See?

Do you see what I mean about his hair? I mean, this isn't a very good picture and you can't see his gorgeous face at all, but you do have a glimpse of his glossy, raven hair. Isn't it wonderful?

My New Flame

Dear faithful reader, I am pleased to inform you that I have inducted a new member into my hall of fame. Which hall of fame, you might ask. Why, the one with all the deliciously yummy men, of course! Is there any other? This most recent addiction is, surprisingly, not an actor. He is, however, predictably British. His name is Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, and he's a famous British designer. Although he isn't an actor, he is on TV, and I've been watching him on the reruns of BBC America's Changing Rooms (which is just like Trading Spaces, only it's not drawn-out, all the people have accents, and the designs are infinitely more fascinating). He was a designer on the show for seven years, and then he hosted it until the show ended in 2004. As of this year he is 42, which makes him positively juvenile compared to the other members of my hall of fame. Now I must relate how Laurence initially captivated me: it was his hair. If he was on screen, my eyes would be glued to his gorgeous hair just like a raccoon and something shiny, and with a sister longing to get my hands on it. When he was the designer, his hair was to his shoulders, very dark - almost, but not quite - black, very wavy, very free, luminously shiny, and full of volume. I especially loved it when he had to steam wallpaper because his hair would become so alive and untameable yet sleek and erotically handsome. His gorgeous coiffure combined with his taste for (in his words) foppish attire...black leather pants, white ruffled shirts, an obvious taste for flair and dramatics...led me to the conclusion...I admit it ... I thought he was gay. But I am delighted to report that that is not the case! He is married, has two daughters, and has assured all his interviewers and fans that he is indeed heterosexual. Even if his borderline attire and his simply divine hair make him a questionable addition to my hall of fame, his personality and delight in eccentricity must surely back-up my decision. His personality is a wild and as fetching as his hair, and that's saying something. Unfortunately, he has since cut his beautiful locks into a more manageable and contemporary style. I still prefer the long tresses...they made him look like he could have stepped out of some sweeping eighteenth-century Gothic romance, maybe a young Mr. Rochester or a softer Heathcliff...but he's not in the least any less stunning than he was with his Byronic tresses. The picture I have posted doesn't do the least bit of justice to him, but it's a start. So, to Mr. Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, I say, "Welcome!"

See clips of Laurence on the British show 24 Hours here: Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Guess What...

I got to drive...a boat. Skip took me and several ladies from the business office who had been hankering to go out on his department's boat for a ride. His boat had been docked a week at a friends house, so someone drove us all there, and then we rode on the from the backside of Morehead City under the Radio Island bridge, into the channel, and under the Atlantic Beach bridge towards his dock at the aquaculture unit in the college. Before we even got to the Radio Island Bridge, Skip asked me to take the wheel. It was only when he took both hands off the wheel that I stepped in and steered. And I steered it all the way to the dock, and I even took the throttle a bit as Skip went for a brief lie-down on the bow. Of course, that was in the no-wake-zone in front of the harbor, but for five minutes I was in complete control of that boat. Then we docked into this really cool lift that, well, lifted the boat out of the water. That was the end of the trip, but not the end of the fun. I got to clean out a little tank that had a thin layer of sludge on the bottom, probably from the dead and decaying organisms also in the tank. A few days ago, the pump that runs the entire building shut off and couldn't be fixed in time to save any of the animals in tanks. Almost all of them died - I think the only survivors were the three of four crabs I moved to another tank today. Anyway, I get to tackle some more cages tomorrow, after I help 'restore the shoreline' with a lot of volunteers for a bit, planting various species of marsh grass. Then maybe I'll get to some organizing of his class files.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

Fear not, no spoilers here shall I present. I will say as little as possible, and nothing if need be, to make certain that I do not ruin any aspect of Book 7 for you. I loved it. I absolutely loved it, and yet that love is bittersweet. I feel bereaved, as if I've lost something irreplaceable. I content myself that even though JK Rowling will never continue the Harry Potter universe, I still can be a keeper of its flame. I will cherish the books, and read them all many times over. And now for book seven, my thoughts, that is. Before the book came out, I posted two polls, asking your predictions for the ultimate outcome of the series, and of Snape's loyalties. Two of my devoted readers answered, and I thank you. Together, we made three votes for each poll. Two of us said that Harry would defeat Voldemort and die himself from the effort involved, while one of us said that Harry would defeat Voldemort and live. Two of us said Snape's loyalties lied with good and the Order, and one of us said that Snape was in league for his own power. Only this will I say: we were all right, and we were all wrong. JK Rowling answered all the questions I asked, and so many more. All the delicately trailing and fiercely gaping plot holes and threads are wound up to make not seven books, but one magnificent tale that transcends anything I've ever read before. She answered my questions, and in so doing confirmed several of my suspicions, but all in a manner that utterly bewildered me. There are things in this book that I never even saw coming, not even with all of the hints that shine so brightly from the first six books now, when I look in hindsight. I began crying within ten minutes of beginning the book, and those tears stayed ever present, and then burst forth anew when I'd read the very last word. There are deaths, I cannot deny it nor do I feel any guilt for telling you - as JK Rowling herself has said so from day one. But there are also lives, old life and new life, and they will console and bring comfort when the tale is done. There is redemption, salvation, mystery, understanding, love, heartache, grief, bravery, evil, goodness, and magic to be had if you would but open the book. Does it end in life or death? Read it and find out.

Two Somethings

I'm an unabashed fan of Jane Austen, and I just watched the adaptation of her book "Mansfield Park," a few days ago. So yesterday, as I was riding through Morehead, one road happened to catch my eye. It read, "Mansfield Prkwy."

In an effort to curb my Harry Potter appetite, I'm rereading a book called The Historian. It centers around Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler, or Vlad Dracula, or simply Dracula. His name literally means, "Son of the Dragon," (dracul=dragon, -a=son of), and he was part of the Order of the Dragon. We've all heard of Transylvania, which is located in Romania. Unfortunately, this led me back to Harry Potter. Charlie Weasley works with Dragons...in Romania. Any connection to Romania's illustrious past with one named for a Dragon? Just a thought.

Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix

Last weekend, I went an saw the much-talked-about Harry Potter 5. After seeing it, I should now call it the 'much-ado-about-nothing Harry Potter movie 5.' I have thought a lot about what I should say about the film, and this is essentially what it boils down to: why can't they let a real Harry Potter fan direct the films? A true HP fan would know what is important to the audience. They'd know what the audience expects, because it would be what was important to and expected by them. They would understand certain nuances of the books, what's important and what is brilliant but extraneous to the main plot. They'd know how to keep the magic alive and thrilling because the books are alive to them. This director...not a very good HP fan. Within the first five minutes, I was already disappointed. I'm glad they cut out most of Harry's hot-headedness and misunderstood angst, but the emotionless Arabella Figg nullified that move. They cut things I didn't think should be cut, emphasized things that shouldn't have been, and bungled the scenes that were mildly important to the plot. I know it's a big book to fit into a tiny movie, but did all the dialogue have to be so rushed? Did so many good characters have to be introduced by garbled lines and brief glimpses? The movie lacked the magic that made the first one so ...magical. This one is like old-news, informative, mildly-entertaining, but nothing that would ever thrill you. Don't the actors realize that they're acting out Harry Potter? We're supposed to see things through Harry's eyes, but where is the surprise when we first see the Ministry of Magic, the Fountain of Magical Brethren, the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, the evil of Dolores Umbridge, and so on and so forth? It's not there, or it's in such disguising-garb as to be completely unrecognizable. All that aside, I'm glad I saw it. The movie did have its good points - Luna, Grawp, Thestrals, Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, and The final battle, to name a few. I loved Harry's battle with Voldemort at the end - well, I loved Harry's response to Voldemort- it embodies the entire theme of JK Rowling's work in my opinion. But then there was the end, with those newspaper headlines that speak of vindication and investigation into Umbridge and Fudge - completely not in the book and completely at odds with the book - there was no vindication, no apology - and Umbridge never lost anything but some dignity when she left the school. Here's to hoping that the seventh book cancels out this particular film.

Live Free or Die Hard

This could be my shortest review ever: I saw it, I loved it, I recommend it, go see it, you'll love it. Yippe-ky-yay, Mother F*cker!

A narrative with a grammar lesson

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything lately. I have been meaning to post a review of both Live Free or Die Hard and Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix, but I've been procrastinating as usual. I should have those up by Friday, hopefully, because as of noon on Friday I am removing myself from the Internet and the news and any other source of global information. I shall return to said media when I have finished reading Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. I have waited too long to have some big, bold headline on Yahoo! blow the ending of one of the greatest series ever written. Moving on, tomorrow I am going to start doing some work for a local aquaculturalist/biologist over at the Community College. He needs someone to organize his class information and to make it accessible on Black Board, and so I'm going to learn Black Board and help out in the hopes that I can salvage another summer squandered with my trademark procrastination. I just printed out my paltry resume on the off chance Mr. Kemp might want to see it, but since he knows my Mom and since I am 'volunteering,' I doubt the need will arise. I should add that I am nervous as hell about working for anybody and terribly afraid that I won't get any biological experience credit out of the experience. But I'll think about that tomorrow. In other news, the TV room is coming along nicely. It is completely sheet-rocked, and just about everything (minus the ceiling) has a first coat of mud (or 'joint compound' if you prefer). I decided to learn how to mud the cracks and corners where pieces of sheet rock meet, and that has helped to increase the speed at which the room progresses. Dad said that he'll take care of the second coat, which really means: I'll try and salvage what you've done to the walls. In a few weeks, Becca and I are going to Charleston to spend a week with Darren and Kim. I'll get to see Hobbes and Pi and their new house, and of course Kim and Darren. It's bound to be a wonderful week and I'm ready to go now! I have finished two puzzles in the past two weeks. One was a 750-piece Thomas Kincade (I just love his puzzles!) that I completed in the course of one night. The other was a 1000-piece rendering of Cinderella's grand arrival at Prince Charming's castle that took me one whole night just to get the edge-pieces together. Several nights later I discovered that several of the edge pieces were incorrectly placed, so I had to rearrange them to correct the issue. Several nights after that, I discovered that the entire top half was off by a three-piece-wide column that fit perfectly both within itself and with the pieces bordering it, except for color. It took an hour of rearranging, swearing, and shoving to get the damn thing to go together correctly, but I finally managed it, and I completed the puzzle this afternoon. Good riddance! That's all for now, but hopefully two new posts should follow this one quite quickly.

(By the way, "you're" is a contraction of "you" and "are." If someone desires to use a possessive adjective, the correct word is "your." )

Blueberry Nights

Anyone fancy some blueberries? The dozen or so initial blueberry plants that we started with and their exponential offspring are starting to ripen. Soon, we'll be swimming in blueberries. I'm getting ready to make something to use up some blueberries. If you want blueberries, and I'm talking by the gallon, then come on over - they're free to a good home (as long as you pick them!).

I was able to persuade Mom to pre-order my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It will arrive the day of the 21st, or it's free. I can hardly wait!!!

The living room/TV room is drastically different. I'm withholding pictures for now. I'd like to do a before and after post just to show you how dramatic the difference is. Just to give you a verbal taste, I'll say that we put in a door where Dad's desk was, put in a pretty replacement window where the other window was, cut a hole in the wall between the window and the door and put in a new window. Dad's also built a closet beside the door. All that needs to be done now is to build the half-wall with shelves, sheet rock the rest of the room, mud, sand, mud, and sand again, then prime the walls, then select paint colors, then paint, then frame in the windows, the door, and the closet, then build a shelf unit for the TV wall, and go flooring and furniture shopping. Then it will be time for the kitchen!

Thoughts on Harry Potter

************SPOILER ALERT************

DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ ANY OR ALL OF THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS

As the seventh book's release date draws closer and closer, I've been wondering if all of the loose ends left to be wound up will in fact be knitted together. What new things will we learn? What old things will be thrown into a new light? Will the various sub plots come together in a stunning conclusion that we won't see coming? With those questions in mind, I have a few more questions that I want answered in the final book.

• J.K Rowling has said that Dumbledore is indeed dead, but she also said that Dumbledore's scenes in the seventh book were particularly hard to write. Does this mean we will get to see him again in a memory or will we get to talk to his portrait in the Headmistress's office?
• Will we get to meet Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother and the bartender at the Hogshead Pub?
• Will the debt that Peter Pettigrew owes Harry Potter for saving his life in The Prizoner of Azkaban finally be paid?
• Will we ever learn what "In essence divided" means, as said by Dumbledore in The Order of the Phoenix when Harry sees Nagini attack Mr. Weasley?
• Will we ever know what that brief 'gleam' of triumph in Dumbledore's eyes was on the night Voldemort returned to power?
• Will Ron and Hermione get together?
• Will Harry and Ginny reunite?
• Will Bill be a full werewolf?
• Will Hogwarts reopen?
• Who will die in the final battle and who will survive until the epilogue?
• What side is Snape on?
• Is Voldemort just a 'red herring' masking the true battle between Harry and Snape?
• Why did Snape kill Dumbledore?
• What memory was Dumbledore revisiting the night he and Harry went to the seaside cave?
• Will Stan Shunpike ever be set free?
• Will Neville avenge his parents and kill or otherwise incapacitate Bellatrix Lestrange?
• What, if anything, will we learn about Petunia Dursley?
• Will Harry find all of Tom Riddle's remaining Horcruxes?
• Is the locket in Number 12 Grimmauld Place Slytherin's locket?
• Is R.A.B. Regulus Black and was that why he was killed, "on Voldemort's orders"?
• If R.A.B. was Regulus Black, did he make Kreacher drink the poison while he stole Voldemort's horcrux, which might explain Kreacher's seeming insanity?
• Will Harry defeat Voldemort?
• Will Harry kill Voldemort and split his soul?

Five O'clock and All's Well

I've just finished (for the day, there's more to do tomorrow) cutting the grass. The amount of time required to do so has been steadily increasing as the area I cut gradually expands in leaps and bounds. I've now incorporated the fields, the old garden field, the area around the log cabin, and the area in the far back corner that was previously an overgrown wilderness until I showed up with a push mower and a branch cutter. As a result, it is now almost impossible for me to finish mowing the lawn in one day's time. The fields, I am quite sure, had not been cut since I last cut them almost one year ago! But they've never looked better, and I'm hoping that with continued disturbances (i.e. mowing) I'll be able to weed out all the unwanted plants and have a nice verdant lawn.

Rebecca and I got our hair cut yesterday. I've not had my hair cut by another person in over three years, but I had a hair style that I wanted, and Rebecca was willing. The rest is history. The lady who cut my hair used a razor, and I love the effect. My hair is so light and flowy and flippy now! And shorter than I've had it in a long time.

The dogs found a large bone yesterday, and after examining it, Rebecca said that she thought it the right size and dimension to be a human bone. I looked at it and thought she had a fair point - it was the top of a large tibia bone. But just to be sure, I got out my Forensic Anthropology book and compared it to the page of tibia bones often confused with human bones. After a quick comparison, I concluded that the bone was in fact from a deer. The experience, nevertheless, was quite interesting.

After giving Zeus his Methly Sufonyl Methane (MSM) pills to help with his hip dysplasia, I must say that the improvement is obvious and dramatic. Two days after I started the regimen, Zeus jumped on me. Jumped up, onto me, putting all of his weight on his hind legs, and he didn't whimper or whine once to indicate he was in any pain. And now almost a week later, I have to say that it looks entirely possible he will make a full recovery. Amen for that!