Wow. Just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and to answer one of your questions, yes, I'm a fast reader. We got the books (multiple, yes, because both my husband and I read them, and we didn't want to fight over the copy of the book) this morning at about 9:30 a.m., and here it is just before 4:00 p.m. and I'm done.
To answer any of your other questions would require revealing some things about the book, which I'm not going to do, exactly. I will say I was right about a few things and not completely right about some others. About Dumbledore's death and Snape's involvement, I was both wrong and right. About Harry and whether or not he was a Horcrux, I was right, and about whether or not Harry was going to have to die, I was right. About Neville's involvement in the whole prophecy (as he could have been The Chosen One), I was sort of right; his involvement was not exactly what I had predicted. And as to the characters who died, I was totally wrong. I was pretty sad about the characters they killed off, but I didn't cry.
Overall, a pretty darn good ending to a pretty darn good series of books. And now, to start rereading it...
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Cancer sucks. Got the news that the mother of a close coworker passed away today. Diagnosed last year with lung cancer, she was treated with radiation and chemo. Things looked OK for a while, but at the beginning of June she was supposed to go in for cataract surgery, but right before she was to have the surgery she went in for some tests and they determined that the vision problems she was having were partly due to brain cancer. The lung cancer had spread. My friend immediately went up to be with her mom and stepdad. The prognosis was grim, 4 weeks, 8 on the outside. Well, it about split the difference, as it's been about 6 weeks since that was handed down. Thankfully, my friend got to spend a lot of this time with her mom and stepdad. And it didn't exactly cut her life short, as she was 89. But cancer is cancer, and sucks is sucks, and the whole thing isn't fair. Cancer shouldn't happen. It's not natural. It's a mutation. It makes me wonder how much of the cancer is caused by our civilization's gradual progression of chemical dependency. I hate it, and of course it makes me think back three months ago to my own mother's death. I guess I would have liked to have the prognosis, to know that it was coming, but I don't really think it would have made anything easier or better. I just hate that anyone has to go through this, and that any families have to be left behind.
A nice, somewhat helpful article that I found on CNN.com today:
Sneaky little slim-down tricks
(Health.com) -- Health magazine went to the top weight-control experts for their No. 1 tips to get the weight off now. Take a look.
Start smart
Begin lunch and dinner with a veggie-rich salad or broth-based soup, says Pennsylvania State University satiety expert Barbara Rolls, author of "The Volumetrics Eating Plan." "That lets you fill up first on a big volume of low-calorie food and ends up displacing some of the foods you'll eat next -- the choices that are usually higher in calories."
Here's a good salad recipe: Mix 1½ cups of salad greens with ¾ cup of raw veggies like onions, bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, or cucumbers; drizzle with 2 tablespoons of low-cal bottled dressing.
Sneak a snack
"Ten minutes before each meal, eat some healthy fat (around 70 calories or fewer): a handful of nuts, a few slices of avocado, or a spoonful of peanut butter, for example. That helps activate ghrelin, a hormone that lets you know you're full," says Michael Roizin, MD, co-author with Mehmet Oz, MD, of "You on a Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management."
Try the 3-hour rule
"The secret to losing weight comes down to keeping your metabolism alive and active," according to fitness guru Jorge Cruise, author of "The 3-Hour Diet." How do you do that? By eating every 3 hours, give or take 10 to 20 minutes, he says, which translates to three moderate meals with three snacks (100 calories each) between meals.
Though other experts say there's nothing magic about 3-hour intervals, eating small, frequent, portion-controlled meals and snacks can keep your blood sugar level steady, your energy up, and keep you from overindulging.
Have liquid assets
"If you're going to drink anything with calories (i.e., fruit juice, soda, sweetened coffee and tea, or alcohol), you need to consciously adjust your diet to accommodate those extra calories," says Purdue University nutrition researcher Richard Mattes, PhD. His research shows that people typically make adjustments to eat fewer calories over the course of a day after eating a solid food like jelly beans, but not after drinking the same amount of calories in a glass of soda.
And if you want to replace sweetened drinks with their calorie-free counterparts, rethink it. Some research suggests that people who drink no- or low-calorie drinks might actually end up eating more, Mattes says. The best thirst quencher -- and a dieter's best friend -- is still plain old H2O.
Cut out this combo
Skip those munchies made with white flour and sugar, like white bread, cookies, and pretzels, says integrative medicine guru Andrew Weil, MD. They signal the body to produce more insulin and set the stage for turning calories to fat, fat, and more fat.
Choose your pals
Studies show that most of us base how much we eat on what others around us eat, says University of Toronto psychologist Peter Herman, PhD. So steer clear of the big eaters in your social circle, at least when food is around. Sashay over and make small talk at parties with the folks who aren't hovering near the food table.
"Marching to your own caloric drummer requires some independent thought and calculation," Herman says.
Pare portions
Everything from beverages to bagels is two to five times bigger today than in the 1970s, says New York University nutrition professor Lisa Young, PhD, author of "Portion Teller" and who has studied the servings dished up in restaurants and by food companies.
"So if you grab a bagel or eat out, chances are you'll be served double what you need," she says. Her advice: Start leaving just a little bit on your plate or, if you can, cut the amount you eat in half. She also suggests that you "use your hand as a portion guide -- 3 ounces of meat fits into your palm, 1 cup of potatoes looks like a fist."
Be an early bird
Eat the most food earlier in the day, says Elisabetta Politi, nutrition manager at Duke Diet and Fitness Center, Duke University's successful weight-management center.
"Many dieters try to trim calories from their break-fast and lunch and then get hungry," she says. "Research shows the calories you eat earlier in the day help you eat less at night" -- a good idea since you probably won't be active after an evening meal.
Step it up
"Get a pedometer and start walking," says University of Colorado obesity expert James Hill, author of "The Step Diet." To keep the weight off forever, the goal is to take 11,000 to 12,000 steps (around 90 minutes) a day.
"You don't need to do it all at once," Hill explains. Start with 2,000 steps a day, or about 15 minutes of walking. Add another 5 minutes (500 steps) each week. You can find supercheap pedometers at drugstores and big-box retailers to help you keep count. There are lots of other sneaky little ways to add more steps to your day, too: Use a cordless phone and walk while you talk, or get up and walk during TV commercials.
Think thin
"Seeing is believing," says Janice Taylor, weight-loss coach and author of "Our Lady of Weight Loss." "You have to picture yourself thin if you want to become thin." Visualize what you're wearing, where you are, who you are with, and how you feel. "The more vivid the picture, the more real it will feel to you," Taylor says, "and the more likely it will take form."
Shula Lazarus, PhD, a psychotherapist at the North Carolina-based weight-management program Structure House, agrees, though the method isn't clinically proven. "We use it to help dieters visualize a healthy eating pattern and the right portions on their plate. It can't hurt, and it might help."
Fill up on fiber
Crowd out calorie-dense foods by ratcheting up on fruits and veggies. "Start by eating one more serving of fruit and one more vegetable a day," says Donald Hensrud, MD, a Mayo Clinic nutrition specialist. Hitting that midafternoon slump? Reach for carrots -- the carbs will give you a lift. Not only does munching on nature's bounty become a good habit, but it'll also help you tap into dozens of disease-fighting phytochemicals and vitamins. The biggest fiber bulker-upper: beans. Just a cup of black beans nets you nearly 15 grams of filling fiber.
Brush your teeth
Sometimes the best advice comes from your best friend or, in this case, a fellow Health magazine reader. Barbara Haug of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, says she brushes her teeth right after dinner instead of at bedtime. "I can be a compulsive snacker in the evening," she says, "but I don't like messing up freshly brushed teeth."
There are some good pointers in there. Since I have a hard time controlling how much I eat, I need to max out on the stuff that's better to eat--more salads, more veggies, more fiber, less meat, less starches, less white flour and sugar (*sob*). Eat more in the morning and cut back at night. If I drink something with calories (which I usually don't--mostly water and diet soda, and I should really cut back on the diet soda again) I need to cut the calories from somewhere else.
Of course, advice is great and all that, but can I really do it?
Sneaky little slim-down tricks
(Health.com) -- Health magazine went to the top weight-control experts for their No. 1 tips to get the weight off now. Take a look.
Start smart
Begin lunch and dinner with a veggie-rich salad or broth-based soup, says Pennsylvania State University satiety expert Barbara Rolls, author of "The Volumetrics Eating Plan." "That lets you fill up first on a big volume of low-calorie food and ends up displacing some of the foods you'll eat next -- the choices that are usually higher in calories."
Here's a good salad recipe: Mix 1½ cups of salad greens with ¾ cup of raw veggies like onions, bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, or cucumbers; drizzle with 2 tablespoons of low-cal bottled dressing.
Sneak a snack
"Ten minutes before each meal, eat some healthy fat (around 70 calories or fewer): a handful of nuts, a few slices of avocado, or a spoonful of peanut butter, for example. That helps activate ghrelin, a hormone that lets you know you're full," says Michael Roizin, MD, co-author with Mehmet Oz, MD, of "You on a Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management."
Try the 3-hour rule
"The secret to losing weight comes down to keeping your metabolism alive and active," according to fitness guru Jorge Cruise, author of "The 3-Hour Diet." How do you do that? By eating every 3 hours, give or take 10 to 20 minutes, he says, which translates to three moderate meals with three snacks (100 calories each) between meals.
Though other experts say there's nothing magic about 3-hour intervals, eating small, frequent, portion-controlled meals and snacks can keep your blood sugar level steady, your energy up, and keep you from overindulging.
Have liquid assets
"If you're going to drink anything with calories (i.e., fruit juice, soda, sweetened coffee and tea, or alcohol), you need to consciously adjust your diet to accommodate those extra calories," says Purdue University nutrition researcher Richard Mattes, PhD. His research shows that people typically make adjustments to eat fewer calories over the course of a day after eating a solid food like jelly beans, but not after drinking the same amount of calories in a glass of soda.
And if you want to replace sweetened drinks with their calorie-free counterparts, rethink it. Some research suggests that people who drink no- or low-calorie drinks might actually end up eating more, Mattes says. The best thirst quencher -- and a dieter's best friend -- is still plain old H2O.
Cut out this combo
Skip those munchies made with white flour and sugar, like white bread, cookies, and pretzels, says integrative medicine guru Andrew Weil, MD. They signal the body to produce more insulin and set the stage for turning calories to fat, fat, and more fat.
Choose your pals
Studies show that most of us base how much we eat on what others around us eat, says University of Toronto psychologist Peter Herman, PhD. So steer clear of the big eaters in your social circle, at least when food is around. Sashay over and make small talk at parties with the folks who aren't hovering near the food table.
"Marching to your own caloric drummer requires some independent thought and calculation," Herman says.
Pare portions
Everything from beverages to bagels is two to five times bigger today than in the 1970s, says New York University nutrition professor Lisa Young, PhD, author of "Portion Teller" and who has studied the servings dished up in restaurants and by food companies.
"So if you grab a bagel or eat out, chances are you'll be served double what you need," she says. Her advice: Start leaving just a little bit on your plate or, if you can, cut the amount you eat in half. She also suggests that you "use your hand as a portion guide -- 3 ounces of meat fits into your palm, 1 cup of potatoes looks like a fist."
Be an early bird
Eat the most food earlier in the day, says Elisabetta Politi, nutrition manager at Duke Diet and Fitness Center, Duke University's successful weight-management center.
"Many dieters try to trim calories from their break-fast and lunch and then get hungry," she says. "Research shows the calories you eat earlier in the day help you eat less at night" -- a good idea since you probably won't be active after an evening meal.
Step it up
"Get a pedometer and start walking," says University of Colorado obesity expert James Hill, author of "The Step Diet." To keep the weight off forever, the goal is to take 11,000 to 12,000 steps (around 90 minutes) a day.
"You don't need to do it all at once," Hill explains. Start with 2,000 steps a day, or about 15 minutes of walking. Add another 5 minutes (500 steps) each week. You can find supercheap pedometers at drugstores and big-box retailers to help you keep count. There are lots of other sneaky little ways to add more steps to your day, too: Use a cordless phone and walk while you talk, or get up and walk during TV commercials.
Think thin
"Seeing is believing," says Janice Taylor, weight-loss coach and author of "Our Lady of Weight Loss." "You have to picture yourself thin if you want to become thin." Visualize what you're wearing, where you are, who you are with, and how you feel. "The more vivid the picture, the more real it will feel to you," Taylor says, "and the more likely it will take form."
Shula Lazarus, PhD, a psychotherapist at the North Carolina-based weight-management program Structure House, agrees, though the method isn't clinically proven. "We use it to help dieters visualize a healthy eating pattern and the right portions on their plate. It can't hurt, and it might help."
Fill up on fiber
Crowd out calorie-dense foods by ratcheting up on fruits and veggies. "Start by eating one more serving of fruit and one more vegetable a day," says Donald Hensrud, MD, a Mayo Clinic nutrition specialist. Hitting that midafternoon slump? Reach for carrots -- the carbs will give you a lift. Not only does munching on nature's bounty become a good habit, but it'll also help you tap into dozens of disease-fighting phytochemicals and vitamins. The biggest fiber bulker-upper: beans. Just a cup of black beans nets you nearly 15 grams of filling fiber.
Brush your teeth
Sometimes the best advice comes from your best friend or, in this case, a fellow Health magazine reader. Barbara Haug of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, says she brushes her teeth right after dinner instead of at bedtime. "I can be a compulsive snacker in the evening," she says, "but I don't like messing up freshly brushed teeth."
There are some good pointers in there. Since I have a hard time controlling how much I eat, I need to max out on the stuff that's better to eat--more salads, more veggies, more fiber, less meat, less starches, less white flour and sugar (*sob*). Eat more in the morning and cut back at night. If I drink something with calories (which I usually don't--mostly water and diet soda, and I should really cut back on the diet soda again) I need to cut the calories from somewhere else.
Of course, advice is great and all that, but can I really do it?
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
As time draws nearer and nearer to the release of the final Harry Potter book this weekend, I can't help but think about the possible endings. Will Harry live or die? Will he finally vanquish Lord Voldemort? Who else from the large cast of interesting and (mostly) lovable characters will meet an untimely end? Did Snape really kill Dumbledore, and if he did, was he a good guy or a bad guy when he did it? Is Harry a Horcrux? Is Neville supposed to be the real Chosen One?
And I'm not the only one wondering these things. There is an absolute legion of fans out there, all of them wondering how it will all end. Even famous people. Here's an article written by Stephen King, the famous novelist who has killed off more characters than we can count in his stories.
Goodbye, Harry
Our columnist knows from writing his ''Dark Tower'' series that every story needs closure -- even if one ending can't please 'em all
J.K. ROWLING
Jon Furniss/WireImage.com
By Stephen King
"I'm having a day of mixed feelings: happy because I'm reading the manuscript of a novel that's full of magic, mystery, and monsters; sad because it will be finished tomorrow and on my shelf, with all its secrets told and its surviving characters set free to live their own lives (if characters have lives beyond the end of a novel — I've always felt they do). It's called The Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff, and it will be published early next year.
Did you think I meant the final Harry Potter tale? Don't be a sillykins — not even your Uncle Stevie gets that one in advance (although I'm sure you agree that he should, he should). But I expect to face the same feelings, only stronger, when the pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows dwindle down to the final few. Hell, I had trouble saying goodbye to Tony Soprano, and let's face it — he was a turd. Harry's one of the good guys. One of the great guys, in fact, and the same holds true for his friends.
The sense of sadness I feel at the approaching end of The Monsters of Templeton isn't just because the story's going to be over; when you read a good one — and this is a very good one — those feelings are deepened by the realization that you probably won't tie into anything that much fun again for a long time. This particular melancholy deepens even more when the story is spread over multiple volumes. I felt it as I approached the end of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy, more strongly as I neared the conclusion of Frodo's quest in The Lord of the Rings, and with painful keenness when, as the writer, I got to the end of The Dark Tower, which stretched over seven volumes and a quarter century's writing time.
When it comes to Harry, part of me — a fairly large part, actually — can hardly bear to say goodbye. I'd guess that J.K. Rowling feels the same, although I'd also guess those feelings are mingled with the relief of knowing that the work is finally done, for better or worse.
And I'm a grown-up, for God's sake — a damn Muggle! Think how it must be for all the kids who were 8 when Harry debuted in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, with its cartoon jacket and modest (500 copies) first edition. Those kids are now 18, and when they close the final book, they will be in some measure closing the book on their own childhoods — magic summers spent in the porch swing, or reading under the covers at camp with flashlights in hand, or listening to Jim Dale's recordings on long drives to see Grandma in Cincinnati or Uncle Bob in Wichita. My advice to families containing Harry Potter readers: Stock up on the Kleenex. You're gonna need it. It's all made worse by one unavoidable fact: It's not just Harry. It's time to say goodbye to the whole cast, from Moaning Myrtle to Scabbers the rat (a.k.a. Wormtail). Which leads to an interesting question — will the final volume satisfy Harry's longtime (and very devoted) readers?
Although the only thing we can be sure of is that Deathly Hallows won't end in a 10-second blackout (you're going to hear that a lot in the next few weeks), my guess is that large numbers of readers will not be satisfied even if Harry survives (I'm betting he will) and Lord Voldemort is vanquished (I'm betting on this, too, although evil is never vanquished for long). I'm partly drawing on my own experience with The Dark Tower (reader satisfaction with the ending was low — tough titty, since it was the only one I had); partly on my belief that very few long works end as felicitously as Tolkien's Rings series, with its beautiful pilgrimage into the Grey Havens; but mostly on the fact that there is that sadness, that inevitable parting from characters who have been loved deeply by many. The Internet blog sites will be full of this was bad and that was wrong, but it's going to boil down to something that many will feel and few will come right out and state: No ending can be right, because it shouldn't be over at all. The magic is not supposed to go away.
Rowling will almost certainly go on to other works, and they may be terrific, but it won't be quite the same, and I'm sure she knows that. Readers will be able to go back and reread the existing books — as I've gone back to Tolkien, as my wife goes back to Patrick O'Brian's wonderful sea stories featuring Captain Aubrey and Dr. Maturin, as others do with novels featuring Travis McGee or Lord Peter Wimsey — and rereading is a great pleasure, but it's not the bated-breath, what's-gonna-happen-next suspense that Potter readers have enjoyed since 1997. And, of course, Harry's audience is different. It is, in large part, made up of children who will be experiencing these unique and rather terrible feelings for the first time.
But there's comfort. There are always more good stories, and now and then there are great stories. They come along if you wait for them. And here's something I believe in my heart: No story can be great without closure. There must be closure, because it's the human condition. And since that's how it is, I'll be in line with my money in my hand on July 21.
And, I must admit, sorrow in my heart."
The irony here is that I am one of those fans King mentioned, who was unsatisfied with the end of his Dark Tower series. I got very into those books. As with Harry Potter, there are seven books in the Dark Tower series. That's seven stories of getting to know the characters, getting tangled in their lives, and getting towed helplessly along in the storyline. So, when I read the final story, I had a lot of emotions flowing as he killed off one character after another, characters I had become very fond of. The one that finally did it was Oy. Oy was a dog-type creature who could sort of talk. At first he just parroted back what the other characters said, but it became obvious over the course of the series that Oy was very intelligent and knew what he was saying. There is little that can be worse in a story than hurting or killing an animal, especially one as funny and sweet and loyal as Oy. And what was worse, he died saving another character. I bawled. Horribly. For hours. I couldn't believe King would kill off the damn dog. Jerk.
So, when he says he awaits the final story with sorrow in his heart, not because of how it will end but because all things MUST come to an end, I'm sure he means it. But I will reserve my sorrow for any characters that get killed off, at least, for the good ones. I doubt I'll shed many tears for Voldemort.
But Friday night at midnight seems so very far away!
And I'm not the only one wondering these things. There is an absolute legion of fans out there, all of them wondering how it will all end. Even famous people. Here's an article written by Stephen King, the famous novelist who has killed off more characters than we can count in his stories.
Goodbye, Harry
Our columnist knows from writing his ''Dark Tower'' series that every story needs closure -- even if one ending can't please 'em all
J.K. ROWLING
Jon Furniss/WireImage.com
By Stephen King
"I'm having a day of mixed feelings: happy because I'm reading the manuscript of a novel that's full of magic, mystery, and monsters; sad because it will be finished tomorrow and on my shelf, with all its secrets told and its surviving characters set free to live their own lives (if characters have lives beyond the end of a novel — I've always felt they do). It's called The Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff, and it will be published early next year.
Did you think I meant the final Harry Potter tale? Don't be a sillykins — not even your Uncle Stevie gets that one in advance (although I'm sure you agree that he should, he should). But I expect to face the same feelings, only stronger, when the pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows dwindle down to the final few. Hell, I had trouble saying goodbye to Tony Soprano, and let's face it — he was a turd. Harry's one of the good guys. One of the great guys, in fact, and the same holds true for his friends.
The sense of sadness I feel at the approaching end of The Monsters of Templeton isn't just because the story's going to be over; when you read a good one — and this is a very good one — those feelings are deepened by the realization that you probably won't tie into anything that much fun again for a long time. This particular melancholy deepens even more when the story is spread over multiple volumes. I felt it as I approached the end of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy, more strongly as I neared the conclusion of Frodo's quest in The Lord of the Rings, and with painful keenness when, as the writer, I got to the end of The Dark Tower, which stretched over seven volumes and a quarter century's writing time.
When it comes to Harry, part of me — a fairly large part, actually — can hardly bear to say goodbye. I'd guess that J.K. Rowling feels the same, although I'd also guess those feelings are mingled with the relief of knowing that the work is finally done, for better or worse.
And I'm a grown-up, for God's sake — a damn Muggle! Think how it must be for all the kids who were 8 when Harry debuted in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, with its cartoon jacket and modest (500 copies) first edition. Those kids are now 18, and when they close the final book, they will be in some measure closing the book on their own childhoods — magic summers spent in the porch swing, or reading under the covers at camp with flashlights in hand, or listening to Jim Dale's recordings on long drives to see Grandma in Cincinnati or Uncle Bob in Wichita. My advice to families containing Harry Potter readers: Stock up on the Kleenex. You're gonna need it. It's all made worse by one unavoidable fact: It's not just Harry. It's time to say goodbye to the whole cast, from Moaning Myrtle to Scabbers the rat (a.k.a. Wormtail). Which leads to an interesting question — will the final volume satisfy Harry's longtime (and very devoted) readers?
Although the only thing we can be sure of is that Deathly Hallows won't end in a 10-second blackout (you're going to hear that a lot in the next few weeks), my guess is that large numbers of readers will not be satisfied even if Harry survives (I'm betting he will) and Lord Voldemort is vanquished (I'm betting on this, too, although evil is never vanquished for long). I'm partly drawing on my own experience with The Dark Tower (reader satisfaction with the ending was low — tough titty, since it was the only one I had); partly on my belief that very few long works end as felicitously as Tolkien's Rings series, with its beautiful pilgrimage into the Grey Havens; but mostly on the fact that there is that sadness, that inevitable parting from characters who have been loved deeply by many. The Internet blog sites will be full of this was bad and that was wrong, but it's going to boil down to something that many will feel and few will come right out and state: No ending can be right, because it shouldn't be over at all. The magic is not supposed to go away.
Rowling will almost certainly go on to other works, and they may be terrific, but it won't be quite the same, and I'm sure she knows that. Readers will be able to go back and reread the existing books — as I've gone back to Tolkien, as my wife goes back to Patrick O'Brian's wonderful sea stories featuring Captain Aubrey and Dr. Maturin, as others do with novels featuring Travis McGee or Lord Peter Wimsey — and rereading is a great pleasure, but it's not the bated-breath, what's-gonna-happen-next suspense that Potter readers have enjoyed since 1997. And, of course, Harry's audience is different. It is, in large part, made up of children who will be experiencing these unique and rather terrible feelings for the first time.
But there's comfort. There are always more good stories, and now and then there are great stories. They come along if you wait for them. And here's something I believe in my heart: No story can be great without closure. There must be closure, because it's the human condition. And since that's how it is, I'll be in line with my money in my hand on July 21.
And, I must admit, sorrow in my heart."
The irony here is that I am one of those fans King mentioned, who was unsatisfied with the end of his Dark Tower series. I got very into those books. As with Harry Potter, there are seven books in the Dark Tower series. That's seven stories of getting to know the characters, getting tangled in their lives, and getting towed helplessly along in the storyline. So, when I read the final story, I had a lot of emotions flowing as he killed off one character after another, characters I had become very fond of. The one that finally did it was Oy. Oy was a dog-type creature who could sort of talk. At first he just parroted back what the other characters said, but it became obvious over the course of the series that Oy was very intelligent and knew what he was saying. There is little that can be worse in a story than hurting or killing an animal, especially one as funny and sweet and loyal as Oy. And what was worse, he died saving another character. I bawled. Horribly. For hours. I couldn't believe King would kill off the damn dog. Jerk.
So, when he says he awaits the final story with sorrow in his heart, not because of how it will end but because all things MUST come to an end, I'm sure he means it. But I will reserve my sorrow for any characters that get killed off, at least, for the good ones. I doubt I'll shed many tears for Voldemort.
But Friday night at midnight seems so very far away!
Friday, July 13, 2007
Got a new kayak, a Dagger Agent 6.2. It's a playboat, which means (for those of you who aren't into this sport) that it is design to do tricks. It is shorter than typical "river running" kayaks, with less volume and a bow, stern, and edges that are flattened and shaped to make it easier to surf on waves, spin in holes, and bury the front or back to do flips and twists. Not that I expect to ever figure out how to do any of these tricks, but I wouldn't have any chance at all of pulling any of them off in my other boat.
The one thing I changed about the boat is the logo. The original logo was a silhouette of a man, one would assume a spy of some kind, with a hat pulled down low over his face and sunglasses to obscure him. Kind of a lame logo, really. So, I decided to replace it with something. I had a few ideas unrelated to the whole "agent" thing, but my husband came up with the clever idea to use the old "Spy vs. Spy" comic from Mad magazine. So I blacked out the original logo with a Sharpie, bought some white paint pens and a waterproof clearcoat spray, and went to work. All in all, I think it came out pretty good.
I'll try it out this weekend, and let you know what I think.
The one thing I changed about the boat is the logo. The original logo was a silhouette of a man, one would assume a spy of some kind, with a hat pulled down low over his face and sunglasses to obscure him. Kind of a lame logo, really. So, I decided to replace it with something. I had a few ideas unrelated to the whole "agent" thing, but my husband came up with the clever idea to use the old "Spy vs. Spy" comic from Mad magazine. So I blacked out the original logo with a Sharpie, bought some white paint pens and a waterproof clearcoat spray, and went to work. All in all, I think it came out pretty good.
I'll try it out this weekend, and let you know what I think.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Bah humbug. It's unfortunate that six days at home can be so detrimental to my weight loss! I weighed in last night at 185.4 (thankfully this morning I was down to 183.8). I tried to be good while I was home. I didn't really get any "home-cooked meals" as the primary cooking was always done by my mom. Dad is more apt, especially now, to go pick up some take-out Mexican or Chinese and eat off it for a couple of meals. The day I flew back to CA I didn't eat great, simply because I was relying on airport food--a bagel and cream cheese at Einstein's, a personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. Then Dad and I got Chinese for dinner. So that day wasn't very good. The next day I did OK--ran/walked a couple miles in the morning, had a small bowl of cereal for breakfast, didn't have lunch because we went to the movies (and had popcorn, although I didn't put butter on mine), and had leftover Chinese for dinner. The next day wasn't too bad; after the small bowl of cereal for breakfast we went to a wedding and had a meal at the reception. I didn't have any dinner that night because I felt like I had probably eaten enough at the reception, and I really wasn't that hungry. The next day was Mom and Dad's 40th anniversary, and I took my dad out to lunch at a salad buffet (after the obligatory bowl of cereal for breakfast). I tried to be good at the buffet--I didn't put dressing on my salad, just dipping my fork in the dressing instead, and not getting any other items than a small bowl of chili and piece of bread. Buffets are the kiss of death as far as diets are concerned, but I felt like I had really done a good job of restraining myself. Again I did not have dinner, but I did have a pretzel (one of the big soft ones) at the movie theatre with a friend. The last day I was home I went running again, and it was the only day I ate three meals while I was there--the usual breakfast, lunch with some of my mom's friends (and the only bad thing I did was the French fries), and then dinner with my brother (didn't even eat everything on my plate, but I'm pretty sure the two monster margaritas I drank were probably pretty bad). No breakfast yesterday until I got to the Phoenix airport, where I repeated my personal pan pizza, and then nothing until I got home and went out with my husband to Chili's. So I had hoped that my multiple days of only two meals might offset the fact that so many meals were restaurant food, but apparently not. I'm pleased that the 185 dropped this morning to 183, but it still is three pounds more than it should be.
So here's the deal: I have 37 days until school starts, just over five weeks. Realistically, I can probably only lose about ten pounds by then, since they (whoever "they" are) recommend losing no more than two pounds each week. So that's my goal, ten pounds from today's weight. So that would be 173.8 by August 16th (the day school starts). That would only put me equal to my lightest weight (which I think I hit either spring last year or last July). Definitely not the 160 I was originally hoping for.
Here's how I'm apparently going to have to do it. I am going to have to keep track of my calories, as much I as absolutely despise keeping a journal. I briefly considered relying on either packaged meals (like Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice) or an actual program (like Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem), but it's less expensive to just eat regular food and try to keep track of it. So I'm shooting for approximately 1200 calories a day, really the minimum they (again, "they") suggest for weight loss. To balance that out, I need to be burning at least 1000 calories each day. I am going to only count the calories I burn on a cardio machine, like a treadmill or elliptical machine, simply because those machines are calibrated and consistent. I know I might not be burning exactly the number the machine says I am, but I can rely on the machine to give me the same kind of reading each time. It's hard to calculate your own calories being burned in an exercise because you can never be sure you are putting in the same kind of effort or resistance as the calculation, and the numbers for exercises are never the same depending on the website you look at (one might say you burn 250 calories swimming at a medium pace for a half hour, while another might say you are burning 300 calories, and are you really sure you are swimming at what "they" think is a medium pace?). Now, I will still lift weights and swim and things like that, but I'm only going to count the calories burned on the cardio machines. Hopefully I can get back on track and get some weight off before school starts again.
Why is this so darn hard?
So here's the deal: I have 37 days until school starts, just over five weeks. Realistically, I can probably only lose about ten pounds by then, since they (whoever "they" are) recommend losing no more than two pounds each week. So that's my goal, ten pounds from today's weight. So that would be 173.8 by August 16th (the day school starts). That would only put me equal to my lightest weight (which I think I hit either spring last year or last July). Definitely not the 160 I was originally hoping for.
Here's how I'm apparently going to have to do it. I am going to have to keep track of my calories, as much I as absolutely despise keeping a journal. I briefly considered relying on either packaged meals (like Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice) or an actual program (like Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem), but it's less expensive to just eat regular food and try to keep track of it. So I'm shooting for approximately 1200 calories a day, really the minimum they (again, "they") suggest for weight loss. To balance that out, I need to be burning at least 1000 calories each day. I am going to only count the calories I burn on a cardio machine, like a treadmill or elliptical machine, simply because those machines are calibrated and consistent. I know I might not be burning exactly the number the machine says I am, but I can rely on the machine to give me the same kind of reading each time. It's hard to calculate your own calories being burned in an exercise because you can never be sure you are putting in the same kind of effort or resistance as the calculation, and the numbers for exercises are never the same depending on the website you look at (one might say you burn 250 calories swimming at a medium pace for a half hour, while another might say you are burning 300 calories, and are you really sure you are swimming at what "they" think is a medium pace?). Now, I will still lift weights and swim and things like that, but I'm only going to count the calories burned on the cardio machines. Hopefully I can get back on track and get some weight off before school starts again.
Why is this so darn hard?
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Transformers kicked ASS!
I watched a lot of cool cartoons as a kid, and so every time one of those cartoons gets turned into a movie I await with a mixture of excitement and uncertainty. Will it be good? Will it suck? Well, I got the answer to Transformers last night. IT ROCKED. Seeing Optimus Prime drive up through the smoke RULED. Very freakin' cool. Go see it, now!
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