REPLETE

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I stopped at Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Store after attending Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I needed the sustenance of a brownie fudge sundae, than which there is no better made than Braum's. Then I went home and took Speedy to the park to work on his sit-with-D-cubed. (That's distance/duration/distraction, which he doesn't get much of in our house.)

A neighbor boy was sitting on a bench in the playground, looking bored. I went over to him after a period of "No, Speedy. Sit, Speedy" and asked if he would like to help by coming over and greeting me so that Speedy could practice company-manners. As a reward, I offered to let the boy pet Speedy. The meet and greet went off without too much jumping on Speedy's part, but he still needs a great deal of practice. Subsequently, while we were petting Speedy, another boy came up on his bike and asked if he could pet Speedy. The dog was in heaven: multiple petting!

We went home after that. Speedy obediently jumped the perimeter cable when I held it down a bit. Then I about did myself an injury, as my foot slipped on the cable as I went over. Fortunately, I managed to catch myself without looking too foolish.

Oh, and yes, I enjoyed HP&HBP in spite of the gratuitous fire. Of course, I had read the book - multiple times - so I knew when they had just cut out unessential stuff and when they really lost all contact with Rowling's narrative. I'd give it 4 out of 5. And I'm glad they're getting book 7 ready as I write. From http://www.imdb.com/ I see that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is to be released as a two-parter. I was afraid that by the time they released it Radcliffe, Watson, et al. would be old enough for real-time depiction of the epilogue.

***POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT***
I did enjoy the cinematography in that the lighting was dark. Even the outdoor daytime scenes were rainy or cloudy. I also thought the scenes of Draco in the Room of Requirement were quite well done. The scene with Harry at Dumbledore's side after Draco and the Death Eaters get away is very nicely done also, although not "strictly true" to the book.


The word of the day for July 19, 2009 is "replete" — Pronunciation: \ri-'plēt\
Function: adjective
Etymology:Middle English, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French replet, from Latin repletus, past participle of replēre to fill up, from re- + plēre to fill — more at full
Date:14th century
1: fully or abundantly provided or filled [a book replete with…delicious details — William Safire]. 2 a: abundantly fed. b: fat, stout. 3: complete.

Our quotation is from Henry James. (1843–1916). The Portrait of a Lady:

Isabel came back to Florence, but only after several months; an interval sufficiently replete with incident.

;^)

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INTERMEDIATE

Speedy

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Speedy has been working hard for the past eight weeks. Today he finished his Intermediate Obedience training. The instructor, Connie from Petsmart, is a real whiz at showing us how to get the dogs to do what we want. As my uncle used to say, "Obedience training is to teach the people how to handle their dogs."

Dogs, unlike cats, want to please their people. It is only fair that people figure out what the dog can do, and consistently ask him/her to do that thing under the same circumstance until the dog has "learned" to come/sit/stay/whatever on command. Speedy has learned the basics, along with a couple of dandy "tricks"—behavior not entirely necessary for good canine citizenship, but easy to do and fun to watch. His tricks are "shake"(lifting one paw), "crawl" (just what it sounds like: on the belly) and "dance" (up on the hind legs).

The Petsmart instructors are pushing for Speedy to take Therapy Dog training after his Advanced class. I don't know whether we'll go for that or not. Being a Jack Russell terrier/chihuahua mix, his breeding is really against being calm and cool around people in the nursing home. Although, if Lloyd were willing to make the dog behave, I might be able to leave Speedy overnight with Lloyd.

Rommell

Toby

Molly

The word of the day for June 7, 2009 is "intermediate" — Pronunciation: \,in-tər-'mē-dē-ət\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin intermediatus, from Latin intermedius, from inter- + medius mid, middle — more at mid
Date: 15th century
1 : being or occurring at the middle place, stage, or degree or between extremes. 2 : of or relating to an intermediate school [an intermediate curriculum].


Our quotation is from E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898:

The Jewish Rabbi believed that the soul of the deceased was consigned to a sort of purgatory for twelve months after death, during which time it was allowed to visit its dead body and the places or persons it especially loved. This intermediate state they called by various names, as “the bosom of Abraham,” “the garden of Eden,” “upper Gehenna.” The Sabbath was always a free day, and prayer was supposed to benefit those in this intermediate state.

;^)

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