I finished reading the latest (and last) Harry Potter book on Monday night. And I had waited several days before purchasing it in the first place. I guess I am a bad fan. It did take me just 3 sittings, though perhaps that’s not impressive compared to how quickly some gobbled it up.

It’s a little odd to be reading something everyone else is reading. I mean EVERYONE. Except for maybe those who think it’s Satanic to write/read/think about witches and wizards…

A friend of mine saw no less than 5 adults reading in the small park near her apartment one day. I saw 2 people devouring it in the same subway car - a soccer mom and a goth kid - one day last week.

What is it about this book?

It’s easy enough to read. It has characters to whom almost anyone can relate. You’ve got your brains, bullies, athletes, popular kids, not-so-popular kids, airheads… (Huh, I feel like I’m quoting Ferris Bueller.) And throw them into a world with magic, and that’s just cool for everyone.

I read a lot of fantasy. I used to read more, actually. I have a bookcase devoted to my sci-fi/fantasy collection, but I haven’t added to it much lately. Well, it is full anyway.

I would have been a Harry Potter nut if I had been 11 when it came out. When I was 11 or so I was reading Madeleine L’Engle books (A Swiftly Tilting Planet was my favorite) and the Chronicles of Narnia (I read The Voyage of the Dawntreader to death) .

My current fantasy favorite is George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. It is way more grown up than Harry Potter. The Detroit Free Press says it’s “a fantasy series for hip, smart people, even those who don’t read fantasy.” Which I guess means I won’t run into too many people reading it on the subway.

I celebrated the Fourth of July as I have for the past several years, camping out on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and watching the fireworks. It rained, but it was worth it.

Afterwards, I had the group back for cupcakes and cocktails at my place. One friend commented that my apartment was not the Hello Kitty shrine he expected. I don’t know if he was disappointed or relieved.

This may seem silly, but I have to tell you that I am obsessed with this lip balm. It is called Brew Tea Balm and is made by Crazy Rumors, a Brooklyn company. This is the Orange Bergamot flavor.

It tastes great, is silky smooth, and actually works. I was very sad when I ran out of my randomly acquired sample. Luckily, they have a website and I’ll have more soon! They have both tea and coffee flavors, and the balms are made from completely natural ingredients. I recommend it.

Didn’t think I could get so gushy over lip balm, did you?

I stepped off the plane to the scent of Louisiana summer. Now, I don’t know how this differs from the way summer smells in, say, Texas or Mississippi, but I find it a unique scent that takes me back to many happy childhood days. I took a nice, deep breath as I climbed out of the Saab 340 Turboprop that brought me there.

My mom married a cattle rancher, and they built their dream house in northeastern Louisiana amid pastures of happily grazing cattle and a horse. Cody will get a friend soon, and they’ll have their own pasture. For now, he sort of thinks he is a cow.

He licked my arm when I went out to visit him. I had just fed him an apple, but my mom said he loves me. Last time we met he almost bucked me off, so I’m not sure where our relationship stands. He’s not been ridden in some time, so I opted to not give him a try this trip. I rubbed his soft nose, and he lipped my fingers, seeking more sweet apple bits. Then he licked me, a big slurp from wrist to elbow.

The other day I helped herd a bull. Ok, I really just drove behind in the truck, but at least I helped keep him from going back the way he came! My stepfather, dressed for the office (he has a 9-5 job in addition to the cattle business), followed the bull with a big stick while someone else lured him forward with a feed bag. He’d gotten out, somehow, and we had to get him back in before we went off to lunch. My stepdad does not normally herd cattle in a tie, but I guess there is no avoiding it sometimes!

The “teenagers” below have been weaned for a few months. The tiger-striped calf in the back is an example of what you get from the bull (Brahman) and cows (Hereford) pictured above and is apparently much sought after.

Besides the animals who are supposed to live here, there is a three-foot alligator in the pond in the front yard. I saw him the first day, but he was pretty far away. We have been unable to spot him since, but I bet he’s still there somewhere. They don’t particularly want him there, he just showed up one day.

We get around the ranch in an ATV called a Rhino. My mother drives like a wild woman. But then, she’s always been partial to sports cars and exceeding the speed limit. I’m a bit horrified she is trading in her black Porsche for a white SUV of some sort. I guess it better fits her new cowgirl lifestyle.

You can swim in the pool out back while gazing out on either the pond or a pasture full of haystacks. There is a passing thought of whether the alligator might like it in there–so far there have been a few confused turtles, frogs, and a crawfish or two. Look before you leap.

The sounds, especially at night, are amazing. Birds, insects, frogs, cows, and the unidentified make an interesting mix. While here there have also been some spectacular rainstorms with satisfyingly scary thunderclaps. Disappointing for swimmers, but beautiful in smell and sound and the feeling of it misting over you on the covered porch.

It’s been a great break from city life, that is certain.

I took this quiz in the most recent Time Out New York. I apparently got “old” points for having been to Starshine Burlesque recently, but somehow I ended up about a decade younger than my real age.

My New York age is 21

New Yorkers, take the Time Out quiz here.

I’ve heard it said before that New Yorkers live a little “young,” and I’m certainly living a different kind of life than people I grew up with…in general. I’m single, have no children, and rent my home. This is not too unusual for someone my age in New York. Most of my friends who live anywhere other than NYC are married, have kids, own a house, and/or are involved in other very grownup things. My Louisiana friends, for example, started getting married more than 10 years ago, New York friends started getting hitched just a couple of years past. Not that marriage is necessarily an indicator of adulthood, but I find interesting the fact that it generally happens later here. Many NYC friends of mine who are my general age are, however, working like crazy and doing amazing things at work or in grad school. (As are others elsewhere, I’m not trying to say we are all one way or the other.)

So it’s not that we NYers are partying like 21 year olds until we’re 50—I mean, not ALL the time. And if we don’t own homes, it’s because NYC real estate is horribly, depressingly expensive, not because of any lack of maturity. My theory on some of it, hinted at above, is that a lot of New Yorkers (and other big cities, just talking about what I know here) seem to be getting very involved in their careers or going back to school for advanced degrees before deciding to permanently attached themselves to a significant other or consider having kids. I think this is a general trend for our generation, but it’s perhaps more extreme in NYC.

What makes you OLD or YOUNG? I’m sure others might disagree, but in my mind it centers on where you are with your career, if you are married or in an equivalent relationship, if you have children, if you own a home. Of course, you can have all of that and more and still be young at heart. That’s not exactly what I’m talking about here, but it’s part of what Time Out is probably getting at with its quiz.

It’s all how you look at it, of course. A friend of mine who lives in Texas who has been married for several years and is due with her second child this summer recently said to me, “Wow, you have your own business. How grown up!”

I laughed, but she’s not all wrong.

I guess to me, you are more of a “real” adult when you have to raise a child yourself. (There was an article last year I personally found interesting, about the consequences of waiting on the kid issue, at least for women, “Stop Time” in New York magazine.) For others it is something like owning a business or having a high-powered job or whatever. Maybe none of us feels like a “grown up,” because we always see what someone else is doing as being much more adult than anything in our own lives.

And, really, who actually admits to wanting to grow up?

An article just posted on Archaeology.org, of interest to anyone who thinks it is important to protect the past.

Profiteers on the High Seas

The big business of treasure hunting is selling off the world’s maritime heritage—and it’s perfectly legal.

I extended my Mode Merr skirt collection today, adding a red anchor skirt to my pink tiki and elephant skirts. My friend models in their fashion show brunch each year, and I always have to pick up something!

I’m not a fan of fast food chains. I stopped eating red meat well over a decade ago and try to eat somewhat healthy (stop laughing, I said TRY!), but that’s not all of it.

I’ve disliked McDonald’s from childhood, when a fry overindulgence made me sick. I’d never eat the hamburgers, opting instead for the Filet O’ Fish and whatever it was over at Burger King (the chicken sandwiches had yet to be introduced, at least where I lived). The thought of it makes me feel a bit queasy now, but that’s the way it was. I was given the parental warning not to relate my vomit story when friends’ parents would take us there for a “treat.” Ironically, it’s the fries I’ll still eat. (I go for the ones at Burger King given a choice.)

The only time I have willing gone to McD’s in the past 10 years was when they were putting Sanrio goodies in the Happy Meals. I should have known better, they had run out and I ended up with non-Sanrio junk, questionable chicken parts, and soggy fries.

When I’m forced to it (road trips), I look for a Taco Bell. The E. coli and rat stories* do tend to turn the tummy, but I’ll still take the exit when I see the friendly bell on the sign.

See, I don’t totally abstain. I think my cousin and I pretty much survived on Taco Bell bean burritos and Burger King fries on a cross-country trek once. Boy were we excited when we found that salad bar in Iowa, though!

When it comes down to it on a normal day, it’s just generally not worth it in my book. Fast food products may look yummy on tv, you get this vision of indulging in a guilty pleasure, you cave, go buy some, open it up…and are disappointed. (See this website for advertising images vs. the reality of that juicy burger you think you crave.)

I do realize I’m lucky that I live in NYC where the options are just too numerous to have to resort to fast food chains. I understand that most people do not have multiple fast-but-quality takeout restaurants in their neighborhoods. I totally get not wanting to cook every meal or spend a bundle on it. And many of the big fast food companies do seem to be trying somewhat to make things healthier and such. But I’m still probably not going to eat it, unless I am on the road and running on empty!

So that’s my opinion. I’m not going to tell anyone else to not eat at McD’s or its counterparts or try to shut them down or anything. I get that the Big Mac makes many people very happy. I’d just rather eat somewhere else, please.

* On cleanliness of restaurants and worrying about it: You are never really going to know what’s going on in the kitchen or what ends up in your food whether you are at a top restaurant or a KFC. You eat out, you accept that. (If you are in a third world country, worry a bit more.) The horror stories aren’t what turn me off about fast food chains.

I suppose I must prove I belong here every once in awhile.

I have collected these bags of cuteness over the years. Five were gifts, two I bought myself. (Several friends are probably shocked I only own seven.) The majority of the small purses I carry are probably Hello Kitty. Why not, right?

I don’t need more (seriously), but I really kind of want this one.