Deathly Hallows… SPOILERS

These spoilers are not huge, but if you are touchy about knowing too much ahead-of-time, stop reading.  I’ve gotten a bit of advanced sneaky peaky info and extended images before the release of DEATHLY HALLOWS PART I.  How I’m going to wait is beyond me.

I’ll start with a plea—please, parents, do NOT over-estimate your child’s maturity level.  This movie is not for little ones.  I’d say 12 and over minimum.  There are not just deaths of well loved characters.  Children will die.  Main characters will be tortured.  The film WILL be rated PG-13.

Perhaps the most striking decision was to include the mind-wiping of Hermione Granger’s muggle parents, who have remained anonymous and invisible (but for that tiny glimpse in Chamber at the book store).  Her sacrifice took place before the beginning of HALLOWS in JK Rowling’s novel.  Including it here is not only heart-breaking, but drives home the theme of ultimate sacrifice.

Among the much-speculated-what-if scenes: the burial of Dobby.  Harry digs the grave and Hermione cradles him in her arms.  There was a lot of concern that it would be cut, as many of his post-Chamber scenes were.

HALLOWS is one part road film and three parts war epic. 

Technorati Tags: harry potter,deathly hallows,spoilers,sneak previews

I Got It!!

 

The last Mini Cupcake Maker at CVS.  It was quite the wrestling match, too.  Nasty woman in a manky babushka attempted to snatch it from my loving arms, but I hip-checked her and made a break for it.

It did not come with a recipe book, which in a way… well, that’s comforting.  I like that the directions are… warm it up til the green light goes on and bake the cupcakes for 8 minutes. That’s it.

That’s what I want.  Easy, stupid-simple.  It also makes muffins.  If you think I am letting a single day go by without creating legions of weenie muffins you do not know me very well at all.

I’m in my happy zone! 

Testing 1, 2, 3..

 

If you haven’t discovered it yet, Windows Live Writer is a standard install when you update Windows 7.  This is my first time using it to post to my blog.  So any screw-ups are Microsoft’s, not mine.

It will appear in your windows Start Menu.  First time opening it prompted me through a simple fill-in-the-blank menu, and connected to blogger.  Then I got a wordpad window with my blog layout in front of me.  So far so good, right?

I inserted a photo, adjusted the alignment and margins with button-clicks, and finished typing.

So here goes… hitting PUBLISH.  Let’s see what happens!

Miss Bramble and the Leviathan Out Today!

Kristen Painter's Awesome New Steampunk Romance is Available NOW!

Blurb from My Bookstore and More:

The last thing she planned to steal was his heart.

The Company. Military institution, protector of Praeton and the nation of Grand Isle. Dirty rotten thief.

When Pandora Bramble steps aboard the Company’s premiere airship Daedalus it’s not for the exclusive VIP tour. It’s to secure proof that the Company stole the regulator valve her father designed—even if it means tearing the engine apart. Foiled by the unexpected appearance of a handsome crew member, she despairs of ever getting another chance—until he kisses her.

Captain Theolonius Hatch, sentenced to engine room duty for refusing to take part in the Company’s fleet week activities, never dreamed a woman like Pandora existed. Her brains match her beauty, a combination that adds up to more trouble than he ever expected.

As Pandora allows Theolonius to sweep her into a whirlwind courtship, her wildest dreams come true. As do her greatest fears, leaving her to decide what matters most. Loyalty…or love.

The clock is ticking.

Product Warning

This book contains airships, mechanical owls, women who are good with tools, men in and out of uniform, steam generated by engines and people, and some hot carriage scenes.

Order now: HERE

Cool Crap of the Day

Ok... I spent some time in bed getting over an exposure to fumes. That probably sounds like a bad thing. It could have been. But I finally got my hands on some DVDs missing from my collection, and a few other fun things made it bearable... including that lovely man unit of mine!

But by far the best discovery was this little gem of a book... DICK AND JANE AND VAMPIRES. Anyone who (like myself) was subjected to these gawdawful readers in first and second grade remembers Dick, Jane, their stupid dog Tip, and the rest of the gang. But they didn't have vampires.

Til now.

Regrets I Failed to Have

This afternoon I sat down in a cafe and was surprised to see my mother's sister glance at me, then take a seat three chairs down. She had absolutely no idea who I was. I was moderately surprised, because I haven't changed THAT much and I do see her at a distance often. Perhaps those occasions were one-way-spottings.

We don't have any direct contact with one another and that's a good thing. There are people in the world who simply can't quite wrap their heads around such a notion, I know. None of them were related to Hitler, Stalin, Hussein... at least I suppose they weren't. We can want our family members to be good people. We can even love them in spite of a failure to realize that hope. But when bad people remain broken, the wisest and safest thing to do is remove yourself.

I removed myself before many others in my family did. It was hardest on my mother, I think, because she is used to cherishing her anger. Truly releasing somebody from your life means you let the anger die, too. You stop feeding it.

Which is why, I think, I am writing this. It all feels very odd. And even as I AM typing this my uncle has just leaned over to whisper in my aunt's ear. And she has realized that she is sitting three chairs away from her niece. And now she has gone pale, tense, and angry. I reach for an emotion of some kind and can't find anything more than the natural curiosity of an analytical mind, and a vague sense of absurdity. I have no regret or pain, no sorrow. I find myself wondering of the ghostly impulse to laugh is a phantom manifestation of the latter.

In the end, though, I guess what I really am is glad not to regret.