Friday Five for 26 June 2009:

1. If you could only hear one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
This is a tough question. Sometimes I get into phases where I’ll only listen to one artist or band for days at a time. After consulting my iTunes library and looking at my play counts, I’ll say Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. That song is perfect in every way.

2. What one song would you like to be played at your funeral?
For a while, it’s been Closing Time by Semisonic. If you listen to the lyrics, it seems funnily appropriate. And I wouldn’t want my funeral to be a weep-fest anyway. No Sarah McLachlan songs at my wake, either!

3. What one song is best to describe your feelings right now?
Considering I’m kind of stressed, maybe…Under Pressure?

4. What one song would you like to hear when you’re sad and depressed?
When I want to feel better (sillier), I put on Cupid’s Chokehold. That song cracks me up.

5. What’s one song that you wish you’d written?
Can’t narrow it down, but anything by Tori Amos or Jewel. Love them.

#21 of 52 - 52 Books in 52 Weeks

Major spoiler-filled post follows.

I finished this a few weeks ago and have sort of been marinating since. I loved this book so, so much, and would say it’s my favorite of the series so far. Prisoner of Azkaban is now my second favorite. I’ve started caring about the characters in a more personal way, which was kind of unexpected.

I had such a good time reading this book that I had to stop every so often and take notes. For me, this is the sign of a really fantastic book. My notes generally are very rambly and stream-of-consciousness, and may make little sense. So, my apologies in advance if they’re completely nonsensical.

Notes taken during reading:

Umbridge is so abhorrent, so despicable. This is excellent writing, because not long into the book, I wanted to kill her myself. This kind of writing always elicits an intense reaction from me–always a sign of a great book.

The brief bit with Neville, his grandmother, and his parents in the hospital was heartbreaking.

Though Dumbledore and Hagrid are basically absent from the first half of the book, I didn’t mind much. I love both of them as characters, but the other characters and plots were interesting enough to keep me engaged. I was glad when they both returned to the story, though.

Holy crap. Dumbledore has left and that nutter Umbridge is head of Hogwarts. WTF.

Snape’s worst memory was particularly moving. So Harry’s dad was not the ideal that Harry had always believed him to be. Rude awakening? I wonder, though, if what Harry saw in the pensieve was true…or if Snape bewitched it to mislead Harry about his father? I still can’t decide whether Snape has truly forsaken being a Death Eater…but Dumbledore trusts him so…

Very sad that Sirius is dead…I liked him very much. And Harry is so torn up about it. He was all the family he had left.

So glad that Umbridge was ousted and Dumbledore is back at Hogwarts! I wonder what the centaurs did to Umbridge, though.

Now there’s a reason for everything–why Harry has to go back to the Dursleys every summer, what his scar means. But though he now knows the reasons it doesn’t make his life any easier…if anything, things will only get tougher…especially since Lucius Malfoy is in Azkaban. Draco’s really got it in for him now.

I really like Luna Lovegood, she was such a help to Harry, even though most people treat her unkindly. I hope we see her again.

So glad that the Dursleys will be less horrible to Harry from now on! The members of the Order will see to that.

Now for my thoughts on the movie: love, love, loved the movie! Like the book, this movie is my favorite in the series so far. I rented it and had it for five days, and I think I must have watched it at least eight or nine times. (Yes, I have no life.) I kept watching it because it was so good, then I took to watching it while knitting as well. I think my favorite scene is the exchange between Harry and Sirius in the room with the family tree. Daniel Radcliffe’s and Gary Oldman’s acting is just fantastic. Sirius’s words at the end of the scene, about how the two of them would be a ‘real family,’ were just devastating to hear, knowing what his fate would be.

Of course I loved the epic fight/battle at the end with Dumbledore and Voldemort. I’m sad I missed seeing that scene, especially, in a theater. And the montage in Harry’s mind between his memories and his war inside with Voldemort was amazing. I loved how Dumbledore tells him, “It’s not how you are alike–it’s how you are not.” Harry struggles with the part of him connected to Voldemort–the part he believes himself to be bad–and who he truly is. When he tells Voldemort, “You’re the one who’s weak. And you’ll never know love or friendship–and I feel sorry for you,” I completely lost it and burst into tears. Harry’s memories of his happiest moments with Ron, Hermione, and Sirius overcome that struggle with Voldemort attempting to take over his mind, and Harry succeeds–at least for now–in pushing that darkness away. I absolutely loved the montage, with Harry looking in the mirror and seeing first himself, then Voldemort, then smashing the mirror and driving him out–ahh, I love it! I was confused, though, when Voldemort is standing over him just before he disappears–when he tells Harry he is a fool and that he’ll lose–why Voldemort didn’t kill him then. I know Dumbledore was next to them, and the members of the Ministry arrived right then, but it seemed like Voldemort could have killed him in an instant. Then again, we have two more books to get through!

One final thought–I liked the exchange between Harry and Luna at the end, when she tells him she’s sorry about his godfather and takes his hand. I thought, briefly, that there might be a romantic spark between them but unfortunately, I think I know who he ends up with in the end. (That’s one of the few spoilers I knew concerning the whole series, before I ever started reading the books.)

Last-last thought–I think this movie was the best directed of them all. The story itself is definitely the darkest yet, and the film captured that feeling perfectly. These scenes I mentioned were so well shot and acted, and that’s what makes this my favorite movie thus far. (Sidenote, except I felt that some of Hermione/Emma Watson’s scenes weren’t as well-acted as they could be. When they walk in after the battle and she and Ron are watching Harry and Dumbledore, her face is kind of blank…not in shock or sadness, but just…blank. That’s the sense I got, anyway.)

I’m several chapters into Half-Blood Prince, and I have to say I’m kind of bummed about at least one or two plot points. I’m sticking with it to see how things turn out, of course. And I’m really excited that I’ll be able to see HBP in a theater in a couple weeks. It will be my first HP theater experience.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer

Fangirl mode is ON. (Was it ever off?) I am so excited to see this!

#20 of 52 - 52 Books in 52 Weeks

No spoilers in this post.

I finished reading this weeks ago, but am just now writing about it. Good grief, but this book was tough to get through! I feel like I flew through the first three in comparison. The book started off fine, but then all of the lesser plots got in the way. I found the section about the Quidditch World Cup really, really boring. And then all the teenage woecake started, with the whole Harry/Cho Chang/Cedric Diggory love saga going on. I understand that certain plot points were necessary to bring about other ones, but it just made the reading go more slowly for me. But I’ve heard repeatedly that J. K. Rowling writes *everything* for a reason, so I try to keep that in mind as I read through the less amazing parts.

But! There was a turning point around page 500 or so, when the story became very interesting. Finally! At that point, I couldn’t put it down and finished the rest in pretty much one sitting. The ending was amazing and I immediately grabbed Order of the Phoenix and started it. In hindsight, I can see why the earlier portions of GoF were included because they brought the story to the place it needed to be by the time the ending came. I just hope that the future books don’t have as many slow moments. That being said, the ending really was fantastic, so I feel like the slow parts were ultimately worth it to get to that finish. The story arc has reached a place where certain elements will (hopefully) come rushing to a head, and that’s something very exciting to look forward to.

I watched the movie not long after I finished GoF, and I enjoyed the movie version much more since a lot was cut from the book. The pace of the movie was much faster, but without losing the essence of the book.

And now on to the next!

I just realized that I’ve had this domain for 3 years today! Happy birthday, mixedupbeauty.net!

Inga’s Haekelbeutel (Inga’s Crocheted Bag)
@ Ravelry

So I made a granny square bag. It was very fun during the actual crocheting process of 16 very easy granny squares. I finished them in two evenings. I used Patons Classic Wool, which I’d never worked with before. It has a great feel–probably comparable to Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, which I also like–and was readily available (found it at my local Michaels craft store). Not a bad price, either!

The pattern is quite easy, but I made it hard for myself because I am obsessive sometimes, and wanted the color placement to be exact. (See pic: purple-green-multi-multi-multi-green-purple-multi.) Due to the construction of the bag (this awkward “four strips” thing), I had to deviate from the pattern and connect them my own way. I basically just laid the squares out on both sides to look like the picture, then single crocheted the edges together. In doing this, though, I narrowed the bottom of the bag and only ended up using 13 out of 16 squares. (I saved the extras and plan to use them as coasters.)

I think it would have been easier to follow the pattern, but my brain SO does not think in geometric patterns, so the construction just was not making sense. I’m sure someone more clever and spatially-oriented could have found a way to use the strips method and still get the colors in the right places, but I just couldn’t sort it out. I don’t plan on lining the bag, and I decided to use only one strap as opposed to two, so its contents will have to be limited to lighter-weight items.

Despite all my gripes about the construction, the finished bag turned out the way I wanted and I really like the way it looks! I just don’t know if I would make this a second time.

In other crochet news:

Crochet Noro Scarf @ Ravelry

I can’t complain about this pattern, since I didn’t use a pattern! I had two balls of Noro Silk Garden Lite, so I crocheted a lengthwise scarf. My foundation chain was either 175 or 200 stitches–I can’t remember for sure which–and I just did double crochet until I ran out of yarn. I *love* the blues in this yarn, but the brown bits were yucky, so I cut those sections out. I’ve worked with Noro in the past, and as much as I love the colorways, I don’t think I’ll work with it again anytime soon; the twigginess and weird stretches of color got on my nerves. In fact, after working with this, I went searching for some possible Noro alternatives, which led to purchases of yarns such as Plymouth Boku and Universal Classic Shades. While these other yarns don’t have the same feel/fiber content of Noro, they do mimic the color transitions, which is the main thing I’m looking for.

I’ve definitely been on a crochet kick, as you can see–so now I’m off to look in my Ravelry queue for something new to cast on and knit.

@ Ravelry

I crocheted these amigurumi owls for kc, who has received them, so now I can post this photo!

These were so fun to make! Although I learned to crochet for granny squares, amigurumi are probably the second reason I learned crochet. I had a bit of a false start due to not knowing how to crochet in the round without creating a seam–so the mama owl here is actually my second attempt and looks way better than the first.

I had trouble finding safety eyes (as recommended in the book) locally, and at the time I didn’t think of getting them online (where I’ve since learned they are plentiful), so I used shiny black buttons for the eyes. I was definitely having Coraline flashbacks while sewing them on, though. (”Black is traditional!”)

The pattern is Baby Owl and Her Mommy from Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet. I used Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice in Beige (body), Chocolate (head), Honey (eyes), and Rust (beak). I do like the color selection of this yarn line (all jokes about Wheel of Fortune aside, hehe), and the yarn is quite soft. However, I found it splitty for crochet. But it could just be the way I crochet, as my tension seems somewhat loose. I used a US G/6 (4mm) hook, polyester fiberfill for stuffing, and the buttons came from a random bag o’ buttons that I got from Michaels craft store.

These were so very fun, and I definitely plan to make more in the future.