Okay, do I need to read Harry Potter?

I'm kind of embarrassed that I've never read even ONE word of ONE Harry Potter book. I've seen two of the movies and enjoyed them, but I think I have been a bit snobbish about not reading them and I'm ashamed of that. When I see how many people, including many of my students and members of my family, enjoy reading this series, I guess I should rethink my position. I have a week at the shore coming up, so I think I'll hit the library and get a couple. I'm told I need to read at least the first one, and the fifth, sixth, and seventh ones. Any other feedback?

I tend to get obsessed with series. As a kid, I read every Nancy Drew I could get my hands on (as did my daughter, who also sucked up Babysitter Club books like a milkshake). I think you start to feel as if you actually know these people. At one point I was working my way through the Sue Grafton initial mysteries (A is for Alibi, etc.) and felt like I'd recognize Kinsey Milhone if I met her on the street. My friend Cathy is hooked on Lisa Scottoline, who incorporates a heroine from Cathy's high school. So who am I to pooh-pooh Mr. Potter and Ms. Rowlings?

At the very least, I am grateful that the Potter series has encouraged kids to read. This is how people got hooked on Dickens and some other pretty important authors, after all, with series in magazines.

I'll report on my progress!

Awesome in the true sense of the world!

Okay, it's late Sunday night and I'm exhausted, but I just want to say that the Rocky Mountains are breathtaking in so many ways. First the Grand Tetons, then Yellowstone, and finally Glacier National Park - each one amazing in its own right. Our first afternoon in the mountains and we saw, in a space of three minutes and maybe 500 yards, a mother bear and two cubs, a mother moose and her calf, and a herd of elk. Yellowstone is an eerie place, with hot mud and steam bubbling out of the earth, and, of course, Old Faithful. After saying "Wow!" about a hundred times a day, we never thought anything would outdo these two places, but I have to say that those who say Glacier National Park is the most beautiful place on earth have a point. Anyway, I'll add more later, but here are a couple of pics:

http://picasaweb.google.com/katec810/ReallyTrulyAwesome

Calling all blog experts

Okay, I love this picture and want to put it on my profile, but the URL that it was assigned is too long. Any suggestions, oh you expert bloggers out there?

What's up with this?

So it was brutally hot for several days in June - enough to put the air conditioning on, which I hate. Now I've been at the beach since last Friday, and it's been downright cold at night; had ONE typical July beach day, but the others have been so cool and windy we didn't really want to stay on the beach too long. But the baby loved having her blowup pool down there, so that was a success!