This post is going to be the cute post. I'll show you all most adorable costumes, on the most adorable kids, and I won't say much.
This guy is dressed up as a character from some Anime that my daughter and her friend love. I try to keep track of that stuff, because some of them are cool, and I like to try to get into the stuff my kids are into, but I can't remember this one.
This is Dobby and Harry Potter. The costumes are pretty bad, but the photo is adorable because Madison is so obviously ecstatic.
This is Pikachu, from Pokemon. Madison loves Pikachu almost as much as she loves Pandas.
This is Ronald Weasley. It's a girl dressed up as Ron though, and that's just AWESOME.
This is the panda crew. You can't tell, but Madison also has a Panda backpack.
That's it for today. Stay tuned for cooler, and creepier costumes for the rest of the week.
I'm just going to try to wrap the rest of it up in this last post. I'm helping a friend with a query tomorrow and Friday, and then perhaps we'll get into other things next week. We'll see.
First I have an announcement: the winner of Tawna Fenske's Making Waves is Heather M. Gardner. She got 4000 points, so it was basically a mathematically forgone conclusion. I have your email address, Heather, so I'll be in touch about your snail mail address. Thanks for playing, everyone.
Okay. So, back to Seattle. We did lots of different things, some of it very touristy like visiting the Space Needle and touring Pike Place Market, and other stuff more personal, like visiting my cousin in beautiful Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula (it's not far from Port Angeles for you Twilight lovers).
So here are some more photos, in random order:
The girls and I in front of the Market.
This photo pisses me off because Mount Rainier was prominent and majestic, hovering behind the city to the right, but you can't see it at all in this photo.
Madison with a silver statue man outside the market.
Madison in front of the Post Alley wall of ABC gum. Disgusting. In case you haven't figured it out yet, Kylie is shy like her dad, and Madison is a ham sandwich.
Madison playing giant chess in Occidental Park, against a street person. I didn't give her any help, and she lost, but you can learn just as much from losing as you can from winning, sometimes more. Right, Ted?
Tree huggers.
That's the Chief Seattle fireboat, but more importantly this is what it looks like outside Ivar's where you give your french fries to the gulls. I thought Andrew would like this, because he likes gulls.
Funny story: the day we were walking to the monorail, I literally saw a gull trying to bomb Kelly. I told her to watch out, she jumped back, and the bird shit seriously would have hit her if I hadn't saved the day. I'm her hero.
Once There Were Birds.
This is a sculpture outside the Science Museum.
This one's a little blurry, but I helped Madison make this shirt with bubble paint for when we finally went to see Harry Potter.
This is basically the view from my dad's house. Looking at this really makes me hate Georgia.
Finally a decent photo of Mount Rainier.
What a beautiful city.
This thing is called the Fremont Troll. You can't see it, but it has a Volkswagen in its hand.
This is a plaque outside the elevator to the grid inside the Seattle Opera House. Marcus Rush was my dad. Rest in peace, pop.
This is this really weird but kind of awesome old fort in Port Townsend. You would think it was from World War II, what with the war in the pacific and everything, but it was built around 1911. I don't know who we were scared of then, but it makes for a cool place to explore.
And that's it. Is that enough photos for you guys? Sorry the post is so long, but I wanted to squeeze the rest in, so we could move on to other things ... like, oh I don't know, talking about writing.
First of all I owe any and all credit for this post to my buddy Lydia K, from The Word is my Oyster. She came up with this awesome question and posted about it yesterday (this post, my post, was supposed to go up on Thursday, but I got sick). If you haven't been there, please stop by to read her super fun post, comment on it, and follow her blog. She also has an awesome feature, Medical Mondays, which is not only really entertaining, but extremely useful for writers.
So anyway, hopefully you've all read the Harry Potter novels, more specifically Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where the Patronus Charm first appears. For those of you who haven't, here is the description from the Harry Potter Wiki:
A Patronus Charm is an insubstantial animal protector created by the advanced Patronus Charm spell, and one way to defend against Dementors and certain other Dark creatures. The spell requires the use of a wand, concentration on a powerfully happy memory, and the incantation "Expecto Patronum".
A Patronus that is fully formed, or corporeal, takes the shape of fairly solid-looking animal; a non-corporeal Patronus appears only as wisps of silvery mist. It is a very complex charm and many qualified wizards and witches have trouble with it. Harry Potter is one of the youngest known wizards to cast a Patronus. The Patronus Charm, like Animagus forms, has been said to reflect the personality or feelings of the witch or wizard. They are, however, subject to change if the caster goes through an emotional upheaval of some sort.
Anyway, before I go on any longer about the awesomeness that is All Things Harry Potter the point of this post is: what kind of animal do you think your patronus (assuming it manifested itself as fully corporeal) would show up as?
Lydia, being both a doctor and a clever writer, argued first that hers would be a Paramecium, then she selected a Kiwi (the bird, not the fruit) for a moment before finally settling on a Platypus.
My own Patronus would manifest itself as a Mountain Lion, also known as a Cougar, I'm quite confident. How do I know this, you ask? Because as a teenager I went on a Vision Quest, and discovered that the Mountain Lion is my Spirit-Animal.
I fully realize that may sound crazy, but I'm not joking.
More on Vision Quests and Spirit-Animals next week (although if you name your Patronus Animal in the comments, I promise to break down what that would mean as your Spirit Animal, in another post).
In honor of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part I we will be discussing how Professor Severus Snape is the most sympathetic and compelling villain in all of literature. Yes, I have posted about this a little bit before, but not like this.
[SPOILER ALERT] This applies to the entire post, so stop here if you've been on another planet for the last decade and haven't read all 7 Harry Potter novels.
Now let's get some things straight first. We're all aware that Snape is a complete and utter prat, a right awful git even, who is known to be a bit thick sometimes (for more of his faults, please see Ronald Weasley). He was a tall, thin man with long greasy black hair, bad skin, hooked nose and crooked teeth. A bit like the old witch with the apple in Snow White (except for the hair). But in spite of Snape's drawbacks there are several reasons that readers sympathize with him.
These will be in no particular order:
1) His love for Lily Potter (Evans): Pathetic, embarrassing, awkward? Yes. But you can't blame Snivelus. By all accounts Lily was a beautiful, kind and caring person, and a "witch of singular talent." You can't really blame young Severus for falling for her, especially since they met long Before Hogwart's and were both outcasts in their own way.
2) His talent for potions AND spells: You can't deny that Snape was one of the most brilliant wizards who ever lived. He's no Dumbledore or Tom Riddle, but of all the other witches and wizards in Harry Potter's world, none is described as being as well known for inventing his own powerful spells as Professor Snape.
3) His instinct to protect Draco Malfoy: When Draco is tasked with murdering Dumbledore Snape cannot help but agree to protect him, and even complete the job for him if necessary. He cares so much for Draco (who let's face it, annoying as he is is just a scared and troubled young man) that he agrees to the Unbreakable Vow, thus forfeiting his own life if he does not do as he's agreed. This seems pretty villainous at the time, but we later find out that he was asked by Dumbledore to do this.
4) His repeated failures to take over the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Come on, who doesn't love to watch someone as irritating as Snape is (especially in the early books) lose out on something he wants so badly over and over again. It's pretty adorable really.
5) His abuse at the hands of James and Sirius: Don't get me wrong, I love Sirius Black. He is one of my very favorite characters, EVER (it doesn't hurt in the least that he was played by possibly the most talented actor who has ever lived in the films, Gary Oldman). But ... he was a bit of a dick when he was in school. So was Harry's dad, James. They were very cruel to Snape. And come on, we're mostly all writers here, who wasn't a bit of a social pariah in school? Kids can be pretty cruel sometimes.
6) His willingness to act as a double agent against Lord Voldemort throughout the Second Wizarding War: Let's get one thing straight. Voldemort was a scary mofo. He was as evil as they come. And powerful. It takes great courage to oppose such as man as Harry and Dumbledore and many others did, but it takes a different kind of bravery, and honor, to serve such a man to his face, even as you undermine him behind his back. Severus Snape had the largest pair of diamond hard balls that any character from literature has ever possessed. EVER.
7) Dumbledore's absolute and unshakable trust in his loyalty: Of course this is proven to be fully warranted in the end, but let's discuss it a little further. Snape is pretty annoying throughout most of the books but towards the end we do begin to learn that Dumbledore trusts him absolutely. There is no wiser man or better judge of character in the history of the world (muggle, wizarding or otherwise) than Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, so if you've got his trust, you've got my sympathy.
8) Harry names one of his sons after him, because that son has Harry's mother, Lily's exact eyes: There is no question that Harry hates Severus for most of this entire tale, with a passion. Harry is a passionate but sometimes petulant young man, and it isn't until the very end, and the epilogue, that his true respect for Snape is revealed.
9) He was in Slytherin, but has an awesome Death Eater tattoo: You really can't help but feel bad for anyone who was ever sorted into Slytherin house, at least a little bit. Besides, even though it's meaning is quite evil, that Death Eater tattoo is pretty damn cool.
10) "I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death.": This has got to be one of the most famous introductory lines of dialogue ever. It was incredible writing already in the book, but when Alan Rickman delivered the line in the film, this character and the sinister romance of his story was solidified for people everywhere.
I could go on. This is one of the greatest stories ever told, and Professor Severus Snape is one of the most powerfully compelling characters in it. Instead of going on arguing my point, I'll just share some fun quotes with you. Some of these are directly from the books, some are slightly adapted because of the films.
"[Snape] was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew." —Harry Potter
Snape: "…it is not up to you to find out what the Dark Lord is saying to his Death Eaters." Harry Potter: "No — that's your job, isn't it?" Snape: "Yes, Potter. That is my job."
Dolores Umbridge: "You applied first for Defence Against the Dark Arts post, is that correct?" Severus Snape: "Yes." Dolores Umbridge: "But you were unsuccessful?" Severus Snape: "…Obviously."
Dumbledore: "After all this time, Severus?" Snape: "Always." — Dumbledore and Snape discussing Snape's continued love for Lily Evans in Snape's last memory, as viewed by Harry Potter.
And now, just to lighten the mood a little, I'll leave you with this:
