Deathly Hallows Spoilers ahead

25 July

Well I have to tell someone, it's my birthday today. I'm not quite as depressed as I thought I would be. In actual fact, being 40 doesn't feel a whole lot different from being 39. There is a certain fear welling within me. It does seem such a big number. And I look 40. I'm fat and out of shape. I think that's the worst thing. If it really was just a number, and the body hadn't let go, it wouldn't be such a hurdle to jump. But the mirror really doesn't lie. Everything is on the long journey south.

The Dragon has been really good about my birthday this year. I'm difficult to handle as the day approaches every year. I'm aware of this, but somehow unable to control it. She's learnt how to deal with it though. She knows that suggesting parties would be a bad idea, she knows that making a fuss would be wrong. It's not that simple though. She has also discovered that forgetting it altogether would be wrong. This morning I received a card, and a new umbrella. I suspect that there may be a further gift this evening, and we will have a special dinner I think. Friend Eugenie is coming to stay with us. This level of fuss is just about perfect.

27 July

It seems that I have less and less time these days to write anything here. The birthday went quite well and I'm comfortable enough with being 40 now.

Important events that have happened this week include me finishing the last Harry Potter book, and our new kitchen arriving in pieces. Let's deal with Harry Potter first:

OK, there are Harry Potter spoilers from here onwards, so don't read unless yoo're already finished with the books yourself.

I was in general impressed with the final book. I did think it lost a little pace for a while in the middle, but there were a lot of loose ends that required tying up. It wasn't an easy task and I think it was accomplished well. There were a lot of holes left open. I wanted to know what lies beyond the veil, but the department of mysteries was never visited in the final book. Indeed the ministry of magic only made a very brief appearance. I wanted to know what James Potter did for a living, and Lily come to that.

I wasn't surprised about Snape's revelation about Lily Evans. I had that down as a possibility. I was surprised that Ginny Weasley played such a small part in the final book.

I thinK JK changed direction somewhere along the way. I think Harry was supposed to sacrifice himself. Well, Harry did sacrifice himself, but got a reprieve. I was convinced he was going to rise again on the third day and then join Dumbledore forever. It didn't really happen quite like that.

The final few pages were odd, and an obvious attempt to prevent alien writers carrying on the Potter Story. It won't work because there are gaps to fill in between the demise of Voldermorte and the scene DESCRIBED 19 years later. I wanted to know if Harry became an aura and what Ron and Hermione ended up doing.

I'm glad it's all over and I hope that JK doesn't try to milk the HP thing. She doesn't need to make more money and further books would ruin what already exists. I don't think she will.

Now, the kitchen. I may already have mentioned that I'm going to attempt the installation of the new kitchen myself since the installation costs were ridiculous. I'm quietly confident, but the working surfaces were delivered this week and they weren't cut to length as I was expecting. I was also expecting holes to be cut for the sink and hob. I can do this, but I'm not happy about it. I'll be calling them today. More news as we get it.

One other thing I should mention is the fact that our new PM Gordon is currently enjoying a honeymoon period and there is much speculation that he will call a snap election. I believe he would win if he called an election right now, but morale is pretty low and I don't think it's a foregone conclusion. My gut feeling is that he will not call an early election. Apart from anything else, he will want to win after he's put his mark on government policy. I can't believe that the British would be short sighted enough to keep the most corrupt government in British history in power. But I was astounded that Blair won the last election also, so what do I know?

This weekend is the Swindon Mela, Asian festival. The weather has been foul this summer and it was nearly called off, but it has been confirmed for tomorrow and the forecast is good, so I might post something about that here on Monday.