Take a look at what Justin is wearing in this pic from people.com. I love it when St. Louis gets on tshirts. Hah. But apparently *NSync is still doing things, like organizing bowling parties…just not singing. Not that the world needs more *NSync, but you know, they promised to come back, and the Backstreet Boys have done it, sort of, so let’s get the other guys, just for old time’s sake.
Ah, nostalgia 😉
So on the Today show this morning there was a girl who was born with Spina Bifida which affected, among other things, the formation of one of her feet. Because of infection and other things and after 57 surgeries she ended up having the lower leg amputated, but is doing just fine as a sophomore in high school with her prosthetic. She lives in Oklahoma, and as part of the Today Show’s Christmas in July, she received a full scholarship to OK State with tuition, room and board, and books for four years, whenever she gets to college.
I’m happy for the girl, but I’ll admit a certain bit of jealousy that she got the full scholarship. Because then I think that even though I was 3rd in my high school class I didn’t get a full ride anywhere. Almost at Mizzou, where I probably should have gone. All because I fell in love with Wash U while a frosh in hs. Sigh. I’d really love to not be paying off student loans right now. Seems like I keep having super huge emergency payments due (mostly centered around the car, bless its little 12-year-old heart, er, engine) so I’m not making any money, seems like. Cece talks about getting a second job. I don’t want to do that, but it sure would be nice to actually have money coming in instead of paying it out. At least I have a nice bike out of it…
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by Rowling, GrandPré
The St Louis Post-Dispatch review is semi-spoilerish and can be found here.
SPOILER WARNING: This post contains my first thoughts about reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I finished this afternoon. I bought it last night at the midnight release party, read for about two hours before I went to sleep, then finished it after helping Olga move out, such as it was. She was mostly packed before I got up. I turned the last page sometime around 6 pm. So of the 18 hours that I’ve owned this book, seven were spent sleeping and two or three hours were spent helping Olga and watching the movie Paycheck. So it took me a little over eight hours to get the whole thing read. It’s about 200 pages shorter than the previous book, which was disappointing to me. I mean, I know that the 820 pages of OotP was a pretty hefty doorstop, but dammnit, I like to read! Keep me occupied for more than a day, eh?
But she did keep me occupied for a day, so hats off. Lots of things behind the link. I suppose if you are totally unaware of anything HP there are spoilers everywhere. I do mention who dies, so if you don’t want to know that, DON’T CONTINUE READING! Otherwise, please read and let me know how you felt about the book, the direction the series is going, anything at all.
Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
I am Michael Carpenter.
I am one of those honored by God to serve His Will as a Knight of the Cross. My faith is strong, unshakeable — and deadly to the truly evil. It’s my job to seek them out, to get them to change if I can, and to stop them if I must. And I am not alone in this. Never alone. God watches over me and sees that I am sent where I am most needed. I carry the holy sword Amoracchius at my side — that nail you see in the hilt came from the Cross. The other Knights stand by me. My wife and children are just as fierce as I am — God help you should you try to find out if it’s otherwise. And there are others. Together we all stand, shoulder to shoulder, against the darkness. Our faith has been tried, tested, and proven resolute. No matter the cost, no matter how bloodied you might make us, we will not bow, and we cannot fail. God’s Will be done — on Earth, by our hands. |
Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
Random thought: Did you know that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comes out today? I didn’t even realize it. I know I liked CCF when I was younger, but Johnny Depp looks so odd in the previews that I don’t know what to think. Tim Burton directs, too, which always sort of scares me. Guess we’ll see. Going up against HP, though it doesn’t stand a chance.
So tonight at midnight is the release of the 6th Harry Potter book. I’m excited. It’s about damn time. I decided, since it was the second to last book release, and I really like the books, I would go ahead and buy the hardcover at Harrypalooza, the release party held at Left Bank Books. It costs a little more than Amazon or even Borders, but it’s going to be a big party. Streets closed off and everything. People from the Science Center and City Museum will be there doing scientific magic stuff. One restuarant is having a HP-themed menu. Awww. I do get a goody bag with purchase, and since I’ve already paid I can get it right away. Yahoo. Cece’s coming with, which makes me happy. You might know by now I hate going places by myself.
So, at the risk of showing you once again how much of a geek I am, I made myself a Gryffindor robe with an iron-on patch (now that was a fun thing to do *sarcasm*), a tie with markered stripes, and a wand. I don’t have anywhere to put the wand, so perhaps that should be remedied, and there are no pockets in the robe which I should have thought about before I sewed up the seams. I feel like I made a graduation robe. It’s not quite movie quality, but I’m proud of my efforts. I have fabric for a skirt, but unless I have a lot of motivation in the four or so hours between getting off work and heading downtown, I doubt it will get finished 😉 I was up too late and needed to be awake too early to try to finish it last night. Besides, I made Quidditch-inspired tshirts for me and Cece so we can look goofy together. I’ll try to get pictures.
Wow, it’s been a while, eh? I’d like to say that I’ve been busy. Mostly, I have been. But I’ve also been lazy. Regardless, let’s see what I can remember about the last few weeks.
Most recently: Hello debt, to borrow a phrase from my legal-but-not-yet-moved-in roommate. I bought a bike yesterday. It’s a Novara Aspen, and it’s green. Part of it, anyway. And since my bike that was stolen had the lock and the headlights and the bar ends and the seat pack and the bottle holder on it, I needed those too. And a kickstand. Though I’m a little confused as to how/where to put the one I got on. I love installing things (only a little sarcasm there) but sometimes the simplest things have me muddled. Anyway, it’s a very nice bike, and I’m happy, but dear Lord it cost alot. But it’s an investment, and it’s certainly staying inside now.
Yesterday could be termed an investment day, I suppose. Not only did I get the bike, I got some things at Target that could also be considered investing in my job. Clothes and the like. While there’s no dress code at work, I still feel underdressed sometimes, especially now that I’ll be working with human subjects as opposed to rats. Speaking of human studies, I have to recruit people for the new study I’ll be working on. Joy of all joys. Did I ever mention how calling people is freaky for me? At least it’s not cold-calling. These people volunteered for a study, so at least they know a call might be coming. I’m glad that I’ll have things to do (and thankful I have a job at all) but it’s scary to have something coming up that I know so little about. It’s very new and I’m a little apprehensive. What if I can’t handle it, what if I do something wrong? Boo nervousness. At least it’s comforting that most of the people working on the study with me are new to it too, no one’s done this yet, so we’re all floating in the boat of newness. Yeah.
I don’t know if I can consider wine glasses an investment, but at least now I can indulge my fledging wine tastes in actual glasses instead of cups that were once jam jars. The amount of money spent this weekend is staggering though. No more spending for Jen. I’m an REI co-op member, which means I get a percentage back of what I spend there. I’ve successfully made more of a dividend with yesterday’s one purchase than I’ve made the last two years. Yikes.
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You scored as Severus Snape. Well you’re a tricky one aren’t you? Nobody quite has you figured out and you’d probably prefer it stayed that way. That said you are a formidable force by anyone’s reckoning, but there is certainly more to you than a frosty exterior and a bitter temper.
Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is…? |
So Much More to Know: 100 things science still can’t answer
Wired 13.07: Spock the Sith Slayer: “Contemporary fanfics have Roswell characters meeting the cast of Smallville.”
Remember how the only piece of writing not assigned as homework that I’ve ever finished was my Roswell fanfic, (Human) Development? I’m still pretty proud that I managed to make it work, and go along with the title. I miss Roswell. The third and final season is coming out on dvd in August. Ah, good old teenage-alien angst.
Sleep now. Happy Fourth!