have you ever just stared at something? something that wasn't really anything at all, for hours? it's easy enough with a fire. but here i am sitting watching the blinds. they're vertical blinds and are swaying in the conditioned air as it escapes from the vent (isn't it wonderful that the technology exists that we can condition unruly and unmanageable air. thank goodness). the blinds are playing a sort of domino effect. one sways into the next and they momentarily become two, and then the pendulum effect carries on and the two separate and the second then continues the cycle. i can't stop watching.
so i heard this wonderful joke this weekend.
q. how do you make a tissue dance?
a. you put a little boogie in it.
*giggles uncontrollably*
that is a funny joke, don't you agree?
when it was told to one of the constant houseguests at my boyfriend's, i was informed that this joke was rather disgusting and repugnant.
some ppl just need to learn how to laugh.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Saturday, August 20, 2005
lives of the saints
by nino ricci
interestingly enough, this book was made into a tv mini-series this year. i never did get around to watching it, especially since the book was sitting on my shelf still waiting to be read. i usually prefer reading the book to the film/television version and find it's usually best to read before watching.
so anyway, this was a pretty quick read. and very interesting as well. it was set in the italian mountainy type area in the 1960s. the village was basically inhabited by peasants and didn't have electricity or anything like that. it's strange - i would have imagined that electricity and cars were the norm by 1960 - but that's a rather north american assumption, isn't it?
the story is narrated by a 6 - 7 year old boy (it occurs over a year) whose mother is ... well, a little loose. his father lives in canada and she's gotten a little bored in his absence, i suppose you can say. since it's such a small and pious town, she becomes subject to quite the ... ridicule and meanness, as does little vitto. he sometimes seems to understand, but oftentimes does not.
however, through the eyes of the child, you can figure out what's going on. while he might not understand, he still reports what he's seeing, hearing and experiencing. his mother counts on him for a lot, even if it's something over his head. like, when his mother is in labour and he's trying to find a doctor. he keeps telling ppl that his mother has pains. it's on a ship during a storm - so the nurses and doctor keep telling the little boy that everyone has pains at the moment and his mother is nothing special. it takes quite a while for him to explain what is happening. he doesn't really understand that his mother is even pregnant. he knows that she has a warm swelling in her belly, but that's it.
sometimes while we think that children may be too young to understand, it can be important to explain to them what's happening. you don't have to explain everything, but the basics are probably important to know. children are a lot more sensitive and observant than we think. if things aren't explained properly, they will believe things that are possibly quite untrue and which may cause them to be fearful of events they should not be scared of. but maybe that's just my feeling. who knows what i'll think when i'm a parent.
interestingly enough, this book was made into a tv mini-series this year. i never did get around to watching it, especially since the book was sitting on my shelf still waiting to be read. i usually prefer reading the book to the film/television version and find it's usually best to read before watching.
so anyway, this was a pretty quick read. and very interesting as well. it was set in the italian mountainy type area in the 1960s. the village was basically inhabited by peasants and didn't have electricity or anything like that. it's strange - i would have imagined that electricity and cars were the norm by 1960 - but that's a rather north american assumption, isn't it?
the story is narrated by a 6 - 7 year old boy (it occurs over a year) whose mother is ... well, a little loose. his father lives in canada and she's gotten a little bored in his absence, i suppose you can say. since it's such a small and pious town, she becomes subject to quite the ... ridicule and meanness, as does little vitto. he sometimes seems to understand, but oftentimes does not.
however, through the eyes of the child, you can figure out what's going on. while he might not understand, he still reports what he's seeing, hearing and experiencing. his mother counts on him for a lot, even if it's something over his head. like, when his mother is in labour and he's trying to find a doctor. he keeps telling ppl that his mother has pains. it's on a ship during a storm - so the nurses and doctor keep telling the little boy that everyone has pains at the moment and his mother is nothing special. it takes quite a while for him to explain what is happening. he doesn't really understand that his mother is even pregnant. he knows that she has a warm swelling in her belly, but that's it.
sometimes while we think that children may be too young to understand, it can be important to explain to them what's happening. you don't have to explain everything, but the basics are probably important to know. children are a lot more sensitive and observant than we think. if things aren't explained properly, they will believe things that are possibly quite untrue and which may cause them to be fearful of events they should not be scared of. but maybe that's just my feeling. who knows what i'll think when i'm a parent.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
harry potter - and the half-blood prince
by j.k. rowling
wow ... she actually moved me. she made me want to cry. luckily, i was, riding the rocket, so to speak and this made me hold the tears back. i couldn't believe how fast it flew by, especially relative to number 5. it took me a bit longer than it should have to get to it since i had made this silly decision to re-read the five books leading up to hbp. i thought that this should take me just a couple of months. if i get into a good groove, i can finish one of those books in a day or three. but, the the weeks leading up to july 16 flew by and when it arrived i had only just cracked open prisoner of azkaban. i think that reading the books one after another was a good idea. it refreshed my memory and actually made me have a new appreciation for books 2 and 5, which i was rather disappointed with before. to go with my whole book review theme which i've been trying to keep up with here, i *should* have written an entry for each book. but i have decided to just write something up for first-reads only. that's my story, and i'm sticking to it!
so to get to the meat of it all ... my questions (warning, spoilers ahead... but if you haven't read it by now .. you better have a darned good reason):
1. does the sorting hat really only sort purebloods into slytherin? and was snape a slytherin as a student? i believe he was, but i can't remember for sure. anyway, if the sorting hat only sorts purebloods into slytherin, how did snape get put there? i understand why riddle was put there (slytherin's heir .. he's gotta be in slytherin) and harry had some of voldemort's slytherin-esque powers transferred to him, so that's why the hat wanted to put him there ... but if snape is *really* a half-blood, then why did he get in there? is there something about his heritage that we don't yet know?
2. what reason did dumbledore have to trust snape? there *has* to be a reason. and did dumbledore actually ask snape to kill him in the end? through their legilimens powers? i think dumbledore recognized the fact that harry would never be able to fulfill his own destiny while dumbledore was alive. now that dumbledore's gone, harry has no one else to turn to than himself.
3. will hermione and ron actually skip seventh year at hogwarts? will hogwarts open next year? and if it doesn't open next year - does this leave room for an 8th book? the 7 book series has been defined as such due to the fact that there are seven years at hogwarts ... but if they spend a year not at hogwarts ... can they go back? are hogwarts students allowed to take a year off? hmmm ...
4. WILL RON AND HERMIONE GET TOGETHER ALREADY?!?!?
5. so is r.a.b. really regulus black? or is j.k. just trying to trick us? and if it is regulus - how come he was trying to destroy the horcrux? how did he know about the horcruxes in the first place? although, slughorn did know about them and regulus was one of his favourites - maybe he told regulus too. and also - voldemort killed regulus himself, which means regulus must have done something super bad (perhaps destroy a horcrux? or maybe regulus was killed by voldemort's horcrux, which means that he was indeed killed by voldemort) ... and does this mean that regulus was actually good? was he a double agent?
so j.k. do you have any answers?
wow ... she actually moved me. she made me want to cry. luckily, i was, riding the rocket, so to speak and this made me hold the tears back. i couldn't believe how fast it flew by, especially relative to number 5. it took me a bit longer than it should have to get to it since i had made this silly decision to re-read the five books leading up to hbp. i thought that this should take me just a couple of months. if i get into a good groove, i can finish one of those books in a day or three. but, the the weeks leading up to july 16 flew by and when it arrived i had only just cracked open prisoner of azkaban. i think that reading the books one after another was a good idea. it refreshed my memory and actually made me have a new appreciation for books 2 and 5, which i was rather disappointed with before. to go with my whole book review theme which i've been trying to keep up with here, i *should* have written an entry for each book. but i have decided to just write something up for first-reads only. that's my story, and i'm sticking to it!
so to get to the meat of it all ... my questions (warning, spoilers ahead... but if you haven't read it by now .. you better have a darned good reason):
1. does the sorting hat really only sort purebloods into slytherin? and was snape a slytherin as a student? i believe he was, but i can't remember for sure. anyway, if the sorting hat only sorts purebloods into slytherin, how did snape get put there? i understand why riddle was put there (slytherin's heir .. he's gotta be in slytherin) and harry had some of voldemort's slytherin-esque powers transferred to him, so that's why the hat wanted to put him there ... but if snape is *really* a half-blood, then why did he get in there? is there something about his heritage that we don't yet know?
2. what reason did dumbledore have to trust snape? there *has* to be a reason. and did dumbledore actually ask snape to kill him in the end? through their legilimens powers? i think dumbledore recognized the fact that harry would never be able to fulfill his own destiny while dumbledore was alive. now that dumbledore's gone, harry has no one else to turn to than himself.
3. will hermione and ron actually skip seventh year at hogwarts? will hogwarts open next year? and if it doesn't open next year - does this leave room for an 8th book? the 7 book series has been defined as such due to the fact that there are seven years at hogwarts ... but if they spend a year not at hogwarts ... can they go back? are hogwarts students allowed to take a year off? hmmm ...
4. WILL RON AND HERMIONE GET TOGETHER ALREADY?!?!?
5. so is r.a.b. really regulus black? or is j.k. just trying to trick us? and if it is regulus - how come he was trying to destroy the horcrux? how did he know about the horcruxes in the first place? although, slughorn did know about them and regulus was one of his favourites - maybe he told regulus too. and also - voldemort killed regulus himself, which means regulus must have done something super bad (perhaps destroy a horcrux? or maybe regulus was killed by voldemort's horcrux, which means that he was indeed killed by voldemort) ... and does this mean that regulus was actually good? was he a double agent?
so j.k. do you have any answers?
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