Some Harry Potter questions and random thoughts

It's been a week so if you haven't read the new Harry Potter yet, it seems like either you deserve to have some things spoiled or you just don't care...And if we, who live on a mountain in the middle of nowhere have been able to read it, you have no excuse.

So, SPOILER ALERT (sort of):


The wrong Weasley died.

Neville Longbottom is the man.

Did Neville and Luna end up together?

Mrs. Weasley cusses? Did Lord Voldemort ever cuss? I was awfully disappointed.

In the end, were the characters trying to punish their offspring when they named them what they did?

Draco Malfoy did not get what was coming to him.

Did the Dursleys come to the other wedding?

The real secret to eternal life is to have a self portrait made.

Kreature, a hero?

My eyes did leak over the death of one character (hint, he wasn’t in the first book).

Was the American version funnier?

Flying doesn’t seem like a big deal if you can teleport at will, although I guess it beats the broom.

Snape can fly too? When did he pick this up?

We never do find out what James and Lily did for a living.

The book needed another 200 pages.

Ron is whipped and will always be until he dies as the result of old age and nagdom.

Rowling’s next book: Hogwarts the New Class, starring Elizabeth Berkley as Hermione, Tiffany Amber Theisan as Fleur, Dustin Diamond as “Screech the owl”…

Some songs I wish I'd written

Gypsy by Suzanne Vega (that “My Name is Luka” girl)

American Pie – a bit too obvious of a choice?

When Love Came to Town

Jack and Diane by John…Cougar…Mellencamp

Hold Me Jesus (or about 70% of his other songs) by Rich Mullins

Hey Jealousy – the Gin Blossoms

Silent Running – Mike and the Mechanics

Hazy Shade of Winter – Who sang this song first?

Power Windows (our wedding song) by Billy Falcon

I Miss the Rains - Toto

Play Something We Know – Adam Hood

The Chasing Song or Passover Us – Andrew Peterson

Silent Night/Eleven O’clock News – Simon and Garfunkel

My Tree - Chris Rice

(I Want to) Paint It Black

Last Mango in Paris

We Are the Beggars at the Foot of God’s Door – The Normals

Don’t Stand So Close to Me (or almost anything from Dream of the Blue Turtles) – Sting

Mr. Tambourine Man - Bob Dylan

The Dangling Conversation – Simon and Garfunkel

Puff the Magic Dragon – Peter, Paul and Mary

PVC, the LSD of home repair

I have stumbled into my latest addiction with all the carelessness of 1960s flower child. I was looking to expand my horizons. I wanted to break from the restrictions unnecessarily placed on me by the Man (ironic since I am also the Man). I wanted more than my life currently had. I wanted freedom. I wanted to shower every night and allow my wife the option of doing laundry whenever she wanted.

So a while back I bought an extra water tank, capable of storing 550 liters of life giving, if not drinkable, water. The problem was that in order to fill this new tank, Amanda and I were required to wake up in the middle of the night, when the city water actually flows, stretch a hose between the two and siphon it from one to another. Not the best mode but the easiest one for the time being.

Yesterday Amanda and I went to the hardware store to make this job a bit easier. We bought eight meters of 3/4 inch pvc, assorted elbows and joints, a couple of shut off valves, a hacksaw and sealant. The total bill for the project was less than 15 USD! Now, with the cuts made and joints ready to be sealed once the old tank is empty, I am left with something like eight feet of pipe and a couple of couplers and joints. What to do with this? The mind reels.

It's a bit early to be thinking of our move North after the new year but I'm already thinking of a batting cage for the back yard or garage. Maybe @ needs a mini soccer goal? Or if we have a small yard I can build Amanda a plant stand. What about a workbench? Or a series of ferret tunnels? A giant croquet course? Sure, I'll need more than eight feet but at these prices I could buy miles of the stuff and it'd still be cheaper than books or DVDs. Already @ has a sword than doubles as a dirt tunnel.

So I need ideas to feed this obession. Ideas? Bookshelves and shoeracks are easy but I need a challenge. So many possibilities, so little time before language class begins again.