I finished Harry Potter *sniff*


I have found brain candy in the form of the Princess Diaries books. A bit different from the movies--- maybe a bit more angst? But still very sweet and sugary and girly =)

psychadelic, crazy, spooky, scary, amazing, hilarious, mouth-watering. . . the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.


It is to be commended for strict adherance to Roald Dahl's Oompa Loompa song lyrics, the cute Grandpa Jo and Grandma Georgina, using squirrels instead of geese.


The children were very much the extreme of what they should be. Such colorful colorful characters.


Perhaps not was in my mind when reading the book but still an excellent watch.


There was also a trailer for the new Harry Potter movie. I think it will be brilliant. I love movies with big, colossal scenes--- my little mind does not do a good job of imagining them. And this one will have the quidditch world cup, the triwizard tournament, and the yuletide ball *_*. Less Oliver, though, since he'll have graduated *sniff*

Our office had a book swap today. Look at all the goodies I am taking home with me! These were all books that were recommended to me, or that I've been interested in reading for a while.


Oryx and Crake, by margaret atwood
The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
about a boy, by nick hornby
The Cider House Rules, by John Irving
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells

and a few random ones---

Timequake, by Kurt Vonnegut
The Truth about Dogs, by Stephen Budiansky

They were free and looked oh so unwanted on the table--- how could I resist? Wheeeee! I'm so excited!

Friday, Faye and I went Harry Potter Party-hopping.


Our first stop was a large Borders Bookstore in Santa Clara. Their target was rather little kidsy--- with facepainting, coloring sheets, and construction paper little hats. It was quite something to see little tots in full wizard gear though ^_^. Faye was a bit disappointed that there were no stuffed animals this year--- she had set her heart on a little Hedwig plush to decorate her car.


Our next stop was the local Books Inc. I thought it would be an ideal spot for a Harry Potter party because it is independedntly owned, cute, and cozy. The party did have just the right atmosphere. There was trivia, guess the character from the quote, guess the number of bertie bott beans (oh, am I so bad at those), and a costume contest. Faye and I just couldn't match up to those little kids at trivia. They were serious about their Harry Potter knowledge.


All that magic, anticipation, and excitement. . . And I haven't opened my Harry Potter book yet. I'd like to save it for my flight to Europe. Let's see if I can hold out ^_^.





2 cute girls showing off their house colors ^_^





house elves! How adorable!





Dumbledore poses with Cho (me)





View from the balcony

Since I accidentally packed my V-neck sweater and sent it to the Annex basement for the summer, I had to find another Hogwarts-worthy one this weekend. I found this prep-school-looking one at the Stanford Shopping Center. I will be sewing on a Ravenclaw patch to the right chest ^_^ and wearing it with my pleated grey skirt, and knee socks.


It's a bit different than cosplaying because there's 1 book illustration of Cho as far as I know. There are lots of decisions to be made on my own, and not very much information. Frankly, I don't fit my own image of Cho. I imagine short, tiny, ivory skinned and red lipped, small eyed and nosed, with a roundy face. Midlength hair left down except when playing quidditch, athletic, practical and sensible. Some costume decisions have been made by the shoes I happened to bring with me, and the price of the ideal Hogwarts ties at J. Crew (alas, no tie for me).


I would like to like Cho. I feel as of right now, she has not much of a personality besides being pretty and popular and sweet. Which makes sense in that that's about all Harry knows too. But I'm holding out for a quirk. Or something that breaks her out of school boy fantasy-ness.

The new Harry Potter book is coming out next Saturday! I'm so excited. The local Books Inc. bookstore is holding a party at midnight. I plan to go to work costumed as Cho, and then to the party in the evening ^_^.

Ah, such a nice 4th of July weekend. The Happy Berry purse is coming along--- I stuffed and wired the wings, and stuffed the flower. And from my visit to Google, I acquired an extra large navy blue google T-shirt. It came down to my knees, so I made a few quick adjustments here and there with scissors and thread to make it fit me. I now have a Google tube top ^_^. I got some remarks over it when shopping--- "Did you see that Google tube top?"


Faye came on Sunday, and we went shopping at IKEA for her furniture. For the 4th of July, we cooked fettucini alfredo with chicken, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes and had apple pie and ice cream too. The afternoon was spent in the grass at the local park, reading Catch-22.


Yesterday a group of mainly MIT-ers went to Great America. I'm usually a bit afraid of roller coasters, but after I was dragged to one of the scarier ones as soon as I got there, none of the others were that bad. I also won a giant Bedtime Bear from a carnival game. He is drowsily decorating my office desk ^_^.

Earlier this week, Chen (my CPW host, 3 years ago) invited me to have lunch with her at Google. The food was delicious and plentiful (and free!), the facilities very nice, and the environment quite relaxed. It was nice to run into a few random MIT people: Calvin from my Japanese class, and Jennifer Lin.


Yay for 4 day weekends ^_^. Faye will be coming in on Sunday. On Tuesday, I will be going to Great America with Chen and a bunch of Google people. Probably lots of reading and sewing in between ^_^. Not quite sure yet where I will watch the fireworks. . .