I.can.not.put.it.down

Last Thursday I got the new Harry Potter book, and I have not been able to put the book down ever since. I got real busy Friday and Saturday but Sunday, I sat most of the day reading, yes me the ever on the run Mexican, literally sat down after brunch and read for 3 hours or more. It helped that the Argentine had made brunch and I was reading next to me, but it has been one of the first times in a while that I have been able to just sit and read. It is a great book, of course if you have not read the previous books I would suggest starting with book 1 or book 3, there are parts you can always skip, but starting with book 4 you have to read them all to understand the many challenges Harry, Hermione and Ron are facing from page 1.

I am not planning on giving anything away, but I do believe that it is amazing how this tale of “the boy who lived” has taken over the world. The main reason is that it is a great story, with characters that are likable, no adorable and real, we call in some way identify with one/several of the characters. The adventures are interesting, of course there is a lot of belief in them, and sometimes the writing gets a wee-bit corny, but at least for me, when I sit down and start reading any of these books, time flies. I am transported to a different place and I can not get enough. I am purposely reading this book slowly, because I want to savor it, to enjoy every page and every description.

Yesterday, in the Charlotte airport, I stopped at a pen store to get some ink for my fountain pen –yes, stop rolling your eyes, you all know I am terrible snob and yes I love writing with a fountain pen. I asked for the ink cartridges, and I put the book on the counter. The lady in the store, showed the color of the inks they had and then asked if I was enjoying the book, I told her I was, and that I could not put it down. She have me the two boxes, and said I read it last week and finished it in 5 days.

So here is to Miss Rowling who has managed to put a spell on the world.

Notes on a Monday

Its 4:40 am and DC is hot and humid, it’s horrible. I can only begin to think how bad it is going to be later in the day.

I walk into the airport and see people, lots of people, sleeping on the ground wrapped in blue blankets. The storm probably stranded people. Five minutes after I got my boarding pass and walk to the security line, I see 500 people ahead of me. They all looked like refugees of some catastrophe or other. Only the business travelers (me included) were not wearing summer clothes, nor were we wearing the blue blankets as ponchos or “wraps”. The security line was so bad, where is the TSA when you need them that I got to my gate a minute before they stated boarding. Let’s just say I was starving all the way till the office.

In true DC fashion, John McCain was waiting next to me in the security line. Sans entourage, or luggage. He is much smaller than I thought, not that I can point fingers but …

Finished reading the book for book club, and I am still deciding whether I liked the book or not. Some of the themes it explored were very interesting, but it seemed to lack cohesiveness. For those that have read it, what do u think of “The Crying of Lot 49”?

Trying to decide on a good book to choose for the Month of October for book club , anyone out there has read anything worth reading and discussing ? Preferably shorter, ie no more than 300 pages. Let me know, cuz I am running out of ideas.

So far that has been my Monday

Harry Potter and the Wilkes Y

Tuesday night, well more like early evening I made myself go to the Y. There was nothing to do anyway, and the show I wanted to see, Damages, was not on until 10 pm. I left the office, went and had some horrible passport pictures taken, and finally the gym. I get on the elliptical and run for an hour – at this time I do realize that yes, GCC I should be lifting weights not just doing cardio, but at this time I am so out of shape I need to start somewhere – and I let me mind roam.
• There they are the cute little twinks – if they are straight are they twinks? – That think they rule the gym. Its cute they come in all shapes and sizes, there are the clean cut ones, and the tattooed all bad ass ones.
• There is the military guy
• Over there are the little girls, also knows and the groupies of the twinks, they are trying to use the machines, to not much success.
• Finally something that grabs my attention, this woman reading on the bike in front of me, it’s a big book – one of those hard covers with probably 800 pages – she is in page 253, I can see she is right in front of me. Then I see what king of typography it is, I also notice the yellow and red in the dust cover and realize she is reading “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”. Imagine that, someone reading J.K. Rowling in Wilkesboro, I mean this upright Christian town, some one is reading witchcraft in public. I took my headphones off and asked about the book, she has read all previous books and she was really enjoying this one. I asked for no spoilers, but felt so happy to have a token Potter spirit here.

Then my mind wandered off, again, thinking I should stretch and after 58 minutes I decided enough was enough. I went over to the free weight area and stretched for 10 minutes or so, and then skipped to the hotel, where I proceeded to eat dinner and knit my way through Damages. It is a good show, but I guess I will have to watch the next episode to see if I really like it.
How exciting is my life eh ?

My morning

Today the flight left 30 minutes late, and instead of a rant and a litany of complains and nonsense, I decided to take a picture, it was taken at 7:00 am somewhere between DC and Charlotte.

Today was a long day, and I was in a fowl mood, due to a person in the office who managed to single handedly send me to the hotel at 5 instead of 6, but there are days when all you can do i just go to your room, order sushi and watch Bravo and the Food Network to turn the brain off.

Post number 101

Ok, I know, I am lazy, but had some other pictures, from Amsterdam, that I wanted to share:

Post number 100

Some pretty pictures, since i am almost done with a document I am writting and have no energy to come up with something witty.

Forgetful Knitter

Last week I worked in DC, mostly because the 4^th fell on a Wednesday and it made no sense to come here for 3 days only, and because I was going to State College for the weekend. Friday morning, I had to go get some results from the Dr, and then go to the DMV and then pack for both trips. I thought I was being crafty and packing well in advance. I put everything for PA in one bag and everything for Wilkes, on my usual roller bag. So that is that, I go to State College, have a terrific time -see the Argentine’s blog for more details- and come back Sunday. We go to dinner, and a movie (Transformers, very enjoyable, very, a tad bit long, but cute) and go back home to pack up my laptops and the little things. I even manage to go to bed at 11, which gives me 5 hours of sleep.

Forward to Monday afternoon, when I check in to the hotel, and sushi in tow, I start unpacking and getting ready for my Monday routine of sushi, bad TV, and sleep. I finish dinner and start unpacking, everything looks good, pants, underwear, workout clothes, shoes, shirt, one polo … I mean 1 polo and 1 shirt, shit, I only packed 3 shirts, which means I have nothing to wear Thursday, and then I start looking for socks. They were no where to be found, no socks whatsoever. The worse part is I remember having them in my hand and putting them in the bag. Looked in the other compartments, nothing. Looked in the computer bag, nothing. I had forgotten them. So I go where I had never gone, Kohl’s and look for a shirt and socks. I just bought the later, I mean the shirts there were horrible and the smallest size was medium, and I am 5’3” people, no shirt in that store even remotely fit me, except as a sun dress. So went to the hotel, had a shirt washed and pressed and now I have 3 new pairs of navy socks, at least I managed to bring both my nave pants in this trip. Sheeeesh!!!

The flaps

Two weeks ago, I was flying back from Greensboro to DC, and in the middle of the flight a voice over the speaker said something about the plane being diverted to Dulles, that was the only intelligible part of the message, the rest was mumbling. I immediately perk up, I was finishing up the last book for book club and asked the person sitting in front if me if they had understood. They said they didn’t so I walk up to the stewardess and ask her, what was going on. She tells me there is a mechanical problem and that we are being taken to Dulles. Me, being me, instead of going quietly to my seat, I start asking why Dulles, the airports are 18 miles apart? Why not National, can’t they fix it there. Also I ask her who is paying for my cab to DC, I mean it is a 60 USD cab from Dulles to DC, not the usual 20 from National. She says she is not sure and that people will be there to help us. Well I almost through a hissy fit, and demand to talk to the pilot but then his voice comes over the speaker system and he tells us something about something not coming down, and that there would be some type of customer service waiting for us.

I storm back to my seat and one of my coworkers who was on the flight seats with me, and I ask him what the hell is the problem, and he tells me the flaps can not come down, and I have no clue what they are, so I just complain about having to take a cab, and being late for dinner and who is going to pay for the cab and all that. He stops me and explains how if the flaps do not come down we will not be able to land. Oh, shit! I think, not able to land, you mean they are going to keep us circling he sky until they work?. Anyway, we finally start out descent and I have talked to the stewardess again telling her I expect some help when we get to Dulles and sit and continue reading. Well the plain approaches the airport and we start to see the runway and the plane takes forever to land, I mean forever, it went for minutes on end. I even started to get worried, I mean, what if we do not make it, I started thinking, and we have been trying to land for 5 minutes now. Finally we bump 3 times and come to a stand still, and the fire trucks come to check the plain and it finally dawns on me that I am kind of lucky, to be there safe. So I shut up, until we get to the gate, and then I fight to get my luggage and be able to get on a cab … but that is another story.