***SPOILERS BELOW***

If you haven't seen HP/GOF, don't read any further!

I orginally posted this in my temp blog on 11/17/05, the day after I saw the sneak preview at the IMAX theater at Jordan's Furniture, but moved it over here, as I want to keep track of it.

Here's the original post:

I noticed the different musical score right off; not better, not worse, just different. This movie started off differently, too; no Dursleys! I don't really like the Dursleys so that was fine with me.

Loved the miniature dragons!

The Weasley's tent at the World Quiddich Cup was awesome! And I adored what Harry said when he saw the inside of it: "I love magic!"

Michael Gambon...I still don't care much for him as Dumbledore. I picture Dumbledore as a regal, tall, thin, an extremely clean man...and Gambon's fingernails in the movie are just GROSS! Yes, picky, I know.

Harry & Ron and their fight: I know exactly how Ron felt, I've felt that way myself from time to time, so I could empathize. Boy, Ron's voice has really gotten deep!

Lucius Malfoy: Still lucious, still horribly mean.

Draco: The ferret scene, OMG HAHAHHA!

Mad Eye Moody: Didn't like the use of the eye patch, but the goofiness of it wore off as the movie went on. The first scene with him in the classroom was riveting and horrible.

Cedric: Poor Cedric! From the first scene of him with his Dad at the World Quidditch Cup, I felt bad, knowing what was to come.

Wormtail: I hate him.

Voldemort: His rebirth was horrifying, the cemetary scene very scary, and his "greeting" of his Death Eaters appropriately terrifying.

Oh, my heart just ached for Harry at the end, all that he had to go through, gah!

Snape: I particularly loved the scene where he wacked Harry & Ron on their heads with a book, but any scene with Snape is fine by me! Oh, please, more Snape!

My major disappointment was Snape-related: I wanted to see Snape show Fudge the Dark Mark burned into his arm (I REALLY wanted to see that), and also, I wanted to see Dumbledore ask Snape if he was ready to go do what "he had to do", i.e., go to Voldemort.

Can't wait for The Order of The Phoenix, when Lupin will be back (!!!) and we get to see Tonks!

Here's what wasn't in the old post:

Here's what some of the other bloggers I read had to say:

Snape + IMAX = Happy Me!

Dragons Galore!

From Four Kids and a Dog:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was a very different film from the first 3, but still quite excellent. Very little to disappoint, except for the absence of Dobby and Winky. It's understandable why they had to be cut, but I was looking forward to seeing Dobby again. He's more lovable than Yoda. Ralph Fiennes was a superb Voldemort. A bit freaky looking, but then the dude had been only partially alive for the last 14 years.

I was left hungering for the 5th movie. How long will it be until it's ready??

I'm back as Fond of Snape; welcome! Please feel free to add me to your bloglines or blogrolling as this is my permanent new home! Many, many thanks to Megan for getting me up and running again! I couldn't have done it without her :)

I'm going to start off my new blog with a meme; appropriate, eh?

A couple weeks ago, a friend sent me one of those meme emails; this one asked that I describe her in just one word. Ok, that sounds like fun AND an interesting blog entry as well. So I turned around and sent that email to some friends.

These are the answers I got back.

Julie: Creative
ME: There* (it takes paragraphs of explanation, but I really mean that word)
Smooch: Loyal
Watergirl: Caring
Heather: Funky (? I dunno there isn't one good word to describe you cause you're fun, you have cool interests, relaxed, and you're a good person!)
Pat: gold (Janet: Gold? Why?; Pat: i just think of gold colors when i think of you. autum/sunshine/that rust/gold/brown sweater you have.)
Carl: Quirky
Loobieloo: Unique
Deb: Snapefiend (is that a word???)
Lizabetty: Fantabulous
Zoot: Zany
Laura: Talented
Mel: Wild
Azzybee: Popeye**

*More from ME
Janet: Your word for me is "there"?
ME: Yup - There for me and everybody; There at the end of the phone when I call; There at the airport when I come, etc. There.

**More from Azzy:

Jesus this was harder than I thought... I'm going to go with a few. Sorry I don't follow rules well!

~ Beautiful - we can argue about this until the cows come home my friend. But you are... Your personality, your looks, your outlook on life... Just beautiful! So there!!!

The weekend was fun, more fun that I thought it would be! Some highlights:

Friday night, I went with Megan to see HP/GOF again, she really liked it, I liked seeing Snape, and everyone clapped at the end...I loved that!

Megan and I went to a craft fair Saturday, where I had made plans to meet Monique; she's sarcastic and funny and talented...what's not to like? She inspired the title of this post, btw, over a martini at a yummy lunch, which was made of all appetizers: pumpkin ravioli; lobster & crab ravioli; bruschetta w/tomato, proscuitto & mozzerella; two big meatballs.

The reason we went to this craft fair was to see Sky and her beautiful "Flower Gardens" that she was selling; bought one called Forget Me Nots for my Mom, and got totally inspired by all the creativity there. There was only one person selling photographs, the cards & 5x7s were great, the 8x10s a little blurry. Still, I got some good ideas.

There were also quite a few people selling jewelry, and I swear there was one necklace that was very similar to one I made for my friend, ME, that was going for...$75!!! Shite! Lots of scarves & knitted goods, too, hint, hint, ME. One scarf in particular that I liked was like sparkly silvery tinsel...and it was $29.99! I KNOW this scarf only took about $6 of yarn to do.

Also met a woman who had the booth next to Sky; she had a beautiful tattoo on her ring finger and we got into a discussion about tattoos. She recommended the guy who had done hers, gave me the name of the shop, and I emailed him this morning to see if he can come up with a design to add to my "mischief managed" tattoo.

Met Michelle in town for drinks & dinner; we had to laugh at the bill. It was something like $18 for 4 drinks & dinner. Inexpensive AND a hot bartender...boy do I love that place!

Sunday, the dogs lucked out and I took them for a nice long walk in the woods, each individually. Talked to two women who stopped to ask what kind of dog Wolf is, and found out they'd spoken to another person walking her dog who had seen a coyote sitting out in the (now harvested) cornfield that the path goes by. So when I ran into the ranger (not the weird one that likes me) on my walk with Max, I asked him if there had been any coyote incidents in the park. He said no, no incidents but a few sitings. He then told me about a couple whose house abuts the park had a coyote come in the their yard and grab their small dog. Luckily, they also had other dogs, among them a greyhound and a german shephard. The greyhound chased down the coyote, and held him at bay til the shephard showed up and convinced the coyote to let go of the smaller dog (who was fine). We ended up having a nice long talk, about coyotes, chipmunks, eagles, ticks and the joys of working outside. It was nice; I love these random conversations LOL!

So...what CAN you do to Snape in 7 letters?

I was reading an interview with the screenplay writer for Goblet of Fire, Steve Kloves, in The Los Angeles Times today. During the interview, he talks about Snape (and praises Alan Rickman):

"... he has no idea whether Professor Severus Snape is guilty .... He is happy that Snape plays such a large role in the sixth book, mainly because he loves writing for Alan Rickman, who plays the professor.

"It's hard because if you look at the books, Snape really just sort of hovers, as a threat, more than actually does something," Kloves says. "And Alan is just a wonderful actor. He always says the lines exactly as I write them, including the ellipses*. I have never met an actor who could act out ellipses, but Alan can."

He also said two other things I found very interesting:

"They want to film the two [Order of the Phoenix & Half-Blood Prince] as close to back-to-back as they can," Kloves says. "Because the kids are really starting to grow up."

"Jo [JK Rowling] has been very generous and helpful," he says. "She won't give anything away but occasionally she'll give me a wink, or let me know if I'm picking up on something that is going to become important later."

If you'd like to read the entire interview, click here.

el·lip·sis [n. pl. el·lip·ses (-sz)]

1. a.) The omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete syntactical construction but not necessary for understanding. b.) An example of such omission.
2. A mark or series of marks (... or * * *, for example) used in writing or printing to indicate an omission, especially of letters or words.

Saw this over at Thoughts Outside My Head; loved the artwork in the picture, so decided to share.

I'm feeling so overwhelmed and stressed right now it's funny in an ironic sort of way. I'm always the first one to say relax, calm down, let it go and so this must be payback. Every little thing people say I take the wrong way due to oversensitivity, so I think I'll just...[fill in the blank].

Recently someone categorized described me as "bitter insecure & unhappy" in an entry on her blog. Last night I found an article called "Why Snape?" over at Mugglenet which talked about why people liked the character of Professor Snape so much. This excerpt made me go...ohhhhhh:

As an adult, Snape is in a job he dislikes and is constantly surrounded by people who either annoy him, or do not respect him. He's bitter and angry and having trouble letting go of all the slights he's experienced.... He tends to take these feelings out on those around him through the use of sarcasm.

It is my theory that, deep inside, many of us have felt these things and we identify with Snape. We know what it is to be lonely, angry, and unappreciated - to struggle to get through the day , surrounded by idiots.

It's a short jump from identifying with a character to liking him, in spite of his faults. I think we want Snape to succeed. We've all been in that place in his head and we want him to break free - either because we've done it ourselves and are rooting for him to do the same, or because we're still trapped ourselves, and his freedom would give us hope for our own.

I sent this to a few friends saying something like no WONDER I like Snape so much. The responses I got were...interesting, to say the least. One friend gave me the email equivalent of a hug; which really was what I'd hoped for by sending the email. Another gave a terse, two word reply (no, it wasn't "F.U" lol). The third didn't respond.

The article went on to say this:

And then there are the films. Alan Rickman came to this part with a huge existing fan base. He is a skilled, sexy actor, with a voice that compels. Although Snape is described as unattractive in the books, the Snape we see in the films is much more appealing. Alan Rickman draws the eye in almost every scene he appears in. He is graceful in movement and seductive in tone.

The costume design adds to this attraction. The nature of the character is magnified by his outfit. Snape is buttoned from head to foot. In some scenes, even his hands are covered by fingerless gloves. What is he hiding under all those layers?

His cape *swooshes* when he moves, as if Snape had his own personal wind machine to provide dramatic counterpoint. Everything is black, except for the hint of white at the throat. It is all impeccably styled. For someone who is described as socially backwards and in need of a better shampoo, the Snape of the films looks stunningly cool.

So there, that's why I like Snape so much. Glad someone could put it into words; I surely couldn't!

Snow!


Originally uploaded by fondofelves.

Boy, was it COLD and windy last night. I peeked out this morning...and it was flurrying. Bah! Oh, well, at least Wolf was happy, he LOVES snow!

First things first, before the Happy Thanksgiving part, even! What happened in the opening of Lost last night? Tivo was being bad and didn't record it, luckily I noticed 5 minutes into the show and watched the rest. But what did I miss?

Ok, Happy Thanksgiving!!! The turkey is roasting, the pumpkin pie is cooling, the candles are lit, the house is clean (for the first time in AGES) and I'm taking a bit of a break, sipping my coffee and listening to Christmas carols and there is snow on the ground, apparently we're having a White Thanksgiving ;-)

On to the Thanksgiving Thursday Thirteen!

Thirteen Things about me! 1. I'm thankful I have Thursday and Friday off from work! 2. I'm thankful that my parents are still alive and able to enjoy life, I'm thankful for my cousins and all the happy memories associated with them, I'm even kinda thankful for my brother ;-) 3. I'm thankful for the friends I've let into my life. 4. I'm thankful for the delicious scent of roasting turkey wafting through the house! 5. I'm thankful I got to fulfill one of my fondest desires this year and see Robert Plant in concert! 6. I'm thankful for the funny and interesting people I've "met" through blogging. 7. I'm thankful I found a radio station that plays GOOD Christmas carols! 8. I'm thankful for my dogs, Max & Wolf. 9. I'm thankful, strange as this may sound, for each and every experience I've been through in life, good and bad. 10. I'm thankful I got to live in Japan for three years! 11. I'm thankful I'm going on a cruise next February; I figure I'll be damn happy to go somewhere warm in the dead of winter! 12. I'm thankful that I can see the beauty in things many find uninteresting! 13. Finally, I'm thankful that you're reading this! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Loose leaf 2. Musings from the Edge 3. Running 2Ks

Last night, I was reading an essay entitled "Longing for Normalcy" from the book, "A Merry Recluse", by the late Caroline Knapp. The essay starts out with this:

"I would like to take Ordinary Joe lessons.
Can anybody out there help me?
I want to be a regular working stiff, a card-carrying member of Middle America, a nameless, faceless member of the teeming masses.
Do you know what I mean? Do you yearn for this, as well? If so, you probably understand that this is an elusive goal, more elusive than it sounds. It's about lying awake nights and wishing for a kind of simplicity that feels out of your reach most of the time. It's about longing for a humility ofspirit, a perspective that brings your expectations down to manageable levels. It's about wanting to rest, about wanting to stop striving to be the things you're not and (big sigh of relief here) just be."

She goes on to say that "This goal--the normal life, the Ordinary Joe--has eluded me. I think, because I grew up thinking that normalcy was bad, that being ordinary was an unworthy goal." and talks about how this is possibly a result of being raised in an environment that was over-advantaged and rarified. She also says, "When you're constantly striving for perfection, constantly measuring yourself against ideals, you lose access to a lot of simple feelings, a lot of humanity; you lose access to ease and joy and fun, to a sense that you're living in the present and that, for the moment at any rate, the present is good enough."

I know that an awful lot of folks have a hard time around the holidays, and I'm sorry for that. For whatever strange reason, I still have a childlike wonder, an exuberance about Christmas (and it's not like I've led a fairytale life, believe me). Some people stress out about the money or lack thereof; some about finding the "right" or "perfect" gift; some about the crowds; some about how hard it is to live up to their loved ones' expectations. I'm sorry for them, and I wish they could see things through my eyes. Of course, many of those people would believe that I'm too simple, or unrealistic, or not very intelligent, because I don't [normally] get upset or anxious or worry much. I do have stress in my life, but it's of the type that I really can't do anything about...and I'd rather not generate more for myself in the middle of this beautiful time of year or in fact at ANY time.

My wish is that each and every one of you have a sense of ease, and of joy, and of fun not just during this season of miracles, but through out the entire year.

Today I saw:

a freshly cut christmas tree on the roof of someone's car
Christmas lights
Christmas Vacation-style decorated house (I'll have to take a picture of that for y'all!)
a multicolored Christmas tree inside someone's home
a white lights Christmas tree inside someone's loft

and I smiled :-)

I've found my new purpose in life! It's to help my friend Pat enjoy the holiday season more! Saturday night I think I discovered another purpose, too, but I drank a bit too much and don't quite remember what it was. Hmmm...dang, that bartender is adorable, dang, wish I wasn't [insert self deprecating phrase of your choice here] ....

Anyway, I took Pat shopping Friday AND Saturday; she said she'd never had so much fun shopping, which made me smile. I'm available for a small rental fee to anyone else that would like a fun holiday shopping experience ;-)

Friday night after shopping I went over to Megan's, there was the usual debacle of me going to the wrong Vietnamese restaurant to pick up our takeout (we had Phat Prik--chicken with hot green chili and Thai spices!) and I got to watch Dogma, one of my all time favorite movies.

Saturday night Krista picked me up (it was snowing HEAVILY up in Salem, NH and I hate driving in the snow; here, there was NO snow--K thought (like she didn't before) that I was/am insane. We met Michelle for cheap dinner & drinks and some eye candy ;-)

Sunday, got the tree up finally, and bought 5 new strings of lights for it, 3 blue, 2 white. The dogs got walked, turkey soup got made, Mom's laundry got done, I visited her and a good time was had by all!

Awhile back I was saying I'd stopped listening to the radio; well, I discovered a new station this weekend--96.5 out of Manchester NH. The station was playing "Deep Cuts" this weekend, i.e., songs that hadn't seen the light of day in 20-30 years. I was scanning stations when I heard some chords that sounded vaguely familiar; it ended up being Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp (acoustic Led Zep song). I'd only heard the live version, so didn't recognize it at first. After hearing a few more obscure songs, I fondly recalled the early days of WBCN, when Charles Laquidara was there. Charles was great in many ways, not the least was he always played a wide variety of music--he's probably the person most responsible for shaping my musical tastes.

One of the songs I heard today was Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Ian Hunter, who formerly was the lead singer in Mott The Hoople. I caught these lyrics and ... kinda laughed:

And you forgot just how a woman feels
You didn't know what rock n' roll was
Until you met a drummer on a greyhound bus in a Cambridge bar
I got there in the nick of time

Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

Found this over at MissMeliss, who found it somewhere else :-)

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, (even if we don't speak often) please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me. It can be anything you want - good or bad - BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE. When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people DON'T ACTUALLY remember about you.

Consider it a short writing exercise, just something to waste a few minutes of time, if you like.

***UPDATED***

A new name has been decided upon: Sarah Daniell Photography; the url will be www.sarahdaniell.com; I'll explain what that name means to me in a future post.

Thanks to all who gave me some ideas, your thoughts and effort was greatly appreciated!

With a little lot of help from a bug in my ear friend (Did you do it yet? What's your plan? Did you do it yet?) and a kind offer from another friend, I finally have a design for business cards! Wanna see? Of course you do!

This version was a draft, the typo has been fixed LOL!

I also went through my Flickr account to see which photos I wanted to print out, and then sent a list of 100 links to three friends and asked them to help me narrow it down. I'm sure they love me for that!

Then...another friend pointed something out to me...that there is already a photographer out there with a VERY similar name. Oh, shoot me now!

Do any of you have ideas for a good name? Open up a browser and type in www.whatever-your-idea-for-a-good-name-is.com to see if it's taken if you do. Sigh...back to the drawing board!

My grandmother, Sarah Matilda Daniell, went by her middle name; of course, to me, she was Grandma. She was a school teacher for awhile, and just recently, I learned from my Dad (her son) that she had spent some time finding a religion that she liked. Grandma was raised an Episcopalian but didn't find it fulfilling. As a teacher, she had summers off, and did a lot of research during that time. At some point, she discovered the Rosicrucian faith, and decided to travel from Boston to San Jose, CA, no small undertaking in 1920, to visit the mother church there! She met her husband in CA, had my father, and ultimately decided to come back east to her family when my Dad was just a baby. They made the trip in a Model T car; my Dad told me they took a southern route to keep warm, and at some point went over a bump and my father flew out of the car! That could explain alot ;-)

Back in Boston, she tried the The Church of Christ, Scientist, at the Christian Science Center in Boston--Dad said he vividly remembered the inside of the dome and how beautiful it was. I'm not sure she ever found any specific religion that suited her; I think she pretty much walked her own path, and made it as enjoyable as she could. My father was the apple of her eye! And she loved me, too, beyond a shadow of a doubt. Maybe it was because I was her first grandchild; maybe there was just some "connection" between us, but she loved me and I loved her.

Her marriage didn't last long; she was divorced when my Dad was 2 or so. I'm sure in that day and age, it was a hard thing to go through. We never had much contact with my grandfather, in fact, I never knew him. We think he was a drifter of sorts, but ... who knows!

By the time I was born, she was in her late 50s, retired and living in a brownstone on Clarendon Street in Boston. I used to love going to visit her there, the one thing that stands out in my memory was the HUGE spider plant in one of the windows. She moved from there to a retirement community on Cape Cod, to be closer to her sister, Mary, who lived with her daughter and SIL, Roz and Jim (the parents of my cousins, Mel & MB).

I used to love visiting her here, too, especially in the summertime when I could kind of come and go as I pleased (at 14 that was fun!). She always cautioned me to be careful, not to let anyone kidnap me and sell me into slavery and I would laugh. I remember her making her special dessert, a type of Bananas Foster, and she always had ham & sweet potatoes at the holidays! She also always had cookies on hand for the kids, especially Ideal cookies (they were by Nabisco, and they're not made anymore), man, were they good--chocolate on the outside, cookie on the inside with a delish peanut butter filling.

The last place she lived was at a nursing home in Tewksbury, MA. She'd gotten a little careless in the retirement place, forgetting to turn off the stove, that sort of thing, and it was decided she needed a more watchful environment. I didn't visit her much at the nursing home...I was too busy doing things I shouldn't have been doing and such, but still, she was happy to see me when I did visit. And she was the life of the nursing home, always playing the piano and singing Tea for Two or other songs.

As she aged, she got ... a little (more) "different", others might say strange, but she was never mean or unhappy. She was the first one to play the piano or get the crowd singing...or tell very strange stories to us kids! She was the grandmother with the cookies and yummy things to eat, always. She was patient, she was kind, she was generous and she was much loved!

As my cousin MB said, "She really was a treasure. And it's amazing that she was so sweet. Her life really wasn't so easy, yet she always had a bright smile and positive attitude!"

Mel adds: "She made cookies for Mike (her oldest son) when he was little and I used to see her at Stop and Shop with my Grandmother and Mom, buying her eclairs and [coffee] yogurt too, she loved those. She was a treasure."

And that's why I wanted to name this venture after my Grandmother! She dealt with life in a positive, albeit offbeat manner and as a result, everyone that came in contact with her has fond memories of knowing her.