All things Harry

In what was a very full week already, I juggled schedules to get in a number of HP-related activities:

• Finished re-reading OotP and HBP in preparation for the new movie/book releases



• Took a break from packing for our vacation to take Son to see OotP last Saturday. I think the best thing about the experience was learning that at age 11.5 he isn't beyond burying his head in my shoulder when things get scary. We have seen all the movies together in the theater (except for the first, which came out when he was not quite 6 and it would have been too overwhelming) and it was nice to continue the tradition. Review: we both enjoyed it as a movie; it carried us along well without too many breaks from the action to mutter "hey, they left that part out!" It was dark, as was the book, and we both found it a bit difficult to watch Harry's frustration and helplessness build. And the ending seemed contrived. And they keep changing how the dementors look! Minor quibbles, though. Overall, well worth seeing.



• One of Son's friends joined us for the last couple nights of our vacation, and the three kids and I attended a HP7 release party in the small town nearest where we were staying. The bookstore in this town is tiny, so they had rented space in a local school for the festivities. They did a nice job of it - you could make a wand in one corner, answer HP trivia questions in another, or watch the Sorcerer's Stone on video up on the stage. There was a long table with pumpkin donuts, "fairy cakes" (petits fours), and other treats including a large bowl of Bertie Botts Every-Flavor Beans. Raffle tickets were distributed and there were drawings every few minutes. Everyone received a glow stick "wand" which came in handy for visibility when we trekked the two blocks over to the store at 11:45 to line up for books. It looked like there were more than 100 people at the party, though only about 2/3 of the group actually were buying books that night. The store owner had a bag of numbered glow-in-the-dark plastic stars for assigning places in line, and I was lucky enough to draw #5! The #1 star never got drawn, so our little group was actually fourth in line. The bookstore is in a building with several businesses, including a bar at the end of the hallway that had a raucous Friday night crowd rather at odds with the families and teenagers lined up for the book - since we were right up front we had a clear view of the woman in biker attire with multiple tattoos who was checking IDs, and AC/DC and Aerosmith at high volume to keep us from getting drowsy. At 12:01 the doors were opened and we were in! The boys claimed their copies of the books (C's mom had pre-ordered one for him) and held them aloft as they left the store and walked past the cheering line. Daughter was very patient with the fact that she didn't get her own copy; she is determined to read them all in order and has just started CoS. I brought book lights so the boys could read in the car on the drive, and by 12:30 we were back. The boys took the books to bed to read, intending to stay up as long as they could, but I knew after a full day of kayaking, swimming, and mini-golfing that they wouldn't last long. I didn't stay up to check but I think they were both out by 1:15.



• I was up first on Saturday and crept into the boys' room to snag Son's copy. I got in half an hour of reading before they woke up and he came looking for it - had to hand it back right as [spoiler alert] the polyjuiced Harrys were supposed to be arriving at The Burrow, before I could find out who made it safely. The rest of the morning was full as we had to pack up, check out, and drive home, so I didn't get my hands on the book again until early afternoon. Finally finished it after dinner (which was takeout pizza; I wasn't going to put it down to make a meal at that point!). I'll probably need to re-read it more closely to fully form my impressions; I admit to skimming since I wasn't going to peek and really wanted to get to the end. I'll stick some first reactions in the comments...



• And, just for fun....

What Harry Potter Character are You? Hermione Granger You are a smart and intelligent person. You use your smarts to help out friends. You can be emotional at times but you always seem to be in the mood to help someone out. Click Here to Take This Quiz

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Traveling

I spent most of the last week away at a conference, with time to do some exploring in the host city. This is the second summer in a row I've spent a chunk of July in the midwest; you'd expect that if I couldn't schedule my travel for a time with better weather, I'd at least remember to bring an umbrella! I got soaked - twice - walking the six blocks from the conference site back to my hotel. But I actually kind of enjoyed the adventure, and tried to look on it as just part of the experience (especially since I didn't have to spend the day in wet clothes in an over-air-conditioned conference center).

The best part of the trip was sightseeing with friends: on Saturday, my dearest friend came to spend the day with me. She lives about 300 miles away from the Windy City, but since we live half a continent apart, we both wanted to grab this opportunity if we could. We had a fabulous time walking up and down Michigan Ave., exploring Millenium Park, finding fun places to eat and drink, and of course talking, talking, talking. I've known her all my life (she's a year and three days older, and our mothers have been friends for 50 years) and it is so comfortable to be with her. We can just pick up conversations as if it's just been a few hours instead of months. On Sunday I got to visit with a friend I met just last year at a week-long leadership development institute. It was an intensive experience and several of us bonded over conversation, meals, and a shared sense that we had found some kindred spirits in not taking the whole thing quite so seriously. It was great to get a chance to catch up and experience some of the local sights and tastes.

I didn't get anywhere outside the Loop, but that area had plenty to see and do. The sidewalks were packed until well into the night, and seemed to be a mix of tourists and residents. The architecture boat tour on the Chicago River was great - a whole different perspective on the city, plus a good dose of history/facts/trivia of the type that my mind just loves. At the end of six days I was rather exhausted by the urban experience and was ready to get back to fewer people, open spaces, and a bed that wasn't 19 floors in the air - but I really loved the city and hope to go back for more someday.

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Bravo, Keith Olbermann

Bravo. Well said.

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Somewhere inside the rainbow

A couple of days ago we had an appointment in that city famous for rain. It was one of those summer days that perfectly exemplified a term that's peculiar to weather forecasts in the northwest: sunbreaks. At times the clouds parted, the sky was clear blue, and the air felt warm. Then things would shift, the blue would be replaced by grey, and the rain would start falling. Wait ten or fifteen minutes, and watch it change again.

Early in the evening we were on our way home, heading east on the highway with the sun low in the sky behind us. It wasn't raining, but showers had just passed, leaving the roadway quite wet, and the heavy traffic was generating a constant spray of mist. Up in the distance, we could see a rainbow arcing across the sky. As the angle of the light changed, the colors of the rainbow intensified and it was visible even against the dark green of the forested hills. Suddenly the rainbow was both up ahead and right in front of us. The refraction of light was extending down into the cloud of mist being thrown up by the passing vehicles, and seemed to align perfectly with the full arch of the rainbow in the sky. I was driving into the rainbow where it touched the ground at 65 MPH, though in the sky it still appeared off in the distance. Part of my mind was trying to make sense of the physics of the phenomenon, and part of my mind was wondering in awe at the sense of magic (and what was left was trying to keep the car on the road!) You don't expect that sense of wonder to spring upon you in weekend traffic on the interstate, but there it was.

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