Who the heck do I think I am?

Cleaning House

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 02:54:16 GMT

It's been a productive three days but not as productive as I'd hoped....

( Read more... )

So, in a nutshell:

-2 loads of laundry
-1 banana bread
-6 reorganized bookcases (2 replaced, 4 rearranged and 1 that wasn't reorganized)
-1 cleaned toilet
-1 cleared out bathroom
-1 clean stove
-3 loads of dishes
-2 boxes for storage
-2 large bags for goodwill

Still to do:

-file lots of bills and papers
-break down cardboard boxes and set out for trash
-set out one folding bookcase for trash
-drop clothes for goodwill
-pick up random bits in the living room
-research/get collectible items up for online sale (etsy? ebay?)
-go through clothes, shoes, jewelry to downsize
-loads of repair jobs (clothes and shoes)
-rearrange old wrapping paper container into new wrapping paper container so that the old one can be used for bags, flat paper, tissue, etc.
-go to storage locker at undisclosed location and stow keeper boxes, possibly retrieve others for more in-depth examination.

At least these are smaller projects that don't take intensive DAYS worth of clean, rest, clean. Today was the worst, though, for the dust levels. About every ten minutes I had to sneeze.

I'm tired.

*House update: She is supposed to close on the 18th (Wednesday!) but they discovered that some years ago (don't even know when) one of the neighbors catty-corner to our backyard built a fence that protrudes about one foot onto our property line. When I talked to her last week they were trying to figure out if the people would remove it. Haven't checked with her since Thursday but will call her tomorrow.

**Funny story. I removed all the stuff from my bathtub but replaced my shampoos and conditioner and stuff so I could shower tonight. In the middle of my shower, I realized that I had grabbed two bottles of shampoo and no conditioner. So there I am hopping out and dashing across the hall to the hallway closet and rummaging in the basket on the shelf (top shelf, of course!) for a bottle of conditioner. Oy.

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Chance is a funny thing

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:18:32 GMT

Okay, so I haven't posted in forever, I know. Are you really surprised?

But I had such a weird and random day yesterday I just had to share. ( But I'll cut for the disinterested. )

So, yeah. Welcome to my world of Random. Only in my life would missing a bus (twice) and forgetting my phone and my hat and everything else LEAD me to a serpendipitous discovery of Potter activity. Yeah.

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Pancakes!

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:24:12 GMT

Coronation was cold. Everyone who was there knows this, so call me late to the party.

The only time I was warm was down by the playground / creek with Josie. Fun. And great timing, because we got her bored with the creek just in time for court, so the kids could babysit again.

Sunday was very quiet and relaxing. When we got home Saturday night I saw that J had only just unpacked his Christmas presents (heh), which included the pancake molds and a "pancake pen" from Williams Sonoma. This put the taste in my mouth. We hadn't yet tried his pancake molds! We must have Millennium Falcon, X-Wing and TIE-Fighter pancakes for breakfast!

So I did a quick check of his on-hand ingredients and proceeded to walk to the nearby grocery store for supplies. Alas, I did *not* adequately check his kitchen utensils. He lacked a proper griddle, and his mixing bowls are fine, but have no pour spouts. This presented a difficulty when trying to pour the batter into the "pen" for the pancakes. Unperturbed, I used a measuring cup to transfer the batter and then proceeded to punt with a large cookie sheet spread over two of his gas burners.

Well.

It was a very amusing morning, anyway. And we did manage to produce totally edible pancakes. But the molds need some, um, practice, I think. And a proper griddle would certainly help. The surface was not as non-stick as one might have hoped, and the batter wasn't cooking through to set up enough before the bottom utterly fused to the sheet. The result was that we didn't make a single successful mold shape - but I did make some cute pinwheels with the pen once we abandoned the molds. And they ate just fine, too. His baking sheet is a little scorched :( but I think it survived just fine, really.

We then dropped by fight practice just long enough to say hello and then went to the new Elbow Room to watch the Penguins win (!) their final regular season game. Then home, where we played with my Netflix account on his ginormous TV, ordered Indian, and watched a movie.

J promises to obtain a proper griddle and a mixing bowl with a pour spout before our next attempt at this. :)

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Good, Bad, Sad, Stuff.

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:58:40 GMT

Second interview for a job I REALLY WANT, OMG, I just am so excited by this job, I wants it, precious.

Since I was basically walking within a block of my old building, I actually dropped in on Old Boss D to let him know that this is the one. Had a good chat. He recommended another agency that specializes in project management - and gave me a contact name for them. And also promised that he'd give me a stellar rec when this place calls (which I don't doubt he'll do).

Meanwhile, temp job is...temporary. Predecessor's last day was today. She had no effing clue how to train someone. Frustrating. Don't really know how things are going to go. Still don't have access to all the bits I need - which will be VERY interesting.... But at least the computer, desk, etc. are MINE now, no one making it even harder by not really giving me the ability to learn what to do. Her manual is fairly close to useless but we'll see how it holds up once I can root around on my own and make notes about it all.

Meanwhile meanwhile, I got back to the office (only about... 2 hours later than planned!) and saw that someone had called. Listened to the vm to learn that it's a recruiter. Checked email: Yup, a good potential contractor job. Called him, chatted, and sent over references (including D) and resume. Also made an appointment to see him (they insist on a face-to-face interview) on Thursday afternoon when I'm already out for my MD appointment (which is necessary to get a health attestation, which is necessary for temporary job). But then! He called back about an hour later, having spoken to D. "Oh, no, we have to get you in on this right away. Can you meet me this afternoon?" Heh. So... we picked a time and met at Starbucks nearby.

So it's always feast or famine, isn't it? Anyway...I will feel a little bad if I leave this contract job for the other, even though it's probably only about an 8-week stint. But it's an 8-week stint for possibly as much as a third again the current rate I'm making. Dunno. Mainly it's that I've *just* spent a week training and I'm not even really doing the job yet, so it seems like a pretty crappy thing to do, but I'd give them a week to find someone else. And really, it's more a question of burning bridges than feeling obligated to the temp job. Temp job is...a crummy job, in a lot of ways.

Really, really just want the direct hire job. I can't even. I'm superstitious about details, but trust me. Wicked cool, even if it's not 5 miles from home like temp job. Still haven't met key manager at temp job who has the power to reconsider my resume for a possible permanent job. Would still take 2nd-interview job, probably, over possible permanent job, just because OMG, way better (and probably better $), way more interesting. But must remain focused. Must continue applying. Nothing is certain until it's certain. Argh.

Beowulf the event was last weekend. Met some awesome folks, had amazing food, and really thoroughly enjoyed everything except the last hour or so of having sat on a bench for the previous 8 hours. The performances were each one fantastic, some truly epic, and the whole experience was simply unrepeatable. Also? First SCA event since Pennsic. (Yeah, I know. I suck.)

Got home to some sad news, though. I had a friend back in primary school, a couple years younger than I was, but we bonded over quirky satire songs (Tom Lehrer, Flanders & Swann) and showtunes, and he was one of the first people my own age who shared the obsession with theatre that I was already exhibiting. We were never "romantic" (or whatever passes for romantic at 8 and 10 or whatever), but it was an important connection for both of us, for the same reasons: Meeting someone else who was our brand of "crazy" and who made it "okay" to be different from all the other kids at school. Ben transferred out of my school after a year or two and went on to other things. We lost touch, and then we found each other again several years ago via LinkedIn. We exchanged a few emails to tell each other what was up in our lives, drifted away again, and then once again waved at each other in passing in '09 when I got laid off. Ben had also moved home (after being on the west coast for a while) and was helping his parents with their antique store.

Ben recently sustained a fall with a knee fracture and went in for surgery. He developed post-operative complications (not sure what but probably an embolism), and passed away last week. He was 37.

My mother happened to see his obit and for some reason, she felt compelled to go to the memorial. I'm really glad she did; she had no idea that Ben and I had reconnected, but she said his mother remembered me and she was glad to know that he'd made a lasting impression on us. I could say something about regretting that we didn't stay in touch, but I know better. I'm just not a very "keep in touch" kind of person, though I try. Still it's sad to think that yet another person who had a profound influence on my life has passed out of it.

Stuff: Continue to use the Wii and like it. Apparently weight loss / redistribution is noticeable to folks who haven't seen me in a while (based on the people I saw at former workplace). Got hair cut (waited until after Beowulf b/c I wouldn't have been able to braid my hair if I'd done it before) using a Groupon. May go back to the stylist, may not. Computer is hanging on (literally) by a wire. I really need to research replacing it (again, since it's been 3 months since I looked), but I would like to settle taxes before doing that. (Refund from Fed but owe MA.) Phone acted all possessed when I tried to charge it with another charger - so I really do have to get another Palm charger (not sure where the extra cord is!). Still need to do laundry this weekend. Still need to clean. I want it to be SPRING NOW, PLEASE.

Next up: learning lines for Nunsense! W00t.

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Still seeking work

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 04:59:09 GMT

But theatre is going well.

I kicked ASS as Vicki, particularly Saturday night. I got all the laughs I wanted and hit everything right. (And there was a reviewer and a regionally high-level director in the house, too.)

And I just got cast in Nunsense as Sister Mary Hubert (mistress of novices) - at Woodland, which is a theatre (and director) I've wanted to work with for about a year. So YAY. (And three shows in a row, basically, with only a couple dud auditions in between. W00T)

I've also booked my travel for Coronation and for Crown. I'm just waiting for Balticon travel until I'm sure about ground transportation and housing... which I hope I'll hear about soon (before the ticket prices go up).

I need a new computer so badly. Job. Then computer. Srsly.

I'm still enjoying Netflix on the Wii - currently going through Slings and Arrows - awesome show! I'm also liking the Fit tremendously, just as I suspected I would do.

Not much else to report, unfortunately. Really my life is very boring.

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Opening Weekend

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 23:37:03 GMT

The Full Monty opened this weekend. We've had a couple reviews so far, both favourable. I'm actually mentioned in this one:

http://www.littlerhodytheater.com/2011_fullmonth_turtlelane.htm

(then again this reviewer apparently generally says good things about everyone.)

Anyone in the area, remember that this Friday and Saturday (March 4 and 5), I go on as Vicki instead of Pam. Come see me! Then tell everyone there how great my performance was. ;D

I was so stressed by the time we opened that I kinda had a meltdown afterward. Mainly it was the stress of dealing with the production side (and getting caught between the director and the TD). It was an extended meltdown, too: I was fried afterward and realizing that I just wasn't in the mood to party with everyone. If I'd started drinking I think I would have burst into tears. So I went home to have my breakdown in private and not bring everyone else down. Only I was too damn tired and fell asleep before I really did anything but leak out a few tears. Hah. Which meant that the next day I had to join up with everyone to go to WERS without having finished. So I kinda continued holding it in (which meant leaking here and there, wearing sunglasses and hiding in my coat hood) so that it wouldn't bother everyone else. Got back to the theatre (and retrieved my purse, which yes, I'd left the night before), went and replaced the wiper that had split on Friday (argh), got some Dunkin, and went home. My mother had called while we were at the radio station, so I called her back and finished my detox. Then I made a mac'n'cheese and chilled out for a while and felt much better.

Also, I got my new GC's from Amazon and ordered my Wii Fit. Today I cleaned the living room a little so I'll have space to play with it when it arrives. I've also downloaded the Netflix app (apparently in the wrong order to get points on Club Nintendo :( but the important thing is Netflix!) and I can get another $100 in GC's through one of my survey-taking places, which I can use to get a new compressor microphone to start recording for a couple projects.

The job front is another issue, though. Gang. I need help - I didn't get hired at MCP (the job my replacement at NU left). I don't know about BWH, but at this point I don't have a lot of hope. Temp jobs have been non-existent.

I know one of the pieces of advice I've got in the past is to work on my resume so that it's more about accomplishments for the company than a list of things I did. It's very difficult to do that, though, when one's jobs have been so task-oriented and not, for example, the kind of job where you can clearly point to something like, "I brought in 10 clients" or "Exceeded quota by 20% for 10 months in a row". How does one do that? Then there's the cover letter. I'm really conscientious about going through the job descriptions and linking what they are asking for to things that I've done that are either parallel or similar to those items. Doesn't seem to matter. WTF am I doing wrong?

Anyone have HR experiene who'd be willing to look over my basic resumes and/or read a couple covers? If I can develop some stock phrases that I can C&P into letters, at least it's something. Or if anyone has leads on Boston-area headhunters, agencies, or contacts with whom I can network.... help?

There's really no reason on earth I should be not working. /Stress

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Music Director!

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 01:21:05 GMT

I found out who the music director will be for Seussical and OMG, it makes me feel 100x better about the whole thing! He's not only a fab MD, he works with young kids all the time and so he'll really be in the zone with this half middle-school cast. YAYZ.

I wasn't at rehearsal, however, because I had an audition. Which went fine - but it'll be a while before I hear anything.

So now I'm watching Project Runway and putting together a to-do list for tomorrow.

Also, I meant to say last time, that I'm still really enjoying "Mark Reads Harry Potter" but there have definitely been times when I think, "Jesus, Mark, how can you NOT have figured this out?!" It takes me back to the endless debate days when people actually thought Snape was not acting as a double agent. Or when people couldn't figure out that Hermione was time-travelling. Or that Lupin was a shapeshifter (I won't say werewolf because hey, I thought he was shifting into the Grimm because I thought he was Sirius Black in disguise. So in a way I was a book early). I haven't read his reviews in a couple days (when I left off he was somewhere around Chapter 16), but it's both interesting and frustrating that for someone with his experience of the genre, he doesn't seem to be thinking very critically about what's happening. But maybe that's just because he's reading it just as it comes and not trying to speculate very hard. Still. There's only so much, "BZUH? WTF WTF WTF?!" one can take....

That said, I'm still enjoying his reviews and finding the process interesting. And I'm very intrigued by his reaction to the books especially without any kind of break in between, since it's long been a theory of mine that future generations will be at a huge advantage to those of us who had to wait, who had time to theorize, who had contact with one another and encouraged each other to play around in the Potterverse. These generations (like Mark) will read straight through and thus they won't necessarily stop and think about the inconsistencies and the plot holes and the other flaws in the books - especially the last three. They don't have the expectations that were built up over years and months of waiting, and particularly the collective brain power of thousands of people, of whom at least a few hundred were really perceptive and intelligent and creative and came up with brilliant theories (and some cracktastic ones!) that turned out to be far off-track - and in some cases, IMO, better than what we got. So I'll be very interested to see if the payoff works way better for him, as a representative of generations to come.

Oh, and Playreading. Hm. It was interesting. Of course, some of our play suggestions were made before we knew that we're being forced to change our traditional venue, so we scratched a lot off that might have been a really good stretch had we been able to stay put. But at the same time, I think there are some assumptions at work in the committee that may not be accurate. We'll see....

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Funny.

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:49:52 GMT

(Dad was discharged about 30 minutes after I posted yesterday.)

But he sent me this link, and it's really very amusing:

Flying 101 Plane

Enjoy!

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Updates and whatever

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 17:34:15 GMT

1. So, I got through my father's visit. More importantly, he left and I did not cause him bodily harm.

Not a whole lot to discuss, only because I've already been through the rants and I don't wanna do that again. We went on a whale watch, which was awesome fun but not enough to keep him occupied the whole visit, so he basically drove me up the wall the rest of the time. He was coughing like mad when he was here, ignored me, went to the Urgent Care clinic, got told it was bronchitis, misunderstood the clinician's instructions, and is now in Strong for a few days because it tipped over into pneumonia. Dumbass. (He's fine. They put him on IV antibiotics and he'll probably check out tomorrow. He's got his laptop and phone, and he even had pie last night. Mmmm, pie.)

2. No, I can't believe it's been two years, either. Yes, I miss him too.

3. I fucking need a job already.

4. Alternity continues to be awesome.

5. Two friends are switching coasts in the next couple weeks. We don't get together very often, but I wish them well in their new jobs (and hope in both cases it improves things considerably!).

6. First playreading committee meeting is tonight. No idea what the plan is there - I'm not in charge. Still wonder if I should gather up those soundtracks I have. I don't think I have any of the straight plays on our list in my library. Hm.

7. This is a silly / stupid thing but I found my little toiletry pack that was missing after Infinitus. YAY! I knew I hadn't left it behind. Tiny, tiny win.

I should be writing, or doing something else productive. I'm trying to remember to update here and not so much on LJ. I also need to get all my fic up on Archive of Our Own at some point. Yeah, there's a project....

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Jury's still out...

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 18:10:13 GMT

So, I'm the Cat-in-the-Hat in Seussical, right? But it's an interesting mix. The Cat, Horton (as-yet uncast), Gertrude (the one I thought they'd cast), Mayzie (the one I thought they'd cast), the General (again, predicted the casting), the Mayor (ditto), Sour Kangaroo, Mayor's Wife, Yertle (and I assume the Grinch will be either the General or Yertle) - are all adults. There are also 4-5 adult ensemble members / dancers. The Wickershams, the Bird Girls, JoJo (of course), and the rest of the jungle animals, fish, and so on, are kids. I don't think they cast every child who auditioned - but they must have come close. And some of them are really too young to be doing this. So that'll be interesting to see how it develops.

Also, it was a dance rehearsal, not a read-through, which no one told us until we got there. Luckily I had stuff with me and now we know Sundays are dance. But it means that Tuesday, which was supposed to be rehearsal for the other show, will now be the read-through...so I have to inform them tonight that I have a new conflict tomorrow. Crazy. The reason it was dance was that the director was out of town. Which accounts for the rocky start, but I hope he'll provide some clarity and y'know, a real rehearsal schedule, and some confidence.

(Why is this a trend for me? I get the parts I want...but only in productions that are sub-optimal. Well, it's a little too early to say the show is sub-optimal, as the choreographer is determined to do well and not 'dumb down' the choreography, but you know what I mean.)

I'm still excited to play the part and I still think there's potential for a good time. But I did wake up wondering if I should have kept that other audition and worried about the choice if I'd had to make it. Live and learn, I guess.

Anyway. My father is invading in an hour or so. He was original going to come in Wednesday-ish but called yesterday morning to say, "Well, I'll be there tomorrow." ACK. But I've been cleaning since yesterday and while the house is nowhere near spotless, the bathroom's clean, the floors are more-or-less picked up, he's got a fresh towel, and the kitchen is less of a disaster with most of the recycling out or ready to go out, and a bunch of things that I hadn't taken downstairs back in the storage cage there. Not all of it. But some of it.

Of course, I had to move my car out of the driveway for him to be able to park his van (and so we can use my car for day-tripping), which means I also had to take the giant wheeled bin *out* of the car, so it is now cluttering my kitchen. But when he arrives we can transfer the tent to the tub and then put the box of games on top of it, so yay. Progress. I'm glad I'd gone through the tables in the living room a short while ago as that made everything much easier. The kitchen table, however, is still full of overflow that won't fit in the cupboards (fiber bars, chips, snacks, etc.) - but meh. That's where it lives.

Anyway. With my bedroom door closed the place looks pretty acceptable. Now I just have to figure out what we're going to do during the day tomorrow (Wednesday I want to go on a whale watch if we can, and I've found the one I'd prefer to go on.). Any suggestions? :Goes to look on Eventful and other sites....

Oh! Bad-Ass Faeries has a new website and a blog (on LJ, actually): Check it out!

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And today's lesson is....

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:30:46 GMT

...Back up your smartphone.

I took my phone to Sprint because the Bluetooth has been acting funny - and because my "mute" button was making the phone freak out and not working. (It would vibrate and switch rapidly from mute to sound and back multiple times and then ultimately NOT go mute.)

They had to replace the device - which is okay, I have tech protection - but because I hadn't backed it up I lost photos, my MPG data from my car, and all my ringtones for various people.

So I'll be synching that back up tonight, but the rest of the data is lost. Luckily it's not hugely *important* data, but still. PITA.

(Oh, and my reward for the Miyazaki dream two nights ago? Was a nightmare about a really horrific plane crash last night. Joy.)

At least I spent the hour waiting for them to fix the phone by price shopping (and eventually buying) new plastic storage totes - a 45Gal. for the tent (with wheels!!), a 22Gal and an 18Gal for fabric and other stuff to go either downstairs or in the Ashland storage unit. They're still in the car, but Progress!

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I dreamed a Miyazaki film....

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:43:21 GMT

Seriously. Animation style and everything.

I wrote down everything I could remember and I think with a little development it could be my novel. Maybe. It's got some dream-logic and a few interludes that need smoothing. But I swear I could see Studio Ghibli's animation the whole time. (Even when I was a character and so was my mother's church group - which was an interlude that could be excised, but we were live action and the rest of the characters were Miyazaki-san's hand-drawn style. Even the Judoon rhinos.)

Anyway. Nothing like waking up at 7:00, rolling over, and then 10 minutes later deciding, "No, you have to write this down before you lose it."

I was also cast in one of the shows I auditioned for, but the list isn't up yet so I can't say as who. But it's a great role and my first choice for that show and I'm hella excited to play it, though mildly worried about the production team.

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The Whitest Calypso in the Land....

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:23:41 GMT

Couple auditions in the last couple days. One was for a two-person play and I don't expect to get cast - not that I didn't audition well, but she'll probably go with someone younger and smaller given her likely male actor (though... to be fair there was only one guy the night I auditioned and I don't know about the other guys who might have auditioned).

Tonight was for Seussical with a really fun choreography and OMG lots of kids! There were 8 adults auditioning for all the adult roles and about 15 kids all going for JoJo (although it could be some of the older kids will be cast in other roles). I don't know whether they don't have a musical director or if the director just wanted an accompanist for the audition process, but they had an accompanist come in... except. Most of us wound up singing a capella. But before we sang the 16 bars we had all prepared, they wanted us to all sing the same thing (to get a baseline of vocal quality, I guess). She had us all learn the "Banana Boat Song" (which the few of us over the age of 30 already knew)... but she also played it in strict time and with strict enunciation of the words ("Daylight come and me want to go home" instead of "Daylight come an' me wan'go home"). It was without a doubt the whitest rendition of Harry Belafonte ever. I don't think it could have been more uptight had we actually sung "Deo Gracias Anglia" instead.

Anyway. It was pretty funny. If it hadn't been so painful.

(In other news, I bought pants for $2 at Penney's yesterday. Seriously. $2! Can't beat it with a stick.)

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Harry Potter: The Drabble

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 16:09:39 GMT

Okay, I am a genius. I'm sure this has also been done before, but shut up. I'm SMRT.

So, for reasons that probably don't need to be explained (or, well, better not have to be because I really can't right now), I was thinking last night about how much one could condense and compress the core story of Harry Potter - and specifically, could one get it down to a drabble?

Well, I couldn't quite manage 100 words, but I think I did a pretty good job with 200. It could be tweaked, I'm sure.

Mind you, this is pretty bare-bones - no subplots, no explanations, no characters unless they're absolutely integral. Okay, one or two things because I had room. (The really bare-bones version is 150 words!) But here, for your amusement, is my open beta double-drabble on Harry Potter:

Harry Potter lived in a cupboard until age 11. He learns he’s a wizard whose parents were murdered by Voldemort, who is not quite dead. Voldemort tries to reincorporate during Harry’s first year at wizarding school, but fails because he can’t touch Harry. In year two, Harry also destroys a diary containing a past echo of Voldemort. In his third year, Harry learns that his godfather Sirius was framed and the man responsible, Peter Pettigrew, has been hiding ever since. Harry helps Sirius, but Pettigrew also escapes and helps Voldemort return. This breaks the enchantment protecting Harry from Voldemort’s touch. Harry realizes he can see Voldemort’s thoughts, but Voldemort tricks him into thinking Sirius is in danger. Harry tries to rescue Sirius but Sirius falls through a curtain and dies. Harry then learns from Dumbledore that Voldemort separated fragments of his soul into Horcruxes, like the diary. Dumbledore assigns Harry the task of finding and destroying the others. He does. Meanwhile, Voldemort searches for a magic wand that will make him invincible. Neville kills a snake, Voldemort kills Harry, which busticates the Harry-horcrux, but Harry comes back and wins because Voldemort grabbed the wrong wand. The End. Epilogue? What Epilogue?

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen! I'll be here all week. Tip your waiters!

Comment with your own versions! HP in 200 words or less!

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