Hmmm…. new stills. The WIAN nut in me is slightly disappointed at the “revelation” of Flitwick’s first name. Further comments tomorrow. I just feel like going to sleep right now. Maybe reading a bit of “Good Omens”. I was highly amused at the DV2 reference to “The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter”. ::nods:: Evil dioramas. I need to get some sleep.

Why does blogger always seem to refuse to post the entries I most want to publish? ::kicks blogger::

My mom just told me the news. My grandfather died this evening. I don’t know how to react. We’d known for quite some time that he probably wasn’t going to live much longer, and on Friday he stopped eating. Now I can’t stop playing “Here, There, and Everywhere” on my stereo, trying to make my mind register that the place filled by my grandfather is suddenly vacant. I didn’t cry immediately. I only cried when my mom started talking about the stories of my adventures with my grandfather when I was just a toddler. But still, it was only a few tears. God, I cried more at the ending of “A.I.”. I feel like such a jerk because this isn’t bothering me more. An insensitive jerk. Apathetic. Uncaring. Papa was my first death in the family. I’ve never been to a funeral. Before this, the closest person to me to die was my Biology teacher, Mrs. Brennan. So why won’t tears come? Why am I not depressed and despondent, or retreating into my shell? This was my father’s father, for crying out loud. My link to the past. Had my sister been a boy, I would have been named after him! Priscilla Morris Spencer. My initials would have been PMS.

Morris Grady Spencer, 94, died at his home on October 8, 2001.

So why won’t this register?

Regarding character choices on my card for Rebecca: (posted on the Espresso Ferrets message board)

::laughs:: I just saw a guinnea pig and a ferret and the light just sort of went on in my head. Bob was an obvious candidate for Riff, but I had no idea where to put Procent and what do do for Ann. Now I think that I should have made Procent into Zoe by default (not a happy fit, though. Procent just doesn’t quite mesh with the established Sluggyverse), then made Sailoy Soyuz into Sasha, but that didn’t occur to me. I couldn’t remember any OC creations of Ann. Of course, a few hours after I finished Rebecca’s card, I remembered Ankhe. The little museum guy that hangs out with her would have made a highly amusing Torg. Oh well. Maybe I’ll redraw it for Christmas or something.

Worry not, Tanja! Your card is underway! School is hell.

My god! Why hadn’t I heard about all this before? A passenger jet collided with a smaller aircraft on the runway, then slammed into an airport building in Milan, Italy. The death of a man in Florida due to Anthrax triggers fears of bioterrorism. An explosion at a French chemical plant may have been initiated by a terrorist. A man hijacked and slit the throat of the driver of a Greyhound bus in Tennessee. A chartered plane was brought down over the Black Sea, possibly due to a wayward Ukranian missile. A U.N. helicopter was shot down in the breakaway region of Abkhazia, Georgia. I really need to talk with my friends about this. What else has gone on that I haven’t heard about? And I thought I had at least some grasp of current events!

Science lab of doom. Meh. I could care less about percent uncertainty. I need an orange juice break. Buggrit, millenium hand and shrimp.

Sorry if that last entry sounded nasty. “Idiot” was my first reaction. Yes, I know that I don’t have all the information. Yes, I know that the US and UK have put a lot of brainpower into this. Yes, I know that they probably had perfectly good reasons for doing this. I just don’t feel right about it. ::shrugs:: I guess we’re all entitled to our own opinions.

Okay, heart. You can start beating again.

I was coming back from lunch with my mom, and my mom was checking her voicemail messages. One message was from Marsha Foulks, my PSAT tutor. She asked to reschedule our meeting this afternoon for a different time “in light of recent events” and because of “what’s going on in our counrty”. She said that she hesitated in prying herself away from her TV. I froze. Had there been another attack? Was it possible for there to be another attack, even with all the new security measures the United States has initiated? The bright, sunshiney day suddenly didn’t seem so happy anymore. I imagined some distant day in the future, when someone would ask me what I was doing when I heard about the second attack. I was coming back from lunch at Taco Diner with my mom, and I had gotten the news from my mother’s voicemail.

My mom called my aunt, who was with my dad at my grandfather’s house, to try to find out what happened. She said that the U.S. had started bombing Afganistan. Idiot! I thought. What on earth is there to bomb in Afganistan? Evidently, the Bush administration decided that Afganistan could do with even more poverty and destruction that its people are already facing now. Despite all the effort that has gone into planning this air raid, something inside me feels like they haven’t planned this out properly. I can only hope that Bush and Blair are able to go forward with their plans without harming innocent civilians.

Sorry this entry is so abrupt. I’m in a bit of a rush. So you can be better informed in case you hadn’t heard, here are some news resources of interest: Bush’s address to the nation, Attack on Afganistan, CNN.com

New Poll! Who should I be for Halloween? Here are the pros and cons:

Hermione: As I’m dressing as Hermione for the Harry Potter premiere, I’d be able to use this costume twice. Helpful.

A random Jedi: I was a Jedi two years ago, so I still have the general costume assembled. I think I’d try to find a black robe instead of a gray robe, though. Wow, my gray robe is cool. But I could probably use a slightly edited black robe for wizard robes, which would be part of a Hermione costume. Hmmm….

Angua: This would be rather fun. No one would know who I was, but I’m used to that. I’ve had to explain my costumes nearly every year since the second grade. It would probably be the most fun, but it would also be by far the most difficult to assemble, and I’m not sure if I have the time, what with JETS and 10 Little Indians. Of course, now that I have a driver’s license and actually know how to use a sewing machine, it would probably be less time consuming than I expected.

Moaning Myrtle: The costume would most likely be almost identical to Hermione’s, that is unless I go for the full ghost effect and wear white with ghosty makeup. And of course, this is a costume that would require lots of explanation, and if it came down to that, I’d just rather do Angua, as I’d have to start from scratch with both.

Leia: Fairly easy. I just have to find someone who braids really well and go with the cool Hoth hairstyle, as my hair isn’t thick enough to support the cinnabuns. Of course, I could always get a couple of hair extensions at a costume shop somewhere, which would be really helpful for any of my future cosplaying exploits. And I’d still need a white dress.

In case you cared, last year I was Arthur Dent (costume took roughly 5 minutes to assemble. Bathrobe, fuzzy slippers, jammies, and a towel), 9th grade I was a random Jedi, 8th grade I was Mulder (my friend Rachel was Scully), and I can’t remember before that. Someone would have to remind me. ::wrinkles nose::

So cast your vote now!