Day in the Life of an Idiot

 For years I thought I was a Slytherin.  Look, I'm very ambitious, okay?  I have some very Scorpio tendencies that align themselves with some Slytherin traits.  I knew I wasn't the typical sneaky, back-stabby (mostly) Slytherin, but then neither was Professor Slughorn. I very much felt a certain kinship with Slughorn.  And, I am a Scorpio, okay? I hold grudges. I have occasionally, deliberately, sneakily pulled strings to make bad things happen to my enemies.

But, there were signs that maybe I wasn't like the other Slytherins.  

Every time I took those "Which Hogwarts House are you?" quizzes, I would always end up a Gryffindor.  Mostly, I think, because I refused to lie. (YES, I KNOW THAT WAS PROBABLY A VERY, VERY OBVIOUS SIGN.)  Even so, Pottermore put me in Slytherin, though, and that's supposed to be the Word of God.

HOWEVER.  I can't hide it anymore.  I can't deny my true nature. My real life actions* have shown that I am, in fact, a Gryffindor. 

In other news, Mason had his parent/teacher conferences last night.  For some reason, Washington still does these "student led" conferences, where basically the student is required to self-rate themselves and come up with their own "action plans" to do better at school.  This has always been silly for Mason, since he's pulling almost straight-As. I can't imagine what it's like for the kids on the other end of the spectrum, however.  Hopefully, there's more interceding from the teachers in those cases.  What I hate about it is that we only get to see Mason's foundation teacher (like homeroom), and mostly they just observe and rarely offer commentary about how Mason is actually doing.  Mason is a good student, but he's not forthcoming.  I don't get stories about classroom antics, unless they're especially funny or something Mason decides to share. Worse, Mason's foundation teacher actually left us in the hands of his student teacher, who didn't know anything about the Geography Bee or, I think, from his surprised expression, that Mason was in 10th grade advanced math.  I have NEVER, ever  gotten to connect with the math teachers, despite stalking the halls hoping to run into them. I mean, yes, Mason is doing fine--better than fine, but that's never been the point of parent/teach conferences for us. We like to make a connection. I mean, I really, really would have loved to have met Mason's math teacher just to shake his hand and say, "THANK GOD FOR YOU," because Mason's appreciation for school jumped up miles once he was actually challenged in math. In 5th grade, before we moved to Washington and Mason was instantly advanced, he was starting to show signs of boredom and, had it gone on, I think he could have ended up depressed.  So, it was especially frustrating that first year because I really, really wanted to tell the math teacher how important being in that class was for Mason.  

Grrr.

But, at least it's not critical for us to talk to any of these teachers, you know?  I seriously don't know what people do who have kids who are struggling. I also wish I understood the philosophy behind this. It feels inherently lazy, like the teachers are making the kids do work traditionally done by them.  I know that's unfair to teachers to some extent, but at the same time, aren't they uniquely qualified to talk about individual student's progress?

Anyway, we did run into the principal who shook my hand in a crushing MAN grip and told us how proud Washington is that Mason is representing them for the Geography Bee. I did find out that this is the first time (in a while? ever?) that Washington has sent anyone to state.  The school has always participated in the school-wide bee, but there is a computerized test that qualifies students for the state-wide bee. Mason apparently took the test in 15 minutes, and it normally takes about 45.  His Geography teacher figured Mason had blown it, honestly.  :-)  
I also baffled the principal when I suggested that maybe we'd let Mason go entirely on his own.  Of course, we'd WANT to see him participate. Of course, we're PROUD of him. But, this is not OUR accomplishment or OUR event. It's Mason's.  So, if Mason would feel best going on his own, that's legitimately up to him.  But, one of us may have to go since the school can't exactly rent a bus for one kid, and it's unclear yet if any of the other St. Paul schools are organizing transportation or if everyone is on their own reconnaissance, as it were.  If one of us has to drive, likely both of us will go and attend.

So that's that.



---
* I discovered, in real life, that I am actually willing, without a plan, to intercede in a situation with a stranger just because it looked wrong.  I may tell the details later, but suffice to say that I'm now putting the MN ACLU on my speed dial.

I only just recently found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsYWT5Q_R_w

It's a link to the "How It Should Have Ended" folk's alternate Harry Potter Ending. It's fairly awesome, IMHO. I hope you enjoy it.

Having just emerged from deadline mania, I'm in that post-book stage where I look around the house and wonder what I've forgotten to do in the meantime.

Shawn is a great list-maker. I swear she has lists that keep track of her lists. I, meanwhile, wing it. Only on very rare ocassion have I actually ever forgotten something entirely, but I also have days like to day where I have to take active stock of everything I need to do.

For instance, a lot of people have sent me books to read for review or a blurb. As cold as today is, this would be an excellent day to sit down with one of them. But, I also need to get a stronger start on ideas/synopses for Ana books #4, #5 and #6 in case my publisher/editor is interested in seeing them. This weekend's wind also knocked a chunk of plastic out of our screen door, and I need to grab a screwdriver from the basement and remove that pane and get it replaced at the hardware store (probably with glass, who even knew that was plastic before it broke? Not me.) Tomorrow, it's supposed to snow (possibly as much as several inches), and I'm, once again, chaperoning Mason's class on a field trip to the Minnesota Zoo. Brrrrr.

At least I don't have to get ready for Passover or Easter, since Ostara bunny came and went months ago. I'll probably have that experience I often do around Easter where I wonder why the heck all the stores are closed, and then suddenly remember that it's some kind of holiday. :-)

Speaking of Easter, I won't be at Minicon this year. (I've been getting things for Convergence, but I won't be there THIS year, though I will next.) I will, however, be one of the GoHs at Diversicon (July 29 - 31), don't forget. Please come.

In other news, it was a fairly eventful weekend, although with some false starts. I was, of course, sick as a dog on Thursday (which, btw, does NOT impress the cats.) I felt well enough on Friday that, when we dropped Mason off for his sleepover, Shawn and I bravely attempted a dinner out at Fasika, the local Ethiopian restaurant. It was brave not only for my stomach, but also due to its proximity to University Avenue, which is completely under "destruction" (as Midway Books puts it) for the light rail.

brief rant/
Despite being a general fan of progress, I'm not terribly pleased about the light rail. It's going to significantly change my neighborhood, and I'm not entirely sure for the better. It is NOT intended to serve the local community. It's designed to shuffle business people from downtown Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul, with very limited stops in between. Currently, we're hemorrhaging businesses. Porky's is gone for good. My martial arts studio is leaving (luckily, they're not moving too far away for us). As we walk to the remaining classes there, I've been watching businesses packing up and buildings empty. University Avenue is going to be a ghost town. So, okay, maybe they'll tear it all down and build condos with Starbucks and Subways in their lower levels. Better than Porky's and Ax Man? I'm not sure.
/brief rant

Anyway, Shawn and I had a nice night out, even though I couldn't eat very much. We came home and snuggled up for a movie, which was nice, but I wish I'd felt better generally. On Saturday, Mason had a playdate with naomikritzer's daughter for Pokemon trade/talk. Shawn and I had planned to make it a fun tea for grown-ups (and kids), so I baked scones and Shawn made her famous cranberry upside-down cake. We had Devonshire clotted cream and marmalade and jam and all that sort of lovely "tea" sort of stuff. I even pulled out the fancy tea cups and our cheery yellow tea pot, in which I brewed jasmine tea in my tea ball, no less.

I'd been planning on taking Eleanor to Kelly McCullough's annual Red Current party, but the weather had turned nasty and Eleanor no longer felt up to it. So, once again, my family snuggled under blankets and watched a movie. On Saturday night it was HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS. I know this is probaby sacrilege, but I'm a bit disappointed in part 1. It's a LONG movie and yet, for someone like Shawn who has NOT read the books, it fails to explain some critical bits of information. For instance it's never explained how the Death Eaters keep finding Harry and crew. Yet, by the time they're camping out, he's calling Voldemort "He Who Must Not Be Named," which is utterly out of character unless you know that they'd had a magical trace on anyone who boldly used Voldemort's name. Also, although they show Voldemort hunting for the Elder Wand and all the various wands exchanging hands, the critical information about wand possession is completely unexplained (ie, that it's not truly yours to command unless you take it by force.)

There were other things, too, but I was surprised by how often either Mason and I had to lean over and explain things to Shawn. I understand that people like Shawn are rare these days, but there are really long stretches of silence in the movie. It would have been nice to fill some of that with information, you know? Especially since the movie ends on such a downer note. (If I were the director, I would have ended on a bit more triumphant moment, ie the Gringotts heist. Also, if I'd directed, I would have had Harry rescue more people at the Ministry, as he does in the book. However, I approve of letting Hedwig go the way she does in the movie, rather than the book, which is so AWFUL. Mason is having us re-read this book, and I have to say I also like the way we get to see Dudley say good-bye too, though I can see why they skimmed over that.)

However, I'm looking forward to Part 2, though as a huge fan of Neville Longbottom, I'm a little worried that they haven't give him the build up he needs for that last awesome moment of his. Also Fred and George's "Freedom Radio" would have been nice to hear from, too, if only to give the audience like Shawn a better sense of what's going on out in the larger world. They could have used that for all sorts of information filler -- like what the Snatchers are doing, who they are, etc. The Snatchers completely BAFFLED Shawn.

Anyway, back to my weekend... on Sunday, Mason and I dropped Shawn off at Goodwill and he and I went in search of some new fishes. Tragedy struck in the small tank. I lost two of the white cloud mountain minnows over the weekend, I think to old age. One of them, Sunshine, had made a bit of a recovery, but... uh, he'd slowed down enough that the giant goldfish, Bob, who shares his tank, took a bite out of him. He went to the summerland headless, alas. Gucci, gucci Sunshine and Chicory, you were good fish!

We went to the Fish and Reptile store on University (which seems to he hanging on, at least,) and picked up three new fish (which now makes a total of four white clouds). The new ones are: Savannah, Stanley, and Finbird. Named, repectively, by Shawn, me, and Mason. Savannah and Stanley might actually be a slightly different fish, as they're quite a bit more golden in color. The woman who helped me did not actually know what fish I was looking for, which surprised me, because usually the staff is so incredibly knowledgable, you know? (I just looked up white cloud mountain minnow + golden and apparently there is a version called "golden white cloud," which may be a mutation brought on by inbreeding... but they are rather pretty.) But the good news is that everyone schooled up and are zippy enough that Bob could not take a bite of any of them (though he did try at first.)

Whoa, so that was my weekend, with a couple of breaks for rants about lightrail construction and Harry Potter.

I don't have a lot of time to put my thoughts down in a terribly coherent way, but I'd love to continue the discussion about Slytherins. marlowe1 noted that Slytherins get outed for their racism in the later Harry books, but it is interesting to remember that Voldemort himself is a half-blood, who hated his Muggle father. Snape, the head of Slytherin House, is also a half-blood; he is, in point of fact, the Half-Blood Prince of the title of that book. (Harry, of course, is PURE blood. His mom was Muggle born, but she was a witch.)

While mostly pure bloods get sorted to Slytherin it's NOT a requirement. Harry, as we all remember, was nearly sorted into Slytherin (and speaks parseltongue for crying out loud), and comes around to the idea at the end that it would be okay if his own son were sorted there.

So what about Harry would have made him a good Slytherin, besides the ability to speak to snakes, do you think?

He's not terribly ambitious. I mean, I love Harry, but neither he nor Ron show a lot of apptitude for school work (until, perhaps, inspired by the non-Moody.) Even Neville, by the fourth year, has shown promise in herbology. And, of course, Draco is good at potions. What's Harry got? Quidditch. Dude is a JOCK. I would have hated him in high school.

Is it his tendency toward self-pity? His quickness to anger? His inability to follow even the simplest school rules? (As a Slytherin, frankly, I resent the implication of the first and second, but the third shows some promise. He can be pretty sneaky. Give that boy a Maurader's Map and he's good to go -- although that was an entirely Gryffindor product from the beginning.)

Harry is also a cheater. He cheats in potions class. I mean, straight-up. And he has no qualms whatsoever about using the morally ambiguous curses he finds in Snape's potion book on his enemies. He might favor the "Expelliarmus" spell, but is shown willing to use the Unforgivable Curses against Bellatrix afer she's killed Sirius.

What do y'all think?

(I need to take off. I'm supposed to pick up Shawn for her birthday celebration NOW.)

Unbelievably, we have almost no leftover turkey in the house today. This is made especially amazing by the fact that I roasted a ginormous 24 pounder. To be fair, there is some ground turkey in the freezer awaiting soup, but there's almost no stuffing left, no potatoes, no gravy, no yams, and just a tiny bit of cranberry sauce. How am I supposed to have lunch? I suppose I could have the stuffing and cranberry sauce, but that's just kind of sad, don't you think? Although my stomach just growled at the idea....

We had our usual Thanksgiving guests, the Jacksons, for fud and jigsaw puzzling. My friends, who love me, got us this awesome puzzle, which was entitled "Michael the Archangel Slays the Dragon While Almost No One Pays Attention." Tell me that wasn't tailor made for me?! Plus, it was actually challenging. It took us almost the whole time the Jackson were here to put it together. Luckily, Shawn "the Closer" Rounds helped at the very end when most of the rest of us (except stalwart Michele, of course,) were completely burned out.

Plus, we got to have the occassional discussion that started with Jack saying, "Why does Michael fight the Dragon anyway?" Though I probably never properly explained it, since I had a hard time talking and puzzling.

Also, since the Jackson kids are now old enough to be excellent babysitters, Shawn and I got to have an adult night out with the Jacksons which involved dinner and a movie. We went to see HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (Part 1). I am now glad that we decided NOT to take Mason to this in the theatre. More under the cut... ( Read more... ). However, I enjoyed seeing the book come to life as usual. Though I think Mason will like having Part 2 to watch immediately after, since, at least, we know it ends pretty well.

It was still cool to go to the theatre. The last time Shawn and I were out to a movie, it was for Star Trek (the new one.)

The only other news I have is that while I was cut off from the interwebs, Tate's Ana #2 arrived all copyedited, which means I have to review that and get it back to the office by Dec. 6th. No more lying around playing video games for me, boy howdy.

By this, I mean that Mason and I finished reading DEATHLY HALLOWS. As predicted (once again by naomikritzer) Neville Longbottom rocks my world. Though I don't think the image of him pulling the sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat was quite as awesome for me because I was at least partly expecting it, thanks to the Wikipedia Death List which we had to keep close at hand. I can't imagine the shock for those of you who read it as it happened.

I wasn't prepared for Neville coming out of the portrait at the Hog's Head and his tale of the continued resistance of Dumbeldore's Army, which made me deeply, deeply happy. And absolutely everything about his grandmother from the letter she wrote on the run (and the fact that she herself sent a Deatheater to St. Mungo's) telling him to keep fighting and the fact that her response when she shows up at the battle of Hogwarts when told Neville is in the thick of the fight, "Naturally."

Though the two things that I wasn't expecting that made me choke up? Professor McGonagall transfiguring the desks into a make-shift army and the sound of her broken voice when she thought Harry was dead.

Awesome book.

Wow, the week disappeared again. What's up with that? It's summer vacation I blame. After all, most of the time Mason and I are far away from the internets and whatnot... so I'm effectively off the grid. Then it's suddenly Wednesday.

The big thing looming on my horizon is that we're planning a staycation at a local waterpark/hotel. Should be a blast.

The thing I need to work on today just came up. I came in to an email to my alter ego asking if I'd be interested in a feature spot in the on-line Romantic Times for ALMOST. Um, are there a lot of people out there who turn this kind of publicity down? Even though it requires me to write 800+ words about some of the themes in ALMOST which I dread -- (not the themes, but, as I posted on Facebook, I _hate_ writing nonfiction. I'm terrible at it) -- I can't imagine saying NO.

In other news, Mason and I finished reading HALF-BLOOD PRINCE yesterday, and then we watched the movie as a family. I cried like a dog when Dumbledore died. Actually, the moment I started weeping (in the book) was actually the funeral... oh, and when Harry straightens Dumbledore's glasses. In the movie, like cried the moment everyone lit their wands and the light obscured the Dark Mark. Talk about a lovely image that reflected Dumbledore's beliefs to the core.

Dutifully, we started DEATHLY HALLOWS, but I'm reluctant to go on, honestly. I know the book is a bloodbath, having printed out the death list from Wikipedia for Mason when he started the book. He may be an advanced reader, but he's still very young, and we've learned that forearmed with knowledge can make the startling horror and grief of fictionalized death easier for him to bear.

But for me, frankly, I don't think I can cope with the death of Hedwig. I know, of all of them. Listen, having only read the synopsis, her death seems the most "casuality of war" to me, and I can't cope with fictionalized death that has no meaning. If she got to pluck Voledmort's eyes from his skull before she died, that'd be one thing. But to take a hit meant for someone else... nope. Too heartbreaking. Too much like real life.

We're going to continue, of course, if for no other reason than I want to know Snape's story first hand. But I'm just not in a big hurry.