Harry Potter 6

Okay, I admit, I love Harry Potter. I mean, I'm not the crazy "dress up and stand in line at midnight and then read the book all night" type of fan. I'm more the "read each book soon after it comes out and discuss with friends" type. So, I have some issues I'd like to air about the recently released book 6.

WARNING: Do not keep reading this post if you haven't read book 6 yet. There will be spoilers.

Overall, I liked book 6. Much better than 5. 3 is still my favorite, but I'll have to read 6 again to decide exactly where it slots in compared to 1, 2, and 4.

My big issue though is with Snape killing Dumbledore. I mean, I figured Dumbledore was the one who was going to get offed in this book, because Harry needs to be all by himself without anyone to protect him in order to confront Voldemort in book 7. However, I was so upset that Snape ended up killing him, because I was sure Snape was on the good side. The thing I liked most about the character of Snape was that while he was not a nice guy at all and you really disliked him at times, he still was (supposedly) on the good team. Books like this can tend to be very black and white as far as who is good and who is bad, and it is nice to have a couple of "grey" characters. (Plus Snape is just a cool character all around. Probably my favorite after Sirius.) But now my whole idea of the Harry Potter world has been shattered! I couldn't believe Snape had actually done it, even when I read the words Avada Kedavra. I can't figure out how Dumbledore (and I) could be so wrong about Snape and part of me still thinks that in book 7 we will find out that all was not as it seemed in that last confrontation. I hope at least.

And finally, I think that R.A.B. is Sirius' brother. You heard it here first, don't try to take credit for my brilliant epiphany! We will see if I'm right whenever she gets around to publishing that last book. (I'm sure she'll take her sweet old time!) :-(

Update

Hmmm...I haven't posted since Sunday so I feel like I should post something. I guess there’s nothing too exciting going on in my life right now. I bought a new couch, does that count? It's being delivered tomorrow, and then I can enjoy my new cable in style. ;-)

I am happy to report that the deer flies are just about gone. However, I only have a week and a half of field work left for the summer, so I don't get to enjoy a deer fly-free field site for very long. I am having my field assistant start taking down boxes, so if all goes well I should have many fewer to take down myself this fall. (Although I will still probably need some help. Hint hint!)

I am presenting my first two years of research at a conference in Utah in early August, for which I am both excited and nervous. So I guess I should get started working on that presentation eh? Well I can probably procrastinate one more week at least... ;-)

Best invention since the wheel?

AIR CONDITIONING! This weather has been brutal. I am so loving that I am able to keep my house cool using two window air conditioners. (Big props to Doug who gave me my second one since it wouldn't fit in his window!) Isis is also loving the cool house, and she has been a lot more active since we moved and got AC. Her current favorite toys are her scratching post and a paper bag.

In other news, the skydiving date has been set. Katie W and I will be jumping from 11,000 feet this Saturday afternoon. Woohoo! Anyone got a good phrase for me to say right before I jump to pump myself up? I guess I could just tell Katie that I'll see her on the ground or something, but I'm open to more original suggestions. Remember, you are all invited to come and watch if you want.

Hooray for internet!!!

Well the internet here at KBS has been down for two days. So now it is finally back up and there is much rejoicing. You don't realize how dependent you are on it until you lose it. At least I got a phonebook in the mail so I can look up addresses and stuff without having to come into the office. But I still use the internet for email, research stuff, maps, TV listings, etc. And speaking of TV, I am getting my cable hooked up tomorrow. Woohoo! Just in time for Iron Chef America on Sunday. If you are not watching it you should be! ;-)

Best CDs of the year

So far, two CDs that I have heard this year have far outshined the rest:

1. Razorlight "Up all night" http://www.razorlightmusic.com/ (Actually released in 2004, but I didn't discover it until 2005, so I'm counting it!) I love every single song on this CD and it lived in my car pretty much the whole spring. They are a rather unknown band from England, but I can't get enough of them. Similiar sound to The Killers, Jet, etc. but more good songs on their CD than those two bands. I also saw Razorlight live, opening for Muse at MSU, and they are a phenomenal live band as well. I may have liked them better than Muse (although I'd have to think about that one for a while.)

2. Coldplay "x&y" http://www.coldplay.com/site.php
Just a great Coldplay CD. It rates right up there with "Parachutes". There are one or two songs that I don't like, but probably 10 that I do, and this CD is the one that has been living in my car most of the summer.

Moved!

Well the big move is complete. If you need my new address, please ask. I plan on being here for several years so it should stay the same for a while now.

It took us about 5 hours to move everything, which is pretty decent since I have a lot of crap. The move was complicated, however, by the "Waterfowlers' Jamboree" which, unbeknownst to me, was taking place in the bird sanctuary that day. All the roads that lead from my house to the real road were packed with people and tents and stuff, so it took you a good ten minutes just to get from my house to the road, because you had to go the pace of walking people who of course didn't get out of the way even though they had a car inching along behind them. Then you had the people who ran after you banging on your hood yelling that you can't drive back there, until you told them that you live there and they finally left you alone. That excuse also worked for the people trying to charge us admission to get back in.

Luckily, the rain chased all the jamboreers away, although of course then we had rain to deal with instead of annoying people. But in the end everything got moved and I am now in my new house! :-) Isis is settling in well, and I am starting to get unpacked. I plan on buying a couch soon, so that will be exciting. :-)

Car, house, hockey

I drove up to EL last night to have my car serviced and the engine cleaned (since they messed up on my last oil change and the cap came off, spilling oil all over everything in the motor). I also got to spend a little time with my EL friends which was cool, since I miss all you guys!

My frustration for the day is with moving, which is supposed to happen tomorrow. I am moving from an apartment in the bird sanctuary to a house of my own (ironically the same one Natalie lived in when she was here.) The problem is, the previous tenant's lease at my new house expired in April, and she was given 60 days to find a new place and move out. So, she was supposed to be gone by June 30. Now, here it is July 15 and she still has stuff there and isn't finished cleaning. I was told I could move in on July 16, but she won't even be gone by then. She just asked if she could have the morning tomorrow to finish cleaning and have me move in the afternoon. The excuse given as to why it is taking her so long to move out is that she works full time and she has to do a lot of cleaning, work, etc. at her new place too. However, she has been there for 76 days since her lease expired!!! You would think in 76 days she could get all her stuff moved and clean the place. Its not like she only had a few days warning. And even though she works full time, I count 10 weekends during that span when she could have done the work. Heck, there have been two weekends for her to work on moving since the day she was SUPPOSED to be gone by. This has been a big frustrating issue this summer, and I will be very glad when I finally get moved and don'' have to deal with this anymore. I plan on being at my new house for the next several years, so it will be nice to be able to settle down in one place a little bit. This will be my 9th move in the past 2 1/4 years. Yuck I am sick of moving!

In hockey news, the Wings hired a new coach: Mike Babcock, who coached in Anaheim the past few years (you know the year they swept us in the first round of the playoffs!) and before that for Cincy in the AHL. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I guess I figured Lewis would be fired since he didn't win in the playoffs, but I don't have a whole lot of confidence in Babcock either. I mean, Anaheim didn't even make the playoffs in 2004. But I guess he is supposed to be good with developing younger guys, which he will have to do because we have to dump a lot of our veterans to fit under the new salary cap. Also, every team is going to have a chance in the draft lottery to draft first, so there is a chance that we might get to pick fairly high this year. Of course, we could still be near the bottom, but thats where we always are so its not like we are losing anything. The team whose ball gets picked first gets Sidney Crosby, rumored to be the next Wayne Gretsky, and we do have like a 2% chance of getting him. You never know... :-)

The NHL is back baby!

Finally! Right now it looks like the owners really won this fight, as the players ended up settling for a salary cap that is lower than the one the owners originally offered them last fall when this all SHOULD have been settled. The strike sucked, but I think the deal they reached will be good for the NHL. Plus the players make plenty of money anyway. They don't deserve football-like salaries when the NHL has like 1/10th the fans of the NFL.

The end of the NHL lockout does mean my favorite Griffins player will be playing for Detroit this year, but I'll just have to go to a couple of Wings games, thats all. ;-) GO WINGS!

Skydiving!

Katie W and I decided today that we are going to to skydiving this summer. Yes, I know we are crazy but it sounds like so much fun. We were about ready to go this afternoon we got so excited talking about it, but alas we both had things scheduled for today. So if anyone is interested in joining us, let us know. Or you can just come along and watch from the safety of the ground. We hope to go sometime in the next 3 weeks.

Deer flies must die

I know my field assistants hear this every day, but I would just like to put it in writing for all to see: I HATE DEER FLIES. When you add 90 degree heat and severals hours wasted trying to trap two wrens that both got away to swarms of deer flies landing all over my face and hands and biting me, it does not make for a pleasant day in the field. I know I shouldn't complain because I really do like my research, and I promise not to do it again for a while, but today was just really frustrating and I need to let it out.

As I've told my field assistants, I would pay $1,000.00 each year if it would ensure that there were no deer flies at my field site. Brian said he would keep his money and the flies, Lydia wasn't sure but thought she would pay to get rid of them. I think that if they weren't poor undergrads they would both agree with me. ;-)

Cute Isis picture

Here is a picture of my new cat Isis, in case any of you have yet to meet her. I got her from the Humane Society in May, and she is about one year old. She likes to chase balls and sleep in my bed.

All the cool kids are doing it...

So yeah I have a blog now. I guess that makes me trendy or something. What can I say, I enjoy reading Carl and Alan's so much that I wanted one of my own. Plus now I can ramble on about stuff and pretend someone cares. ;-) Also I'm hoping it will let my friends and family in the cities I have left behind (GR, EL) keep up with what's going on with me. So we'll try it and see how it goes.