Yip Yip

When we were kids, we lied our heads off! "I didn't do it! I was… I wasn't… I was dead at the time! I was on the Moon! With Steve!" And your Dad's going,


"I haven't even accused you of anything yet."

"Oh, all right. Well… what is… what's the que… well, I… I… well… what?"

"Did you brush your teeth?"

"No… yes… what's correct? Anywa … yeah. I was dead at the time!"


Then when you're more mature, you do start telling the truth in odd situations. "I'm sorry, I've broken the glass, I've broken this… is that expensive? I've broke it. I'll pay for that, I'm sorry." And you do that so people in the room might go, "What a strong personality that person has. I like to have sex with people with strong personalities." "And I've broke other things, I smashed that, and that's gone, and I've just thrown the cat out the window and..."

I don't have time for this I don't have time for this I don't have time for this I don't have time for this I don't have time for this I don't have time for this

But.

Since everyone and their mama is saying something about this today, let me say something further. When we get flak at TLC it's from HP-haters who think we would simply lay down in front of a train for JKR just because she's JKR. No, people. It's things like this that make us love her, and if you can't see that above many other things on earth it's a reason to love someone, I'm not sure I can speak sense to you.

And then I read that people are dissecting her books to say that she hates fat people and all the bad people are fat and blah blah -

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, people!

Dudley's fatness doesn't make him "bad." Dudley's fatness shows that he is spoiled, shows that he has been given too much and doesn't know when to stop taking. Bellatrix is wasted from her time in Azkaban and there are few as evil; Snape is sallow and overall we perceive him to be smallish and wiry, and yet look where he is now. Pettigrew's chubbiness was an indicator of his self-esteem issues, I thought, that would make him do the things he has done - run to a protector, seek strength/power/popularity, etc.

But there's something so much more important about her books that no one is noticing.

Find me one person in her books to whom "thin" is attributed to good looks. Neville is round-faced and people has assumed that meant chubby - I've seen plenty of thin round-faced people. Fleur is a caricature, and we assume her to have a model body, but only she herself refers to her figure ('I weel not feet eento my Ogwarts robes,' or something), and that descriptor doesn't say if she's rail thin, stately, voluptuous, buxom, whatever. Hermione? Never. Harry? The negative connotation of thin: scrawny. Ron is lanky, yes, but he's not described as, you know, winning Witch Weekly's Best Smile. Oh, maybe Gilderoy has a descriptor… Eloise Midgen has acne - that's all we know - and there are conjured images of her busting her skirt (look what they did to her in the movie).

But again, I don't think anyone's body type has attributed to their "good look" factor. I think these characters bring forth certain images in our minds precisely because of these conventions, because of these fashion magazines, because of the way cultural imagery pounds into us what a "likable" person should look like.

This is one of the things I love best about her books; we love and hate characters without that descriptor. Who knows what Ginny looks like beyond having red hair? She might have no chest and big thighs! I might love her more if she did! The question is: would everyone, if given definitive pictures?

Wow, there was nothing on this page!

Sorry, sorry. It's been wild. I know it's always sort of wild around my life but this month has been truly mad. I haven't sent out a single Christmas card. I'm lucky to make phone calls to everyone I love who's had a birthday. I am still buying and sending Christmas gifts, a process which has become deadline-based rather than Christmas-based. (I'm seeing X person on Friday, therefore the gift will be bought Thursday, etc.)

Moving is an endless process, though I am going to attempt to end it today by getting the last of my stuff from Mike's. The new place is shaping up but doesn't yet feel totally like home, and I've had to take measures to block the bugs (every NYC apartment building has roaches, it's just a fact of life - but you have different levels of insulation against them - my building and apartment is old,so there were lots of gaps in the floorboards and walls where they could sneak through. I've only seen a couple each week, but that was enough; on advice of a building-mate, I bought wood glue and a silicon gun and filled in every gap all over the apartment. Cheryl came over one night and we attacked, and since then I have not seen one bug anywhere that hadn't probably been around since before that night. That's, as Jo Rowling might say, a reckless tempt of fate. I'll go home and have an infestation. Anyway, even though she amused herself by reorganizing my bookcase afterward - this honestly is Cheryl's joy in life - Cheryl came over and caulked for me. Caulked. Good friends help you move - great friends help you caulk. LOL)

So, yeah.

This site will shortly be redirected to Penbitten.com, my new domain; melissaanelli.com also goes there. The name for PenBitten is from an Edna St. Vincent Millay poem I hold dear, introduced to me by a friend - it goes, "Cruel of heart, lay down my song / Your reading eyes have done me wrong / Not for you was the pen bitten / and the mind wrung, and the song written." Basically, if you're not a nice person, go away. That's a sentiment I respect and love. So, yeah. Update your bookmarks if you like! Eventually it will be totally redesigned by John Noe, person extraordinnaire, and he has a whole vision, and I trust him like few others, so I'm excited. I've moved everything over now, and updated the gallery system there, too. Tell me if you click around and find bugs.

Oh, and those who subscribed to be notified when this site updates: I tried to email you all but I think I got some returned mails. I put you all on the other list, for when I update that one; if you are on that list, you should get an email from penbitten.com when I publish this item - because I'm crossposting it. So, if you haven't gotten two notifications for this entry, resign up at penbitten.com, if you want.

I had a fantastic birthday. It was calm, and quiet, and great. I worked, then my mother made her infamous chicken with mozzarella, and my godmother and her family came over and we did our Christmas presents and played "Shout About TV" until 2 a.m. Donna and I won two games straight. Woo hoo. :) And just…signing on to Leaky, and the Lounge, and my email, and facebook, and IM, and LiveJournal, and seeing an amount of birthday wishes there that way outnumber the amount I feel I've a right to - thank you all for them. I'm trying to respond to everyone; I've done Leaky and almost all the Lounge; all of LJ and all of Facebook, but none of email yet. I feel very lucky to be given such an outpouring. Thank you.

And that's all there's time for right now! Got some recording with some nerds to do tonight. :) A certain Ben Schoen is going to feel the wrath.

mugglenerds

-They were complaining I didn't mention them here. I didn't complain that they only found my site tonight.

Alas, Emerson escaped with his shirt. Sorry girls.

I'm here for a few minutes, as I attempt to simultaneously pack up my room (new apt) and shower. It's been an extraordinary month full of an embarrassment of riches, and now I'm just looking forward to sleep, and family.

Not many of you HP people know this, but before I was a big Potterhead, I was a bigger RENThead. It's my first fandom, and it's responsible for a lot about who I am these days. Without it I'd probably be an introverted doctor in Poughkeepsie or something.

I have a lot more to say about that, but here's what I have time for: Last night I saw RENT for the second time. Absolutely the only thing that can better about that movie, for me, is seeing it with my family. Now I've seen it twice with friends, and even though they were two very special screenings, there's something so intense and intimate and personal about RENT that the experience is made whole when you're with those who make you whole. So, Steph, and Arjuna, I can't wait.

I'll have a lot more to say here soon. Last night was a brilliant culmination of 9 years of friendship, love, fun and discovery, with many of the people who made it so. I never expected to go to the RENT premiere, so when Anthony called two days ago and told me there was a ticket for me, there was suddenly a very large and obvious silence on my end of the phone line. But what made it truly wonderful wasn't the glitz or exclusivity, or any of it...it was that I was with friends (and family, as my sister used her feminine wiles to get into the party), laughing and smiling over a triumph of a film that is a triumph of a piece of art. There's no direct storyline to RENT, really - there's not a means to an end, it's not a driving force type of drama, you can't grab onto one thread and have it carry you through the piece. It's more fragmented than that, and by that very thing it's more whole. It's a gathering of people who tell a story they're not aware of - of life and ugliness and beauty and love. They live, and their lives tell the story without their permission. They just are, and that's the story, that's enough.

The movie is wonderful. Wonderful. It shows us how terrific it is to be human, even when being human seems like a raw deal. Go, and bring tissues. Celebrate it with your friends, with your family - with whoever makes being human special for you.

We've had a wonderful weekend with the premiere and the live podcast. So great we decided we'd go to any lengths for it not to end - Spartz got stuck in Newark, while John and I were being boring with each other. We heard about Newark and went, "Dude! Let's go! We're coming to get you! We'll SAVE YOU FROM NEWARK!"

Then when Dylan said he'd rather not come, we settled on Emerson. And even though three hours earlier the thought of driving five feet was akin to driving nails through our eyes, somehow it seemed at that moment like the funniest thing to do ever. We drove out to West Nowhere, picked him up from Pitch Black Ave., off his cold street corner with his torn and dirtied MuggleNet T-Shirt, which were the remains he was able to salvage after the fangirls followed him to the airport - pieces of which will shortly be up on eBay. All for charity, folks!

We took pity and helped his sorry ass into the car, drove sixty-four-bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall back to Staten Island, ducked arrows flung at us by Andrew, who we probably drove right by on the Jersey Free Love Freeway, because doing this meant that we weren't around to publish the podcast (morning, guys, in the morning! we need a break!) - and are now chilling out in a way that we couldn't quite achieve all weekend, as amazing as this weekend was.

That's right, fangirls. Emerson. Here. Now. I've got him in my house and the key is GONE - out the window. He's mine. Prisoner. You all hate me. That's all right. Own it. It's okay. (He's laughing his ass off right now. Who's got dibs on the shirt? Call it and I'll steal it while he sleeps! If he sleeps!)

And yes. John Noe is here too. Look at this. The crown jewels of both sides of fandom. Both in MY house. What is a girl to do with all this good luck?

Heh. I'll think of something.

See you later.

Surprise halloween costume. :)

So, I'm taking bets.

How many of my co-workers will, today, send me this article about the Weasley Ford Anglia being stolen? I've been here an hour and already two. The first one quipped, "...police said they saw the car outside [my address] this morning..." I've also had one visit at my desk.

Oh y'all so fuuuuuny!

I'll be around after the fourth movie comes out, guys. It's just a little bit loony around my life right now, for reasons mostly, but not all, to do with Potter.

I'm alive.

Just.

My mom opened a store! She's very excited, and so am I. If you or someone you know needs wedding favors, shower decorations, anything to dress up a special event, please check out TheFavoritePlace.com. It's her pride and joy. :) Well, after me and my sis.

I saw the - funniest - show last night. Sides, the tale of six actors auditioning around NYC.

All right, full disclosure: one of the actors is a dear friend's boyfriend. But that made no difference. They call it Sides, they say, because a side is the part an actor reads in an audition. Well, I think they really call it Sides because those are the body parts you end up grasping as you roar, as you struggle for breath.

It's really careful comedy, structured more around timing and pauses than impressions and punchlines. And the details - my goodness, the details. God and comedy are in the details, and that's where this show soars - in one segment a girl who is doing a god-awful audition dance screws up her face in major concentration to perform what must be a very, very difficult combination and is in reality as easy as snapping her fingers - see, it's the kind of comedy you just cannot describe. It loses it to describe it.

Anyway, it's really awesome. Go if you can.

(I will get to the youyous, I haven't forgotten!)

Taken from many - time for me to tell you about you (if I have the time which is entirely why this will take four years but I'll try and answer anyone that responds).

Respond to this with your name, favorite color and your birthday. In turn:

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you what song/movie reminds me of you.
3. I'll pick a dessert with which you and I would have a food fight.
4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me (maybe/maybe not).
5. I'll tell you my first memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of (your Patronus?).
7. I'll ask you something that I've always wondered about you.

If I don't know you I'll make it up, but I'll tell you I'm making it up so you aren't offended when I say you should be a four-feathered peacock or something.

If you'd like, and I answer for you, continue it on by posting on your journal/blog/etc. for others

I finally said to Arjuna - the one who is responsible for all my Joss Whedony love, and was such a huge part of my Sondheim intro - that if he didn't read HP soon I would shoot him. He's finally past book three. This death threat thing? Works.

(Little kids who came here from TLC: kidding about the death thing. Don't try that at home, please.)