At work, Brad finished reading the kids Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. P-p-poor st-stuttering Professor Quirrell turned out to be evil, and Snape was revealed to be protecting Harry. Then Dumbledore ate the earwax bean, Hagrid gave Harry the photos of Harry's parents, and Harry went home to the Dursleys for the summer.
(Isn't Quirrell a bit like Verbal in The Usual Suspects? It's always the one you least suspect who turns out to be Kizer Soze.) ....
After the library, I went to the post office and picked up the mail. Then I went to CVS. I got "Mr. Elingtin" some chocolate and a card for Valentine's Day. I also bought him some aspirin, which he's supposed to take every day. I could have spent money on a box of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings valentines, or some stickers, but I resisted.
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Friday, January 29, 2016
January 16, 2003
My greatest accomplishment at work today was finishing Artemis Fowl. It was a good story. Boy captures fairy, holds her for ransom. Fairies stop time and use a troll to try to get her back. Boy loses ransom, but makes a wish that heals his sick mother. And they all live happily until Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident.
The back pages of the book say a movie is being made. Not that I can't already picture Artemis, Butler, Juliet, Holly, and Foaly.
Now for the inevitable Harry comparison. In Artemis, fairies are highly advanced magical creatures, living underground and disliking humans. In Harry, fairies are not intelligent, much smaller than humans (Artemis fairies are Hobbit-sized), and are used as Christmas decorations.
Both books have centaurs. In Artemis, Foaly the centaur is a paranoid, wisecracking technogeek. In Harry, centaurs are wise and highly respected. They choose to live in the Forbidden Forest, away from humans. Foaly also shuns humans.
Trolls, ugly, stinky, and stupid, are the same in both.
As to Artemis himself, as I said before, he's a Slytherin. He's ambitious and deceptive, and a thief. But he does show nobility when he buys a wish to make his mother healthy. Artemis has no magic powers, though. Harry also breaks rules, but he isn't part of a criminal family, and he doesn't steal. (Well, there was the Marauder's Map...) Both boys have good hearts, but Artemis doesn't have good actions.
Speaking of Harry Potter, I read in today's paper that [book] #5, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is coming out on June 21st.
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| https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/249747.Artemis_Fowl |
Now for the inevitable Harry comparison. In Artemis, fairies are highly advanced magical creatures, living underground and disliking humans. In Harry, fairies are not intelligent, much smaller than humans (Artemis fairies are Hobbit-sized), and are used as Christmas decorations.
Both books have centaurs. In Artemis, Foaly the centaur is a paranoid, wisecracking technogeek. In Harry, centaurs are wise and highly respected. They choose to live in the Forbidden Forest, away from humans. Foaly also shuns humans.
Trolls, ugly, stinky, and stupid, are the same in both.
As to Artemis himself, as I said before, he's a Slytherin. He's ambitious and deceptive, and a thief. But he does show nobility when he buys a wish to make his mother healthy. Artemis has no magic powers, though. Harry also breaks rules, but he isn't part of a criminal family, and he doesn't steal. (Well, there was the Marauder's Map...) Both boys have good hearts, but Artemis doesn't have good actions.
Speaking of Harry Potter, I read in today's paper that [book] #5, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is coming out on June 21st.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
January 10, 2003
Yesterday [at work] we'd read aloud a passage of Sorceror's Stone that mentioned Harry taking home to the Dursleys a note saying he'd somehow turned his teacher's wig blue. I drew the bald teacher scowling at her now-blue wig. That was my third drawing of the book.
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| https://www.etsy.com/listing/209363954/hed-somehow-turned-his-teachers-wig-blue |
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
December 29, 2002
I will attempt to put this dream in linear, somewhat logical order, but this bears little resemblance to the way I dreamt it.
I was at work with a roomful of kids. I told them to each read a book, but as they were getting settled with their books, Rosalind [a co-worker] started reading them Harry Potter. I ran off to do some errand, which for some reason involved taking off my shirt and walking around in a bra.
I came back to hear a strange new chapter about Professor McGonagall. I became her as I listened, acting out the scenario in which the professor went to the mall and couldn't figure out where to park....During some parts of the dream I was thinking, "Why did J.K. Rowling write that?" ....
Not much was accomplished during my waking life. I read the newspaper. I read that Sir Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, was hired to play Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. I'm sure he'll do well, although Richard Harris was a perfect choice for the role. But who will play Fawkes the phoenix?
I was at work with a roomful of kids. I told them to each read a book, but as they were getting settled with their books, Rosalind [a co-worker] started reading them Harry Potter. I ran off to do some errand, which for some reason involved taking off my shirt and walking around in a bra.
I came back to hear a strange new chapter about Professor McGonagall. I became her as I listened, acting out the scenario in which the professor went to the mall and couldn't figure out where to park....During some parts of the dream I was thinking, "Why did J.K. Rowling write that?" ....
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| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/838626.The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring |
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
December 22, 2002
[I dreamed I was in a castle.] I also dreamed that my brother was dating a pig. She looked, smelled, and sounded like a woman, but I knew she was a transfigured pig. I talked to her as we walked through [an outdoor fair]. She told me she had 10 piglets, 4 of whom were in college....
Then there's the episode [in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland] with Alice and the Duchess's baby, with the baby turning into a pig. Oh, and Circe turned Odysseus's men into pigs. Homer Simpson/Odysseus ate the pig that used to be Lenny. But those are both human-to-pig transformations, not the other way around. Same deal Hagrid's threat to turn Dudley Dursley into a pig. Come to think of it, I may have been thinking about Harry Potter. That castle was a bit like Hogwarts....
At five we opened our presents to each other. "Mr. Elingtin" gave me a new thermal coffee mug, a Harry Potter DVD, and the Independence Day DVD. Cool stuff. But all I really wanted for Hanukkah/Christmas/Winter Solstice was "Mr. Elingtin's" continued health. That's all I want for the next 70 years. I love my sweet, sweet honey boy. I only want good things to happen to him.
We put Harry Potter in the DVD player [and] watched the movie. This time I noticed how different the beginning is from the first 2 or 3 chapters of the book. Then I played with the interactive DVD extras. They're fun; you'll have to get past Fluffy, pick the right flying key, mix potions, and select the right bottle to get to the sorceror's stone. There are also guided tours of Hogwarts, interviews, and deleted scenes from the movie.
Among the deleted scenes were 1) Aunt Petunia finding letters inside egg shells, 2) Dudley in his Smeltings uniform, and 3) a longer scene showing Harry's first Potions class, almost exactly like it is in Rowling's book. I really enjoyed those extra scenes.
Then there's the episode [in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland] with Alice and the Duchess's baby, with the baby turning into a pig. Oh, and Circe turned Odysseus's men into pigs. Homer Simpson/Odysseus ate the pig that used to be Lenny. But those are both human-to-pig transformations, not the other way around. Same deal Hagrid's threat to turn Dudley Dursley into a pig. Come to think of it, I may have been thinking about Harry Potter. That castle was a bit like Hogwarts....
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| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3.Harry_Potter_and_the_Sorcerer_s_Stone |
We put Harry Potter in the DVD player [and] watched the movie. This time I noticed how different the beginning is from the first 2 or 3 chapters of the book. Then I played with the interactive DVD extras. They're fun; you'll have to get past Fluffy, pick the right flying key, mix potions, and select the right bottle to get to the sorceror's stone. There are also guided tours of Hogwarts, interviews, and deleted scenes from the movie.
Among the deleted scenes were 1) Aunt Petunia finding letters inside egg shells, 2) Dudley in his Smeltings uniform, and 3) a longer scene showing Harry's first Potions class, almost exactly like it is in Rowling's book. I really enjoyed those extra scenes.
Monday, January 25, 2016
December 14, 2002
I dreamed that instead of ducks on our property, we had foxes. "Mr. Elingtin" and I went out and picked up litter so the foxes wouldn't eat it. While we were doing that, we discovered a fox that had a head at both ends, as in the cartoon Catdog. The two-headed, gray fox went down the bank into the river and swam away.
This dream was partially inspired by Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. There were no two-headed foxes in the book, but there was a three-headed snake.
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| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41899.Fantastic_Beasts_and_Where_to_Find_Them |
Sunday, January 24, 2016
December 12, 2002
Having finished Holes, we began to read some of the kids Harry Potter at work.
Today I listened to the description of Dudley's school uniform: maroon jacket, orange knickerbockers, a straw hat, and a knobby walking stick. I didn't remember that, but it struck me so funny, I had to draw a picture. I hope I have several original illustrations by the time we're done w/the book.
By the way, I read Quidditch Through the Ages and started both of the other books. I especially enjoy reading about fantastical beasts. It's a very clever book.
But Connie Neal's book The Gospel According to Harry Potter is also interesting. She suggests that Albus Dumbledore us like God: he loves Harry, helps and protects him, but allows him free will to follow or break the rules and fight evil. Dumbledore hates evil, but is very forgiving of people who have done wrong (Hagrid, Snape). When, in the 1st book, Dumbledore warns the students they will die if they visit a certain hallway, it's like God warning Adam and Eve to stay out of the Tree of Knowledge. But I wonder if J.K. Rowling really asks, "What would God do?" when she writes Dumbledore.
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| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38709.Holes |
By the way, I read Quidditch Through the Ages and started both of the other books. I especially enjoy reading about fantastical beasts. It's a very clever book.
But Connie Neal's book The Gospel According to Harry Potter is also interesting. She suggests that Albus Dumbledore us like God: he loves Harry, helps and protects him, but allows him free will to follow or break the rules and fight evil. Dumbledore hates evil, but is very forgiving of people who have done wrong (Hagrid, Snape). When, in the 1st book, Dumbledore warns the students they will die if they visit a certain hallway, it's like God warning Adam and Eve to stay out of the Tree of Knowledge. But I wonder if J.K. Rowling really asks, "What would God do?" when she writes Dumbledore.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
December 10, 2002
After work we went to Value City to buy my mom some dishes we saw in the ad. They were out of 'em. But we bought some hats for "Mr. Elingtin," some calcium tablets, and a cheap, non-authorized documentary DVD about Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, relating it to other kids' fantasy movies.
Friday, January 22, 2016
December 8, 2002
Today we went to my Mom and Dad's. My dad was watching football in the basement as usual. I helped my mom put decorations on her Christmas tree. It was fun to see my old rocking horse ornaments again, and other ones I collected as a kid.
I also had to learn how to replace a lightbulb on a string of lights so I could group the fiber-optic fairies together on white bulbs. It was fun, too. You know, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, fairies are summoned to be decorations at the Christmas Ball.
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| "The Butterfly" by Luis Ricardo Falero, 1893. Public domain. |
I also had to learn how to replace a lightbulb on a string of lights so I could group the fiber-optic fairies together on white bulbs. It was fun, too. You know, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, fairies are summoned to be decorations at the Christmas Ball.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
December 5, 2002
After work, I went to the library. I returned Annotated Fairy Tales and Trick or Treat. I got 3 supplementary Harry books. Two were written by J.K. Rowling: her thin Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, both written under wacky pseudonyms.
The third was called The Gospel According to Harry Potter. It tells how Harry and his friends exemplify religious values. Some religious people want to ban or burn the books because of the association of witchcraft with evil. There's nothing sinister in the books, really. No more so than in The Wizard of Oz or The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe....
I also stopped at Meijer...Other stuff I almost bought at Meijer included a book of "background" myths and folklore for Harry Potter (not authorized by J.K. Rowling)....
It was about 5 when I got home. I don't remember much about what he did next. But I probably began reading Quidditch Through the Ages.
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| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47534.Gospel_According_to_Harry_Potter |
I also stopped at Meijer...Other stuff I almost bought at Meijer included a book of "background" myths and folklore for Harry Potter (not authorized by J.K. Rowling)....
It was about 5 when I got home. I don't remember much about what he did next. But I probably began reading Quidditch Through the Ages.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
December 4, 2002
Today I finished the fourth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was the darkest, scariest book so far.
First the Weasleys came and picked Harry up and took him to the Quidditch World Cup. While they were there, the gathered wizards and witches see the Dark Mark, the sign of Lord Voldemort, in the sky.
When school starts, the students learn that Hogwarts will be one of three wizarding schools competing in the Triwizard Tournament. It's a difficult and dangerous competition, so only the 17- and 18-year-olds are supposed to enter.
One student was supposed to be chosen from each school. But the goblet of fire selects 2 students from Hogwarts--Hufflepuff Quidditch player Cedric Diggory, and Harry Potter. (Harry was 11 in the first book, and has aged to 15 in the 4th book.)
The four students battle dragons, survive romantic complications at a Christmas dance, save their friends from the merpeople, and finally enter a maze. Cedric and Harry are just about to win the cup together when they're transported to a graveyard. There, Voldemort uses Harry's blood (and, in a gruesome twist, the severed hand of Wormtail, the wizard formerly known as Scabbers the rat) to get a new body. Cedric dies, but of course Harry fights off Voldemort again. Then Harry lives happily until Book 5 comes out.
Harry has a crush on the Ravenclaw seeker, Cho Chang. But Cho loves Cedric. Well, she did before Cedric died. Ron seems to have a crush on Hermione, but his head is turned by the supernaturally beautiful Fleur Delacour from Baeuxbatons school. (She's part veela, a beautiful woman who can turn into a harpy-like creature.) Hermione has a crush on a Quidditch player from the third school. His name is Viktor Crum. He likes Hermione, too.
Even Hagrid developed a crush, on the Beauxbatons headmistress, who is also half-giant. (She says she's just big-boned.)
Also, we learn that Snape used to be one of Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters. But then he turned on Voldemort and became a spy, and has been fighting against the dark wizards ever since. Of course there's still the possibility that he may go back to his evil ways. I hope not; I like Snape and I want him to be good, even if he does hate Harry.
And that's just a summary of what I liked about Goblet of Fire.
Appropriately, I saw a TV show about J.K. Rowling on the Biography channel this evening. She said it was not true that she began the first book in coffeehouses because she couldn't afford a flat with heat. The truth is, Scotland is way too cold in the winter to live in an unheated apartment. Her daughter Jessica was an infant then, and now she's about ten. J.K. Rowling recently got remarried, and now she has a baby son, too. She's very creative, and she can draw, too. She also has already written the epilogue to the seventh book, telling what Harry and his friends did when they grew up, who they married, etc.
Personally, I think Ron and Hermione will get married and have seven kids, just like Molly and Arthur Weasley.
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| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6.Harry_Potter_and_the_Goblet_of_Fire |
When school starts, the students learn that Hogwarts will be one of three wizarding schools competing in the Triwizard Tournament. It's a difficult and dangerous competition, so only the 17- and 18-year-olds are supposed to enter.
One student was supposed to be chosen from each school. But the goblet of fire selects 2 students from Hogwarts--Hufflepuff Quidditch player Cedric Diggory, and Harry Potter. (Harry was 11 in the first book, and has aged to 15 in the 4th book.)
The four students battle dragons, survive romantic complications at a Christmas dance, save their friends from the merpeople, and finally enter a maze. Cedric and Harry are just about to win the cup together when they're transported to a graveyard. There, Voldemort uses Harry's blood (and, in a gruesome twist, the severed hand of Wormtail, the wizard formerly known as Scabbers the rat) to get a new body. Cedric dies, but of course Harry fights off Voldemort again. Then Harry lives happily until Book 5 comes out.
Harry has a crush on the Ravenclaw seeker, Cho Chang. But Cho loves Cedric. Well, she did before Cedric died. Ron seems to have a crush on Hermione, but his head is turned by the supernaturally beautiful Fleur Delacour from Baeuxbatons school. (She's part veela, a beautiful woman who can turn into a harpy-like creature.) Hermione has a crush on a Quidditch player from the third school. His name is Viktor Crum. He likes Hermione, too.
Even Hagrid developed a crush, on the Beauxbatons headmistress, who is also half-giant. (She says she's just big-boned.)
Also, we learn that Snape used to be one of Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters. But then he turned on Voldemort and became a spy, and has been fighting against the dark wizards ever since. Of course there's still the possibility that he may go back to his evil ways. I hope not; I like Snape and I want him to be good, even if he does hate Harry.
And that's just a summary of what I liked about Goblet of Fire.
Appropriately, I saw a TV show about J.K. Rowling on the Biography channel this evening. She said it was not true that she began the first book in coffeehouses because she couldn't afford a flat with heat. The truth is, Scotland is way too cold in the winter to live in an unheated apartment. Her daughter Jessica was an infant then, and now she's about ten. J.K. Rowling recently got remarried, and now she has a baby son, too. She's very creative, and she can draw, too. She also has already written the epilogue to the seventh book, telling what Harry and his friends did when they grew up, who they married, etc.
Personally, I think Ron and Hermione will get married and have seven kids, just like Molly and Arthur Weasley.
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