I read Harry Potter in 11 hours and all I got was this stupid depression.

Unless you're mental do not continue if you have not read all seven Harry Potter books, there are loads of SPOILERS! below.



Look, I know this book was great. I REALLY enjoyed reading it while I was in the act of reading. I have never set a book down to take a deep breath so many times. I had to tell myself, "It's okay, Ron's not dead...he has to make it to the part with the treasure," about thirteen times before I could pick it up again at one point. I know that there are some moments that will make me squee upon every re-read and that I just haven't had the time to take in yet. Irregardless, finishing Deathly Hallows was rather hallow after all. I'm very glad Harry didn't die, but what stopped me in my tracks was that last title- NINETEEN YEARS LATER.

We have followed Harry step-by-step through seven years, and in a page turn we lost nineteen years. Even though I cried heavily when he was standing in that white mist and I thought Jo might actually have killed him, in a way it seems impossible that Harry will live on without us. Better than the alternative, but impossible and sad.

It's sad that we didnt' find out that much about how the trio ended up. It could be that Dumbledore's words about power forshadowed Harry would become Minister of Magic, but it was very subtle. All we really know is that they all finally became family for real, Harry forgave Snape and no one found a better way to get to Hogwarts than a train in nineteen years. In the end Harry got what we all get...a life.

In addition to the loss of leaving Harry his life beyond the page, this book held the loss of a mentor. Harry- probably inevitably- reached the point where the student surpasses the teacher. He became a better man than Dumbledore, stronger and more selfless. While it was nice to find out more about our mysterious headmaster, it also made him rather less mysterious. While in time the real Dumbledore with all of his faults will likely hold more value than the infallible man we knew before, it's hard to take him down from that pedestal. He used the wand that Harry gave up, he sought power over more than just evil and he allowed himself to die when Harry needed him because of desire to wield power over death. Believing that Dumbledore selflessly planned his death preserved his invincibility. It takes some getting used to...this flawed Dumbledore. Harry, on the other hand, seemed to be able to handle this news well. All he wanted was the truth, he didn't care if it was a duller truth. Perhaps because he's always felt so flawed himself.

Ron and Hermione were amazing in this book. From the moment that they revealed the lengths they were willing to go to for Harry. Putting not only themselves, but their families in danger and wisking Harry to safety at the wedding. It is easy to say that they had to do it, as Harry did, to save the world, but I always felt they cared more about saving Harry than anything. Harry wanted to save everyone. Ron and Hermione wanted to save him. I've found that amazing. Yeah, Ron was a prat there in the middle, but not because he realized he was giving up too much for Harry.

You know, I have officially talked myself out of my funk regarding this book. I'm going home to start my re-read. Only one thing left to do...

Thanks Jo for writing and for Harry Potter. Cheers.

Justice may be blind, but it is not deaf.

Maybe we should have left the goddess of justice's hands free of scales so that she might cover her ears. While courts may not have a problem putting the rich and famous in jail, sheriffs and prison officials certainly must have a problem listening to the constant complaints and accusations of their legal, emotion and physical representatives.

How much should one Sheriff have to endure to prove that our legal system treats the rich and poor, famous and ordinary the same? Media camped out at the front door, heiress crying in her cell, shrink bitching about nervous breakdowns and malnutruition and attorney bitching about everything he can can think to I'm sure. After all this Sheriff has actual criminal imates to control and to apprehend.

I'll sleep the same at night whether Paris suffers a jail sentence or a unflattering accessory. After all, how many people have to suffer so that Paris can get punished?

23 days fly when you are having fun

I'm staying with my aunt and uncle this summer and there is something in my bathroom that makes me laugh everytime I see it (no it is not in the mirror). They have a hand towel with a Sylvia Plath quote on it. I know...questionable already right? But the quote is, "There must be a few things in life that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know what they are." I can only assume that the manufacturer of this towel has the greatest sense of irony I've ever encountered or is just plain stupid. I don't think my aunt gets the joke though.

p.s. The towel is pink and has a drawing of an ultra modern woman in the bath.

Kiss your guns goodbye?

I'm from the part of the country where most every law abiding citizen owns a gun. (I suppose most criminals own guns in every area of the country.) My father is a long time member of the NRA and you could say that most of the people in my family take their Second Amendment rights pretty seriously. You could also say that is a bit of an understatement.

It's hard to ignore what has been going on with guns lately. A string of shootings- CNN HQ, Virginia Tech, NASA, and now Kansas City. I'm betting that gun control enthusiasts will be out in droves. Added to that, the most vocal supporter of gun ownership is getting a little old to be waving rifles over his head. Is the day really coming where we will give up our guns?

I have to say that I believe in the right to bear arms. I also believe that the absense of a waiting period for guns in Virginia is unacceptable. I don't know if concealed to carry permits make us safer. I do know we would probably be safer without any guns whatsoever. But we do not live in a world of all or nothing and as long as the possiblity exists that one person might have a gun illegally, the argument exists that we would be safer if we were all allowed to have them.

When it comes down to it, a determined killer will find a way to take lives. If the V Tech shooter was determined to do what he did, he would not have let the absense of legally available firearms stop him. He bought his weapons over thirty days before the shooting, if a waiting period had been in place he would likely have been undetered. He was a determined killer.

It is so very (physically) easy to take a life. In a way, it's surprising that it doesn't happen more often. Most of us live in harmony every day never even thinking of hurting one another past, perhaps, a pop in the nose with a fist. When someone enters into the decision to take lives the means of execution is a formality. It's the decision we should watch out for.

Story of a Monday

I wonder how this story will be told. There can be no doubt that it will be a tragedy. Yet even the saddest most tragic story has light and dark.

There will be victims. In death these victims will be pure. Cherubs pulled down from the skies before their time was spent. They are casualties of the deep dark places of life that mostly stay hidden. Through the story we will peek in, get a glimpse of these places-the endless holes of life's brutality.

The heart of the villan will be a place of much interest. Yet we will step away quickly. The endless darkeness is too chilling for a stare. At a glance we will see too much of what scares us about the world, and perhaps we will see a little too much of ourselves.

Besides victims and villans, there will be heroes. Their brightness will turn these brutal holes to shadows. Oh, I wonder who will be the heroes of this story? Who are these heroes that allow us to see ourselves reflected in the light in their eyes rather than the shiny black spaces of evil? Heroes allow us to go on.

In the end both the light and dark will dimish back into natural light. The story is told but not quite spent. The last page turned but the words kept locked in some corner of our minds. We never quite forget a tragedy.

To be fair...

...Keith Richards' publicist says that he was not being serious when he said he snorted his father.

To which I say: I could see how something like that could just slip out.

When I die for the love of God do not snort me!

Okay first read this.

So to summerize Keith Richards snorted his dad's ashes with some blow. Let's take a moment and absorb.

Not being one to experiment with drugs I am unsure of the exact amounts of cocaine use it would take to think up this touching tribute. Maybe it was meant to be an homage to the fleeting nature of life, and highs. Maybe Keith was making some kind of social-political statement about the composition of drugs. Maybe he's out of his ever lovin' mind. The last is certainly probable.

My question is...What did he do with the rest of the ashes? A little in his coffee? Perhaps the morning eggs (or should I say mourning eggs?) Daddy chip cookies? Extremely 'special' brownies? Daddy with the laundry detergent...well it could go on and on really.

I bet Mr. Richards would have settled for the beach or the sea as his final resting place. Hell, even a nice Margarita on the rocks...now that's an afterlife!

Today in Sad, Funny and Annoying...

Sad: Katie says Suri rumors "not okay." I wouldn't want people saying my baby girl was from the planet Zenu and fathered by a insane gay man either.

Funny: Hawaii either hates lost or LOVES traffic laws.

Annoying: Katie Couric. General rule: Katie Couric is always annoying.

Today in Sad, Funny and Annoying...

Sad: Nick and Jessica's divorce is final. Sad.

Funny: Hadji Girl. Have a feeling the response to this may get toward annoying though.

Annoying: Star Jones. At least when the heat dies down she won't have a daily forum for her annoying opinions.

Ode to Celebrity

What makes a King out of a slave? Celebrity! What makes the queen on the stage to wave? Celebrity! What makes the popstar change her bust in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the doctor guard her trust? Celebrity! What makes Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt the Seventh Wonder? Celebrity! What makes the paparazzi come up like thunder? Celebrity! What makes la-la land so hot? What puts the Id in Ridley Scott? What have they got that we ain't got?

Celebrity!

You can say that again!

*adapted from cowardly lion speech from Wizard of Oz

Things that "W" and K-Fed have in common.

Did you ever notice how much "W" aka President George W. Bush and K-Fed aka Kevin Federline aka Britney Spears' husband have in common?

1. Both have trendy, easy reference nicknames adopted by their critics.

2. Both like to nickname their homies.

3. Both have approval ratings of less than 35%.

4. Each has, at one time or another, been dubbed "America's Most Hated."

5. Both got their money from the south.

6. Each has corrupted something that was beautiful about America (Bush's accomplishments are too numerous to mention.)

7. Both have strong ties to the oil industry (K-Fed LOVES to hang out at gas stations.)

8. Both are good at starting things, but bad at sustaining them (W-the war, K-Fed-relationships).

9. Neither will make it past 2008.

"Life is short, but wide."

A quote from Rebecca Wells in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which, despite what the butchered movie version might convey, is an immensley thought provoking, touch you down to your toes kind of book. What do the words mean? To me: you may not have a lot of time, but you have a lot of room to experiment. A kind of "stay the course" philosophy on life, if you will.


You can't read this book without thinking about your mother and thinking about what it really means to be a mother. If you never truly appreciated how much children can suck every last ounce of life and energy from a women then you will. Also as a child you will be forced to examine how what your parents did to you, with you, to each other, to themselves made you who you are today. Nurture over nature anyone?


This is territory I have already traveled. I had a pretty perfect childhood so mostly its, "thank God I have my parents and not someone elses (really doesn't make sense does it?)." Don't worry though if you don't have much to blame your parent's for...its extremely fun to turn this introspection onto others (for you, I mean, not them).