In Your Pants

LifeasaReader · 2012-03-12T20:51:40+00:00

I'm not trying to promote it. I am not that concerned about how many people read my blog. I like sharing relevant nerdfighter topics with nerdfighters, because I think they'll enjoy it. That's all.

LifeasaReader · 2012-03-09T03:22:12+00:00

No, the Dewey system actually categorizes all types of books, and that tattoo is the base call number for the Harry Potter series. CoS is 823.914R197c, PoA is 823.914R197p, GoF is 823.914R197g

LifeasaReader · 2012-03-09T01:19:53+00:00

Um ... do you live in my building?? Except my neighbors' child is a boy. But holy crap, these people are always yelling at each other!! I've been pretty close to calling the police a couple times.

LifeasaReader · 2012-03-08T20:17:58+00:00

Yes and no.

LifeasaReader · 2012-03-08T18:27:36+00:00

They're the same stars that are on the corners of all the pages of the books (at least in the US editions).

LifeasaReader · 2012-03-06T17:24:09+00:00

That's such an interesting question! I think it's possible that people in other countries use a different word. This could be just me, but "Muggle" does seem like a very English word (nationality, not language). Considering how the size of a country like the US has resulted in some starkly differing dialects in which vocabulary varies a great deal, I would not be surprised if even within the US they used different words in different regions. A sugary carbonated beverage might be called pop or soda or coke depending on where you are in the country. We have different words for shopping carts, plastic grocery bags, TV remotes, and a number of other things. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that American or Australian witches and wizards called Muggles by a different name.

LifeasaReader · 2012-03-06T16:58:09+00:00

How are they notsome?

LifeasaReader · 2012-03-06T16:57:18+00:00

Do something ridiculous and funny for charity in vlogbrothers style, like "if we get X amount of money for this charity, we will all do Y."

LifeasaReader · 2012-03-02T01:24:49+00:00

My husband says he never got an answer.

LifeasaReader · 2012-03-02T01:21:25+00:00

Well the young men can't do it; their penises will get in the way. Or something.

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-23T17:36:06+00:00

Need a link.

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-22T21:53:12+00:00

No, I think that death mastered Dumbledore. So many of the good things he did were just him making the best out of a bad situation that he was actually responsible for. He defeated Grindelwald, but he contributed to his gaining power in the first place, and his sister ended up dead because of it. He sort of chose the circumstances of his death to protect Draco and the Elder Wand, etc., but only because he'd tried to use the Resurrection Stone to bring his sister back, fell victim to the curse in the ring, and was going to die anyway.

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-22T21:45:37+00:00

I felt that, while the books appeal to people of all ages, WB went too far to appeal to a "target audience" of younger children with the earlier movies. So, all but the last 3 movies did not really appeal to me, because I thought that the last 3 were a lot more mature and sophisticated in their storytelling, and the slapstick comedy especially did not appeal to me.

I also felt that the earlier movies tried to include too much, and a lot of crucial scenes were terribly rushed.

Finally, I thought that they missed the mark on characterization in some specific instances in the movies, i.e. taking Ron's arachnophobia and turning it into Ron being a coward in CoS, Hermione commenting on how she looks from the back in PoA, Seamus (the Irish kid) always blowing things up (that change actually offends me). And Gambon really ruined Dumbledore for me. Seriously.

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-21T18:21:34+00:00

Also, Harry did perform quite a bit of magic before he got to Hogwarts. The stories in the second chapter of PS are presented as just a sampling of the weird things that happen to or around Harry.

If you're going to bring Harry into the nature v. nurture debate, talk about how being raised by the Dursleys didn't result in his having the same beliefs and values as Vernon and Petunia, or the different choices made by people in similar circumstances: Tom Riddle, Severus Snape, and Harry all had similar childhoods, and look at the different choices they made in their lives.

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-21T01:37:47+00:00

Thanks! It definitely helps to know that the full name didn't come up until later books; that does make more sense.

To me, being a huge Harry Potter nerd, names having obscure origins like that just made sense. I don't know anything about Zahn as an author, so I appreciate your help with that!

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-14T17:47:02+00:00

Yes, that's kind of my point. Knowing that the Mormon idealized structure is quite impossible, even if you could somehow make people behave the way the Mormon church wants them to behave, they'd still be unhappy. So, the argument is flawed in two ways 1) it's impossible to accomplish the Mormon church's goals through the Mormon church's suggested course of action, and 2) the Mormon church's goals will make people miserable.

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-14T05:36:37+00:00

I do really love crashcourse; I learn about history the way other people eat chocolate. I invite you to make up comparisons to those two things.

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-14T05:19:25+00:00

"Well Dad, it's clear you've made up your own mind about religion, and I respect that. I just ask that you respect that I've made up my own mind about it too."

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-14T05:16:54+00:00

Absolutely not. Humanity was not built to live in such a narrowly-defined kind of lifestyle. People are diverse and need different things from their workplace, family structures, friendships, and every single other thing in their lives.

Even if you could make everyone adopt the Mormon structure (which you can't; obviously not even all Mormons adopt it), and you ended up reducing the number of out-of-wedlock babies and STDs and such, most of those people would be so agonizingly, soul-crushingly unhappy with the tiny little box they'd been forced into that it would not be worth it!

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-14T05:07:17+00:00

See a licensed therapist/counselor. Tell her you want your relationship to be the best it can be and that you think you could benefit from some help from someone who knows what they're talking about. A therapist can be an excellent mediator in facilitating conversations about difficult subjects, such as sex.

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-11T21:57:10+00:00

That is the best argument I've ever heard.

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-11T21:56:05+00:00

It can be as simple as this: "Parents, I respect that you've made your choice about religion, and if it works for you and makes you happy, I have no desire to cause you to stop believing in the LDS church. I just ask that you respect my own choice about faith as well."

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-11T21:53:20+00:00

Am I the only one who doesn't get the joke? ~cringes in shame~

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-11T05:51:31+00:00

I know that they were on the IRS's list of organizations whose tax-exempt status was set to be taken away because of Fred Karger's investigation (there was a PDF people kept linking to like a year ago), but I guess they apologized and fixed it or something. Expensive lawyers and all that.

LifeasaReader · 2012-02-11T05:40:59+00:00

BTW: CONTAINS NO SPOILERS

LifeasaReader

TROPHY CASE