Monday, August 07, 2006

The Mini Vacation

The trip was really nice. (The rental car is VERY nice. Believe me, I am more than ready to have my car back, but I do enjoy the rental.) We had plenty of good food, time to chat, and just enjoy life.

Wednesday, the book reading itself was better than I expected. It was really a star studded cast. First an introduction to the night done by Whoopi Goldberg. Following, Tim Robbins introducing Stephen King. Stanley Tucci introduced John Irving and last Kathy Bates introduced JK Rowling. It was amazing to see these fantastic authors all on the same stage.

Stephen King read from Different Seasons (AKA Stand By Me), John Irving from A Prayer to Owen Meany (It was UNBELIEVABLE to hear John Irving read as Owen, squeaky voice and all.), and JK Rowling from The Half-Blood Prince.

Stephen King and John Irving were very opened about their thoughts on their characters, how they write, etc. Very revealing.

My only complaint is that JK Rowling was very guarded. She didn't answer a lot of questions. But, she did say that Dumbledor is deceased and that "he won't be pulling a Gandalf." Also, she said there is more to Aunt Petunia than meets the eye. This one has left me completely baffled considering she says that Aunt Petunia is not magical on her website. (Very intrigued. I personally believe that Aunt Petunia, Harry's Mom, Harry etc. have some connection to Dumbledor. But, that is only a hunch.)

T even enjoyed the night, and he wasn't looking forward to it at ALL.

The hotel was really nice and very reasonable for a five star. Actually comparatively priced to the Holiday Inn which I had only stayed in a few months back.

Thursday, we stopped at Mystic, CT. Perfect little town. Cute shops, an aquarium, a port, etc. We settled in, got a hotel room, put our things in our room and set out to see the town. T suggested seeing a movie, since he knows how much I love them. We went to see "Pirates of the Caribbean." All of the sudden, we lost electricity.

Unfortunatelly, I believed that the electricity would be turned on by the time we woke up and I asked T to stay. So we did. I was wrong. The electricity was still out at 11:00 AM the next morning. Turned out that 60,000 people were out of electricity in the surrounding area.

Friday, we went home and relaxed.

Saturday, we had T's family reunion which they have every year. T got to play with the kids and I chatted. It was nice to see them all. (Every year it is held by T's Great Aunt and Uncle. They are truly beautiful people. They never had kids and honestly, they are a great example of a HAPPY couple who never did. Food for thought for me, that T pointed out on the ride home.)

Sunday, we relaxed. Went back to the movie theaters to finish watching "Pirates," did some grocery shopping and relaxed.

It was a great mini vacation, exactly what I needed.

3 comments:

Joei said...

Sounds like fun!! I missed you and am glad you are back to post! :) Isn't Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom uber-hot in "Pirates"???? I'm very interested in JK Rowling's next book... I'm also interested in your thoughts on Harry, Aunt Petunia, and Harry's mom link to Dumbeldore (often thought the same thing... perhaps Harry's Grandpa???)

Esperanza said...

Or distant relative.

The question I had for JK Rowling that didn't get picked was, "Is Dumbledor's last name or family lineage listed on the Black family tree?"

(I've checked in the book, her website, and on Lexicon. And his last name is not mention at all.)

I feel that this may be significant. Mostly because all of the major magical families are listed or mentioned on that family tree (even if not specifically referring to an actual character, ie. Potter is mentioned, but she may be a distant relative of Harry and not a direct one).

Dumbledor's last name is not listed. Therefore, he could be a muggle born or a half-blood.

Very intriguing when you start thinking of all the possibilities and connections he may have to Harry and his mom's family.

Can you tell? I SO cannot wait for Book 7!

Anonymous said...

Ooh. Intriguing. There's definitely something to that... at the beginning of book 5, Harry realizes that his aunt knows a little bit more about the magical world than she has let on (e.g., what dementors are), and he knows that she gets the significance of Voldemort's return.

Glad you had a nice mini-vacation!