what the hell did i do that for??

i joined myspace. don't know why. i've been dead set against it for so long. heard it was a swingers site.

maybe i have a secret desire to be "myspace" stalked. lord knows i've done my fair share - and oh the people i've found. *shutter*

what do you think? is the background me??

http://www.myspace.com/gfygrl129

sorry i let you all down...

i never finished my harry potter posts before the book came out. they were in this order:

3rd fav: hagrid - cause his just a big lovable oaf.
2nd fav: harry - bet you thought he would be first huh?
1st fav: hermione - girl power baby! all that and brains too! kind of role model i want nina to have!

picked up the book at 9 am on saturday. started reading at 11 am. by sunday night i had 5 chapters to go. i finshed the last at lunch today.

and i'm overall happy with it. still not sure i really buy harry and ginny as a couple - if she was going to make ginny a romantic interest for harry - rowlings should have started working on it back in book 3 or 4 instead of wasting so much time on his infatuation with cho. starting it off in the book six didn't give us enough time to really believe it!

i won't say who lives or dies. some of my predictions were sort of trueish. not exact - but close.

mayor slay rejects "ike turner day" ...

i know that i owe you 2 harry potter posts today. yesterday was rough so i didn't get to it.

however - in the meantime to tide you over until i can get it together - i'm happy to report that mayor slay has denied the request to proclaim a day over labor day weekend as "ike turner day" to celebrate the effect he had on music history. he was met with a lot of opposition from women's support groups because of ike turner's violent tina beating and drug doing past.

i'm super happy. i was already planning my protest sign - i just hadn't decided if i was going to protest at the concert - or at the mayor's house which is just ever so close to mine....

my fourth favorite harry potter character...

is professor snape...

i still believe he's good.
i still believe there is more to him that we know.
i still believe that he killed dumbledore as part of of dumbledore's ultimate plan.
i still believe that dumbledore wouldn't have trusted him all this time without reason - dumbledore isn't dumb enough to be tricked by snape - perhaps dumbledore made him take the unbreakable vow to always be loyal?

after all - we only see snape through harry's eyes and what's that they say about two sides and every story??

i saw an interview this morning with daniel radcliff and he said that he thinks that in the end - snape will turn out to be the tragic hero of the harry potter series. worth some thought....

not as cute as he used to be...

celebrating the 20th anniversary of my favorite movie "The Princess Bride" - here are then and now shots of all of the cast. well - everyone except andre the giant of course.

wesley's just not as cute as he was as a sweet, quiet little farm boy with his naughty sword carrying side...

and did you hear that inigo montoya is leaving criminal minds over "creative differences"? that sucks...

my fifth favorite harry potter character...

in an effort to get us all pumped for the holiday on saturday, i am going to count down to the big day by counting down my top five favorite harry potter characters!

i know you are all totally psyched. and if you aren't - pretend convincingly...

so here goes.

my fifth favorite harry potter character is....

NEVILE!

i think there's so much more to nevile than people know and see. and he's kinda unsure of himself. bad self esteem. feels everything he does is done wrong no matter how hard he tries. can't stand up for himself. not super popular. but when he whipped out that wand and threatened bad hair lady in the latest movie - i felt personal triumph! i mean - with the exception of the parents driven to the insanity ward at st. mungos and the gift with plants - i feel a strange sort of connection with nevile. why - it's kinda like readin about meself (as hagrid would say)...

i am an orphan

just like harry potter.

and i'm moving into a cardboard box with a sign that says "free puppy" and i'm gonna use big sad eye faces that mean "are you my mother?"

news of the weird...

and it really doesn't seem to be much weirder than this...

oh harry - how do i loathe thee wait...

i am quiet impatiently passing my time until the release of the fifth harry potter movie and even more importantly - the long awaited seventh book.

it's been two years. TWO YEARS! two years since the "death" of dumbledore at the "hands" of snape. after reading that - i refused to believe that he was REALLY dead - i thought it was all part of dumbledore's ultimate plan. but jk has said in interviews that he is dead. so if i have to accept his death - then i am choosing to believe his brains, knowledge, and wisdom will continue to live on in one of the portraits in the headmaster's office and he will give his instructions from there. or he could be a ghost. i'm still kinda hazy on what makes some wizards ghosts and others not. even if nick did explain it in book 5.

i do think that dumbledore planned his own death though. i think he knew about snape's taking of the unbreakable vow and made it work in his plan. i don't think snape is evil. in fact - i've got to thinking - perhaps snape is a relative of lily - you know - harry's mom. lily used to yell at james when he picked on snape and seemed to have a strange sense of affection and desire to protect him. much like one would a brother. now - i don't think that they are siblings - because hello - they didn't have the same parents and smelly petunia would have said something if she had a gifted brother too. however, both snape and lily were gifted at potions and i don't think it's a coincidence.

i also don't think it is a coincidence that james and lily died in godric's hallow, that godric griffyndor was one of the founders of hogwarts, that harry is in the house of griffyndor, and that harry was able to pull godric griffyndor's sword out of the sorting hat (also originally owned by godric griffyndor). i really think that harry may be a decedent of godric himself and the home in godric's hallow was a family home. there is significance here. i'm sure of it. especially since this month of july 2007 in which both the fifth movie and seventh book are to be released - godric griffyndor has been chosen as wizard of the month on jk's webpage. fishy. VERY fishy.

there is also the issue of who is "R.A.B." and how did he/she know that the horacrux in the locket existed. lots of speculation that it's a member of the black family. but what about the possibility that it isn't just ONE person - but that each letter stands for an initial of a person involved? it could happen! except the only "B" i can come up with is Bill Weasley and that seems to be a stretch.

the love connections. ron has to end up with hermione. harry with ginny. no other match is doable - because i'm certain that even in the wizarding world it is illegal for ron to end up with ginny.

i really don't think harry, ron, or hermione is going to die. i could just be in denial. but i just don't think that they will. (and in true karen fashion - i will probably read the end before i read the rest just so i have the answer to this question because it kills me more and more with each passing day)...

i do think that the following people could all die:

neville - as books progressed - his character has become more and more important. the prophecy could have been about him. big noseless baby voldemort just picked harry. but i think it still makes neville vulnerable.

hagrid - it would be so sad to see him die - but i really think he would try to physically protect harry and die. and no one would see it coming.

snape - once he is finally redeemed and seen as good and the reasons why dumbledore has always trusted him is known - he could then die.

the agony is killing me.

in the meantime - i'll just keep reading all the harry potter entries on wikipedia - it's SO interesting...

i am so tired...

we're dog siting and it's interfering with my sleeping patterns....

another day....

another rejection...

nobody likes me everybody hates me i'm gonna eat some worms....

i'm okay with this one though. really. i promise....

it has come to my attention

that planters has discontinued the cheezball. i, for one, think this is a total travesty.

the world as i knew it is no longer the same. the days of sitting in the car in traffic at the riverport/umb/verison amitheater traffic afer a concert at midnight eating an entire canister of cheezballs are no longer an option.

and what about the future generations? poor nina will never know the joy of a cheezball canister binge! isn't that sad?? doesn't it make you want to cry?

awful. totally awful. there isn't even a word awful enough to properly relay to you all just how awful of an issue this is.

i say we all BAND TOGETHER!

DEMAND THE RETURN OF THE CHEEZEBALL! Don't eat a single planters product until the Cheezball is returned to the shelf! eat those emerald nuts or whatever. no more mr. peanut!

here is the contact screen from the planters webpage. send them nasty notes!

the CHEEZBALL SHALL PREVAIL!!!

what karen has been reading...

while in charlotte over the weekend i finished reading "the overachievers the secret life of driven kids" by alexandria robbins. she wrote another book that i read last fall called "pledged the secret life of sorieties". and one called secrets of the tomb: skulls and bones, the ivy leagues and the hidden paths that i want to add to the pile of books to read.

i enjoyed overahievers as much as i enjoyed pledged. it really makes you think - especially when you are employed by a university. the book follows the lives of eight or so high school juniors or seniors from a prestegious high school in maryland as they prepare and experience the SAT's and college application process. i know for a fact that i never pushed myself in high school as hard as these kids did. i took the ACT once. i got a score that was good enough to get into the college that i wanted to attend and teach in missouri and i didn't take it again hoping for a better score. i only applied to one school because application fees cost too much. if i hadn't been accepted i would have probably attended community college.

these kids took the SAT three or four times hoping to increase their score just a couple more points. many applied for early admission - something i don't think i knew existed. if they were accepted - they were stuck there. if the weren't - the could reapply or apply elsewhere. then the applied to several schools. they visited several colleges - i didn't even VISIT fontbonne until after i was accepted and had to take my placement test. and i was baffled how these kids could log onto a webpage and see their SAT scores on a certain date and time - or check for admission results on a college's webpage. what happened to the old "thick or thin mom? is it thick or thin?!?!?" days?

in between stories about the individuals there are periods of commentary and research. i find myself in agreement with the author about the ranking of colleges and universities. i won't say what it is - since i work for a ranked university and all. but i do agree with her.

i really don't think i would have been any happier in an ivy league than i was at a small school like fontbonne. i rather liked the small school atmosphere to be honest because i think it allowed for much more productive and intellectual conversations during classes because the student:teacher ratio was so small. it's hard to have a good productive conversation with 50 people in a room.

then again - had i gone to an ivy league - maybe nina's daddy daddy would have been a kennedy...

next on the book list is "if i am missing or dead". a personal memior about the author's life with an abusive husband and emotional feelings when her own sister turned up missing and then dead at the hands of her own abusive relationship. so far it seems most of the book is back story and the abusive husband story with the climax of the sister's death taking place near the very end and not holding as much of the book's focus which i find pretty disappointing since i was drawn in by the fact that the author's sister left a note in her desk drawer at work saying that if she were missing or dead - her boyfriend was to blame and why. it's also written in a very strange tense - sort of a first person present sort of tense with things like "i walk down the beach and sit on a log. kurt comes up and beats me up." which is strange for a memoir. plus - she doesn't use quotation marks when someone speaks. now i know i type in all lowercase letters and use a lot of ..... which drives my english major friends nuts (right kristine?) - but at least i use quotation marks!

gotta make sure i don't get myself too involved in a long drawn out book though. harry potter comes out in 3 weeks....

grrrr....

reason #607 why i hate people....

back to the grind...

after 12 hours in the car and ten pounds of sugar - i arrived in st. louis at 9 last nite. i fell into bed just before 11. i woke up at 9:15 this morning in almost the exact position i fell asleep in. and i felt like someone beat me up one side and down the other with a headache and a sugar hangover...

here are my ranks and scores...

for teams:

rank - 2310 Div II
111,110,154

for doubles:

rank - 4269 Div III
128,129,117

for singles:

rank - 767 Div IV
136,117,155

for all events:

rank - 944 Div IV
375,374,408 (series pin totals for a total of 1157 pins for the whole weekend)

all ranks are subject to change because women are still bowling until july 2. won't know until then if i won any money - but i'm not holding my breath....

and i don't know how many people/teams are in each divison. divisions are based on averages with division 4 being the lowest averages. i know that division 2 and 3 usually have the most bowlers. and i know there are over 40,000 total women participating...

i can say that my series in singles was only 100 pins lower than the person in 10th place though...

on the road again...

i hate bowling. and i hurt.


see ya'll in 16 hours....

look out charlotte...

here i come - and i got my bowlin ball, three books, and a big bag of buttery popcorn....

do i scare ya??

packing...

i hate getting things together the day before a trip....

just a fraction of what you get when you have an awesome partylite party...

you can have all this and more!

$330 worth of product free*

5 items at half price*

a couple hostest specials*

tons of options for free teelights (i got 7 dozen)*

and a ups delivery of 7 boxes of candle stuff to your back door with an hour of time spent sorting through votives and tealights with a very confused nose and smelly living room...

kristine - when should we do lunch? i'm out of town this weekend. let me know...

*tax and shipping charges not included - but still a darn good deal....

how to entertain yourself on a monday nite...

step 1 - take fat cat with horrible shedding trouble, dandruff, and has never had a bath in her life to petsmart for a full bath and shedding treatment.

step 2 - watch skinny cat rejoice that fat cat is leaving the house.

step 3 - pick up fat cat from petsmart and bring her home.

step 4 - watch skinny cat pout at fact that fat cat came back.

step 5 - let fat cat out of bag to run straight to litter box.

step 6 - watch fat cat walk funny because her claws are shorter than normal and she's never had that gross mike rowe anal duct cleaning before.

step 7 - watch fat cat plop down and start grooming more than you have ever seen before because she doesn't like the way she smells.

step 8 - watch skinny cat tip toe around fat cat because she looks kinda like the same cat - only nicer - and she smells really different.

step 9 - repeat step seven in different location.

step 10 - repeat step seven while fat cat avoids human who took her to the torture chamber.

step 11 - repeat step 8 and add on sniffing every spot fat cat has been in and spots that she hasn't to see that they still smell normal.

step 12 - watch stupid dog sniff cat bag, cat, and every inch of the house - trying to identify that strange smell.

step 13 - watch fat cat isolate herself so that she can groom in peace and avoid human who took her to torture chamber, skinny cat's sniffing, and stupid dog's everything...

step 14 - watch stupid dog bounce kong down the stairs and land perfectly on back of couch to be quickly retreived by stupid dog...

step 15 - watch stephanie mcmahon pretend to cry and threaten revenge about "whoever did this to ma-ah dad!"

step 16 - sleep until 2 am when you awake to find that fat cat is no longer mad at human who took her to torture chamber and is showing her affection by laying on top of her legs so that she can't roll over...