harry potter blues

I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and I feel so depressed. I know it’s crazy to be affected like this by a book, but I can’t help it. And the fact that I’ve been feeling shitty lately just makes everything worse. *sigh*

I actually bought the first two Harry Potter books a few weeks back so I could convince my younger sister to start reading so she could be as smart as her Ate. And I also wanted to “review” Harry’s earlier years in Hogwarts before reading the sixth book.

Reading Books 1 and 2 made me remember why I didn’t get hooked on the series at first. Rowling’s writing is too simple and almost devoid of figures of speech. She’s also becoming more partial to writing long and sometimes winding dialogues among her characters, especially between Harry and Dumbledore, when the latter explains to Harry certain things in the past, like why Voldemort (*gasp!*) tried to kill him as a baby. And her books had the feel of a children’s story or even a fairy tale because they had endings which are derivatives of “and they all lived happily ever after” (or at least the first three; Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix are kinda sad). Not that I don’t want happy endings, see. I just can’t help but feel that Harry has too much luck on his side – it’s too good to be true. And it does get boring after a while, when you think that Harry can get away with anything.

To her credit, though, I love the wit and humor in her books, her quirky and lovable characters, and the weird but believable names she makes up. And I’ve started to be engrossed in the story as the missing pieces from the Wizarding world’s past are revealed. She could be descriptive and vivid, too, although as I’ve mentioned earlier, figures of speech are rare.

It’s a pity they’ve already made the movie versions before the series was even finished. Instead of buying the books, people would rather rent the video. And the movies don’t, and can’t, exactly capture the magic and subtlety of books and of reading. I just wish they let the series “mature” like LOTR and Narnia. Of course, maybe Rowling wasn’t too confident that her books would stand the test of time like the two classics. Or maybe the producers (or whoever) were really determined to turn the Harry Potter books into movies whether Rowling likes it or not. So she figured she would be better off as a part of it so she could prevent any unnecessary mutilation of her babies. Oh well.

In any case, I can’t wait for the seventh, and I’m hoping the last, book in the series. And I wish somebody would give us Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet to complete our collection. After all, my birthday is a little more than a month away. To quote Angela, I’m joking, but if you’re serious so am I. *big toothy smile*

Email from Lorie (sent December 3, 2005):

yup, it's really lip and cheek tint. :)

it's the only tube that looks that way in the store. the salesladies said it's the only one that's packaged like that. :)

my only complaint is that the salesladies were hounding me to buy something. really annoying.

take care!

Can you believe that I actually asked her to go to The Body Shop’s store just to find out what the damn thing is? I was that desperate.

[By the way, thank you, Andie and Jazmine, for your help in my lip-tint-or-lip-and-cheek-tint predicament, even though I read it weeks after the wedding. Heehee.]

So now, Lorie (and Ronamy), you see why I’d rather ask my friends about cosmetic brands than to go to the stores. I hate dealing with salespeople. I believe we have two kinds of salespeople. The first one thinks that every person coming into their store has oodles of cash and itching to get rid of it, thus pestering the hapless customer to buy products she probably won’t need. The second thinks that every person coming into their store has no money and is merely looking around, thus regarding her as a nuisance and ignoring her completely.

Anyway, back to the tint. I didn’t wear it for the wedding. Tita used her powder blush on me because she doesn’t know how to apply liquid blush. But make-up was the least of my worries that night. I swear, it was almost a complete fiasco.

We went to the church earlier because Tita, Tito and Tatay were part of the entourage, and Nanay was assigned to offer one of the gifts. A few minutes before the wedding was to start, I looked down on my feet and saw the strap of my beautiful gold open-toed two-and-a-half-inch heeled slip-on had come off. I was mentally kicking myself for forgetting to bring an extra pair because we were in a hurry. My walk down the (side) aisle was embarrassing: I had to drag my right foot so as not to leave the broken shoe behind. Since Tatay or Tito couldn’t drive me home, I had to ride a tricycle (we still don’t have jeepneys or taxis in our beautiful town). And riding in the open air could wreak havoc to your eyes especially of you’re wearing contacts.

The next best thing to those gold slip-ons were my leather boots with two-and-a-half-inch heels and pointy toes. But my boots were black, so the light brown leather bag I was using wouldn’t do. I had to transfer all my stuff to my black bag. By the time I returned to the church, the wedding was halfway through already.

Then the reception. Oh. My. Goodness. I was to lead the opening prayer, but I was already stressed out from the shoe strap incident, wala ako sa kondisyon. I had been hoping that the venue would have a podium so I could hide my shaking hands from the crowd, but the host was just holding the mic. I was so nervous that even my voice was trembling. And I was talking so fast that the solemnity of the moment wasn’t realized and the beauty of the prayer wasn’t appreciated. What a total embarrassment. Good thing I didn’t stumble on the steps while going back to my table.

But I did learn a lot of things that night.

Lesson 1: Ever the cynical Pau, I wasn’t too enthusiastic about this wedding from the beginning. The couple was in their late 30s and they were from different (almost at the extremes, actually) social standings. And they don’t exactly make the picture perfect couple, if you get what I mean. I thought they were just desperate to get hitched before they hit menopause/andropause (?!). But hearing their (love) story changed all these. Love indeed transcends everything.

Lesson 2: The families of both the bride and groom were very religious, so their messages to the couple (and to the guests as well) were focused on God. The recurring advice was that God should always come first. That made me realize why my past relationships failed dismally. We were missing God.

Lesson 3: As one of the godfathers said, God always listens. He may not answer right away, but He will answer, nevertheless, in His own time.

Lesson 4: What I learned in Theology was affirmed, that love is a choice and not a feeling. It is an act of will rather than a surge of emotions.

Lesson 5: I need to think positive lest I get all wrinkly and prune-faced before my 40s. For example, while on my way home to change my footwear, I was cursing the whole world for my rotten luck. I mean, of all days to have a broken shoe, right? But then again, it was good luck that I saw it before the wedding started. It could’ve been worse if it came off during the reception, and I would have to walk all the way up front hopping on one foot (or even barefoot) for the prayer. So even if it was a bad night, it could’ve been worse, and I should be thankful for that.

so sorry i can't update pa. believe it or not, a bum like me could be busy, too. you know, looking for pictures of galaxies and asteroids in the internet for my sister, reading the latest harry potter book, rereading old reader's digests, taking care of my beloved cats and dogs, etc. house blessing pa dito bukas so i should be fixing my room to make it look presentable for the priest tomorrow instead of surfing the internet. nyargh.

and while i'm here, help me with this. i really don't get this comic strip.

hey graviton pips. i already uploaded pictures from our get together. check them out in http://mimingkuting.multiply.com/photos/album/13.

happy browsing!