legovanan
i've been long overdue for a long rant. i have like 20 different things to say; most of them long rants..

I have returned from Chicago! Tis a nice city; probably my favorite big city in the US. It's clean, with nice buildings, culture, nature (the lake), and people. It made me think, as we were taking the buses and the subway, what would it be like to live in a city like this? Someday I'd like to find out. I'm not a big city person, as the noise, overcrowding, pollution, PEOPLE HONKING THEIR STUPID HORNS, extreme lack of nature, and constant movement drives me insane after a while, but i'd like to experience city life someday, preferably in London, Liverpool, or some other European city. Chicago wouldn't be bad either. They don't have as much of the things that drive me crazy. What would it be like to take the train home every day? I'd like to know how it would feel to step out of your front door, and have an entire city bustling around. It'd make me feel a bit insignificant though, in that huge place, with all those people going about on their business, without any knowledge or regard for what you're doing. What would it feel like to be surrounded by high rise buildings all day, with the mall spanning across a street, not just one complex? I suppose it would get tiresome, stressful, and routine after a while, but I'd like to try it. It probably wouldn't suit me once the novelty wears off, and I'll want to move back to my quaint little suburb, where nature still prevails, but the modern world still lurks beneath.
Chicago's a nice city, but I'm really not particularly fond of middle America. People are so.. simple there. I don't mean to stereotype or belittle in any way, but I think I need the culture and history of the East Coast, or at least the drive of the West. I just want to go somewhere where the history and culture are preserved, and you can feel it in the every day people. I love the US, don't get me wrong, but I really need to tour and experience Europe, and maybe even live somewhere there for a while. I want to live in England, or even France (granted that I know the language) but I'm afraid I won't belong there either. It hurts to find out that your dreams aren't quite what you believed them to be.

Now to my Harry Potter ranting. Started it on the plane. Five and a half hours later, after tears and shock, finished it. SPOILERS HERE DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW. I CAN'T BELIEVE HE DIED!!!!!!!! AND I HATE THAT MURDERER!!!!! I DON'T CARE IF HE TOLD HIM TO KILL HIM, I STILL HATE HIM!!!! I sound like Harry. Someone placated me a bit by comparing HIS death to the death of Obi-Wan. Harry can't have him to depend on in the final duel between him and Lord Voldemort, just like Luke couldn't have Obi-Wan around when he brought down *sniff* Lord Vader. Whoa I just realized that they're both Lord Vs.
I love #6. It's probably my favorite. I have a thing for the evens: 2, 4, and now 6. I think it appealed to me the most because of the going into to the Pensieve, probing into Voldemort's past. I don't know why, but I have this extreme love for analyzing people's past, connecting it with their present, and deciphering "Why" from those facts. Maybe I should be like a psychoanalyst or something. So when Harry and Dumbledore stepped out of the Pensieve, I hungered for more of Tom Riddle's past.
Harry's little romance struck me as... sudden. There was nothing absolutely wrong in JK Rowling's way of putting it, but it was so... underdeveloped. I mean, out of the blue, he just started feeling things for her! I mean, other than the fact that JK Rowling described her as one of the hottest girls in the school, Harry never had any extreme feelings for her, and I like to think that Harry isn't extremely shallow, though after Cho Chang and this person, both described as extremely pretty, I'm starting to think it.
Tonks and Lupin, well that is an interesting pairing. Other than Ron/Hermione, JK Rowling really isn't that great with developing romances. I LOVE Lupin. My favorite character of that generation; my favorite teacher; and in my top 3 favorites overall. Poor Bill. I love how Ginny calls Fleur "Phlegm". No French jokes please, Matthew.
Overall: great book, except that STUPID @$$ OF A MURDERER.

I had like a lot of other things to ramble about, but I have piano today, and I haven't been home/practiced for a week, so gotta go cram!