I saw Harry Potter twice this weekend. No, it's not that good. I just happen to have a bunch of friends who find the mix of magic and the banal appealing, which is not to say that I feel this series is banal. It is just difficult to voluntarily appreciate something that is being treated like a cash cow. Luckily it is not so precious an phenomenon that I feel any need to disparage it further than to point out the banal reception it has received from Hollywood and to say, in a loud, outraged voice, that "I'm not jealous of its success!"

In fact this second offering of Harry Potter is not without merit. It actually excels because it is a sequel. Although it hangs in the background framing scenes as it was originally intended, the CGI special effects are still there with all the "oh, wow" of the first movie. Kudos to the animators of the House Elf character, Dobby (are "Brownies" so foreign to Americans minds that this little bit of Anglo culture needed re-editing?) and the additional designers of the "cloth" animators who managed to make this bit of screen magic carry enough weight to advance the story line whenever it got off track with animated spiders and petrified school chums. There is none of the "showcasing" that made much of the first movie tedious and over long. Still, at two and a half hours, this story could have used some creative editing.

The Skate Man returns...

Yeah...!

My mum was in town with her husband, Ron, to attend my Uncle Joe's funeral. They picked me up this morning and we drove down to Burien and had breakfast at a Denny's and visited. Then they drove me to the Sea-Tac Terminal and dropped me off so I could retrieve Chris. We rode back to my place on the bus. Boy! It is good to see him again.

Then I had to go to work. But he called me and I called back. He already has figured out that "The Crystal Method" is playing in town and arranged for us to go with his friends, Ron and Cheryl. He came by and picked me up from work. We went over to visit with Jeff and Byron at their apartment. They've been doing some interesting lattice-work between their living room and kitchen using bamboo.

Then Chris and I visited with my landlord to pick up some keys for Chris to use while he is here. So here I am...Chris is chilling on the bed listening to tunes before he goes to sleep. I'm just word processing here.

Romp Naked

Tonight I need to write around thirteen thousand words to even begin catching up for NANOWRIMO. I accepted the challenge, I'm going to have to do it somehow. Let's see how far I get tonight. Earlier I was attending the Romp Naked, which is a tribal men's thing that was hosted this time by Jeff Hengst. Jeff painted my father and his partner and asked me to pose for him with my dad. My friend Grego also asked me to sit for him, which I'm always obliged to do. He's such a cutie and smart too. So's his partner. Anyway, I had a great time there. I made contact with a lot of people and enjoyed a very relaxed evening soaking in the masculine energy. Perhaps this is what I need to write those words about!

Sha-na-na-na-no-wri-MO!!!

Her I am cheerleading myself because several members of my personal audience have quieted down this past week. Not without reason, either. Let me do some cheerleading for them. Yeah! Carolyn had a birthday Election day! I haven't heard what she did but I suspect it was fun. Purple looked fabulous All Saints Day, dressed as Gandalf the White and looking for all the world like a white wizard from OZ. The lace vest he wore with his hand-crafted pointy wizards hat had Old fashioned style Queen Anne's Lace around the collar. All he needs are some nice white suede boots with a thick sole in size ten men's, and he'd look like he stepped out of a recent production of "The Wiz".

Chris on the other hand remains in Tucson, AZ. I am anticipating his return next Thursday. I can't wait. I accidently woke him with a voice message last week that I'd sent six hours before. Tonight I just sent another one, only I deliberately sent it at Three in the morning so that he will get it later when he gets up. I'm hedging my bets here because there is just as good a chance that it will be delivered in a few minutes rather than waiting the six hours that the other messages took. My intention is not to keep him awake so he looses sleep. I just happen to be up at this hour. Bad Bad Nathan. Go to Bed...!

My friend Dennis has been emailing me chapters from his novel, which has been very enlightening and encouraging with the novel. If he can do it, well, he can...I don't know about myself. His novel's a ghost story and pretty damb good compared to mine.

Anyway, my word count. A measley 3,209 words so far at the end of the first week. I'm going to have to rededicate myself to this marathon and my novel. I'm thinking I need an audience for it.
My Idea of writing a novel...



Goth Night Poster From New Jet City

No NaWriMo...

I've been attempting to set up a Blog that displays my writing as I do it. Unfortunately, this and being loaned a color printer has been taking up much of my unstructured time. I've been writing nil since the beginning of the month. This was a possibility I thought I might run into...but my apartment is beginning to look much better. I've made the promise to myself that if I'm not writing, I am cleaning my apartment. I figure at some point the apartment will meet my satisfaction and I will have to write something. Oop! I guess this would be writing wouldn't it?

National Novel Writing Month Marathon

Okay, I'm attempting it again, it being NaNoWriMo. If you don't know what that is yet click on the link. It is the other wild and crazy thing I do during the year, besides Burning Man, only this time I do it at home. Although I'm missing him in my life right now, it is good that Chris isn't here because he'd get the brunt of my total obsession to writing my novel, and baby, it isn't pretty. First day and all I have to show for my words is this post. NO, wait, this isn't even the first of November any more. Damn! I can't even do that right. Ah, c'est la vie!