I name all of my material possessions after people, creatures, and things in Harry Potter. Well, all of the things that are worth naming, anyways. I haven’t named my washer and dryer Ron and Hermione or anything. (Though now that I’ve said that, maybe… nevermind.)
It started with my last car. Then it just sorta became a thing.
- Honda Civic Hybrid: Hagrid (because it’s ironic — that thing’s a damn lawn-mower)
- my first iPod: Hedwig
- wireless network: Patronus (password was an encrypted version of “Expecto Patronum”)
- newer silver iPod: Pigwidgeon
- MacBook Pro: Buckbeak
Last week I got an iPhone, and when the dude at the AT&T store asked me what I wanted to name it, I realized I hadn’t thought of a name for it yet. I told him to register it as “Jenny’s iPhone” — he actually mocked me for being unoriginal, though I can’t imagine what he would have said if I’d made him help me come up with an appropriately dorky name.
When I got home, I started brainstorming. It’s small, it’s black, it’s connected and super-useful, so my first thought was “Dark Mark.” Ugh. No way. I couldn’t think of any creature that fits that description. Errol was the closest, being gray, but he’s just so pathetic and old, and my iPhone’s awesome and new! I ended up settling on Patronus, even though I’d already used the name.
I’m not happy with Patronus though. It makes sense for a network because it’s this sort of general thing, but for something that I hold in my hand, it needs a real name. A real character. Someone important. Someone small and sweet and endlessly helpful. Someone loved, and loving.
I’ve got it: the iPhone is Dobby. <3
I finished the book at 7am on the 25th… just didn’t have anything blog-worthy going on.
But now, I can make the Official Announcement of the year! (Though if you’re reading this, you’ve probably already heard.)
I’m moving to San Francisco. Probably towards the end of September. I am excited!
I ain’t touching the internet with a ten-foot pole until I’ve finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Spoilers are everywhere.
See ya later, interwebs.
Well, nearly complete anyway.
I decided that I’d have to be a complete nutter to want to wear a long-sleeved shirt, alpaca sweater, wool scarf, and wool robes in California in July. So I’m stopping short of the robes and will probably still be sweltering, but at least that means the costume will be *done* once I buy a skirt.
The scarf is from everyone’s favorite pattern, you know, the knit.atypically.net PoA one. It’s worked in Cascade 220 — colorway 8993 for navy, and 9445 for the best book!Ravenclaw bronze in the world.
The tie is from wizardties.com and came in a brown paper package with a handwritten note tied on.
The sweater! Oh, the sweater. My mom got me the luscious yarn for Christmas — Classic Elite Inca Alpaca, which is so far outside my normal price range that it makes my head spin. And let me tell you, returning to my old standby, Cascade 220, after spending months working only with this lovely stuff is as disappointing as waking up from an exhilaratingly wonderful dream and realizing that you’re late for work.
But the sweater! Oh, the sweater. It’s a nearly seamless raglan, knit from the bottom up, and is based on no pattern (save the v-neck, which came from The Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns). I took measurements from my favorite sweatshirt, did a bunch of math, added a fitted waist, and fudged my numbers like crazy to avoid decreasing 1.614 stitches every 4 rows. Came out alright, though.
Just bought my tickets to head home for the Harry Potter book release — flying outta here Friday (7/20) night and coming back Sunday (7/22) night.
Such a short trip! But I’ve got a crazy amount of stuff to get done before my AmeriCorps term is up at the end of August, so it’s just gotta be this way. Maybe I’ll make it down there for a longer trip in September.
I must remember to put up pictures of my Hogwarts uniform so far. I’ve got the scarf and sweater done, and bought the tie. I think I can rope Becca into helping me make the robes, and then I’ll buy the skirt, shoes, and somehow procure a wand. That seems like a lot of work, now that I think about it…
Anybody out there know a good PHP/Object-Oriented Programming mentor? I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.
The constructor for the Date class (starting on line 107) doesn’t even work.
