xtcian

8/20/03 Portland, ME Well, this

8/20/03 Portland, ME

Well, this blog just got more hits yesterday than ever before, which shows what a little controversy will do for you. I'm afraid that makes me feel like Lewis Carroll following up "Alice in Wonderland" with a math textbook, but I'm still on my honeymoon, and would prefer to keep my head in those lofty clouds, thanks. But I will address one point: certain detractors seem to think a diary and a blog are different things. I suppose it all comes down to semantics, but that wasn't really my point. I said this: calling a personal blog "self-involved" is a poorly-thought-out, un-nuanced and ultimately specious way of re-stating the obvious. If someone's blog is bothering you because "it's all about them," then perhaps you should go surf porn, where the intentions are better spelled-out for you.

Speaking of which, the new Harry Potter book is providing some real difficulty for both Tessa and me. We've never purchased any of the five actual books, opting instead for the incredible performance of Jim Dale on the audio tapes. We listened to the first three books during our massive post-9/11 road trip, the fourth on a cross-country Thanksgiving jaunt, and this new one will dominate the honeymoon driving. It's a really fabulous way of hearing the story, even if we don't know how anyone's name is spelled.

Anyway, we're about a third of the way through the "Order of the Phoenix" - and the behavior, speech and philosophy of Professor Umbrage (and the Ministry of Magic in general) is reminding us so much of the Bush administration that we have to turn the tape off every once in a while and seethe with rage. When Umbrage cancels all student groups, sports and gatherings (because of Harry's proposed secret Dark Arts class), the self-impressed, smug, mind-numbing monkey face of Bush, Ari Fleischer and John Ashcroft flitted into view, and made it all too real. I know self-convinced righteousness has been in books since man begat characters, but I'd truly like to know if J.K. Rowling - who delayed this book several months after September 11 - had any current events in mind.

Oh, we hiked to the top of the Beehive in Acadia National Park today, and it was rough but beautiful. I'd like to make one request to all the white folks in New England: can you PLEASE untuck your polo shirts out of your pleated shorts? It's driving me batty. Thank you.