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I am happier on thursday than I am on monday, tuesday, or wednesday.

I am happier than on monday, because monday is the first day of work day. not fun. but I buy sashimi for dinner, so that's good.

I am happier than on tuesday, because tuesday we don't get sushi usually. the reason (previously) being that fish markets are supposedly closed on tuesday, so it was the general consensus that the fish isn't fresh... (of course, I looked all of this up, and found that most sushi grade fish are frozen hours after they are caught to kill parasites and what not and as long as they stay frozen, then they are good to go until they are thawed.) this means that you can eat sushi any day and not really worry... I think we will start eating sushi on tuesday if possible also, but that would still not make tuesday as cool as thursday.

I am happier than on wednesday, because all day wednesday I'm thinking about it being thursday.

I am happy on thursday because I get to go home.

I like being home. home is good. I like being home especially when I know lorie is going to be home... plus I'll have a four day weekend this week. this makes this thursday (today) especially happier for me.

"Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling 5 balls.

The balls are work, family, health, friends, and integrity.

And you're keeping them all in the air.

But one day you finally come to understand that

work is a rubber ball.

If you drop it, it will bounce back.

The four other balls -

family, health, friends, integrity - are made of glass.

If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.

And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life."

~ James Patterson in Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas

so it's raining hard.

that's always fun. I don't have an umbrella and I have to walk about a half a block outside to get to the office.

but at least it's getting darker earlier! that means when I wake up for work and when I get back to my apartment it's dark on both ends.

how exciting.

I am a guitar legend...

I've completed guitar hero in expert difficulty.

it wasn't easy.

now I'm about halfway through getting five stars on all of the expert songs...

after bark at the moon, the first two levels in expert were a breeze... I hope I can figure out the solo's for frankenstein, cowboys from hell, and bark at the moon, because they are arm numbingly difficult.

that and I sprained my pinky cleaning up the house... (it actually doesn't bother me that much, but I'm going to use it as an excuse)

once I have completed five stars in all levels, I will move onto the indie bands that I unlocked with the hard earned money from all of the gig's I've played.

and maybe, just maybe, I'll buy a guitar and really learn how to play.

but that might be a bit too ambitious... at least for right now.

::: ::: :::

btw -
in expert so far my best note streak is 448 - You've Got Another Thing Comin', 5 stars, 97%, 257k

The main form of the group embodying the 'sonata principle', the most important principle of musical structure from the Classical period to the 20th century: that material first stated in a complementary key be restated in the home key. Sonata form applies to a single movement, most often part of a multi-movement work such as a sonata, symphony or string quartet; independent movements, e.g. an overture or tone poem, may also be in sonata form. The structure may be considered an expansion of the binary form familiar in Baroque dances, but other genres, including the aria and the concerto, also impinged on its development.
A typical sonata-form movement consists of a two-part tonal structure, articulated in three main sections. The first section ('exposition') divides into a 'first group' in the tonic and, after transitional material, a 'second group' in another key (usually the dominant in major movements, the relative major in minor ones), often with a codetta to round the section off. Both groups may include a number of different themes. In 18th-century music the exposition is almost always directed to be repeated.

The second part of the structure comprises the remaining two sections, the 'development' and 'recapitulation'. The first usually develops material from the exposition in a variety of ways, moving through a number of keys. Compared with the exposition, this section is usually one of considerable tonal instability and of rhythmic and melodic tension. It also prepares the structural climax, the 'double return' to the main theme and to the tonic key which begins the recapitulation. This final section restates the themes of the exposition, usually in the same order; the second group is now heard in the tonic (possibly tonic major if the movement is minor), and there may be temporary excursions to other keys. Before 1780 the second part (development and recapitulation) was usually directed to be repeated. After that date this repetition became increasingly rare; the finale of Beethoven's 'Appassionata' Sonata furnishes a late example.

To the above outline of sonata form may be added a slow introduction and a coda. The primary function of the introduction is to strike a more serious or grander tone and to establish a larger scale of motion than would be possible by the Allegro alone. A coda usually restates the main theme, and most codas include some emphasis on the subdominant, especially if none has occurred in the recapitulation.

The 19th century brought many changes of emphasis: a concentration on contrasting first and second themes rather than on the tonal duality of the exposition; a tendency to avoid exact repetition; and a greatly expanded system of tonal relationships. A sense of strain between structure and content is often manifest, either in an academic approach to the form, as a mould rather than a process, or in the search for new methods of organization, e.g. thematic transformation (Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique; Schumann, Symphony no.4), or a freer approach (e.g. Liszt, Sonata in b Minor; Schumann, Fantasie op.17; Chopin, Ballade in g Minor). Sonata form has nevertheless served for some of the most ambitious and impressive tonal music of the 20th century by composers as different as Strauss and Hindemith, Elgar and Britten, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, and has even shaped movements (e.g. in Schönberg's String Quartets nos.3 and 4) in which tonal centres as such have ceased to exist.

The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music
edited by Stanley Sadie
© Macmillan Press Ltd., London.

so I pull into work this morning about 8am.

I park in a shady spot under a tree across the street from the office.

I'm working, I'm working, I'm working...

lunch time, no plans. roommate and I decide to go to quizno's and to stop and get cough drops at cvs (he's coughing)

walk to the car.

get in.

start the car and notice that someone has, inexplicably, managed to get an unraveled prophylactic on the windshield of my car.

[insert wretching and disgust mixed with half-laughing - didn't look to see if it was used or not]

nasty.

so I turn on the windshield wipers and the washing fluid... the first two swipes made me gag even more.

nasty, nasty, nasty...

I probably used half of the fluid in the reservior, the problem is that it gets stuck on the edge of the windshield.

I back up and TEAR out of the parking lot. the latex flies off the car onto the street.

wipers and fluid still going.

uugghhh....

the next 30 minutes is used to duscuss who would have done something so disgusting and why I would be the target.

... ... ...

yeah. this week is going great...

someone please shoot me now.

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and Third by experience, which is the bitterest.

~Confucius

ten years.

saturday was my 10 year high school reunion. it's hard for me not to think about grosse pointe blank when thinking about it.

Marcella: You know, when you started getting invited to your ten year high school reunion, time is catching up.
Martin Blank: Are you talking about a sense of my own mortality or a fear of death?
Marcella: Well, I never really thought about it quite like that.
Martin Blank: Did you go to yours?
Marcella: Yes, I did. It was just as if everyone had swelled.

a little true, but not quite. first about 40 or 50 people showed. considering that there were around 420 kids in my class, that's not a great percentage. then again, you'd have to have been looking online for the notice about the reunion.

I've probably put on about 50 pounds since high school... for the entire duration of highschool and part of college I didn't hit the weight requirement necessary to give blood... some people packed on the pounds whilst others maintained their weight from junior high - others, need to seek therapy for anorexia. really...

I saw a number of people I expected to see and with whom I was looking to re-connect, but sadly there were a number of people that didn't end up showing that I was looking forward to seeing. it was surprisingly a good time though, granted my sights were set way low...

on par for being at a bar with a dance floor, I drank enough (I was happily surprised with the amount on my tab - a fraction of what I am used to) or more than enough, I danced with old classmates, I re-discovered how much of a tool you look like when you bring glow sticks to the club (I didn't, but this other dude did) and

Martin Blank: They all have husbands and wives and children and houses and dogs, and, you know, they've all made themselves a part of something and they can talk about what they do. What am I gonna say? "I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How've you been?"

I like my job. I certainly don't love it. it sound much more glamourous that it really is, but by the nature of it's description, for those with less dynamic work it's sounds exciting. so I had to explain how much I liked and disliked my job. if you told me in college, that I had to get on a plane every week and possibly drink 3 or 4 times a week with the possibility that it would be picked up by someone that isn't you and get paid for it, I would have been sold... you ask me now, I would say that I don't get paid enough and that company politics bite. here's the thing - no matter where I go, that will be there... so do I stick with the devil I know or the devil that will pay me more... I told everyone that I was a professional killer... it seemed funny to me, because I know where it was from, but it probably seemed immature to those that I told. I still had trouble describing my actual job to those that actually cared. 30% is a good bit. but I will have to wait and see.

Martin Blank: Hi. I'm, uh, I'm a pet psychiatrist. I sell couch insurance. Mm-hmm, and I - and I test-market positive thinking. I lead a weekend men's group, we specialize in ritual killings. Yeah, you look great! God, yeah! Hi, how are you? Hi, how are you? Hi, I'm Martin Blank, you remember me? I'm not married, I don't have any kids, and I'd blow your head off if someone paid me enough.

whatever.

2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake,
'Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?
I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season'
Yeah we walk through the doors, so accusing their eyes
Like they have any right at all to criticize,
Hypocrites, you're all here for the very same reason

'Cause you can't jump the track,we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass glued to the table.
No one can find the rewind button girl,
so cradle your head in your hands
and breathe, just breathe,
Whoa... breathe, just breathe...

May, he turns 21 on the base at Fort Bliss.
'Just a day.' He said, down to the flask in his fist.
Ain't been sober, since maybe October of last year.
Here in town you can tell he's been down for a while,
but my God it's so beautiful when the boy smiles.
Wanna hold him, maybe I'll just sing about it.

Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
and life's like an hourglass glued to the table.
No one can find the rewind button boys,
So cradle your head in your hands,
And breathe, just breathe,
Woah breathe, just breathe

There's a light at each end of this tunnel, you shout.
'Cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out.
These mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again
if you only try turning around.

2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song.
If I get it all down on paper its no longer
inside of me, threatening the life it belongs to.
And, I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
'cause these words are my diary screaming out loud.
And, I know that you'll use them however you want to.

Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable.
And, life's like an hourglass glued to the table.
No one can find the rewind button now.
Sing it if you understand.
And breathe, just breathe
Whoa... breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe...

~Anna Nalick, Breathe (2AM)

so my company likes to have these meetings every so often.

basically, they load you up with "strategy" and tell you about "opportunities" and how things should be a "challenge"...

they use these words because they know what kind of people they have hired... the kind that don't mind killing themselves for a few straight years because everyone they hired comes in with gigatic egos and they are used to getting things done and winning and by tapping into that portion of their brains they can get them to do anything...

pretty much.

so I am always weary when it comes to these meetings... always with a grain of salt...

I have this perspective because not only do I have a huge ego and the drive to always win and get things done, but I have the ability to be incredibly lazy. you see, my competitive nature is only so when it is most convenient for me... given the right amount of laziness I will probably just let something gloss over me (that or if I see that I am being manipulated)...

this wasn't the case before (as in when I was a youngin') - now, I'm just a jaded old man in my mid-late-twenties. you know, when you don't have kids, your late twenties really isn't that much different than your thirties... I would assume that it's a little different when you are in your forties, but I wouldn't know...

in any case, back to the brainwashing - it usually works, if only just as a c.y.a. for the management. I see these new little tykes with all these dreams and hopes and expectation of what the company has to offer, and I smile (or do I smirk?)...

give a few months... they won't be so green then, and then they'll see how much fun traveling really is...

because it's oh so much fun.

... ... ...

the stiffness in my neck has migrate a little to my shoulder now... I'm pretty sure it's just stress or something like.

now why would I be stressed?

you think about that one.

... ... ...

"That guy Jacob? He left school. He went on to become the leader of some cult in lowa. He tried organizing a mass suicide. Only problem is, he drank the Kool-Aid first and, well, everyone else just kind of changed their minds. Too bad." ~ Barry Manilow, Road Trip

7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, 10 or a snake when he asks for a fish? 11 If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.

~Book of Matthew

I've got this pain in my neck that I've had since sunday morning.

blah blah blah...

"but beware. anger, fear, aggression. the dark side are they. once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny."

I took a really hot shower this morning, so hot my skinned turned pink. I was thenceforth able to move my neck around in a much greater range of movement, but the dull pain still remains...

I'm going to attribute it to lack of sleep, sleeping in a bad position, and malnutrition.

that said, I'm going to go back to my apartment, drink a red bull, run, and then eat a chicken soft taco, hard boiled egg whites, iced tea, and maybe some soy milk.

then I will close myself up in my room, put on a movie, and cry myself to sleep.

... ... ...

Mr. Newberry: Did I have you figured wrong?

Martin Blank: I don't know - I mean I hope so.

Mr. Newberry: I visualised you in a haze as one of those slackster, flannel-wearing, coffee-house misanthropes I've been seeing in Newsweek.

Martin Blank: No no no, I went the other road. Six figures, doing business with leadpipe cruelty, mercenary sensibility. You know... sports, sex, no real relationships. How about you - how have the years been treating you?

Mr. Newberry: Well you know me Martin - still the same old sell-out, exploiting the oppressed...

Martin Blank: Sure.

Mr. Newberry: Ah what a piece of work is man, how noble... oh fuck it, let's have a drink and forget the whole damn thing.

~grosse pointe blank

I f*@#ing HATE []. WTF. what do you have to do? I don't know. I don't get it. it seriously is beyond me.

you think you know. but you don't. but you really do. but maybe you don't want to know that you know.

delusions. that's how it works. the ancients deluded themselves into think there was a god for every unknown out there.

God creates dinosaurs, God destroys dinosaurs.
God creates man, man destroys God.
Man creates dinosaurs, dinosaurs destroy man.
Dragons destroy everything.

the question is, am I wrong and I delude myself or am I right and I delude myself?

"You remember when I said how I was gonna explain about life, buddy? Well the thing about life is, it gets weird. People are always talking ya about truth. Everybody always knows what the truth is, like it was toilet paper or somethin', and they got a supply in the closet. But what you learn, as you get older, is there ain't no truth. All there is is bullshit, pardon my vulgarity here. Layers of it. One layer of bullshit on top of another. And what you do in life like when you get older is, you pick the layer of bullshit that you prefer and that's your bullshit, so to speak." ~Bernie LaPlante, Hero

how depressing is that?

... ... ...

you know how in hoodwinked - twitchy, the squirrel, is a spaz basically, and then when he drinks caffeine he goes super spaz...

yeah... I think that's me.

except for the whole spaz part...

... ... ...

so today, I deceide to add an extra shot to my cafe mocha with caramel (aka caramel mocha) extra hot with organic milk.

probably not a good idea.

last week I got a large turbo hazelnut latte and thery probably put 5 shots of espresso in the whole thing...

needless to say (and yet I find myself saying it anyway) I was beyond wired.

plus, I lost my appetite. you'd think I'd have learned my lesson.

but I still went and got the extra shot.

... ... ...

and I'm not a happy camper when the sashimi lunch combo isn't fresh.

yeech. say hello to mr. soy sauce and mr. wasabi yucky fish.

when it's good, it's gooood...
when it's not so good... boo.

... ... ...

Here's a story I hope you'll like,
it's the one about the girl riding on her bike
I know it's a tired old tale but it still rings true
she could never be rude or unkind
but a sad song played on the back of her mind ohh
can someone show me a different day?
to take me away
take me out of the woods great big world you know I'm wanting for you
you know I'm wanting for you

they tell me goodies make the woods go round
and every day they fix the tea to wash 'em down
you know if you spin your wheels everything's ok
there's a girl who's been on my mind
she was never one who ever cared to color in the lines ohh
did you know that this girl looks alot like me
ohh

take me out of the woods great big world
you know i'm wanting for you
you know i'm wanting for you
wanting for you
wanting for you.

things like an h2 or a yacht or a summer home or designer clothes...

so, I used to throw fits when I just bought something and it would get dinged up the first time out... and I not one to judge people for buying things they don't need because I'm one to talk.

in any case, I've heard people talking about stuff like, oh I would never buy [insert expensive item here] because of the gas... or I would never buy a [insert another expensive item here] because I would never be able to take care of it...

smart - you should buy stuff that has an upkeep you can't handle.

then there are the dumb people that buy stuff like that and for some reason that "item" is the end-all-be-all of their existence... not good - because if it gets rained on, or if someone puts a hairline scratch in it, they will go nutters...

seriously - I can understand collecting things and not wanting them to be damamged for the sake of the collectable's integrity, but for things like cars or clothes or shoes - if you don't want them getting scuffed up or anything or can't afford them getting all messed up- don't wear it out... but then if you did that, then what would be the point of buying it?

when I'm buying clothes, it's not like I'm hoping someone will spill red wine all over me, but it is not the end of the world. I'll either get it cleaned or I'll toss the shirt and by a new one. I'm of the mind that if you are exposing something to external forces and it's not durable enough to withstand said forces and you can't afford to replace it - then you probably shouldn't have bought it in the first place.

you have every right to be annoyed, however, if damage does occur - and I'm not saying that the $500 shirt wasn't really well made and looked really good, but if you only have one $500 and the rest of your clothes (combined) cost less - it probably shouldn't be a part of your regular wardrobe...

unless you just like to bitch.

eh... whatever... my train of thought just kicked me off...

La la la la la la la la la la
I wrote her off for the tenth time today
And practiced all the things I would say
When she came over
I lost my nerve
I took her back and made her dessert
Now I know I'm being used
That's okay man cause I like the abuse
I know she's playing with me
That's okay cause I've got no self esteem

Oh way oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, yeah

We make plans to go out at night
I wait till 2 then I turn out the light
this rejection’s got me so low
If she keeps it up I just might tell her so

When she's saying, oh that she want's only me
Then I wonder why she sleeps with my friends
When she saying, that I'm like a disease
Then I wonder how much more I can spend
Well I guess, I should stick up for myself
But I really think it's better this way
The more you suffer
The more it shows you really care Right? Yeah!

Now I'll relate, this little bit
That happens more than I'd like to admit
Late at night, she knocks on my door
She's drunk again and looking to score
Now I know, I should say no, but
That's kind of hard when she's ready to go
I may be dumb, but I'm not a dweeb
I'm just a sucker with no self esteem

When she's saying, oh that she want's only me
Then I wonder why she sleeps with my friends
When she's saying, that I'm like a disease
Then I wonder how much more I can spend
Well I guess, I should stick up for myself
But I really think it's better this way
The more you suffer
The more it shows you really care Right? Yeah!

~Offspring

• There will be a shortfall of 3 million workers between the projected workforce and the number of jobs required in the United States by 2016.


• 19% of the entire U.S. workforce holding executive, administrative, and managerial positions will retire in the next five years.


• Within the next seven years, over 33 million individuals in Japan (26% of the population) are expected to be over 65 years old.


• In the U.S., education, public administration, and healthcare and social assistance are among the sectors characterized by early retirement, with median retirement age at 57.1, 58.2, and 60.3, respectively.


• In the year 2000, there were more people receiving pensions in Italy (22 million) than people working (21 million).


• One-child restrictions in China have created a labor shortfall that will impact cheap labor in the region.


• India is expected to have a shortfall of 150,000 IT engineers and 350,000 business process staff by 2010.

Statistics from International Data Corporation - idc.com

in the future, will we have to endure the daily commute to the office?

how many of the jobs that we commute to the office for no longer really require us to be at the office?

I know that I could do my job as long as I had a phone number or an IM program to reach everyone I need to talk to.

net meeting, pc anywhere, timbuktu allow us to view and control another person's desktop remotely.

broadband internet access, VPN, video conferencing, ip phones, file servers, etc. are so commonplace now it is getting to the point where it is strange not to have them.

there will be an increased demand in security, there will be, it will be so much easier to freelance, retired people will easily be able to consult on an as needed basis.

face it - physically being there is no longer necessary.

if you can get remote access, I would most certainly do it - it is much cheaper for me to be wokring from home calling your sorry butt on the phone that it is for me to fly out to where you are, where I just e-mail everyone what they need to do, and people just call me if they have questions. most of the meetings that I go to are only half as productive as they need to be, and the rest of the meetings are pointless.

I guess, companies feel comfortable when they see face in their buildings.

seriously, if you build me a tablet PC the size of a drafting desk, I would never have to print anything out ever...

ok, well not ever, but for the most part...

think about all the money you would save on reducing the amount of real estate you need...

ooohhh... and the amount of gasoline!

drawbacks: it would so easy for companies to try to reach you at all hours of the day (easily mitigated though), separating home and work will be a little more challenging - especially those with kids.

your performance reviews would have to be based on productivity and execution - as opposed to just being there... like so many of the useless jobs out there...

hopefully (though) this does not lead to the increase of decreased interaction between actual people.

seriously though - if I didn't eat lunch with my co-workers, they would never know if I was here or not...

::: ::: :::

"You ain't got no future, Jack! You're an A-1 nut boy."

I was right - no player can play instants or abilities prior to the beginning of upkeep (and therefore beginning of upkeep abilities cannot be stopped unless that upkeep is skipped due to another card already in play - eg. eon hub.)

after beginning of upkeep, the player whose turn it is has priority...

I was wrong - spirit linking creatures do deal all the damage, regardless of the creature blocking them... so a 5/5 creature with spirit link would deal all 5 damage to a 1/1 chump blocker and the person with the 5/5 creature would gain the 5 life... I thought that it would only gain 1 life because it would only deal 1 damage...

and I was right and wrong... lands do count as permanents, but they don't have a color.

that's the name of the movie that I couldn't remember earlier. (I already updated the older entry...)

btw - the older woman in the question (who happens to be the teacher in this movie) is the same person who plays ryan atwood's mother in the OC.

so I think there is a rule or a guideline in hollywood that foreign languages and subtitles are a no-no. most american movie goers are too lazy to read during the movie...

dunno - I can see it being true, but it's sad.

on the occasions where there are actors portraying a character from another country which is not the US they all tend to have the same accent - english.

take enemy at the gates - all the russians have english accents... ever after - supposed to be taking place in france, but everyone has an english accent... conspiracy - takes place in germany, english-sounding germans (kenneth branagh, colin firth)... not to mention any connery movie - mr scottish accent man playing: english (bond), egyptian/spanish (tak ne/juan sanchez villa lobos ramirez), russian (marko ramius) - but that's another story all together, because connery is always connery no matter what movie he is in...

anyhow, that's it. I just thought it strange...

so apparently, in america, there are different generations...

obviously.

these generations tend to overlap a bit, and as it so happens I fall in to several.

I am at the tail edge of generation x, I am in the opening edge of generation y, in the early middle of the mtv generation (subgroup of generation x)

we are now in what they are calling the new silent generation (which is the second coming of the silent generation) although I really have no idea about the sociological impact to society nor do I have the time or energy to devote my day into finding out. However, I find that anthropology and social psychology or whatever you would call the study of the generations and how people would act very fascinating.

if you read about the different generations, you will probably connect with the observations stated therein or you will resent being grouped into such a broad generalization. I have no opinion either way. apparently there are only four types of generations that keep repeating over time. I figure to just do what I need to do regardless of what the big books and big brains say, because really I would much rather be at home with my wife and my family having fun...

but it would be a good conversation - given the right mood and the right people...

[but conversations have to be organic, otherwise they just die before they even get started - but that is a story for another time]

ok... so I've been listening to half blood prince, so if you haven't read it (weirdo) then you should probably stop reading because thar be spoilerrrs... arrrr...

::: ::: :::

first off, I noticed that mr. dale doesn't always read verbatim, switching/adding words for easier readability or flow... I just happened to be following some text whilst listening (yes I'm a dork) - but that has nothing to do with anything following...

so quick recap, because the book came out a while ago and I'm sure most people read it immediately and haven't really thought about it...

we find that fudge has been sacked as minister of magic, he is informing the prime minister of the situation of voldemort and introduces the new minister of magic scrimgeour. snape makes an unbreakable vow to help draco and to convince narcissa and bellatrix that he's a death eater. dumbledore picks up harry from the dursley's so that he can use harry to bring slughorn to hogwarts. harry notices dumbledore's hand is all jacked up blah blah blah. harry becomes captain of the quidditch team. they get their o.w.l's and harry thinks he can't take potions, dashing his dreams of becoming an auror. tonks is weird because of stuff on her mind. bill and fleur are engaged. blah blah blah. at hogwart's harry is getting special lessons from dumbledore to help him learn more about voldemort. you see the children, now teenagers, have a huge rise in hormones. malfoy is acting weird because of something he's got to do, harry find a potions book previously owned by the half blood prince because he didn't think he could take potions, but since slughorn is potions master and snape is d.a.d.a. teacher, harry can take potions so that he can try to become an auror but since he didn't buy books he had to borrow and old one. hermione is bitching about it because harry surpasses her in the class because of the hints and tips from the hbp's book. harry starts feeling something for ginny. ron and hermione almost hook up, but the ron gets dumb because he finds out about hermione and krum and find the first available girl with whom to make out with to piss off hermione. blah blah blah. harry learns about voldemort and horcruxes and must get a memory from slughorn. harry becomes obsessed with draco's goings-on. blah blah blah. harry and dumbledore find a horcrux, which turns out to be fake. and dumbldore dies. in between, harry and ginny hook up, luna gives a ridiculously funny commentary for quidditch, we see a softer side of draco, aragog dies, and we find out that snape is the hbp.

so first off... the question that probably sticks in my head the most is if dumbledore is really dead... I vote he's alive, but only because of the whole dialogue with draco, the fact that the draught of living death was brought up in the first book as well as this (the sixth) book several times, and because of the argument dumbledore had with snape about promising to do something - also, there are all of the allusions that dumbledore is akin to a phoenix, naming of the order of the phoenix, using fire when fending of the infiri in the cave and lighting up the voldemort's locker at the orphanage, the fact that fawkes didn't come to rescue dumbledore when snape tried to kill dumbledore (unlike when fawkes saved dumbledore from voldemort's avada kedavra), and dumbledore's patronus is a phoenix... also, when snape used avada kedavra, dumbledore was thrown back - but usually those struck with avada kedavra just drop dead (cedric, the groundskeeper at the riddle house, the riddles, the potters) and there is no sign of struggle or indication of any violence. so I'm thinking either dumbledore's body will rise from the ashes of the fire around his tomb, or he will arise from the effets of taking the draught of living death, since there was an awful lot of it in slughorn's classroom...

but think what you want. I'm just excited to read the last book...

also, I think that they might actually kill hagrid in the last book. not that I want hagrid dead, but I think he might go... also, I think that either ron or hermione will get offed - only because it would be shocking and being so close to the main character, one of them is likely to sacrifice themselves (like in the first book) to make sure that harry will be able to complete his mission... also, it doesn't make sense that with the number of weasley's fighting in the war, not one of them would be a casualty (although bill has been partially transformed by greyback)

do I think jkr will kill off harry? no. at least I hope not, because that will probably cause mass depression... at least I would be depressed.

signs that I could be completely wrong and dumbledore is quite dead. the appearance of dumbledore's portrait in the headmaster's office, the fact that dumbledore was already injured (his hand) and was previously unable to cure the injury, and because fawkes sang that song and promptly took off.

lest we forget, "I will only truly be gone from Hogwarts when none here are loyal to me" ~dumbledore

as far as the remainin horcruxes - I think that whoever r.a.b. was he/she probably got rid of the one... so that leaves three for harry to find and destroy before he can kill voldemort... for sure the hufflepuff cup and nagini, and probably something from ravenclaw as all of gryffindor's stuff is in the headmaster's office.

oh. and I think snape is really still part of the order of the phoenix because dumbledore probably made snape do an unbreakable vow - I'm thinking aberforth (dumbledore's brother and the bartender at the hog's head) is the witness, because aberforth was the one that caught snape listening in to dumbledore and trelawney during the prophecy, and if snape really was sorry then dumbledore could have made him make an unbreakable vow. the question is though does a previously made unbreakable vow which contradicts a vow made later render the latter vow untenable? also, I think that snape is capable of love, is a better occlumens than voldemort is a legilimens, and that ability to love (probably his mother or maybe a crush on lily potter) allowed snape to be beyond the grasp of voldemort, which is what dumbledore was able to leverage and is ultimately the reason for his trust in snape. not to mention that snape never turned in harry for the knowledge in the book. perhaps harry will be able to use other things in the book in the future, and because of snape's parting words to potter, harry will probably bone up on his occlumency and non-verbal spell casting...

so I got that off my chest... there is definitely more stewing in my head, but I'm done typing for now...

ok... so I just finished watch "big" again... one of many of the movies where a child controls an adult body - "freaky friday", "vice versa", "13 going on 30", "18 again" - among others...

so there is this movie that I vaguely remember, where the main character, a boy, becomes instantly older meets a woman and the two fall for each other... eventually the boy must return to his proper age (I think in this case, he was in highschool)... at the very end the last scene shows that the woman chooses to follow the boy (somehow) and joins him in his highschool class...

for the life of me, I cannot remember the name of that movie!

I haven't thought to hard, but I'm also sleepy, so that's not helping much.

if you have any clue what movie it might be, PLEASE let me know!

[UPDATED 8/3/06] I found it - thanks to imdb.com's power search and numerous plot word combinations, the name of this movie - surprisingly - is 14 Going on 30... funny, I had a feeling that it would something like that, but had no idea it would have preceded "13 Going on 30" - it was made for TV in 1988, and I have absolutely no idea how I even remotely remember watching it, other than the spark after watching "Big"... but then again, I guess that would explain it... why I remember is a whole other wonder.