Bit of Ivory

So, if you wish, you can see my new haircut.

Click on the link below to actually see the pics.
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Jen and I went out for ice cream tonight– she wanted to squee about her object of twitterpation. We went to Leatherby’s, which not only has good ice cream, but also boasts some of the best darn fries I’ve ever had. And fry sauce. Let’s make the evening as fattening as possible! Yes, my precious.

Anyway, after ice cream we went on a walk down the Jordan River Parkway. Utah is really a wonderful place to live. It was just the right temperature– not too warm, not too cool. The sky was blue and cloudless, the sun was setting magnificently over the Oquirrh mountains, the trees and grass and natural vegetation (read: weeds) were green– it was beautiful. And Jen and I walked and laughed and talked about life and friendship, and the number 87.

Great way to make a rotten day into a good one.

I also remembered that 4 years ago today I was in mourning for Cedric Diggory, and bursting to talk about Voldemort’s return with someone. Anyone. But I hadn’t discovered online fandom yet, and no one I knew had finished the book. So I read the last 4 chapters again. Good times.

We finally took Ginny to Best Buy yesterday– after a long and frustrating process Tuesday night of saving the information I don’t want to lose in case they end up reinstalling her– so they could ship her off to the repair facility. And guess what? It’ll take about two weeks just to get an estimate of how much it will cost. Who knows how long it will be after that before I actually get her back again?

I don’t expect to see her before August.

So I got a haircut– I’ll need to make a new avatar thingy– and I took a picture of it on Tuesday to show you all. But Harry and my new digital camera don’t seem to like each other. I spent all night last night trying to get it to work– uninstalling and reinstalling drivers, getting the updated version of the software from the Nikon website, troubleshooting using both the Windoze troubleshooter and the Nikon manual– nothing. They both recognize the presence of the other, but when it comes to transferring pictures from one to the other, Harry thinks there’s no memory card. Which is bogus. More troubleshooting to come.

Harry’s hard drive is 3/4 full– he’s only got a 20 GB one in the first place– and there’s so much junk on there. I’m trying to decide whether to spend the money to get a new hard drive and a copy of XP– or just the hard drive– or just reinstall him with Windows 2K. I definitely want to get a new copy of Norton, though– mine’s ancient. And his sound card doesn’t work. None of this has bothered me lately because I haven’t been using Harry often– but I think now that he’ll be my main computer for the foreseeable future, I’m going to have to do something about it.

In the meantime I feel the urge to write Albus but have no inspiration; I have so many things to do that I feel conflicted about which one to work on and end up doing nothing instead; I feel guilty because I, the Wahlee in Wahleecon, haven’t posted about more than the very first night of the festivities, but at the same time I don’t really feel like writing it up. I’m tired and bored and cranky and I want to do *something* but I can’t figure out what. I desperately want to go back to school and am desperately afraid of it at the same time– what if my exhaustion affects my studies? What if I can’t work as much as I need to and can’t pay my rent? And speaking of rent, I can’t wait to move in with Kate, but I also don’t want to leave my family and my ward and my comfortable no-risk life.

I think I just need to get more sleep.

Mark Evans (who some may remember being mentioned by Harry in OotP as a 10-year-old boy who Dudley beat up) is. . .

(WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD FOR JKR.COM)
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Why, oh, why, do I wake up at 7:00 on a day when I get to *sleep in*, thus leaving me with a headache and starting my work week already in a sleep hole? It is simply not fair. And the sleeping pills that have never failed any of my doctor’s patients? They don’t work. I’ve been continually tired for 4 years. I don’t remember what it’s like to feel awake anymore.

Why are you picking on *me*?

Seriously sleep deprived,

Emily

And I’m actually accomplishing more than I thought I would today. It’s different stuff than I *thought* I would be accomplishing, but nonetheless. . .

Ginny broke last night. Remember a few weeks ago, when dad took her apart and we realized that the right hinge was broken, so the screen was no longer attached to the base? Well, dad oiled Ginny well, and it seemed like she was finally getting better. But early this week she started making noise again, and last night when I went to close her up, the left hinge snapped, taking part of the body with it. Gah.

Dad called Best Buy this morning to see what could be done. Before, when we’ve had repair problems, they send us a UPS box, we put the computer in it and shipped it off. It came back 5 days later, all nice and fixed. But that was when we were still under warranty. Now, we have to take the computer to our local Best Buy, have *them* ship it to the VPR Matrix repair facility, have them do an estimate on how much the repair will cost, then repair it, then ship it back. Can’t remember if it’s back to the local Best Buy, or directly to us. In any case, it’s a longer process, and will cost me money. I’ll have to go home and do a complete backup, and then it’s bye-bye to Ginny for a while.

I hope she’s back by July 22, however, because that’s when Jen, our friend Katrina and I are going to the Utah Shakesperean Festival! So. Darn. Excited. Have wanted to do this for ages, but money and schedules have always been an issue. Not this year! We’ll only be seeing the 3 Shakespeare plays– couldn’t afford the other 3– but hey, why go to a Shakespearean festival if not to see *Shakespeare*? They’re doing Taming of the Shrew, Henry IV, Part I, and A Winter’s Tale. I’ve read the first two but not the latter; must make sure to do this before I see it. Will be much more comprehensible that way, methinks. Anyway, I hope to get together with the St. George girls, Amanda and Jen, at some point. Will you guys be free? Anyway, can’t imagine 4 days without at least checking my e-mail, so I hope I can bring Ginny with me. And that Motel 6 has internet available. They said they had dataports.

Can’t wait to get off work. Have to stay until 5:15 to get my full 8 hours in, though. Gah. But I get Monday off! Yay!

In other news, I have 4 stripes completed on my Ravenclaw scarf. It’s looking very nice, I must say. Am thrilled that I can knit, since I can’t crochet worth beans.

The next bit of news will shock many people. So brace yourselves.

I worked on Albus two nights ago!

I know, I know. Amazing, isn’t it? It wasn’t much– just the first scene of chapter 2– but it was *something*. I haven’t worked on that story for, oh, a good 4 months. Still hoping for a nefarious plot for my villaness to fall out of the sky, though. *sigh*

Now, back to work. And while I work, I will ponder what to bring with me on the road trip! Eee!

Why Remus Lupin is Almost Certainly NOT the Half Blood Prince

Four relevant JKR quotes:

What was the original working title of Chamber of Secrets?
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I quite liked that title, unfortunately the story bore no relation whatsoever to the title by the time I’d finished.(BBC Newsround interview, October 2002)

I was delighted to see that a hard core of super-bright fans knew that the real title was once, in the long distant past, a possibility for ‘Chamber of Secrets’, and from that deduced that it was genuine. Certain crucial pieces of information in book six were originally planned for ‘Chamber of Secrets’, but very early on (first draft of Chamber) I realised that this information’s proper home was book six. I have said before now that ‘Chamber’ holds some very important clues to the ultimate end of the series. Not as many as six, obviously, but there is a link. (jkr.com, News, June 29, 2004, emphasis mine)

Siriusstar: Is Remus a pureblood?
JK Rowling replies -> Half blood. (World Book Day Chat, March 4, 2004)

The first book will always have a special place in my heart, because it was the first book I ever published. However, I prefer the plot of CHAMBER OF SECRETS. And just to confuse the issue, I was looking forward to writing the third book from the start of the first because that’s when Professor Lupin appears, and he is one of my favorite characters in all seven books. (Barnes&Noble.com chat, September 8, 1999, emphasis mine).

If the title for CoS wasn’t changed until after she’d started writing the *second* book, and she’d looked forward to writing PoA since the *first* book, there’s no way Lupin could have been planned to be in CoS. So unless she’s completely changed the identity of the HBP, Lupin’s right out.

This is for my dad:

The significance of the place where Harry and his parents lived – the first name…
Godric Gryffindor. Very good, you’re a bit good you are aren’t you. I’m impressed.

You’re not going to tell me but ….
My editor didn’t, I said to her – Haven’t you noticed the connection between where Harry’s parents lived and one of the Hogwarts houses? And she said no, no – I’m not being rude about Emma, she’s a brilliant editor, the best ever. But no she didn’t pick that up either, you’re a bit good you are. (BBC Newsround interview, October 2002)

I’ve been reading theories, and mulling it over, and I think there are 4 (maybe 5) good, solid possibilities for the Half Blood Prince. I’ve posted some of my thoughts in various places, but I’d like to gather them all here.

In speculating on who the HPB could be, there’s one thing we have to remember:

The title of the book was originally a working title for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This means that, unless she’s completely changed who the HBP is (which I sincerely doubt), it has to be someone who either did influence or could have influenced the plot of CoS. That eliminates several people: Remus Lupin, for instance, has been revealed to be a half-blood in recent chats, so many have been thinking it could be him. But Lupin was not invovled in the plot of CoS, and we can tell from other chats that he was never scheduled to appear earlier than CoS. So he’s right out. So are people like Viktor Krum, who could not possibly have been introduced into the CoS plot. I personally believe that it’s someone who was introduced in either books one or two– we’re just going to get more information about him.

That being said, I think a strong case can be made for any of the following five people:

Tom Marvolo Riddle

Yes, I know JKR said that it “isn’t Harry or Voldemort”, but she’s used that trick before–

“All right!” cried Harry, grabbing the elf’s arm to stop him. “You can’t tell me. I understand. But why are you warning me?” A sudden, unpleasant thought struck him. “Hang on – this hasn’t got anything to do with Vol- – sorry – with You-Know-Who, has it? You could just shake or nod,” he added hastily as Dobby’s head tilted worryingly close to the wall again.

“Not -not He- Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, sir – ” But Dobby’s eyes were wide and he seemed to be trying to give Harry a hint. Harry, however, was completely lost.

So it’s still possible that the HBP is Tom Riddle– as he was before his transformation into Voldemort. There are a few minuses to this theory, however. One is that Tom Riddle was destroyed along with the diary in CoS. Unless there’s another way to reincarnate a young Tom, it’s hard to see how he could play a big role. Another minus is that JKR has used this card before. Yes, I know it’s a plus, but it also begs the question– she’s done it once already, why should she do it again? So I’m putting Tom Marvolo Riddle in a ‘maybe’ category.

Godric Gryffindor

There are a few things that point to Gryffindor. First off, there’s the whole “Prince” idea. It makes a lot more sense to me to have a title of “Prince” back in the far away time of the Founding. It would have made sense in the plot of CoS to reveal Godric as a half-blood, with perhaps a royal bloodline that is connected with that of Slytherin. It’s also consistent with the additional backstory we’ve been getting (and will continue to get) on the Founders. And it works with my personal-favorite Heir of Gryffindor theory. Thus Gryffindor, while not a major player as far as a present-day character, could have a big impact on Harry and his destiny. This is my favorite theory at the moment.

Rubeus Hagrid

Hagrid makes sense on several levels– one, because he was important to the plot in CoS. Two, because Robbie Coltrane revealed in the Leavesden interview reported that JKR had told him something important about Hagrid’s past that hasn’t been revealed yet. The third point is a little bit of a stretch, but couldn’t his mom have been royalty of some kind in the giant kingdom? That would make him a Giant Prince.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

I like the Dumbledore theory too, not the least of which is because I came to the conclusion that he’s a half-blood a long time ago. In my story his mother is a Muggle born, his father a pure blood (or at least close to one)– which fits the definition of half blood as it applies to Harry. Seems like “half blood” refers to anyone of mixed blood– not Muggle born, but not pureblood either. Anyway, it explains some of the things in his tastes– Sherbet Lemons, ten-pin bowling, chamber music– and his unwillingness to dismiss the Muggle world. It also works well because I think Dumbledore and Harry will work rather more closely in this book than they have in the past– I think Dumbledore will take over Occlumency lessons, for instance. So maybe this will be the intense period of learning from Harry’s true mentor. On the other hand, it also means that Dumbledore’s about to snuff it, as the wise old mentor usually has to do.

Angua pointed out one flaw in this theory, however– Dumbledore really had very little to do with the plot of CoS. However, it is possible that she revised his role to elimate the necessary information.

Severus Snape

A good case can be made for Snape as well, even though he didn’t have a big role in CoS. Perhaps his role was reduced, however. The memories we see in the Occolumency lessons suggest a possible Muggle connection. His relationship to Harry, in addition, could be the source of a lot of conflict. But I’m inclined away from this one at this point, maybe because I can’t see how Snape would work in a book-six plot. Would one of you Snape lovers like to elaborate on this theory?

So, those are my present thoughts. At this point I can’t see it being any of the students– other than the Trio and perhaps the extended Sextet, they’re just not involved enough in the outside world to be important. It would be a heck of a reversal if Seamus ended up being extremely important, though.

Your thoughts?

Don’t drink two glasses of Coke when you’re not used to drinking caffeine, even if you have a headache and are really, really tired.

Now I’m feeling all loopy and lightheaded. And like I could use a nap.

Man, my body is weird. Caffeine is NOT supposed to make me SLEEPY.

Note to self #2: Allow more time for nightly inspection of eyelids. Then perhaps your contacts won’t stage a rebellion that must be quashed before you can wear them to work. And you won’t have to deal with periodic insurgences. And you won’t feel tempted to drink caffeine, which just makes you more tired, apparently. Gah.

the day that a great friendship, one never before seen by men and HP fans, was forged.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, on this day exactly one year ago, Rachel sent Emily an instant message for the first time.

Because of the fastidiousness of Emily in saving her IM conversations, this historic event has been captured. Before it can be viewed, however, a little background information would be helpful.
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