I just got an email that my custom sneakers are ready!
I have no idea when I’ll get them, though. UPS just says they’ve received the billing information, so I don’t think the sneakers have actually started on their journey to the Mother Ship, Supersonic Jane.
I hope they look okay.
Posted by: ssjane | August 9, 2007 | 8:56 pm
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My boss’s babysitter will be heading back to college soon, so my boss had the 12-year-old neighbor girl come over for a trial run.
Apparently the babysitter showed up with her younger brother, Junior, in tow. My boss’s husband told the babysitter they weren’t quite comfortable with her simultaneously babysitting her brother and their own baby.
Immediately, she said, “No, no, it’s okay! Look!”
She turned to her brother. “Junior, here’s a piece of candy. Put it in your mouth and shut up!”
Posted by: ssjane | August 7, 2007 | 11:09 pm
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Day Five: Chapter 19 - end
To my surprise, I finish Harry Potter today. The last chunk of book is action-packed, and although I find myself unmoved by most of the deaths that follow, I am almost saddened by the death of a house-elf. Granted, I had to ask one of Chris’s friends who the elf was because I couldn’t remember, but his role was quite touching, short as it was.
I do not completely understand the logic of how Voldemort is defeated (and this does not constitute a spoiler because, hello, this is the last Harry Potter book, Voldemort’s gonna be defeated) but am willing to chalk it up to reading too fast.
While I enjoyed the book, most of the allure of the early Potter books is missing. There is no time for new characters or even old characters; this book is all Harry, all the way. There are no new magical discoveries for us in this book like the first time we encountered the Hogwarts Express and, my personal favorite, the Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. There is, in short, very little fun going on in this book, and a heck of a lot of fighting. Magic, it seems, is relegated in this book to shouted spells and much wand-waving, and not really to…being magical. For that, you have to go back to the first Harry Potter book.
Posted by: ssjane | August 4, 2007 | 11:04 pm
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Day Four: Chapters 14.5 - 18
With Ron, Hermione, and Harry out on their own hunting Horcruxes, I don’t need to keep track of all the characters I can’t remember and reading is progressing faster. (Fortunately, the book is willing to remind me what Horcruxes are.)
I begin to wish that Hermione were the main character — she’s resourceful, skilled, and certainly the glue that keeps Harry and Ron together. Sure, it’s tough being Harry — but it must be tougher being Hermione, who does everything Harry is doing, except without the benefit of that scar. She’s the real hero of the story because she’s choosing the path in front of her, while Harry has no choice.
In SAT terms, Harry : Frodo :: Ron : Sam :: Hermione : Legolas.
Posted by: ssjane | August 4, 2007 | 12:24 pm
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Day Two, Part Two: Page 3 - Chapter 5
By page 30, there have been two mentions of Harry’s “bright green eye.” Why do I need to know his eye is bright green? And why only one eye? Surely I would have remembered Harry Potter having only one eye, green or otherwise.
Day Three: Chapter 6 - 14.5
Things are picking up. Three action-packed fights fly by. We lose a few characters, and even though one’s an animal, I barely flinch because I don’t really remember either of them. (But thank goodness Harry doesn’t have a pet puppy.)
The rapid death rate makes me suspect J.K. Rowling is trimming detritus in an effort to wrap up this series within a reasonable page length. As it is, my wrist is already in pain from holding the book and I think longingly of Stephen King’s serialized Green Mile, which I never read, but admired from a distance because of its portability.
Posted by: ssjane | August 2, 2007 | 10:40 pm
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Day One: First two pages
Thanks to the kindness of one of Chris’s coworkers, I have a copy of the last Harry Potter book in my house. And here I thought I’d have to wait at least a year before a library copy opened up!
Alas, we have a DVD due back at the library the next day, and haven’t watched it yet. So while we watch a movie which in retrospect will only make us regret having given up two hours of our lives which we will never get back, I quickly skim the first two pages of Potter.
God, I hate books that quote from other people. If I ever get a book published, all the words in it will be mine.
Snape…that’s the evil instructor, right? But who’s Yaxley? And Lucius? I distinctly remember reading the last six books, but number six was so awful that I must have erased my memory of the actual content of the books. Gosh, I hope the peacock isn’t an important part of this one. Was I supposed to have met Yaxley in an earlier book? Who are all these people?
Day Two, Part One: Pages 1 - 3
I finally have time to properly start the book. I bring it, a cup of water, and the dogs outside. While the dogs run around the chicken-wire fenced area, I sit on the shaded deck and open the book. Lucius, I think, is a Malfoy. (And probably the adult Malfoy, given the age of the other characters, but what the hell was the name of the younger Malfoy?)
I pause to pour some water for Paco, who is licking the edges of my cup in a rather meaningful way.
Boy, this book is awfully descriptive…moonlit lanes, flapping cloaks marble mantelpieces…no wonder it’s so freaking lo– HEY! Stanley just made a break for it!
“STANLEY!! GET BACK HERE!”
Another pause ensues, during which I run inside the house, down to the garage, put on some outdoor shoes, go out of the garage, and run outside. Luckily, I find Stanley peeing on a bush in our front yard, and I leash him up just before he attacks the neighbor kid next door washing his car or our dog-sitter’s giant boxer heading up the street toward us.
Clearly, there will be no Potter time running concurrently with doggie-outdoor-time.
Posted by: ssjane | August 1, 2007 | 5:58 pm
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