Schedule Change...

I've been debating this in my head for weeks, and have finally come to a decision.
After about a year of working 1030-7, I've decided to change to 8-430...
There are pros and cons for each shift, but I need a change. So, now I'll be getting up early and dealing with traffic, BUT, I will get home at a reasonable time OR be able to go shopping/run errands after work.
That's my big announcement. I realize it's pretty boring. I really don't have much else new going on, though.
I do have a picture of Cornflake getting ready to run around with a cup on his head, though.
Enjoy!

I'd rather be "fat" than vindictive

I read this in the miscellaneous section jkrowling's website (jkrowling.com), and it is not Harry Potter related-- I was quite surprised and pleased to find these words of wisdom... I'll repost a condensed version here (my favorite part):

'"Fat" is usually the first insult a girl throws at another girl when she wants to hurt her,' I said; I could remember it happening when I was at school, and witnessing it among the teenagers I used to teach. Nevertheless, I could see that to him, a well-adjusted male, it was utterly bizarre behaviour, like yelling 'thicko!' at Stephen Hawking.

His bemusement at this everyday feature of female existence reminded me how strange and sick the 'fat' insult is. I mean, is 'fat' really the worst thing a human being can be? Is 'fat' worse than 'vindictive', 'jealous', 'shallow', 'vain', 'boring' or 'cruel'? Not to me; but then, you might retort, what do I know about the pressure to be skinny? I'm not in the business of being judged on my looks, what with being a writer and earning my living by using my brain...

I went to the British Book Awards that evening. After the award ceremony I bumped into a woman I hadn't seen for nearly three years. The first thing she said to me? 'You've lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you!'

'Well,' I said, slightly nonplussed, 'the last time you saw me I'd just had a baby.'

What I felt like saying was, 'I've produced my third child and my sixth novel since I last saw you. Aren't either of those things more important, more interesting, than my size?' But no – my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!

The trouble is, when you say "well, yeah! I'd rather be "fat" than, say, vindictive, or bitter, the retort is "well, of course you'd say that, you're fat, hahahahaha" It's hard to actually believe it, but who you actually are has so very little to do with your physical appearance. You are more than the size of your waist, you are the choices you make. And while some choices may regard what to eat for breakfast, and you may chose a cookie, when you could have chosen yogurt, the much more important choice regards how you chose to treat people.

I Miss My Book!

It was so nice to be in a quite apartment, with a good book to read and a few days off from work.

Harry Fever!

So, about 11 and a half hours to go until the book is released. Everyone at work is asking me what my plans are for tonight. I haven't decided yet. John volunteered to get wrist band and then go back to the store and buy the book... I think it might be mayhem, though, and I wouldn't want him to have to go through that. I think I would like to go to a release party somewhere (probably Barnes) and then just leave around 11 or so, before any one can ruin the ending.

What I'm looking forward to finding out:

What really happened on the tower between Snape and Dumbledore in Half Blood Prince... there was that mysterious snippet of conversation between them earlier in the book that will have to be revisited, and that will shed some light on what really happened, and if Snape is indeed good or evil (or neither?)

How Dumbledore will speak to Harry again...will it be his portrait? Will Harry see more of Dumbledore's memories through the penseive?

What the significance of Harry having Lily's eyes is. I have a half baked theory-- in Snape's Worst Memory, Lily is the only one who sticks up for Snape. Maybe he liked her? She sticks up for him, and is excellent at making potions, like him (although he did call her a mudblood). Maybe he hated James so much because he married Lily? And maybe at some pivotal moment, Snape looks at Harry, and instead of seeing James, like he always does, he sees Lily, in Harry's eyes. Or not. But in some way, Harry having Lily's eyes will be important-- like, save his life important.

The two way mirror Sirius gave Harry. Where's the other half? It has to be useful, why else would it have been introduced to the plot?

Wormtail owes Harry a life debt... how will he repay him?

What is Harry's power that the Dark Lord knows not? It seems agreed upon that it is his capacity for love, despite everything that has happened to him. How does this help him defeat Voldemort? And at what cost to Harry?

Utah!

So, it's been a gazillion years since I've been to Utah for a visit, and I finally was able to book my tickets today...Hooray!!

And some that die deserve life

A coworker of mine passed away this past Saturday, quite suddenly and unexpectedly. She was 24.

Many people have been consoling themselves with thoughts that she is in a better place, and those types of things.

I'm sure that is true.

But it also seems trite. She was young and sweet and beautiful, and I'm sure given the choice, she'd have chosen to continue her journey on this plane for quite a bit longer.

There is no fairness or meaning to her death-- it wasn't "her time" and it wasn't part of any plan, it just is.

At work, there is still laughing, and people complaining about work issues. Everyone was upset this morning, to be certain, but if you walked in here right now, you wouldn't necessarily know that a co-worker just passed away.

And what I am left with is the thought that our own life means the very most to only us, an idea that can be both formidable and empowering.

Headphones...preventing rampage killings since 1910

Every morning, someone I work with buys a bag of chips, then proceeds to inhale the contents as fast and and loud as she can. I honestly don't think I could eat that loud if I tried.

Happy 4th of July!

This comes from the Medved Memo, which is written by Michael Medved and goes out every Friday. I thought it was perfect and wanted to share it with you guys:

On July 2, 1776, after long and wrenching debate, the Continental Congress voted to declare independence from the Mother Country and the next night John Adams went back to his rooming house in sweltering, sticky Philadelphia to write, by candlelight, perhaps the most famous letter in American history. Addressing his beloved wife Abigail in far-away Boston, he exulted in the birth of a new nation:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.

You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration and support and defend these states. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means. And that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even although we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not...

It may be the will of Heaven that America will suffer calamities still more wasting, and distress yet more dreadful. If this is to be the case, it will have this good effect at least. It will inspire us with many virtues which we have not, and correct many errors, follies and vices which threaten to disturb, dishonor and destroy us. The furnace of afflication produces refinement, in States as well as individuals...But I must submit all my hopes and fears to an overruling Providence, in which, unfashionable as the faith may be, I firmly believe.

The prophetic nature of his vision still makes the heart race and takes the breath away, some 231 years later. Predicting "illuminations" (the 18th Century term for fireworks!) to celebrate Independence Day from "one end of the continent to the other" remains almost freakishly prescient. When Adams wrote those words, the colonies occupied only a narrow, intermittent strip of settlements along the eastern seaboard; the very notion of a true continental nation looked wildly implausible, all but unimaginable.

The one mistake in Adams' view of the future involved his assumption that future generations would celebrate the Second of July (the date of the adoption of the resolution for Independence) rather than the Fourth of July (the date Congress approved the specific wording of the Declaration which Adams had helped his friend Thomas Jefferson to write.

In any event, those who insist on dismissing or denying the nation's deeply religious heritage should ponder the words of this "Atlas of Independence." Adams expects that we will celebrate the nation's founding through "solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty" (don't tell the ACLU!). After bitter, exhausting political battles in Philadelphia (corresponding to simultaneous -disastrous- military battles conducted by Washington's army in New York) he recognized the role of Providence in the ongoing struggle and, at a moment of exultation, proved himself not just a far-seeing leader, but a prophet.

May we celebrate our nation's beginning in a manner worthy of such founders.

Happy Independence Day!