Highlights of the last few weeks (with ratings!)

1.) I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. A fantastic book, but I'm sure you've heard that already. I thought it tied up all of the series' loose ends perfectly, which is saying a lot. It left me supremely satisfied. *****

2.) I went to an off-site at Coney Island. It was alright. The Cyclone made me miss Cedar Point, and there wasn't much there that you couldn't find at any local fair or carnival, but we pooled all of our tickets together and got a bunch of army men and rubber duckies, so that's cool. ** 1/2

3.) I went to the Googleplex for a week. Fun fact: the land area Silicon Valley is 95% office parks, 4% hotels for business travellers, and 1% Google cafeteria. I also got to go to In-n-Out Burger. If it's good enough for the Dude and Walter, it's good enough for me. ****

4.) On the plane ride to California, I finished A Feast for Crows. It was my least favorite of the series, for a few reasons. A lot of the characters in the book are the left-over supporting characters from the rest of the series (a lot of the main ones got killed off), and half of the surviving main characters just aren't mentioned at all (See here for why). It was still a good book, but noticeably lacking compared to A Storm of Swords and the rest. ****

5.) Almost as soon as I got back from California, I went to Cape Cod for a day and a half with some work people, mostly on a whim. I was only there for about 36 hours, but in that time we managed to hike a mile through sand piles toward the beach, play Mafia and Mario Strikers Charged, and watch Tron. Time well spent, I'd say. ****

6.) And tonight I saw A Camp at the Knitting Factory. A Camp is the side-project of Cardigans leading lady Nina Persson, a more alt-country, acoustic take on the Cardigans typical style. It was a good show, but the doors didn't open until 10:00. A Camp didn't even take the stage until 11:30. Reading that back makes me feel very old. *** 1/2

And that's the highlights. The next few weeks will probably be just as jam-packed, if not more so. Alan's flying into town tomorrow morning, Jessica and friends are driving up next weekend and my brother's coming for my last week in New York. Then it's back to Ohio, to Lauren, to school, and this blog has to find a new name.

I'm taking suggestions, 18 days and counting...