early mornings

i am by no means a morning person. actually, i'm very much the opposite of a morning person. unfortunately, my work schedule doesn't always accept the fact that i'm not a morning person. yesterday morning was a prime example.

due to an unusually early start time yesterday, i had to get up early. unfortunately, i slept in. more unfortunately, i was in a daze as i got ready. then i made my big mistake. i decided to accessorize. cute earrings, yes?




because i was super late, i grabbed earrings and put them in as i searched for my umbrella, ran down the stairs, locked the door, put up my umbrella and rushed to the street car stop. it was truly miserable weather outside. i was running a little late - but not too late. it looked like everything would turn out all right.

half an hour, 2 street cars and 1 subway ride later (during rush hour, no less) - i arrived. i engaged in some early morning banter with a co-worker. while doing this, i started playing with my earrings. (i have a bad/nervous habit of playing with my earrings or necklace when talking to people.) it was then that i realized it. i was not wearing the earrings i thought i was wearing. sure my left ear held the above dangle ... but my right ear on the other hand ...

yep, that's right - i'm awesome. to make matters worse, i had my hair pulled back, so you could really see the difference.

serves me right for leaving the house without looking in the mirror first.

*hangs head in shame*

gst

yes, the goods and services tax. it's that lovely value added tax that mulroney introduced back in the day. a wonderful little consumption tax - the one we should be raising, rather than lowering (... but that's another rant, for a different day)

yes folks, that's right, i don't know if you heard the news - but the gst will be decreasing by one percentage point (from 7% to 6%) effective july 1, 2006.

now, i know this has been all over the news - but subsequent to a couple conversations i had this evening with rather intelligent, well-read individuals - apparently not everyone knows this!

kiddies, this is why you need to read the news! *just shakes her head*

sizes

we come in all sizes. it's been a pet peeve of mine for a while to see that sizes are changing. i'm a huge believer in standardized sizes. you should be able to go into any store and pick up a size and know it's going to fit you. an 8 should be an 8 should be an 8. it's easier in pants where we use waist sizes and it's measured in inches - then you know what size you should be.

as the population has been ballooning (thank you coke and french fries), stores have been adjusting sizes to make us women feel better about ourselves. they're trying to trick us. a couple years ago, if you were a size 8 - you suddenly became a 6 ... and so on and so forth (sorry, just wanted to use "so on and so forth", it seems ever so eloquent). as a result, the lower end sizes have basically fallen off the map. now instead of a size 2, there are size 0's and size 000's ... which seems just a little bit more than wrong. it seems as though teeny tiny ppl are no longer allowed to exist for the purpose of many clothing retailers. (which i think is sad - shouldn't shopping be accessible to all? it sucks to not be able to find clothes that fit properly - whether you're big or small, short or tall - we all have issues finding well fitting clothes. do we need to make it even harder?)

so the reason for this diatribe? i think that this upsizing is becoming a little ridiculous. sure, if you fit into a size smaller than usual, it's flattering. you feel as you might have actually gotten rid of those couple pesky pounds that just wouldn't go away. but when you suddenly need to go down 2 or 3 or 4 sizes smaller than usual - then i feel like the retailers are just insulting our intelligence.

however, we, the female masses, seem to fall for this trick. we feel somewhat reassured that we can fit into smaller sizes, while knowing that we have not in fact lost weight or even knowing that we have gained it. we're so easily manipulated. and now, i must admit, that i too have fallen for this manipulation. yesterday, i was out shopping and was trying on jeans. i fit into a size that i haven't fit into since i was probably 14. i'm unsure if they're the perfect jeans, great jeans, comfortable jeans - but i couldn't let them go b/c they fit.

while i try to be vigilant, i too have fallen for this marketing trick. and whenever the marketers' manipulations have an effect on my behaviour, i must applaud them.

so bravo, marketing minds, bravo.

ka-boom

a car exploded outside of my office yesterday! not just outside of my office building, i'm talking about outside of my individual office window! there was just the tree (where the squirrels play and provide me much afternoon entertainment) between the car and my office window! crazy!

ok, ok - i may exaggerate a little bit. but let me start from the very beginning (a very good place to start)

so i'm sweltering in my office yesterday (apparently the ventilation system broke ... plus they had to turn off the air conditioning anyway b/c the government thinks it must make a good conservation example and does this by turning off the air conditioning, non-essential lighting and 25% of the elevators when there's a smog day... the a/c doesn't come back on until the interior temp hits 27 degrees or something like that. i'm usually ok with this, except that they didn't have the ventilation system on yesterday - so as a result i was light-headed, dizzy, hallucinating ... but this story did actually happen! i swear!) ok ... so back to the start...

i was sweltering in my office yesterday. there's a sudden commotion down the hall. a bunch of ppl are gathering in a co-workers office and making exclamations. i ignore it and continue with my reading. the excitement seems to die down and then one of the group walks by my office and says "you shoudl check out your window - there's a car on fire)

so i look ... there's flames! lots of flames! i pause for a minute - then i think, "MY GOD! WHAT IF THE GAS TANK EXPLODES!" so i grab my purse and my keys and hightail it out of my office. by this time, most everyone with an eastern exposure has seen the car on fire. some are still wanting to watch yet torn because, what if the thing explodes ... the whole wall could be taken out. so we start heading outside ... i glance at the windows behind me and see billowing black smoke. there are some small booms (the tires popping?) our director decided at this point in time that perhaps we should all evacuate - but then, one of the ppl who just couldn't keep their noses away from the window noted that all the excitement was over. the firemens had come, they spayed the waters and the fire was out. still ... there was shattered glass on the sidewalk and even some melted aluminum or something like that.

from there on out, i just had to deal with the toxic fumes that made their way into the stagnant office air.

such an odd day.

AND ... it wasn't even the only car fire i saw yesterday. when i was walking after work, i saw another burnt out car in a puddle of water with firemens milling about.

apparently it was just *that* hot out yesterday. i don't know how many more days i can handle with it feeling like it's over 40 degrees ...

becoming the cat lady: step one

i've taken the first step, yes, yes i have.

back in the day, i believe i was voted "most likely to become a cat lady" in my high school graduating class. since that time, i've been resisting the urges, i've been analysing my actions, i've been trying to ensure that i don't become a cat lady.

but really, what is a cat lady? how many cats do you have to have? does one cat make you a cat lady? does two? and why aren't there cat men? that just doesn't seem fair! but this is all beside the point right now.

yesterday i took the first step - now i'm sure you're thinking that this means that i got a kitten (which would be fantabulous if i actually did) ... but no, i did not. however, i did get me one of those nifty shopping carts so i can easily wheel my purchases from the grocery store to my house.

maybe this is really just the first step on the way to me becoming a bag lady ... but i think it's more the cat lady route. you see, this little cart can make me more independent - i won't need to grab a taxi or even go on transit with the other pl in order to transport heavy purchases home. instead, i can do as i please, in my own little world. heck, i can even block out the real world with the music on the ipod (so if we step backwards, maybe that was the first step to becoming a cat lady. if i'm listening to music, i find i have an excuse to ignore ppl when they try to talk to me on the street)

and in the end, what's a cat lady but an independent, recluse who only has cats for friends?

bits and pieces

i keep thinking i should write in my blog and i have lots of things to write about. but when i think about writing them, i find i have not much to say - no expansion upon the original thought. so this could definitely be a post of random thoughts.

1. life jackets are important. especially in hypothermic type temperatures.
2. rain makes ppl wear funny things - like garbage bags as pretend ponchos. but my favourite outfit i saw during the downpours was the asian IT type guy was wheeling a little shopping cart thingy with a case of lakeport honey brown (or some such brand) in his too-short, tapered, pleated khakis and plaid shirt holding the lavendar umbrella with bows and flowers on it. wonderful!
3. the true love cafe has redone its signs! apparently you can stay in the true love castle - i wonder if they rent it by the hour?
4. do fireworks sound like gunfire? what does gunfire sound like? am i just being paranoid?
5. when you make an appointment, keep it. i'm not clingy - it's just that if i make a commitment to meet up with someone at some time, i respect that commitment and turn down other possible activities/rendezvoussss - so i'm annoyed when the appointment gets cancelled at the last minute.
6. will greg be the minister of finance again? when will dalton let us know? is it wrong to refer to elected officials by their first names?
7. am i being a baby if i refuse to try to make contact with someone if they have ignore my last attempt to make contact with them? should i swallow my pride and maybe open the window so i can escape my life as a recluse?
8. is it wrong to find compliments - no matter the source - even in the form of cat calls from construction workers or in the form of the homeless man on the bench in the park displaying his wealth by throwing a handful of change on the path in front of you and saying he'd like the pretty girl to spend some time with him - oddly flattering? is it wrong to be blushing and rolling your eyes/shuddering at the same time?
9. i thought may was supposed to be nice? why can't i wear my sandals yet?!? why why why?!?
10. is the mouse poo i found on my desk old or new? have the mice come back?
11. why do the IT guys lie? we got new computers at work and they make whiny/squealing noises (at first i thought there was a mouse torture chamber in my wall ... this goes back to my mouse paranoia). every 15 - 20 minutes it sounds like a mouse in horrible pain. apparently it's normal for computers to do this? well, it's normal for these computers to do this b/c they're small and there's not enough insulation to muffle that squealing noise? highly dubious!
12. (this is the last one, i swear) what's up with the da vinci code controversy? i can see why opus dei is mad b/c they are painted in a rather un-nice light ... however, i think it's great for the catholic church - faith is only strengthened when it's challenged, isn't it? it's kind of like how god tested moses in the desert ... right?

a case of mistaken identity

oh gmail ... oh gmail

so i have found it quite interesting that i tend to get a lot of mail for other ppl in my gmail account. for mike or for mildred or matt or martha ... (my gmail account is m.lastname@gmail.com) ... among these, was a flyer for some junkmail ... so i tried to unsubscribe. i put in my email address and it told me that it didn't even have me on record (it's apparently impossible to remove someone from a list when they're not on the list to begin with). this lead me to be a bit more of a detective.

i looked at the address that the email had been sent to - it was just mlastname@gmail.com ... no dot. i found this puzzling - the dot is the defining feature of my gmail address! it's cute, it's perky and it separates my first initial from my last! this lead me to go and look at other emails that i had received for other ppl ... again, the email address entered was just mlastname@gmail.com. (weird) there was a little link to "learn more" ... so being the curiouscat that i am, i double clicked. oh how i learned!

APPARENTLY, gmail does not recognize dots. it recognizes yourname@gmail.com the same as your.name@gmail.com the same as y.o.u.r.n.a.m.e@gmail.com . since when is a dot not a character? and does this mean that ALL my gmail has been going into someone else's inbox too? if there are two almost identical email sign-ins (aside from the dot) does the email get sent to all the accounts? or is it a random lottery to figure out who gets it each time? my two concerns are now that either i don't receive all emails that are sent to me ... or more distressing - all of the emails addressed to me are also being sent to mike (with the same email address as me). it makes me wonder ... i don't get *all* that many emails for mike (it is just usually mike that i get emails for) ... so either he's not a very popular guy, he doesn't use his gmail very much or i just randomly get sent some of his gmails.

i'm ever so confused.

do i change my email address? i was almost finally switched over from my hotmail to my gmail ... i almost had everyone trained! this is a definite oversight on google's part ... not necessarily the fact that the dot does not count as a character, but more in the fact that they did not really make it known/apparent that the dot did not count as a character when i signed up for this service 2 years ago!

oh i'm bitter - bitter and distressed (although, the distress is more a product of oliver being in critical care- but that's a story for another time. i don't want to assume the worst, until that assumption has been confirmed. p.s. just so you don't get overly worried, oliver is my laptop - but again, more on that later).

p.s. after some light tapping, jiggling and other good love, oliver has turned on again! YAY! but ... for how long?

hippity hop

so exciting!

the easter bunny visited me last night. that's all well and good - he usually does (if i'm with my parents for easter ... which i almost always am. gotta put in the good quality family time, right?) so i got my sugar and spice chocolate bunny (her name is daisy ... it says so on the box - i find it a little disconcerting that my chocolate bunny has a name. it makes it seem a little wrong that i will eventually have to eat her) and my mint smoothies and socks of course (i do love my socks). it almost made up for being woken up at 9 (by my father who has decided that the most effective way to wake up slumbering children early in the morning is with a spray bottle full of water) bearable. i was walking to the kitchen to get some caffeine when i noticed it - a chocolate egg hidden on the edge of the piano. then i looked at the cabinet - another egg! it was a real live easter egg hunt! i haven't had one of those in years!

i hurriedly ran around the house trying to grab all the eggs i could - elbows up of course (i had to make sure i got more than my little cousins - it's my competitive nature). you'll be glad to learn that i won. even better, i conned the youngest (just so i don't seem completely evil - the youngest cousin is 15) out of some of her eggs - i told her i didn't get any (she apparently didn't notice the giant bulge in the pocket of my sweater *snickers*) and she felt bad and gave me some. now that's what easter's all about! the spirit of giving (to me ... that is, hehehe).

hoppy easter!

the mr. men

the other day, my co-worker and i were talking about pac-man. for some rreason, whenever i think about pac-man, i start thinking about the mr. men. do you remember the mr. men? they were funny shapes (one did look like pac-man, just with legs and arms).

i could never get enough of the mr. men. unfortunately, we only had a select few mr. men books in my school library. and to make matters worse, there was only one little miss book! it was almost a tease to open up the back of the book and see the list of all the other mr. men and little miss books that existed, but that i would never be able to get my hands on.

so for a joke, i typed in "mr. men" in google (one of my best friends - google can find *almost* anything). and up pops http://www.mrmen.com - apparently it's their 35th anniversary! they're 10 years older than me! the site is all fun and interactive stuff. there's also an area where you can meet all of the mr. men and little misses. some of them look like they might be new and were probably created after my childhood, but most look like they've been around for quite some time.

so i began going through the list of little misses and began wondering which one was i. usually you don't get such a large and thorough list to play the "which one am i" game ... like the "which friend am i" or "which sex and the city girl am i" ... so i've narrowed it down to this list:

• little miss curious - spends her life saying: how? why? who? what? where? when?
• little miss brainy - knows a lot about a lot of things
• little miss dotty - is the dottiest person you'll ever meet. definitely.
• little miss shy - if anyone at any time says anything at all to little miss shy, she blushes like a beet root
• little miss splendid - thinks a lot of herself. in fact she thinks of little else (ok, i just want to be splendid .... i don't know how much this really fits ... )
• little miss stubborn - as you can imagine, is extremely stubborn
• little miss whoops - is simply one of those people who has accidents all the time.

so how about you, which one(s) are you?

taxi cabiquette

so last night i called a cab. i wait. i'm on a busy street so there were actually quite a few others ones that past me, but i continue to patiently wait for the cab that i called (i don't want my friends' address or my cell phone number to be blacklisted). finally, a cab from the company i called pulled up. so i got in. then another cab from the same company called up. on the radio i can hear the other cab driver yelling at dispatch saying that "the thief just stole my fare". i can see the driver in the other cab giving my cabbie the evil eye. i felt so guilty. should i get out at this time and go to the proper cab?

it's a question that i often wonder about. there's all this cab etiquette. some are easy - you take the first cab in the queue outside the station/restaurant/club ... whatever the location. but then there are other times i'm left wondering.

for example, i hail a cab. one starts pulling over and another one cuts him off and pulls in front. so, there are then two cabs at the side of the road for me. which one do i choose? the crazy one that sped in front. or the more patient one? if i don't go with the crazy one will he do something crazy? but if i do go with the crazy aggressive one, will he do something crazy?

i really do wonder about the blind faith we put in cabbies sometimes. b/c really, you never know what you're going to get.

playlist

here we go folks - feel free to point and laugh. i am now going to reveal the three most embarassing songs on ichapod (he's my ipod ... yes i named him) ... so drumroll please ...

3. run with us - i think that's the name of this song. it's the theme song from that old show the raccoons - i mostly liked the show because i shared a name with one of the raccoons - and no, it wasn't bert or ralph.

2. the last unicorn - this is the theme from the movie of the same name. oh how i loved that movie. but that was in my childish childhood days when i thought unicorns were real and i would grow up to be a princess... i dont' believe in them anymore, i swear ... santa claus on the other hand ...

1. how am i supposed to live without you - yes, that's right. it's the song that zack and kelly broke up to. yes, *the* zack and kelly. and this isn't a nice recorded version of the song - it's ripped straight from the show. while jessie and slater "sing" ... zack and kelly dance in the school yard and she tells him that she likes jeff. it's heart breaking really. *wipes a tear from her eye*

strange how all of my most embarassing songs are from tv/film ... oh, the memories!

activia

i think i watch too much tv. why? b/c i'm once again going to write about commercials.

has anyone seen this new activia commercial? they keep talking about the 14-day activia challenge. saying you should try activia and enjoy it for 14 days.

it doesn't really specify what the challenge is - so i can only assume that the challenge is the eating and actually enjoying activia for 14 days.

well, i'll tell you this much, i'm definitely sold!

.... or maybe not ...

ring ring... hello?

i think i may be starved for phone attention. this is really a funny predicament b/c i don't really even like talking on the phone. in fact, i rarely even phone people - just to check on meeting times and things like that. heck, my parents don't even phone me anymore now that they've discovered the beauty of instant messaging.

so there seems to be somewhat of a contradiction in there. i guess i only want the attention in as much as i feel special that someone calls and asks to speak to me. it means i'm like the chosen one! unfortunately, the only time i seem to be the chosen one on the phone that my room mate and i share is when someone's trying to solicit a donation from me or sell me something.

so this gets me to my original story. picture this - it's sunday night. 11:30. i'm sitting around minding my own business in my living room. suddenly i hear a loud, peppy sound - much to my surprise, it's my cell phone (surprise b/c i was hearing my phone ring - both b/c someone was calling and b/c the ringer was actually turned on).

alas, the sound is coming from far away. my phone is in the bedroom! i make the mad dash. i frantically search through my bag and the silver box that is my cell phone fell out onto my bed. i flipped it open. i didn't recognize the number. i put the phone to my ear just in time to hear "i don't think she's going to answer - click"

i now feel deprived. who is this mystery person trying to call me? why haven't they called back? was it ed mcmahon? did i miss my chance at a million dollars?

sure, it was probably a wrong number.

but ... what if?

puzzlements

do you ever notice that if you are in internet explorer, and you try to type in an address and go to a page, for example, www.cbc.ca, it tells you it can't find the page and then asks if you would like to go to the similarly named site www.cbc.ca

it seems silly, really it does!

but just an observation

oops

so ... apparently melpie is a child. she sulks in the corner believing the world is against her, when really it is not.

see, melpie keeps a blog. she tries to update it on a somewhat regular basis (if you can call monthly a regular basis). every once in a while someone comments on what she has written and melpie is thrilled. in november, she was so inspired, that she wrote not one, but TWO entries (aren't you impressed?).

melpie doesn't like to admit it, but her favourite part of the blog is that she gets to see ppl's comments. these comments inspire her to write - b/c if no one is going to read your blog, then you might as well just keep a personal diary, right? ok, that's the less selfish sounding reason for liking the comments - really, it just helps to flatter her ego that she has written something that someone feels is worth commenting about. she was becoming quite perturbed b/c many of the comments were simply spammers. spammers who claimed to have great interest in what she wrote and then would direct her to a website to buy hunting rifles and other equipment! THE NERVE!

she used her trusty blogspot options in order to set spam filters. she wrote another entry and waited for the real comments to roll in.

but then there was silence. nothing! weeks went by - not even an acknowledgement that she had written. sure, not everyone comments - but she usually will get one after a month or so, even if it's just to say "why haven't you updated in a while?" she began to sulk, to contemplate whether or not she would ever again publish in the blogosphere. *tear*

well, last week, melpie was chatting with rayne on msn. he inquired why she hadn't made a new post for a while. she pouted and said it was because no one had commented. he promptly set out to remedy this problem.

alas - the comments wouldn't show up. melpie began to doubt whether he had even try to publish any. she waited and refreshed and waited and refreshed. still, the comment counter remained at zero. this resulted in more pouting (hopefully her face won't freeze into a perma-pout after all this sulking).

today, melpie yet again discussed the lack of comments with rayne. perhaps she had to approve comments, he suggested. she thought this would be an odd thing - but she might as well check it out. she logged into her blog ...

EUREKA!

there were 6 comments to be approved!

all is well in the world again. blogging can begin again!

YOU LOVE ME! YOU REALLY LOVE ME!

apple beverages

it's fall! and when it's fall, i feel like having apple cider.

i have a fond childhood memory of apples. one crisp fall day on my neighbour's farm, we took a LOT of apples and put them into a giant barrel with a motor and squisher in it (i think the proper name is an apple press). the machine was loud and we got to feed the not so nice apples to the horses. it was wonderful! and the best part, we had fresh, home made apple juice ... and a little while later, we had fresh, home made apple cider.

i love apple cider. i remember it stewing in a pot in my mom's kitchen .... with all sorts of spice ... of stirring it with a cinnamon stick ... of inhaling the wonderful sweet and spicy aromas. it was like a warm hug. a warm hug enjoyed while gazing out onto a crystalline vista - of snow and white christmas lights. *sighs happily*

so there ... that's my attachment to hot apple cider ... and this is why i'm so utterly disappointed in the "apple cider" offerings in the coffee shops around here.

you cannot make proper apple cider with hot water and powder.

putting a cinnamon stick in apple flavoured hot water does not make apple cider.

hot apple juice is not apple cider.

i wish they would stop selling "apple cider".

we live in a country that has a very definite winter season, one that is cold and snowy. for these reasons, we need to embrace those drinks that warm you from the inside out. the hot chocolates, the coffees, the hot apple ciders.

is it that difficult to heat up apple cider versus apple juice? is it really? *sigh*

yet, i know i'll continue to purchase it, and continued to be disappointed. they say a sucker's born every day. and this one was born on a snowy day about 25 years ago.

hello again

so it's been a bit since the last time i wrote. i've been half away across the world and back since then! well, not quite half way ... but across the atlantic at least. there have been times when i had ideas to write down ... book "reviews" that i was supposed to do .. but, apparently i've just been lazy. but don't worry, i've been doing a lot of opining, internally that is.

i do have an anecdote to share though.

let it be said - melpie is not smart.

she wears contacts. these are silicon contacts or some such nonsense and require this peroxide based cleaning solution. it's an easy enough system... you put the contacts in this little container that has a metal piece at the bottom. once the solution is in the bottle and is touching the special metal piece, it starts its bubbly magic and cleans the contacts. it requires 6 hours to neutralize - i.e. if the solution is not touching the metal magic piece for 6 hours, it will remain as peroxide.

i'm sure you can see where this is going.

so one morning, i get my contacts out so i can see. alas, the bottle has tipped over in the night. i think nothing of it - except for having concern that perhaps my contacts would have dried out during the night. they seemed to be fine though.

i get out the right contact and insert it into my eye.

PAIN. OH SO MUCH PAIN.

yes, that's right, the solution had NOT neutralized. i put a contact covered in a peroxide solution IN MY EYE.

so the next step is to try to get the contact out of my eye. at this time, my eye is not trusting me. it knows what happened last time it let my finger touch it. it squeezes shut, keeping in all the peroxidey goodness.

the final result? one red eye.

boy, did i learn my lesson.

p.s. nba season has begun - and indy better be 2-0 in the next minute or so. or else melpie will not be a happy camper.

mesmerized

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.

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.

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?