, then it seems like they need another conflicted-is-he-or-isn't-he character to fill snape's shoes, and draco is right now the only candidate)? what the hell is going to happen? who is going to die? they (the critics) say hagrid. i can see that, because he's relatively "disposable" especially as of late, mostly whines about his creatures that are dying or forbidden. but it seems like a copout and i can't quite imagine j.k. pulling that move (really, the death of you-know in book 6 was the most predictable thing of all the books, but that kind of thing sort of has to happen to send the hero out on his own, like i said, taran-wanderer style, obi-wan kenobi eats it, and so does gandalf, temporarily). i will actually throw something if she kills hermione, ron, or ginny. or neville. or luna lovegood. will i if she kills harry? i don't know. i can't quite picture harry's death being sad... i mostly just imagine it being sudden and awful or, worse, pointless. what good will it do? unless he pulls a grand sacrifice, and has to die in order to kill voldemort ( i.e. if harry is the horcrux, god forbid), then what will harry's death do for these books?
well it's a good question. i'm all jumbled and indecisive and taking all of this far too seriously. i feel like j.k. could totally kill harry off. i'm about to contradict myself but... it's fitting. it's what should happen. i had the idea for a chapter called "the boy who died" long before this dude did (or at least before i read his idea). it would be... poetic and parallellllllllistic (or something like that). and it's what harry's purpose is now, whereas everyone else has a much quieter, simpler one: to live normal lives. harry's was never normal and never can be. so it would be in a way fitting if he died for a higher cause. anyway. i'll finish up here because most of what i have been thinking about can be summed up in this article by (surprisingly) one of the Lost writers that was in the new york times today. i hate it that people with "official" modes of expression, like new york times editorials, get to say things before i do. or maybe i hate that i don't say them before i read them. i've been thinking about this stuff for several days, i just was too busy getting sunburned in dolores park to write anything down. renewed focus is what i need! an avowal of dedication, abstinence (namely from food and drink), simplicity, joy, all that good stuff. perhaps once i have finished reading harry potter.
I read an article recently saying that 80 percent of American poll respondents said they thought Harry wouldn’t survive the final book. As is the case in many polls, there’s probably a degree of wish-fulfillment here. In other words, we want the little bugger to die.
O.K., it wasn’t an article. It was an inset in Us Weekly. This makes my point no less valid.
So why do we want Harry to go to the great Quidditch match in the sky?
The poor kid’s parents were brutally murdered, he spent his childhood in a closet, and every year one of his friends dies. Yet we do not offer him our sympathy. We offer him our bloodlust.
Do we feel sorry for Harry? No. We want him to take a dirt nap.
And that’s because we want to be surprised.
Because if there’s one thing we like more than explosions, it’s surprises. And even though 8 out of 10 of us want him to die, we know in our hearts that he won’t.
And that’s because Ms. Rowling wouldn’t dare.
She can’t whack Harry because there are rules that must be followed when it comes to how one ends a grand mythology. Good triumphs over evil. Hope overcomes despair. Paper covers rock. Harry wins. Voldemort loses. The Ewoks sing.
And this is precisely why Harry has to die.
Because it will be tragic. And emotional. And surprising.(This wasn't a bad editorial either. Love the Beatles reference.)
Who needs the Kwik-E-Mart? I dooooooooo
Oh yeah:
Arguably a terrible picture of me, hair in face, weird leaning, thumbs-up, Google badge, sort of look obese. But! Kwik-E-Mart! (Click the link for more pictures.)
I'm totally going to see the Simpsons movie now.
Arguably a terrible picture of me, hair in face, weird leaning, thumbs-up, Google badge, sort of look obese. But! Kwik-E-Mart! (Click the link for more pictures.)
I'm totally going to see the Simpsons movie now.
Friday, July 06, 2007
I love the Internet because it enables things like PostSecret, Passive-Aggressive Notes, and the latest, Deleted Images. Another brilliant, collaborative/user-generated, this time artsy website. Made up of the photos that you would normally delete off your digital camera, just because they're blurry or bad or whatever. (Pretty much every photo taken during my little sister's 21st birthday extravaganza falls into this category.) But put together they end up being kind of beautiful and quieting.
I also have to add, since I'm on the subject of beautiful and quieting, that if you do not read 3191 you are a bad person. It's absolutely gorgeous, looking at it is like doing a one minute meditation. It's a reason to get a feed reader. This one is my favorite recently, although this one the other day was pretty amazing as well.
(Deleted Images via Notcot.org)
I also have to add, since I'm on the subject of beautiful and quieting, that if you do not read 3191 you are a bad person. It's absolutely gorgeous, looking at it is like doing a one minute meditation. It's a reason to get a feed reader. This one is my favorite recently, although this one the other day was pretty amazing as well.
(Deleted Images via Notcot.org)
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