¶ I just finished HP&TDH, and my primary sense is relief that it's over. One has to give props to to JKR for planning it all out, but now and again it's hard to avoid the sense she was taking the Fred Weasley approach -- i.e., making it up as she went along. Back at the series' start, you could buy into the magic stuff because there was an apparent internal logic. As things have gone along, though, and the magic has gotten 'deeper' or however Dumbledore described it in that rather strange hallucination scene, logic sort of falls away in the face of it all simply being the invention of the author. Which, you know, fine, but then you start to read it in a different way, don't you? Rather than being persuaded into suspending disbelief, you're forced to accept just because. One might argue that becomes a governing theme of the novels themselves. And, in the hands of a better writer, it might seem less a problem of manipulation, but our Ms Rowling is rarely subtle about pulling rabbits of hats, and there are some pretty big rabbits in this final episode.

Gripes aside, it did have some very moving moments, not least the appearance of Dobby and the convenient, but effective reappearance of the pensieve. So well done.

At any rate, now I can return to the real world and resume reading the newspaper at lunchtime.

¶ Including the line You know how it is and how a pregnancy can change you in a song lyric is pretty amazing, isn't it?

¶ A few foods for which I hope I never develop an allergy: peanuts, wheat, soya, and chickpeas. I'm honestly not sure what would be left for me to eat. (Spinach, I guess. That's one thing. And oranges. And tomatoes. ...Okay, so all wouldn't be lost, but still.)

P.S. Looking back, I realise I never finished watching Torchwood. Doggone it. I do not want to invest more time in that tripe, but I guess I want to see what happens. A little bit. At least to Rhys. He's the only one worth worrying about, the poor guy.

Yes, of course, I read Michael Pollan's nutritionism article.
So I know I should only be eating "whole foods." And, honestly, as a vegan, I mostly do.
But I have a major weakness, and it's one that England encourages: I love digestives.
At least the ones I'm eating right now are organic and whole wheat.
Can we at least that put those points in the Defense column? We can even spell it "defence" if need be.

(And, speaking of articles, I've just started the history of vegetarianism book review. [I know, I'm like two weeks behind on the New Yorker -- can I ever live down the shame? More to the point, can I ever simply catch up?] Perhaps I can carry around to distribute next time people ask why.)

1. Will I eat anything else this afternoon but the peanut brittle matthew_matins made and sent me?
2. Will there be any left tomorrow?