just to keep up

I don't have that much interesting to say, but I thought I might as well post something as not. After all, it's been over a week now.

The living situation has gotten much better. Well, maybe not much, but definitely better. I do have the living room and couch to myself by around 11:00 or so every night, which makes it much easier to sleep. And I've been having fun with more spare time. I've been watching some of my favorite shows, the ones that are on during the day time when I've had to work in the past. And today I worked on some writings that I haven't touched for a while. They actually were seeming pretty good to me. Definitely better than the last attempts I made, about ten years ago. I might even consider "publishing" some of them online here to get some feedback.

I leave Provo this weekend, either Friday or Saturday ... I still haven't gotten that cleared up yet with Dad. And then I'll be either at Mom and Dad's place in Idaho Falls or at my sister's in Logan for the next three weeks. I leave for London on September 23. I need to go reserve a hotel room for myself in Lancaster, as I arrive one day before I can move into my new on-campus accomodation ...

Today I missed lunch with my roommate Margo! I felt so bad. We had made plans a few days ago to meet for lunch today, and I totally forgot about it.

Last night we went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban again at the dollar theater. After seeing it the first time, I was so disappointed that I vowed I would not see it again until it came to the cheap theaters, and as it's there now, we went. It only served to deepen my dislike of that movie. As I -- and others -- have said before, it does all right by itself, but when you take the book into consideration, it gets about a 2 on my personal scale from 1 to 10 (where 1 is the worst). Here's what I hate about it: it seems out of balance to me. It seems to me that we spend far too much time exploring Cuaron's personal version of the Potterverse, and not enough time developing the plot, both of that particular installment and of the series in general. And there's so much information left out, that I have to wonder what made them decide to take it all out. The most important and emotionally-charged scenes in the book seem, in the movie, to be flat, shallow, and superficial -- an effect that is heightened by the fact that the actors show little to no emotional variation in those scenes. I can't stand David Thewlis as Lupin -- he's too old (IMHO), too wimpy, and he sounds rather like he used to be in love with Lily (which, by the way, had better not be the case). And I can't stand the way they have been making Hermione/Emma Watson into a little starlet while at the same time making Ron look weak, wimpy, and wavering, not to mention utterly stupid. Oh, and I hate the ending -- what kind of an ending is that, anyway?

Well, now that I'm done with that ... the only other mildly interesting thing going on is that I'm waiting for a paper from Lancaster that has to do with my Federal Stafford Loan. It should have arrived in the mail yesterday or today, and it hasn't yet. I'm getting nervous about it at this point. I'm considering putting in a request at the Dead Letter Office to see if they have it. If it doesn't come soon, I may well end up with no funds in my bank account by the time the British Consulate calls to confirm my proof of funding. Eek!