Valentine's Day

The words on the pillow read,
"I want to say quite sweetly,
I love you most completely,
and it will suit me fine,
If you'll be my Valentine."
Over the past few weeks Superwoman has been hand embroidering this pillow as a valentines gift to me. She also gave me the candle shown, its smells like grape candy, mmm mmm good. I love you Superwoman!

By now most of you will have heard about the tragedy that took place in Salt Lake City Monday evening. Its shaken me up. Its like 9/11 in many ways. While it pales in the scale and terror of 9/11, it hits much closer to home, about 2000 miles closer. I now can grasp how New Yorkers feel when the look into the hole that was the World Trade Center. To see I place love turned into a massive crime scene, a murder scene. Many of my birthdays we've celebrated at the Rodizio grill, where an off duty police officer confronted the gunman and ended the rampage. We bought Cake's first Easter dress in that Mall. Superwoman and I celebrated our engagement at a resturant across the street. A lot of wonderful memories now have a taint associated with them. Not to mention the horror of innocent people gunned down, at random, by a casual, cold blooded, gunman. My heart aches for the injured and the families affected by this senseless act of violence.

One last peice of local news, this one puts things in perspective. Last Friday Christopher Williams and his family were hit, head on, by a teenage boy driving the wrong way down the street. The accident killed Chistopher's pregenant wife and two of his children. Monday he issued a statement and a challenge to all of us. The task? To do something kind or to forgive someone that has wronged us, and to send him the story to help his two remaining sons heal. His address is, williamsvalentine@myavant.com.

I think he has the right idea. In times of tragedy, don't seek revenge, don't turn to hate and anger. Seek healing and offer it to others. I think I'll give that a try. Happy Valentine's Day.

Utah

I did a guest post over at The World According to Zed. Go check it out!

I trust Snape. Do You?

Here is some old news. So if any of you fellow Potter heads didn't know, the 7th and Final Book of the Harry Potter epic will be released July 21st of this year.

The Harry Potter series is, hands down, my favorite fictional work. In fact, for a few years, I read little else recreationally. So as the series draws to a close I am sure I will be rejoicing and mourning with the millions of other Potter Fans.

Spoilers Follow

One of the most oft debated aspects of the story roils around the character Severus Snape's loyalties. Is he on the side of Light? Or, is he loyal only to the dark lord Voldemort? In the fifth book he stops teaching Harry Occlumency and in sixth he kills Dumbledore. So some people take these actions at face value and assume he is an agent of Voldemort. I disagree, with Snape there is always more that what you see on the sureface of things. I think there was always viable motivations for what he did.

In the case of the occlumency lessons, it was wounded pride. Not a noble motivation by any means, but how many good people have done foolish and stupid things out of wounded pride?

In the sixth book, we witness a partial conversation in which Dumbledore is begging Snape to promise something. Something that Snape really does not want to do. I think Dumbledore was aware of the plot on his life and was asking Snape to kill him, when the time came, to spare Draco Malfoy from doing the deed. To preserve the last remaining fragment of Draco's innocence.

Is Snape a good person? Certianly not. Overall he is a horrible person, but he does have some redeeming qualities. I beleive that he will still be loyal to Dumbledore. I believe he will continue to work against Voldemort and the Death Eaters, even though he has been forsaken by Harry and the Order of the Phoenix. I think that he will save Harry's life one final time in the last book (probably at the cost of his own).

I trust Severus Snape. Do you?
Let me know in the comments.

I took a drug test.

I got this from Tug's blog. I thought it was funny so I took the test myself.

Your Personality Is Like Acid

A bit wacky, you're very difficult to predict. One moment you're in your own little happy universe... And the next, you're on a bad trip to your own personal hell!

What Drug Is Your Personality Like?

Sometimes these things are way off. Sometimes they are pretty close. This one is isn't too far off. -Sigh- Say it isn't so.

Post 100: Happy Groundhog day

Happy Groundhog day! Have you seen this movie? I love it because it is about me. Its about most of us really. Its about: being alive, being a jerk, how to get over being a jerk and how to find joy in life despite of the hardships it contains. I watched this movie about a week ago and fell in love with it all over again. Now I'm going to have to buy it. Hopefully I can find it for $5 or so.

Well the last few months have been crazy! I'm sorry that I have been ignoring my blog. I started this blog to become a better writer. I don't know how much I have improved in that area, but I have become a more confident writer. I used to be scared to death at the thought of anyone reading my writing. I started the blog becuase I knew no one would read it, and if they did they would be a complete stranger. I'm glad that a few of the complete strangers that have stumbled across my blog have become my freinds. Thanks for reading!

Many of you have requested post some photo's of the new house (in daylight). Well, here they are! Sorry I took so long to get them up.

This is a picure of the new living room on Christmas Eve.


The everyday look of the living room.


The dining area just off the kitchen.


Our Family/TV/Videogame Room


My favorite room, The Library. Its the room with all the junk in it right now, and it has been the slowest to get unpacked. Its starting to come together and I'm excited.


The back of the house. (you now know we have kids)


Winter view from the deck.


Well I hope the pictures were worth the wait. Superwoman and I are so happy to have a house of our own. By the way my first Blogaversary was Jan. 20th. I've been blogging for over a year now. Now I just need to learn to post more. Thanks again for reading!