Attention Men and Women of the World

Something every guy should know:

Every woman desires (and deserves) to be pursued, to feel wanted. If you like a girl, and kind of think she might sort of like you back, show her that you think she's neat. A fine, upstanding guy who finds the courage to make himself vulnerable to a girl by asking her out is HOT.

Something every girl should know:

Most women of our generation (late teens-early twenties) ask themselves every time they meet a new guy if he's The One. YOU'RE NOT ALONE. It is a habit we have learned from childhood (guys, please don't freak out at this), and we must - MUST - break it. One of the greatest lies we grow up believing is that we're the only one with this hyper-active soul-mate radar. We all do it. And this is what we must fight against.

Fine, I'll dabble in predictions... but only this once!

The New York Times tells me that the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is 24 days away. My friend Maggie might be astonished to know that I have not been keeping a count-down.

I largely haven't given in to speculation, because I don't want to ruin my last chance to be surprised by J.K. Rowling. We all know how we felt at the end of the first book, when you turned the page to the last chapter and were hit with the words:
IT WAS QUIRRELL.
Whoa. I remember my mouth fell open. Or the end of the third book, when all the messy details came pouring out and the light broke through the clouds and there was hope again, if only for a brief moment? I don't want to ruin my chance of getting knocked across the room by Rowling's smash-bang plot twists that you could have seen coming if you payed close enough attention (and you beat yourself up about not seeing it coming for at least a month).

From the New York Times (article by Motoko Rich):

John Granger, a professor of Latin and English at the Valley Forge Military Academy & College in Wayne, Pa., has written two books about the series and edited a third called “Who Killed Albus Dumbledore” that is filled with predictions.

He also runs a discussion group at HogwartsProfessor.com. “I’ve seen really intelligent, really literate women and men discuss these points and provide more than cogent arguments that Snape is X, Y or Z, and they all make sense in terms of all the clues she’s given in the book,” Mr. Granger said. “This has probably been the most fun that intelligent people can have with their clothes on in the 21st century.”

1) That's hilarious. 2)Do people have that much free time on their hands that they write BOOKS about what will no longer need to be speculated on come July 21??? The series will end! The characters that only Rowling knows inside and out will cease to be developed! Fanfictions are fine and dandy, but don't try to make a fantasy book into an alternate reality (or your ONE reality).

While I have to roll my eyes at all the "in-depth" analysis of the Harry Potter books (simply because you cannot analyze Hermione Granger at the same level as Jane Eyre), I must admit that Rowling is a careful plot constructor. She knows the path the story must take, and I also believe that she, as a self-respecting writer, will go where the story is taking her. A good writer knows her characters, and will not force them into the situations that the genre dictates.

All that being said, I will put forth, not predictions, but things I believe to be true about the characters: Snape is not good or evil. Because no real person is (and every good writer knows this). Even Voldemort was once a complex human, though he has been mutilated and distorted, and now cannot see goodness. Snape is still a real person, and I believe he has his own motives, on which I will not even try to speculate. The second point is that I remind readers that Wormtail still owes a life-debt to Harry that needs to be paid. Have you all forgotten this about the 3rd book? Not all the clues lie in the later 2 books. Book 6 had more to do with book 2 than any other. Try to think as Rowling would think: she is more loyal to the truth of her story than to pleasing her fans.

And relax. It's, what, less than a month away?

My Daemon

Remedy is Coming

David Crowder Band has been around for awhile. I only just started buying their CDs and following their excursions. I really do think they're one of the best things I've ever heard in music, let alone Christian worship.

So Katie finally gets on the bandwagon... just in time to anticipate the release of their new album, Remedy (I THINK that's the title). Go to http://www.dcb01.com/remedy/entry.php4 and click on the green cross. Follow along with the interactions, click on anything that can be clicked on, sit back and ponder what they're trying to say (because believe me, DC*B almost always has something up their sleeves). It's probably one of the best times I've had on the internet.

DO IT!!! What else have you got to do, really?

Book Smells

One of the projects I do at work is stamping new books: ink pad, press, stamp, STEENBOCK MEMORIAL LIBRARY. The covers and pages are smooth and cool. The undefiled quality soothes something inside me. Then they always have that great new book smell. Some smell like the high school English textbooks that were brand new my sophomore year - turn to page 614 for (sniiiiiiiiif) the poetry of Emily Dickinson.

There are a few distinctive new-book-smells. As I slid a book entitled "Whole Grains & Health" to the 'stamped' pile, a wave of familiar odor hit me. Something that called up feelings of childhood, and would have brought back images, had I been able to place the scent in my memory. It was a sour kind of smell - one of those, like diesel exhaust, that you secretly love because it's so not-pleasant, it makes you shiver a little. I still haven't been able to place it. One of these days, I'll mosey on over to the new books shelf for another sniff to see if I can't jog my memory.

Think of... the TONY!

I haven't kept up on new musicals during the past year. I never see them, but I like to check in on broadway.com to see what's being performed. You know, so I can seem all cultured and stuff.

The Tony awards were presented last night, with performances from those nominated for Best Musical or Best Musical Revival. I had barely heard of any of them. A new musical, Spring Awakening, swept the board in almost every Musical category.

"Allright, this can't be as good as everyone says it is," I thought. "It's all just hype."

I was blown away by the performance. The songs (they performed a medley of three) were haunting, energetic, and charged with emotion. The story remains in the original 1891 setting in Germany, but the music is pop/rock. It blended so well; the plot is all about teenagers facing the unknown of puberty and adulthood. It may be set more than 100 years ago, but the questions it raises are still prominant today.

Like any good literature, its themes are timeless and its characters are real. It reminds me of RENT, challenging the world of musical theater to take on weighty material and not hide behind bright costumes and tapping showgirls (who are superbly talented in their own right).

Bravo, Spring Awakening. I look forward to seeing you soon.

I am not cold-hearted

There is only one thing that can make me cry in movies: star-crossed lovers. I'm apparently a Romeo-and-Juliet sap. I can only cry when two people are in love, and one of them dies tragically at the end. True, this is slightly different from R&J. I don't think I'd be as sad if they both died.

That's sort of horrible, isn't it?

I just can't stand the thought of being blissfully in love, then having it ripped away. Odd, since I just snort whenever I see R&J. Shakespeare makes it very clear that Romeo and Juliet have puppy love. But even West Side Story, the updated version of R&J? I'm gone. Moulin Rouge, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and a recent movie that I'm obligated not to name.

Trust me, you'll know it if you see it. Beautiful love... snatched away. I sobbed.