With potions, it's mostly a matter of how you pick up the ingredients, making sure you do it in exactly the order given, and not spilling stuff (i.e., picking up the bottles by the top). And if you screw up, you can refresh. Many of the ingredients regenerate in the chapters once you've exhausted your supply.

With spells, it's all about the rhythm. You can set a metronome and be nearly perfect. It would be nice if it wasn't straight points, if it mattered which spell you used against which.

Actually, Hufflepuff has more members than Slytherin too.

It would help if you could see which friends were online in the address book thingy. You can tell if you go into each friend's profile, but that's laborious.

Actually, Hufflepuff has more members than Slytherin too.

See! I was just surprised, and charmed, that it was so popular.

Thanks, David.

Bodemeister was excellent. I wonder if there had been an option to get to the front and slow things down a bit. . . what might have happened.

On the other hand, I'll Have Another had a perfect trip.

If they both show up for the Preakness it should be interesting.

The web is a strange place in which one can, completely by accident, find instructions for knitting your own death star [link]

Neighborhood festival today. Neighbors and HPF set up a lemonade stand. They're doing pretty well - still keeping it together after 3 hours.

... I go to take a shower, leaving the dads in charge, and return to find HPF's got her violin out and is busking on the sidewalk.

At least she's practicing, I guess.

HPF's got her violin out and is busking on the sidewalk.

A time-honored tradition.

When Ben was five, I found him out on the front lawn having an "art sale" of pictures he'd drawn. He was flagging down cars.

Nice entrepreneurial spirit, but I had to explain why that might not be a great idea. He did sell one for $5, though.

find instructions for knitting your own death star

I wish I could knit. This shit would be right up my alley.

ION, I am not sure if this fits into the definition of absurdity (I feel strongly it does), but I also think there must be a German word for this that does not exist in English. What does one call it when one is in the middle of packing (I am taking pictures of my packed CDs and labeling boxes) with my phone and I get an email notification from my current Dean asking me to speak to an Associate Dean at the graduate school who may convince me to stay!

I have boxes I purchased in my hallway. I bought extra tape at Staples on Friday. I have daily alerts in my email from the new city with information on houses for rent. I have appointments with realtors next week to interview.

And yet the emails come.

I need to write my formal resignation email and be done with it. Clearly the verbal approach is not working.

The web is a strange place in which one can, completely by accident, find instructions for knitting your own death star [link].

Ooooooooh! That would be an excellent project for my company's silent auction in December.

Speaking of Pottermore, who is LightWillow? I assume it's someone here.