Under the Arch

Memory is a strange thing, isn't it? I can remember vividly singing "Like James. I wanna be like James!" in PE freshman year, but I can't remember what happened a year ago, or when a particular event happened.
I was bored at work tonight and thought I would try to find some people from high school on myspace. I've done this before and gotten bogged down in all the people, so tonight I thought I would just do a search for people who graduated the same year as me. I met with success. I found several people I haven't seen since high school and another that I haven't seen since the ten year reunion. After the "Oh my god, it's...!", though, what do you say to these people? "uh...hi? Remember me? From drivers ed?" It seems sort of laughable that they would have any interest in getting to know me again, but at the same time, it seems sort of rude to not say anything at all....

What do you think? Do I contact them?

I don't have any pictures today, but I have a few random things to talk about.


School started up again and I'm feeling good about it. So far, the teachers all seem reasonable and sane. Sane is always good. I have an elective this semester that I'm actually excited about and the end of my bachelor degree is in sight which is great and also terrifying. As a friend of mine recently pointed out, I am at the age where you have to pick. It's time to decide, for better of worse and hope everything turns out or at least doesn't blow up in my face.

That brings me to the next subject....my friend at work announced that he is engaged. When I first started working at the office on campus, T and I discussed just about everything under the sun. He felt at 33 he was ready to get married and start a family. I was a little unsure about the whole thing, hell, I'm still unsure. T thought that his girlfriend wasn't ready and he was worried that they would have to go their seperate ways to get what they want. At least, until a couple of weeks ago, when she told him that she had been thinking and marriage and children was something she wanted. T, of course, quietly freaked out. Apparently, the idea of marriage and babies was a little different than the reality. Of course, for this story to have it's happy ending, he had to realize that being with her was what he wanted and getting married was the right thing for them.
Marriage was something that, at 20, I was sure was in my future. Now, at 30, I'm finding it harder and harder to find reasons why I would want to get married. Would I consider it if someone asked me? Sure. But, it's not something that I see as a goal anymore. Don't get me wrong, I would love to find someone to build a life with, a partner to share with all the ups and downs of life, but I don't necessarily think you need to get married to do that. I don't think people take those love, honor and cherish vows seriously and that's the only part I'm interested in. I'm perfectly happy living together, but for someone like T and his fiance, family obligations and the desire for children rather quickly makes marriage the best idea for them. Why am I even talking about this, considering I don't even have any prospects for marriage? I have no idea. But, it's something to talk about and something we've been talking about at work a lot lately. Moving on...

I probably mentioned in previous entries that I have been taking the metrolink to school, but I don't think I talked about what my ultimate plan was. Parking is expensive at my school. It costs a set amount per credit hour to park on campus each semester and that doesn't even factor in the money spent on gas driving to and from each day. Now that I live in an urban environment, I decided to take advantage of the great public transporation available and save some money on travel. I will now be driving the 3 miles to the nearest metro station and taking a train to school. Rather than fighting traffic, I can listen to my mp3 player, read or just relax on the way to school. Rather than pay the $150+ for parking, I pay $60 for a metro pass, per semester. Now, we wait and see how well this works. I'm sure there will be more stories and definitely pictures throughout the semester of the interesting people. For instance?
There are young men who ride the metro, getting off and on the various cars at each stop. Why? To pick up women. If they see an attractive girl get into another car, they wait until the next station and switch to her car and so on and so on until....they get a date? No idea, but it's interesting to watch.

As you may have noticed on the right hand side of your screen, I can be found multiple places on the internet. If you happened to be interested in knowing a little more about me, myspace is the place to go. (And if you too have a myspace, feel free to friend me....or continue to be a myspace lurker...whatever floats your boat.) Most of my myspace friends I actually know, some are relatives, most are old friends from various stages of my life. They can check in to see how I'm doing, and I can send a message to all of my friends that, no, I did not intend to post a picture of myself that could be considered "sultry", "suggestive, or "provocative". I was trying for "not exhausted" or "not bigger than I am", getting that would be fabulous. (sigh) Confused? So was I. It's just a picture so that people can recognize me, it really shouldn't be this hard. To replace the picture of me that I took in my bedroom, I stayed after work on thursday and took a couple of shots that I thought looked okay. This is the one I ultimately added to myspace.



I thought the problem was solved til one of my friends commented, "What's with the boob shot?" Dammit.
Anyway, if you have myspace, or want to see what myspace is all about or just have a few minutes to kill and you're just dying of curiousity, you can click the link on the right that says, "myspace".

That's just nasty and wrong, but it's August...eh...whatcha gonna do? With my current vehicle having a busted a/c, (wtf? it's 3 years old!) I have been driving the 3o+ minutes home from work in 100+ degree temperatures for the last week and a half. I decided today that the Metrolink was a better idea. I drove the 3 miles to the nearest station and got on a west bound train. This should have been the end of the story, but I apparently left my brain at home this morning, 'cuz I forgot about the split that occurs at the Forest Park station and realized after it was too late that I was heading in the wrong direction. I got off the train at the very next station and waited for the next train going east, got on that train, and then back off at the Forest Park station where I watched a woman get on a west bound train with a suitcase and hoped that she knew that one wouldn't take her to the airport. I wish now I had said something. Ah well.

...not really. Moving on.

um...I was trying to clean and do laundry this weekend in between bouts of naps brought on by the extreme heat and one social engagement saturday night. I emptied a laundry basket and within moments Angel was sitting in it staring at me, probably waiting for my next trick.

So, so good!!

.....this is what Angel did to my book.

This is what I did this weekend. I cuddled a baby. She is precious and tiny and has ginormous feet. I would get more accomplished but it has been in the high 90's all week and the a/c is broken in the van. I really hate sweating. (sigh) Look how cute she is....barely a week old in this pic.

And I take pictures in traffic...Hee. I was on my way home from work one day and I saw this on the car in front of me. I want one. :)

Oh. My. God. Can we talk about, for just a second, the dorkiest thing that ever was, full-on adults practically peeing their pants in excitement for the release of a children's book?

Yep I was among them. Gleefully I might add. Be warned that if you haven't finished the book, there WILL be spoilers because I waited nearly a week people, and I can't wait any longer, if you are still reading, come back later and read no further! (Note: Yeah, I got distracted and I'm finishing this MUCH later, maybe I just needed to think about it some more...or maybe I'm just lazy...it's probably the second one.) Also, to those of you who have no interest or who read about it on the internet just to see if Harry dies (Mom)...... I just don't know...maybe you will be interested in what I write about next...or not.













Ok, I'm a complete geek and started to sniffle when Voldemort told Beatrix that Tonks and Lupin got married, because how can you not be happy that in the midst of such tragedy the two of them reached out for a little happiness? (especially since it ended too soon?) This was on , what, page 5? It only went downhill from there. I started out reading at Red Lobster which was right down the road from my B&N of choice. (I was hungry and wanted some serious pasta! mmm, cajun chicken! mmm, cheddar biscuits! score!) While I waited for a table, two little girls were leaving and one of them said to the other, "Look, she's reading the Harry Potter book!" Obviously, children of good taste... :) Yes, I started reading it before I even got a table.

It became apparent that I really needed to read this in private when Hermione talked about her parents and the spell she put on them so that they would be safe and not worry about her. The blubbering was sort of embarrassing and I went home to finish the book. (I know that I said that I would take my time, but frankly, I'm not sure if I'm even capable of it.)

Some of my favorite parts (or when I cried the hardest):

• Hedwig died. I can't say that I was really upset, but it seemed like it should have had more significance considering she was Harry's pet and companion for the last few years and the only friend he had when living with the Dursleys.

• Mad-eye Moody died here too, but I was way more concerned for George and his missing ear. And how awesome was it that Fred and George looked at near death and dismemberment (well, almost) as just another excuse to joke.

• The wedding...not because of the wedding itself, but because we saw Luna again and I ADORE me some Luna. I love that character, she's the one person who really gets Harry when he can't even figure out what he wants or feels himself. She is also this free spirit that truly doesn't care what other people think of her, which is something I strive for, but never quite get there.

• Kreacher....and his great turn-around. Harry finally got it that Kreacher just wanted a little respect and to truly feel needed again. (Poor Kreacher, carrying around the guilt of not being able to fulfill his favorite master's last request of him.)

• When Harry nailed it to Lupin for running out on his family responsibilities. Hermione and Ron thought he was too harsh but I didn't think he was harsh enough. How sad is it when a teenager needs to tell you how to be a man? I was relieved that he did get it together eventually.

• That Ron left....I think he needed to be the angry one this time and he needed to know that he could come back...that the friendship between the three of them was strong enough. Also, I think he needed to save the day for once...he needed to know that he could be the strong one...the smart one.

• When Harry finally laid it all out for Ron.. Hermione likes you, not me. She's like a sister to me, duh! Make out with her, already, just not in front of me! Eww!

• When Dobby died...oh the tears! I loved Dobby, I think loads of people did. The fact that Harry was so broken up about it and took the time to actually dig a whole and bury him said a lot about his character.

• That Neville was the rebel on campus while Harry, Ron and Hermione were away. For the last couple of books, Neville has been coming into his own, it was great to see that he was capable of greatness, too, even though the whole prophesy thing was sort of dropped.
  

• When Ron and Hermione made out...finally!

• The walk through Snape's memories....Ha! He WAS in love with Lily. So, we finally learned about Snape's motivations and it all revolved around his unrequited love for Lily Potter. Snape wasn't evil, but he wasn't really good either. All the good things he did at Dumbledore's request were about the guilt over Lily's death and he never did see Harry for the person he actually was, he just saw his hatred for James. Snape lived a very sad life and I can't help feeling sorry for someone who never seemed to experience any joy.

• The fight for Hogwarts was awesome but why oh why did she have to kill Fred? I was SOBBING people, sobbing! I had to put the book down for a couple of minutes, I couldn't even see it, I was crying so hard.
  

• When Harry dies...but doesn't really. Harry finally sees Dumbledore for the flawed human being that he is, and it's ok that his hero isn't perfect. This is where he gets it for the first time, where he learns how to defeat Voldemort.

• When it looks like Harry is dead and Professor McGonagall screams. I love her, she's the teacher I want to be.

• When Neville kills the snake, Nagini, the last of the Horcruxes with the sword of Gryffindor that Voldemort practically handed to him.
  

• The house elves led by Kreacher fighting the Death Eaters!

• Mrs. Weasley kicking Beatrix's ASS! "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" Hee. I wish Mrs. Weasley would adopt me.

• Harry kills Voldemort, not because he is the better wizard, but because Voldemort once again miscalculated and his killing curse backfired into his face.

• The epilogue....Harry and Ginny get married...Ron and Hermione get married. Teddy seems to be part of the family. And yay Neville! He's the Herbology professor. Draco's still an ass, but whatever, no surprise there.
  

Stuff I didn't like:

• Lupin and Tonks died. At least they died together and their son completes a circle that started with Harry and ends with Teddy.

• Fred dies. Poor Fred.

• Draco never switches sides. He never really DOES anything to make up for what he's done. The only thing the Malfoys manage to do is refuse to fight and cause more damage. In fact, I can't remember ANY of the Slytherins actually doing any good. Bunch of fuckers.

The epilogue doesn't really tell you anything about their lives other than they're ok but J.K. Rowling gives more info in an interview you can find here.

Ok, I tried linking it, but it didn't work...to read about what the epilogue didn't tell you, go to this page. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19959323/