Category — Mental Sampler

A heads up that there is a Harry Potter spoiler in the last section of this post.  So scroll down slowly so you can stop reading when I tell you to stop reading if you haven’t read books 6 and 7.  Got it?

Does anyone else remember ice milk?  We used to always get ice milk when we were little, and it took me until 2015 to realize that it’s no longer on the market.  Apparently, it hasn’t been around since 1994.  I’m a little slow to catch on.

I used to love ice milk.  It was ice cream, but made with milk instead of cream.

Not to be completely stuck back in the 80s today, but do you remember Roxette’s “She’s Got the Look”?  That just came on the radio.

I don’t understand those lyrics, but I wanted to have “the look.”  I was never sure what the look was, but whatever it was, I wanted someone to croon that I was “tasty like a raindrop.”

I’ll finish this off with one of the Wolvog’s Harry Potter questions that I couldn’t answer.  It contains a spoiler for book 6 and 7, so STOP READING NOW IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THOSE BOOKS.

Okay?

I warned you.

In book 7 we learn that Regulus Black drank the potion in the cave, had Kreacher switch the real horcrux with the fake horcrux, and then committed suicide by walking into the water and getting pulled down by the Inferi.

So who filled up the basin with potion between the time that Regulus drank the potion (about 16 years before book 6) and the time that Dumbledore drank the potion?  Voldemort never knew that his horcrux had been stolen, so he certainly didn’t return to pour in a little more potion.  And no one else knew about the cave or the horcruxes, so they certainly didn’t come by with some magical potion.

So… how did the new potion get in the basin, full to the brim, especially when we see that the basin is empty (as in, it’s not a regenerating potion) when Dumbledore drinks it?

Anyone have an explanation?

Side note: just your weekly reminder that tomorrow is Microblog Monday.  Get busy writing something tiny.

So this comment by Kasey really nailed a big reason why I keep my “what if” clutter.  I am very aware of the money I spent (or that someone else spent) to get that item.  Throwing it away, especially when there is even the slightest chance that I may need it in the future, feels like throwing money into a garbage can.  I wouldn’t do that with dollar bills, so it’s hard to convince myself to do that with an object that cost money.  In that sense, the sweater or travel mug or name-your-object is money.

It’s impossible to track how often it happens; that something I would have gotten rid of turns out to be useful down the road.  There are plenty of things that I use only occasionally, but once I use them, the clock resets.

So not knowing the likelihood makes me hold onto things just so I won’t need to spend the money a second time.  Especially when it costs me nothing to hang onto the item but would cost me money to replace.  Even though storing the item makes me miserable because it takes up space and creates clutter.

*******

Yes, we’re going to get JK Rowling’s new book.

*******

I’ve talked about this before, but we used to have a neighbour growing up whose parents had a floating holiday where they would decorate the tree outside their house with lollipops and invite everyone in the neighbourhood to harvest the tree.  You never knew when it would happen, so every morning you’d get up to look for the lollipop tree.  It’s not that I didn’t get lollipops from my parents at other times of years, but THOSE lollipops were so exciting because they were so unexpected.

All the Dirty Laundry was lamenting how you get to the end of the weekend and feel as if you just need a few more hours in order to feel like you’re on top of things or fully relaxed.

I mused that it would be nice if the universe gave us 12 extra hours every once in a while.  You’d never knew when you’d get them, but suddenly you’d be sitting there and the clocks would reset and you’d be given an extra 12 hours to fill at your pleasure — either to get ahead with work or to finish a project or to get a little relaxation time.  Anything you wanted.  Just 12 extra hours, popped into your week.

How would you spend those 12 hours if you got them this weekend?

Am I the only person who wishes the new Blogger captcha checkbox that says “I am not a robot” also came with an option that said “I AM a robot?”  Because… you know… for the robots.

*******

The twins have settled on their science fair project.  It was one of those whiny negotiations where they wanted to work together, but one decided on a project the other one didn’t love and then refused to budge on the project.  The non-excited child’s problem turned out to be the inclusion of the word “tearoom” in the title, insisting this was not a real word despite it being a real word.  Once the veracity of the word “tearoom” was accepted, both children were on-board.

They have made a set of robotic arms, programmed with an arduino and Lego Wedo parts, that can brew tea, remove the tea bag after a set amount of time, and then add sugar.  They’ve designed it with a whole steampunk theme as a nod to the Doctor Who episode “Deep Breath.” Because my kids are cool.  Even if they used an excessive number of plastic cups designing the sugar adder and DIDN’T RETURN MY TAPE TO THE PROPER PLACE!

Pictures forthcoming when they complete the project.

*******

I used the snow day to make all the cookies for Purim.  They’re now in my freezer.  13 hours of work.  228 cookies.  My back gave out in the tenth hour from leaning over the low table, folding hamantaschen.  I crawled toward the cookie finish line, too.  But you’ll never see a CNN news report about my tremendous feat like you will about the marathoner.

I don’t know whether to be impressed with her drive or shake my head at her failure to listen to the limitations of her body.

*******

We’ve recently gotten massively into Sherlock.  Totally enjoyable — enough so that I’m willing to overlook any weakness on the plot construction.  Though with only 3 episodes per season, we’ll soon need another show to watch.  I mean, another show beyond The Americans.

A little off-topic side note (though is this post really any particular topic?) that tomorrow is #MicroblogMonday.  Get writing.