Captain Query

Today I did a story time at the library, went on a bike ride with my sister, saw Captain America, and sent a query to Kristen Wolf's Literary Agency. If only there were a Captain Query to champion my story and burst through the walls of agencies about to reject me and make them see the light.

Literally, the light. It'd be coming through the hole in the wall.

Sigh...if only publishing were that easy. Even if there were a superhero there likely wouldn't be much he could do other than collect restraining orders.

Cookies!

Today I received delicious chocolate cookies from my friend Sarah! Hooray for cookies! They came all the way from DC and are still delicious.

Oh, My Dear Neglected Blog....

I've barely been home the past few days which is why no posts. I shall have to work something out though.

State Fair!

Yesterday I went to the State Fair and was pretty much out all day which is why I didn't blog. I've learned the California State Fair is huge! I'm afraid I didn't take many pictures, so I shall paint you a word picture. I saw a music exhibit with one of those big pianos you play by walking on it, giant animatronic bugs, rode on a very big slide, ate some dipping dots, saw some steampunk art, cowered in the face of enormous fluffy rabbits, and cooed at many adorable guinea pigs. It was hot but not oppressively so.

The last State Fair I can remember was in Ohio and I saw I giant butter cow. I'm afraid I'm going to have to pronounce California a failure on producing impressive butter livestock, so Ohio wins this round. But I still had a good time.

Delicious Drinks!

For my birthday week I've treated myself to some truly delicious (non-alcoholic) drinks.

Thai tea!

Mango lassi

Strawberry Mango Lemonade

A.S.P

I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 last night for the second time ans realized that Albus Severus's intials are A.S.P, which makes his otherwise lame name a whole lot better. He should just have people call him Asp!

He also had a pet ferret which raised him even more in my eyes. Ferrets are awesome!

26 Things I Love

My friend Stephanie asked me to name 26 things that I love in honor of my 26th birthday. So this is for her and anyone else interested. (This is NOT in any order. Or sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't).

1.) My family

2.) My friends

3.) Books

4.) Writing

5.) Terry Pratchett

6.) Neil Gaiman

7.) France

8.) the French language

9.) the Louvre

10.) French History

11.) Tudor England

12.) Security

13.) Kids

14.) Adorable fluffy animals

15.) Dark humor

16.) Good satire

17.) Art

18.) Music

19.) Kayaking

20.) Neil Patrick Harris

21.) Ohio

22.) Bexley

23.) Denison University

24.) Libraries

25.) Jane Austen

26.) the Internet

Happy Birthday to ME!

Olympia Washington

While in Washington my sister and I made a pitstop in Olympia. I thought it was interesting that on one side of the street was this beautiful building...

...and on the other side was this pit of despair known as the Greyhound Station. You might say it doesn't look so bad. But that's because you can't smell it.

Under 200,000!

I finally got my novel under 200,000 words. It's now 199,213 words! It's still oversize, and it's not much shorter than 200,000 but it is shorter, and that's something. Hurrah!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Film Review

Trailer:



Overview:

I really enjoyed this film. It was plenty exciting, didn't cram in too much like the last few films, and I felt had most of the important parts and very few of the annoying parts of the book. Plus, Neville rocked! I couldn't ask for much more than that in the film There were a few inconsistencies that rankled me a little but overall I'd recommend it.

Spoilers:

Okay, I'm sorry, I have very little sympathy for those that haven't read the books so I'm just gonna plunge right in. I liked that they did not include the scene from the book where Harry inflicts the Cruciatus curse on one of the Carrows just because they spit on McGonagall. But I wish they hadn't then gone and just thrown all the Slytherins in the dungeon. It rather negates the message at the end where Harry claims it doesn't matter what house his son's in.

The non-verbal magic in all the films bugs me, but somehow I'm not too heartbroken that Voldemort wasn't killed with Expelliarmus.

Sneak Preview!

I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows parts 1 and 2 but they accidentally started playing part two at 9pm. I got a two minute sneak preview!

Info From a Pirate

While in Seattle our duckboat driver, dressed appropriately like a pirate, told us that while Seattle has the most rainy days per year, it does not have the most rainfall. The reason for this is because it does not rain as much when it does rain.

Washington State Trip Pictures

A very difficult climbing wall in the Seattle Science Museum

At the base of a waterfall in the Quinault Rainforest

At the top of the Space Needle



Riding a stone camel in front of the Seattle Asian Art Museum

Impromtu RenFaire on the Train! Just kidding, actually, here's how I got the flower crown: Me (to a lady on the train making crowns of flowers) - "That's pretty"
Lady "Do you want one?"
Me "...Yes?"
Lady "Will you wear it?"
Me "Sure!"

Vacation!

No required blog posts until I get back from my vacation Washington state. Ah, the Pacific Northwest. I'll let you all know if I see sasquatch.