I've never been to Austin, can you believe that? Considering what an art hub it is, I really need to get off my tush and just GO!

So- the weekend before the one that just passed, Megan was hit by a car. Do you know what a sucky thing that is to say to people? But there's no way to say it gracefully or in a way that won't scare the shit out of them.

She's ok, hobbling around well by now, but she was pretty torn up in the accident. No broken bones, thank goodness, but she took a bunch of stitches in her left arm (and it will still never heal cleanly, she lost too much skin) and her left leg has a large hematoma in the calf that may require surgery to drain. Various bruises and abrasions all over the rest of her body and when the hair clip she was using flew off, it took a few large chunks of hair with it.

She was on her bike, riding to Walgreens next to the campus for water and food at about 10 pm when she was broadsided at an intersection. She went up onto the hood and into the windshield. The driver had no license, no insurance and his 6-month preggers girlfriend in the car. Meg felt sorry for them and didn't press charges. We got the call from an EMT that she was on her way to the hospital at about 10:30.

She was on crutches last week but gave them up over the weekend and even worked a shift at her new job.

We got lucky, but with that strange good luck/bad luck mojo we've been running with all year long.

GAH!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy shit, hon. I'm glad she's "all right." Are you and Greg all right yet? Megan is far more forgiving than I. I shouldn't be surprised that someone that irresponsible would also be driving without consideration for bicyclists when near a university but I suppose people are consistent. Poor y'all. Your luck really HAS to change and soon. Please give her a hug for me.

Definitely you should go to Austin. It's a fun town and the dedication to "Keep Austin Funky" guarantees it'll continue to be a great place to visit. Also, the city is surrounded by some of the most amazing parks. Obviously right now is not a great time for hiking, but come this fall it'll be gorgeous.

Oh! I meant to recommend that you go and see Red Hot (contemporary Asian art with an emphasis on Chinese) at the MFAH. I went with Amy and we had a great time. Some of it is kitschy dreck but there was a lot that was just fabulous with a great sense of fun and some was fabulous and had a biting social commentary.

Hopefully your knees will be sufficiently healed to spend a couple of hours touring the exhibit. I think you'd enjoy it.

Re: Harry Potter. You don't want to know. Don't spoil yourself. Enjoy the mystery. And have chocolate on standby. :-D

And yay for nice weekend visiting old friends! :-D

I'm really torn on this. I do much better with character death if I know it's coming. The death in Book 4 was of a relatively minor character but it upset me a bit nonetheless. (What can I say? I am a total wimp.) I'm given to understand that Harry survives but if Hermione or Ron - or any of Ron's family, really - or Sirius or Dumbledore die, well, I'll be a mess. And I'd better plan to read something like that on a Friday so that I can be a mess at home over the weekend.

We were talking about how when you're in college, 3 or 4 years seems like a *really* long time and that you get to know each other so well. Post graduation, and especially once my friends started spawning and so such periods of time became more common, the passage of 3 or 4 years is just a blink. One friend I hadn't seen since my freshman year and it was just like I'd seen him only a few months ago. Of course, he hadn't changed to speak of and now I'm suspicious that he has a painting in the attic somewhere.

I know. Time passes more quickly every year. My *youngest* godchild just turned four. FOUR!!!! Gaaaaah!

Life is what happens while you're making other plans. :-p

I'm given to understand that Harry survives but if Hermione or Ron - or any of Ron's family, really - or Sirius or Dumbledore die, well, I'll be a mess. And I'd better plan to read something like that on a Friday so that I can be a mess at home over the weekend.

Aw. ***sends lots of chocolate and kleenex*** But do not read this to mean that anything does or does not happen to any of the characters listed. (Still sensitive about spoilage after getting accidentally slightly spoiled for Dr. Who in a Stargate thread).

Yes, the death in book four was quite tragic. I'm rereading Book 5 right now. (Now that I've read all seven, I'm interested in following now that I know what happens).

Quite shocking how quickly kids grow, isn't it? Seeing a kid I remembered as a toddler but who is now entering 6th grade...hell, I'm old. :)

Oh, accidental spoilerage when you're trying to avoid it is aggravating. I'm not generally unhappy about being spoiled because it doesn't affect my ability to enjoy but I know it's not the same for others. Part of me wants to enjoy the revelations as I'm reading but I know I'm getting invested in the characters and that's a bad place to be if the author eventually kills them. I have had enough death in my life these past several years that I don't feel the need to "enjoy" a catharsis in my escapist child lit.

If the a.c. guy ever gets done with installing our new unit, I plan to sneak off to the local book store and pick up the rest of the books.

I have had enough death in my life these past several years that I don't feel the need to "enjoy" a catharsis in my escapist child lit.

Now, that, I can relate to. Yes, get thee to the bookstore! And read in order! (I read book four before book three...so not a good idea. Kinda loses the suspense of the whole plotline of Prisoner of Azkaban when you see the references to him in book four. Hee hee).

If you really really really want to know...I will help with my magic eight ball.

Oh yeah, reading 4 first would DEFINITELY ruin 3. I get the feeling the books are structured to lead the reader to make assumptions that Rowling then takes delight in upending. Sort of child lit meets murder mystery, although #4 was a bit dark for young children so maybe "young adult lit meets murder mystery." Well, *I* think it is but parents read fairy tales to kids and take them to see Disney movies about dead parents and such so maybe I misjudge kids.

I've decided to read #5 without spoilers and see how I handle it. If it's too much or makes me really anxious about what's in 6 & 7, I'll be back to bed for spoilers. :)

That sounds like a wise course. Hope you enjoy five. I'm still in the midst of it myself. :-D

I hope so, too. I'm sure I will as I've enjoyed her wonderfully visual writing style thus far. We'll have to compare notes when we've finished! :)

I really loved going through HP spoiler free, but some of the events that happen can be rough. I think being surprised by it adds something to the POV, but after book 4 or 5, ever time a new one came out, I would get really nervous for my favorites. So, I guess, I'm no help, but I empathize.

Ooooooh! Your icon reminds me that after I finish the books, it's time to start on the movies. So, even after I've read everything, I still have new HP to enjoy. I'm nervous already and biting my digital nails while dithering on whether I want to know or not.

I am still so sad I couldn't be at the wedding. From the pictures I've seen so far, there were a bazillion people there I would have loved to have seen. :(

If you really do want a heads up on the Harry Potter stuff, let me know. Otherwise I can say without major spoilage that book 4 was relatively light on the tragedy, and that every book from here on out will probably leave you needing Kleenex and a chance to calm down, for one reason or another.

I really wish you could have been there. It was shocking and wonderful to see Cliff, whom I hadn't had the pleasure of seeing in 20 years. He's now a prof at West Point (which I knew) and has kindly offered me a tour while I'm up there if our schedules mesh. I'd LOVE to see West Point from an insider's perspective. I think he's the one I'd gone longest without seeing since he completed his education abroad but it was such a great time catching up with everyone. Especially seeing Guppy and Kellie and their kids. Corwin is almost as tall as I am now! Randy is still the same, always smiling and laughing. Laura is still one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen in my life and Brian is still himself. It's amazing how little people have changed in their essentials from how I remember them.

I've decided to dive into Book 5 sans-spoilers and see how upset it leaves me. I may be back to beg for details if it looks too death-filled.

The one consolation about missing the trip is that in the pictures it looked like most of the people there were people I wasn't as close to or knew as well. There were exceptions, obviously. And those exceptions are why I was disappointed. It sure would have been fun, though.

There was a woman in some of the pictures I saw who had BRIGHT pink hair. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't figure out who she was. Do you know?

TC. Her hair used to be blonde and long. You would have known Ben and Asya, I believe, though I didn't get to speak with them much. More sort of waving while waiting for the wedding to start.

I forget that you're a couple of years younger than I am so you wouldn't have even met Cliff. I overlapped him by only a year but I always liked him.

Okay, that explains why she looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place her. She's someone I had met a few times, but didn't know very well.

There were several people there that I knew. Ben was definitely one of the ones I was disappointed not to see. I never knew Asya very well, but it would have certainly been interesting to see her. It's always nice to see Andy, but I'll hopefully see him in New York again. I think I saw Brian Donnell in the photos, and I haven't seen him in over a decade. It would have been fun to see Randy, too. Seeing Guppy and Kellie would have been at least interesting, if nothing else. :) And, of course, I was looking forward to seeing you. :(

Ah, well. I had this funny feeling at one point this weekend that I wasn't SUPPOSED to make it to that wedding. Who knows.

You did see Brian, though his last name has changed; he and his wife chose a new family name when they got married. I know that Guppy has given some folks reason to dislike him but he has never been anything other than reasonably polite to me. I may be the only female he hasn't ever hit on, which I perversely find both annoying and gratifying. I think, though, they always assumed I bore them some sort of ill-will given that Bob and Guppy had issues. *shrug* I don't agree with them politically on much of anything, I'll admit, but I still consider them friends. Don't have a clue what they think about me, mind you, but I've always liked them in a perverse way. I do understand why others don't find them as tolerable.

Ben was always someone I knew tangentially; we shared a lot of friends but we never had a lot of discussions. My loss, I know. I am bummed about not better cornering Randy. Another person's whose politics disagree with mine but I've always liked him - he really is an ideal bridge teacher - and I really wanted to hear about teaching in the UAE during and after 9/11.

I'm sorry that you weren't there to see Matt married. I was ecstatic to see how happy he looked. I can't think of a better wish for my friends than happiness, love, and contentment and I can think of few people more deserving of it.

Oh, and and... (I just looked at some of the photos again). I would have LOVED to have seen Chuck, of course, and I've never met his daughter. And Andy S. and his new wife, whom I'd really been looking forward to meeting. And Marina was there. And Debbie...

*sigh* Okay, someone else I know in that group needs to get married.

He and T have TWO daughters. :) They're both adorable. I got to ask T about their youngest and she said she's well-behaved but not a good napper.

That's a bit of a problem, no? Who's left to get married?