Present location

For those to whom this information is meaningful: I'm temporarily installed back in my old bedroom at Duane "Langga" and Desiree Liong's house. Once I've switched jobs in mid-August, I'll probably move into some cheap apartment in close to the Galleria...probably, since I'm not too picky about neighbors, in a part of town south of 59 where I will both save lots of money on rent and also sharpen back up my rusting Spanish. (I mean, after all, I'm still obviously going to have to pay the rent on that five-bedroom if I don't want the family kicked out of it -- which I don't, and that includes Dessie -- so there's little point in spending a bunch on my own digs.)

Not much use calling me on the good ol' cell phone until tomorrow afternoon when I go back to the house to pick up the cell phone charger...oddly, the cell phone doesn't continue to work without it. Who knew? (Hey, what can I say, I'm in software, not hardware.)

Picked up Deathly Hallows this afternoon at HEB, of all places, and settled in tonight to read it. Danae (the Liongs' twin girls will be three next week and Danae is definitely the one with the imp in her) clambered up into my lap and set out to read the book herself, apparently under the impression that it was in Braille. I moved the book way to the right so that I was holding it out of her reach to the right of the chair; she headed over to the right armrest and reached out to grab the book. I moved it the left; she clambered across my lap to the left armrest. I held my arms straight up in the air to read with my neck craned back; she stood up and jumped up and down in my lap a couple of times trying to reach it...and, um, I decided it was time to go off to the bedroom behind the door Danae can't open.

Anyway, I finished it up about ten this evening, and I have to doff my hat to Ms. Rowling: she wrote a final volume to the series that did not disappoint. This brings to a successful conclusion one of the most remarkable sustained pieces of work I've ever seen -- for of course the seven books together are a single piece of work. I would give more specific reactions except that I don't want to play spoiler and I know lots of people are still waiting for their turn at the family copy.

Well, off to pray for the family and then go to sleep.

I wish you all knew the Liongs. Nobody ever had truer friends.