Those who are dead are not dead

Am I really all the things that are outside of me?

2009-12-22T20:08:40Z

News. Hm. Well Singer's making the new X-movie, so that's good, right? I was super glad for break to finally come, and got out of the northeast right before that blizzard supremely screwed up flights and all that good stuff. My family is crazy, in other news. Some interesting drama with mock, and I think I saw someone I know on the ski slopes yesterday. PLUS I AM OFFICIALLY A BETTER SNOWBOARDER THAN MY SISTER.

Happy Christmas/Merry Hanukkah/Beneficial Atheism Day, everyone.

"If it's true, you really don't stand a chance."

2009-12-04T17:15:18Z

OMG DH sneak peek. Um, don't watch if you don't want spoilers... I guess?

Dh Teaser - HP7 clip, zomg

In other news - I want them to let Singer make another Superman movie. I watched TDK last night and it's still awesome. Same for Star Trek. A new Bart book scheduled for next fall = a vast improvement in my life.

I need to write, but I'm far too busy to bother. Ohhhhh well.

Research papers write themselves... right?

2009-10-08T00:06:23Z

Because I have nothing to better to do, I wrote the beginning of something random. Who knows if I pursue it - probably not, but tell me what you think.

Three days after Harry died Neville began to dream.

Even in dreams he attempted to tell himself that Harry wasn't dead, that Harry couldn't die, that Harry had disappeared – and there was a difference. It didn't matter what people said, what the Aurors found, what the Muggle police found, what all logic told him; until someone found Harry's body, until someone found his heart or his skull or a tiny bit of flesh marked with a lightning-bolt scar, then he wasn't dead. He was disappeared.

And there was a difference.

The dreams tended to not make very much sense. Nothing did in the waking world, for that matter, but the dreams were absurd; visions of rabbits with swords and hula hoops, a hedge maze of licorice stalks, a woman's yellowed teeth and a dark laugh, the same words over and over: “It's a collection, a collection; I swallow your destiny,” she said, and then her mouth would open wide and he'd be sucked in and would have to hold onto her tonsils for dear life.

He had Harry's glasses on his nightstand. That had been all they'd found, save for a few drops of blood (Harry's, accordingly). They'd been given to him, because Ron had left the scene weeping and screaming and Hermione had retreated to one of the Ministry's public restrooms shortly after and hadn't been heard from since. The glasses shone alone in the dark of his small room, dulled only when he lit the lamp and threw his legs over the side of the bed.

He dressed in a suit he'd bought eight months prior, back during the war. There had been a need to make a run to a Muggle town for news updates of an attack, and it had been an excellent opportunity to stock up on Muggle supplies that could aid in the effort. The suit, he'd thought, would help him fit in. It hadn't, and everything he'd bought had been a waste, and there wasn't much news in the Muggle press, but it was quite a sharp suit and he hadn't worn it since, which was a shame.

He pocketed his wand, glanced at the nightstand, and exited the room.

Tom said hello on his way out – poor old Tom, near dead from the strain of the war – and Neville said hello back, because that was the polite thing to do. Muggle London seemed not to have realized that the world's greatest hero had disappeared (but not died, mind you), and something about that was comforting and depressing at the same time.

He rode the Tube to Kensington and back, for no other reason than to waste time. He liked the sensation of the train cars, whirring along mechanically and unknowingly, and he liked being pressed against other people who didn't care for bacteria and the grime of the metal cars or the thought of not being invincible.

More than anything, though, he was waiting. He waited until 9:00, then 9:15, and soon it was half past the hour. But he waited.

Fifteen minutes to ten, at Tower Hill, the man in the wide-brimmed hat stepped on the train and didn't look at Neville, and Neville waited.

The man stood still near the door, head pointed downward and face covered by the wide-brimmed hat. Neville got off at West Kensington and waited.

The man with the wide-brimmed hat also exited the train, which Neville noticed through a reflection on the display case. Neville walked out of the station, took a right into an alley, and slowly walked.

He heard no footsteps.

He walked past a cat, which stared at him and then behind him and hissed loudly before scattering off.

Neville spun on his heel, wand out.

The man with the wide-brimmed hat grinned.

“Who are you?” Neville demanded in his most menacing tone, something that the last three years of puberty had significantly aided.

The man replied in a crackling voice: “Is that an introduction?”

“Who are you?” Neville demanded again. He shoved the wand forward.

“I am an old friend,” said the man, and he bowed, flourishing his hat and revealing sandy, thistly hair beneath, curled at the ears. “A man of great talent and little ambition. Much like yourself, I would say – am I right?”

“Why are you following me? You've been following me for three days.”

The man's hat was back on and he stared at the wand. “I wanted to talk. To introduce myself. I know things are going very badly, very badly indeed, but I just wanted to talk to you. I think we are going to be excellent friends.”

He grinned again, and his face stretched like the Cheshire Cat. Neville threw a Stunner at him but the man was gone.

Neville swore and the cat howled.

ZOMG BIG BANG

2009-09-19T17:31:07Z

Oh my God the hermionebigbang archive is finally open and that's so cool and there's so many stories including mine, but more importantly the artwork - I WANT TO SEE ALL THE ARTWORK. MY GOD.

I've only seen the artwork for mine so far but please please please check it out because it is so sparkly and nice and prettyful and all those things and I want to shoot off internet fireworks because it's so cool!!!

The table of contents for my story, but skip that crap and go to 9/10 at the bottom, which are the art pieces by ghot and paperflowered .

SRSLY.

_bowles_ @ 2009-09-16T22:09:00

2009-09-17T02:14:28Z

So I finally trolled on over to Jonathan Stroud's blog for the first time in a long long while to see this madness that he's posted saying he's aiming to release another Barty-related book next autumn along with the Amulet graphic novel. !!!!!!!! is all I can say. I'm hoping that maybe with the graphic novel and this new thing maybe the ball will finally get rolling for a movie. Decent movie, mind you.

Also thought it was interesting that Heroes of the Valley was one of the six books included in that care package Obama and others were seen on TV putting together a while back.

/nerd

Spidey vs Mickey

2009-08-31T18:00:33Z

I'm trying to decide whether to be excited that Disney bought Marvel. I mean, they haven't screwed around with Pixar's production, so at least the movies won't be affected - hopefully, since Marvel seems to have figured out what they're doing for the most part - and this probably means the Marvel cartoons will get more airtime. And let's be honest, some intervention in the comic area wouldn't be that bad of an idea (*cough* ASM).

Eh.

Neda, I still believe.

2009-06-21T09:32:10Z

TEHRAN — The Iranian police commander, in green uniform, walked up Komak Hospital Alley with arms raised and his small unit at his side. “I swear to God,” he shouted at the protesters facing him, “I have children, I have a wife, I don’t want to beat people. Please go home.”

A man at my side threw a rock at him. The commander, unflinching, continued to plead. There were chants of “Join us! Join us!” The unit retreated toward Revolution Street, where vast crowds eddied back and forth confronted by baton-wielding Basij militia and black-clad riot police officers on motorbikes.

Roger Cohen.

I know I'm a guy and all that bullshit that comes with it and maybe I'm not supposed to say this but that makes me want to cry. Hard. Maybe I'm just sentimental because of the last month and what's happened (really, what hasn't happened?!), but oh my God wow.

Don't watch the Neda video. Read the story, but I really would advise against watching the video. I don't know how I'm going to get to sleep after that.

This was a depressing entry. But I'm depressed. Which is weird, because it's been a wild time recently with some ups and downs and deaths and summer break time and etc, but what can I say.

As far as actual updates on my life - I'm working on my hermionebigbang story, which I should finish by the time I'm out of town, and I'm really excited about it. It centers around Remus and Hermione and the nature of magic and has been loads of fun so far, even if I should be working on that right now rather than making myself weep over foreign revolutions.

And I'm seeing Oasis in Coventry! My God. I was going to put that in caps, but it seems kind of silly now compared to the rest of my post.

I'm done.

Wolverine and Nancy Pelosi

2009-05-04T04:57:34Z

I saw Wolverine on Friday night. I wasn't expecting much from the reviews, but it was an enjoyable, decent popcorn flick. The fanboys/girls will throw a shitfit over it but I would see another movie like it. Hugh Jackman is great as Wolverine, and I liked Reynolds as Wade Wilson and whoever the hell played Gambit (a character I usually don't like). Schreiber was decent as Sabretooth.

The script was absolutely shit, although there were some genuinely funny moments, but the film did too much of the looking up into the sky and screaming "Nooooo!" kind of thing. My favorite line: "They finally figured out how to shut you up!"

(SPOILERS)

For another spinoff, I want to see not a Deadpool film and a Gambit film, but a Deadpool & Gambit film. I want a film that's half metafiction and half buddy road movie, and another half badass action flick. I want Gambit as he's walking away from Three Mile to find Deadpool in the rubble, I want Deadpool's costume, and I want the two to randomly go around on adventures, spoofing comic book movies with Deadpool's irreverent humor and spending half their time blowing up shit and half their time making fun of pop culture. I want the format to be halfway between Burn Notice and Ferris Bueller's Day Off in that Deadpool often stops to address the audience, and I really want a fight scene in which Deadpool is talking into the camera and another angle shows Gambit looking over in between punches to see Wilson speaking into thin air. And I want an interrogation scene, one where in the middle Deadpool uses a gruff voice and barks, "WHERE'S RACHEL?!" to the confusion of the suspect.

But that's just me.

Last night was awfully crazy, I wish I taped it... but enough about that.

I slept til 3:45 today and had the opportunity to meet Nancy Pelosi at a huge mansion thanks to a friend. She impressed me much more in person than she does through the media. I've been studying for the past two hours and should probably get to bed, although I would also like to mention that I have some badass new t-shirts featuring Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Luigi, and Batman. So yeah.

I know what it's like to be dead

2009-04-11T06:01:37Z

I would just like to note that my icon makes me sad now.

Oh Kutner.

You thought you might be a ghost

2009-03-14T21:16:21Z

So I'm leaving for Tampa Bay tomorrow on a bus for 20-odd hours. OH JOY. Packing has been a blast. If you enjoy folding clothes over and over and then packing them and trying to find room to squeeze them into your suitcase. If you don't enjoy such activities, then you probably wouldn't have found it entertaining.

School and all has been insane recently. It's been great, mostly, some major surprises and minor disappointments but for the most part life is good and very, very busy. I've been feeling very nostalgic. Found out some stuff about my family that I didn't know before, so that's probably just added to it. Spring is finally coming and it has been a very Harmonious weekend spent on Portkey's archives (so far).

Six word poem of the day:

Outward, weary traveler: the universe waits.

"I've always been with you, Jack."

2009-02-12T06:30:48Z

I am in the process of catching up on the Lost I missed last week (I've gotten into this show all of a sudden and OMG). Daniel and Locke and Juliet are a recipe for success and I will never get tired of Ben or Jack and Kate's sexual tension (or Sawyer and Juliet's, for that matter).

Stole this meme from coin

1. Take four books off your bookshelf.
2. Write the first sentence
3. Write the last sentence on page fifty
4. Write the second sentence on page one hundred
5. Write the next to the last sentence on page one hundred fifty
6. Write the final sentence of the book
7. Tag four people [eh.]

The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker.
1) On September 11, 2001, at 8:46 A.M., a hijacked airliner crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York.
2) In some of the experimental variations, mooping referred to something in a conspicuous manner, like zigzagging a wet sponge over to a wet purple cloth.
3) Recall that Fodor also claims that words for complex concepts are no harder to use and learn than words for simple ones.
4) Word meanings can vary across languages because children assemble and fine-tune from more elementary concepts.
5) We can do this even as our minds flicker with the agonists and antagonists, the points and lines and slabs, the activities and accomplishments, the gods and sex and effuvia, and the sympathy and deference and fairness that make up the stuff of thought.

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
1) On May 18, 1860, the day when the Republican Party would nominate its candidate for president, Abraham Lincoln was up early.
2) The only schools in rural Kentucky and Indiana were subscription schools, requiring families to pay a tuition.
3) Like the ancient Greeks, Lincoln seemed to believe that "ideas of a person's worth are tied to the way others, both contemporaries and future generations, perceive him."
4) Though Lincoln did not drink, smoke tobacco, use profane language, or engage in games of chance, he never condescended to those who did.
5) She was sixty-three in 1882 when her oft-stated longing for death was fulfilled at last.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.
1) Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians.
2) Despite Mr Norrell's tuttings and suckings-in of air at every new revelation, there's no doubt that this conversation did him good.
3) He was a great reader of the more exciting sort of history - and his head was full of ancient battles in which the English were outnumbered by the French and doomed to die, when all at once would be heard the sound of strange, unearthly music, and upon a hilltop would appear the Raven King in his tall, black helmet with its mantling of raven-feathers streaming in the wind; and he would gallop down the hillside on his tall, black horse with a hundred human knights and a hundred fairy knights at his back, and he would defeat the French by magic.
4) "When they discover that they are consorting with a servant I am sure they will feel the insult very keenly."
5) Then he turned upon his heel and disappeared into the Darkness.

Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud (signed! bwahahahaha).
1) Listen then, and I'll tell you again of the Battle of the Rock.
2) Hesitantly, precariously, Leif got to his feet, his boots slipping and sloughing in the mire.
3) "...We shall proclaim your vile hospitality from the rooftops, and also sing songs of your dwarfish nephew, so ugly that the mountains turn their backs on him and rivers burst their banks when he kneels to drink."
4) "Yes, take it between your fingers." (...okay don't misinterpret that.)
5) Sleep tight.

That was actually pretty fun.

They are turning my head out.

2009-02-10T04:29:41Z

I'm listening to 'Lovers in Japan' and randomly some muscle near my stomach started spasming along to the beat. It was odd.

(Did I mention I love this album? Yes?)

I've got a lot to do. When I say that I mean noshitI'vegotalottodookay. But in three months this should all be done, good riddance.

Don't know what to think about the newest A-Rod controversy. I watched Obama's press conference for a while and remembered why I've been such a political geek over the last year. I'm about to start a new book. I want to write but I'm too tired to make myself.

That is all.

Stroud and the Cardinals

2009-02-02T04:05:38Z

So I read Stroud's new book, Heroes of the Valley, last Friday. A little slow at the beginning, but the writing is lovely, and the end of the book is alternatingly chilling, amusing, and thrilling. I recommend it to anyone who loved Bartimaeus, or just anyone who loves fantasy or myth or whatever.

And then TODAY I went and saw Stroud speak! He was great, really funny and really engaging, and some of the audience's tidbits were amusing. And I got a chance to speak with him afterward when he was signing, so that was very cool.

Super Bowl was great, although I was rooting for the Cardinals. My friend was irritating me, but nothing is new.

The Office = love.

Top 12 House episodes, IMHO

2009-01-28T04:05:53Z

Randomly, because I can.

1) No Reason
2) Three Stories
3) Wilson's Heart
4) Merry Little Christmas
5) All In
6) Meaning
7) Son of Coma Guy
8) Need to Know
9) The Mistake
10) Half-Wit
11) Detox
12) Ugly

Yes, I'm bored. And yes, I realize that there are none from this season, although I haven't seen more than like 4 episodes so that's one of the reasons. That and the fact that the new team is still being developed as far as character goes, although Thirteen's actually become semi-interesting.

The Lame Bookie, 2009 version

2009-01-14T05:03:26Z

Another list much like this one for 2008. For myself more than anyone because my memory is shite.

READ

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (1-9-09)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (1-15-09)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (1-17-09)
House and Philosophy edited by Henry Jacobsen (1-23-09)
Heroes of the Valley by Jonathan Stroud (1-30-09)
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (2-4-09)
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (2-9-09)
The Angel Maker by Stefan Brijs (2-13-09)
Hamlet by William Shakespeare (2-16-09)
Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings (Penguin Classics) by Rene Descarte (3-18-09)
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (3-25-09)
The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie (3-30-09)
The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly (6-10-09)
The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner (8-2-09)
The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria (8-6-09)
The City & The City by China Mieville (9-16-09)
Nets by Jen Bervin (9-25-09)
Take It by Joshua Beckman (9-27-09)
War By Candlelight by Daniel Alarcon (10-10-09)
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower (10-23-09)
Electronic and Experimental Music by Thom Holmes (10-28-09)
The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt (11-16-09)
Quantum of Solace by Ian Fleming (11-22-09)
X-Men and Philosophy edited by Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski (12-18-09)

READ, GOT BORED AND QUIT HALFWAY THROUGH

The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker (February 09). I know this guy is apparently the master of horror or some b.s. but I got 400 pages into this 700 page novel and it never grabbed me. The characters were flat and boring. It tries so hard to be deep and thought-provoking but it's just too hard to care about the plot. The two interesting characters are rarely seen (one of them isn't seen after about pg 150, and the other shows up in the beginning and in the middle for about a chapter) and the only other good character dies as soon as you meet him. Maybe it's because I'd just read two excellent horror books (Let the Right One In and The Angel Maker) but it's hard to even call this horror. It's just boring action. And to be perfectly truthful, The Angel Maker wasn't really horror, just a drama disguised in a horror story.

This quasi-philosophical novel bored me to the point where I went to Borders and bought three actual books of philosophy as a fun diversion. Yeah. Descartes is more exciting than Barker.

BOOKS I WILL SOMEDAY FINISH

The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money by John Maynard Keynes. Started this the day after Thanksgiving - 5 months later, still working on it. I'm annotating (excuse) and on like 250 now. I understand it all right but damn this book is hard to read. I cannot wait to strike through this paragraph and put it under "Read".

Jamba Juice is a meal

2009-01-04T04:03:44Z

I was sick Wednesday (didn't even eat!) and Thursday with what I guess was the flu - or at least that's what I've been told, I'm kind of dumb when it comes to these things - but DON'T PANIC - yes, I DID hear "Imagine" play and watch the New Year in! (I woke up from my nap in time.)

I actually wrote today and hopefully will write more later tonight and read Wuthering Heights. But it's me so let's not get our hopes up, yeah?

I'm really not at all excited to go back to school buttttttttttttttttt... such is life. The playoff games today have been good so far - up on the 2 minute warning of the Colts-Chargers game!

Hollatcha boy if you feel like it.

"Get off my lawn."

2008-12-31T05:55:30Z

Saw Gran Torino tonight and loved it. Clint Eastwood as Walt - one of the best characters in film this year. No joke.

Still need to see a lot of movies. Looking forward to Watchmen (saw another trailer), although it looks like it'll get pushed back because of the Fox lawsuit.

I'm sleepy.

On a lighter note, I've got 8 brand spankin' new albums to listen to! (I am that cool.)

ukulele bridge is falling offffff

2008-12-25T20:22:39Z

I got surprised with a badass ukulele and IT BROKE!

Dios mios!

But it's been an interesting day with the family and we're about to go over to my aunt's to see everyone and it should be fun.

Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. And more than anything... happy Thursday!

Farewell, sweet bastard.

2008-12-21T05:53:35Z

I just went to the last game ever at Texas Stadium...

And I will now proceed to light myself on fire.

It's love between the hawk and the dove

2008-12-14T07:26:55Z

So. Hellooooooo!

I've got a Tufts interview (hopefully) soon although the guy needs to call me back. Hopefully I don't completely blow it. But we shall see, no?

The Cowboys are going to hell, but that's no surprise. UT has been screwed over... kind of... but then again I'm quite biased.

I wanted to do karaoke tonight but I was too far down the list and it was quite tragic. Oh well. WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION.

I need to write some more. As usual.

I haven't talked to everyone in AGES ~~EONS ERAS DECADES FIVE MINUTES ETC~~. And I like Dr. Pepper. That thought just occurred to me.

Ohhhhhh bed.

Trivia Turkey Bowl: AARP zombies vs We Are Young (except Erin)

2008-11-28T01:48:37Z

Thanksgiving! And the Cowboys won and Ware got the Gobbler while I was wearing (Ware-ing) my Ware jersey. Woooohooo. The Lions are really terrible.

So I kind of saw Twilight. Except for the terrible special effects, lame villains, and cheesy dialogue, it was actually pretty entertaining. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson worked well together, and the dad(s) were great.

And so then I kind of read the 12 chapters of Midnight whatever posted online, even though I haven't read the books. Not sure if I'd even want to go further - Twilight to me is a much stronger high school story than fantasy/horror book - but it was really interesting, because everything Edward did seemed so logical. Even the stalkering, and it kind of creeps me out that that would ever seem logical. Moving on...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

...BUT that was when I ruled the world.

2008-11-25T06:27:15Z

JESUS CHRIST Viva la Vida get out of my head! I love this song but HOT DAMN. ~~I can't stop hearing Jerusalem bells a-ringing, Roman cavalry choirs singing... (terrible joke.)~~

Went to my last game in Texas Stadium and they wonnnnn! pwnz0rs! And I saw Quantum of Solace today and thought it was really good. Between QS and Role Models it's been a damn good weekend, and hopefully Zack and Miri will just make it better ~~and Twilight won't suck~~.

Keynes is incredibly difficult but enlightening.

Chris Martin quote of the day: if you're from Texas, won't you let me know? (Yeah I totally went to that concert on Wednesday. Booyakasha.)

That was when I ruled the world.

2008-11-17T05:41:07Z

So it's been a pretty good couple of days what with the playoff win and the Cowboys win tonight and sleeping in and reading and actually doing my homework for a change.

But I'm sad for Obama because he won't be able to use e-mail any more! Poor guy. I don't know what he'll do now when he wants to talk to people!!!! ~~"So yeah, I'm calling you from that red phone in the Oval Office..."~~

Did you know that coins actually land heads-sides up a slight majority of the time? Just saying.

Random thought of the day: Whatever happened to Louis XVII?

I'm thorougly modern.

2008-11-14T05:09:55Z

Today I went and got Chipotle and saw the school play (the Crawfather as an Asian mother?!!!) and got some books and I saw that IT WAS GOOD.

Yesterday I wrote two really fun sonnets in English! So hooray poetry.

Which reminds me.

Six-word poem of the day (thank you Ernest Hemingway):

Unstopped worldwide genocide, and everyone's guilty.

"She looks HUMAN!"

2008-11-13T04:59:55Z

...FTW. EFF TEE DUBYOU.

There are no words.

(I'd be really disappointed if they airbrushed Obama too much... what would we do without the Obamole near his nose?!)

My brain went 'splodey.