Sapphire

I never did this, so I guess I will now. I'm Sapphire, and my home board is Best of Clay, where I am co-owner/admin. My wallpaper gallery is also located there, which is probably where most people recognize my name from. I was originally a PRoCer from TWoP, and then moved to the Clackhouse when the great eviction came (poor Shack, we drove him over the bend), but I don't post there any longer, I'm just a lurker. I also run a yahoo group called Christians for Clay for those that prefer that environment. I guess I am one of those people that loves Clay-the whole package. I love his voice, but I also love his sense of humor, his personality, and his heart for kids. And he is very handsome. Yeah. I like that he wants to be a role model, without thinking he needs to be perfect all of the time. I really like that he wants to do music that parents wouldn't be afraid to let kids listen to without it being Veggie Tales or the Wiggles. Heh. It can still be 'grownup' music and not be something you have to break your neck to turn off the radio for when it comes on. I loved him from the beginning... something about him just drew me to him, and I knew I had to support this guy. That, and he looked like almost every major 'crush' I've ever had in my life. *G* Did I mention he's quite handsome? ;-) Oh yeah, I really love his eyes. And his joy. Like I said, I'm a 'whole package' kind of gal, and I do NOT mean that in any smutty way, just to make that clear! *G*

Yeah, but who would pay for all of those sunglasses? I have a similar complexion as Clay, (minus a few hundred freckles, I only get them in the sun) and well, the glare would be blinding. Just sayin'.

Yeah, I stupidly mentioned to my co-worker that I was flying to Buffalo for the weekend. His response.... "voluntarily?" But I am getting a tiny weensy bit excited for my first concert. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> EEEeeee! Me too! Even though I have to take TWO planes to get there. Why are there no direct flights from Indiana to Buffalo?? I'm getting excited and a wee bit nervous... I don't fly well, and I still have a lingering sinus problem from last week. So when ShelleyC picks me up at the airport on Friday, it could be with assistance. Heh. I even looked up the weather in Buffalo...in the 80's! much better than it is HERE today, which is just a few degrees short of you-know-where, only much more humid, I think. This is INDIANA, it's not supposed to be over 100 degrees!

I've realized reading this last book that I have little memory of the details in a few of the other books. I need to go back and read PoA and GoF again before I reread HBP again. I had just reread OotP, so it was fresh in my mind. Perhaps I should just start from book one and go on from there again.

I put up some new wallpaper I had made and not uploaded, so here's the link: http://bestofclay.com/gallery/newest1024 I'm too lazy to link each new one individually, at least right now. *G* I'm really looking forward to the concerts and new pictures ::hint hint:: ;-)

Now, I'm about the *furthest* thing from a PANTS! person as you can get, but that one where he looks like he just fell off the chair onto his absolute? Those are some nice pants, y'all. Yes they are. Indeed. Mighty fine. Mmm hmm. Those jeans are his friend. And how. There isn't a blushing icon, so just imagine one here. ETA: http://bestofclay.com/gallery/newest1024/New My little mouse hand does NOT like watermarks.

There is someone else that thinks like me! I have to admit, I was kind of devastated when Leia turned out to be his sister (cause, eww). And reading the books set after RotJ didn't satisfy me any, because Luke never seemed to catch a break. Yes, I am Harry's girl for sure. I very much pleased with Harry and Ginny...when they get married, Harry will have a nice big family officially. ;-) Ginny is a strong personality, and has NO problem taking him down a peg if he ever needs it. She's been through some stuff on her own, and is strong enough to help him, if he'll let her. I wanted to smack him upside the head when he pulled a Peter Parker on her at the funeral, but he's a guy. ::sigh:: She knows he'll be back. I really want a happy ending for Harry out of all of this. I am a romantic in every sense of the word. The kid DESERVES it. After Book 7, I will probably have to resort to fanfic it that happy ending doesn't happen, and just live in my own little world of bliss. Heh. Harry's had a raw deal from minute one (and btw, how MUCH did I love it when Dumblebore finally told off the Dursley's? And it just occurred to me this second that Dumbledore's words to them were very...final. He seemed to say everything he needed to say to get Harry through until he turned of age. Interesting I didn't notice that before. Another little clue to the 'is Snape evil or not' mystery. And this is now the world's longest aside. *G* ) As for Ron and Hermione, I think he needs her. Ron is, shall we say, not the most talented wizard in the world. While Harry struggles with classes, he is very gifted and thinks well on his feet. Ron is in his own world on this. I was honestly surprised that he got so many OWLs, from the way JK writes about his school troubles. Hermione will be a good match, she has the smarts, but is too focused on doing what's 'right' ALL of the time, while Ron is impulsive enough to push her into living a little, I think. I didn't particularly like Hermione in this book, but then I didn't particularly care for Ron most of the time either. It's really becoming obvious to me that Harry is maturing and growing up, and is outpacing the two of them quite a bit. Of course, he's had to grow up, and the idea of being 'The One' weighs heavily on him. The prospect of a Year 7 book without Hogwarts is interesting. It also might be necessary. Harry is going to have one focus now: Kill Voldemort. Any thing beyond that will feel like a waste of his time, a distraction. As he realized in the book, he's lost his last parental figure, the last person who looked at as a role model, and realized that he's only got himself in this, that HE has to do the job, that there is no one else to rely on. It felt to me that THAT moment, that realization, was when Harry became an adult. You could almost feel the change in him on the pages. Or that could just be my overactive imagination, and the fact that I read this part at midnight when I was starting to see triple. *G*

Well, my main beef with the movies thus far is that they just don't capture all of the nuances in the books. I know it's nearly impossible to do that, but if they can do it with Lord of the Rings, I hope that they manage to capture more of the characterization and nuances of the universe in the rest of the movies. This particular book will be interesting to see on the big screen. Really, a LOT of the time is spent doing things that are not so action friendly, but IMO, all of the 'downtime' so to speak with Harry and the little things that happen around him all add and make a big difference to the story. I miss all of the introspection in the movies, I guess, and the introspection in the books makes a big difference in how you react to Harry and others, because you see them through his eyes more, and in the movies, you have to use the impression you are given from the action on the film itself, not Harry's thoughts about them and what goes on. The twins are fascinating, because even though they were goof offs in school, they are very gifted wizards...they just had to find a profitable outlet for that gift. The shop is definitely that. I like that they've found their niche in the world. It was also hilarious that they wouldn't let Harry pay for a thing, but Ron wasn't getting ANYTHING in that store for free. Hee. Typical brothers.

Eeeeee! A safe place to discuss HP! Now I'm happy. I'll post more when I have time to read the whole thread, but I will just say that I think this is the best book of the series so far. I meant to take my time reading it, but I ended up sitting down at 10 am to start it, and read pretty much straight through until about midnight, stopping for food now and then. *G* More later when I can digest what everyone else has said so far.