WARNING: THERE BE SPOILERS BELOW! These chapters further my beef with Dumbledore’s occlumency plan. By the end of the 7th book, we really come to view Dumbledore as a true chess master. He’s thinking years ahead and anticipating what many pieces on the board will do in response to the moves of others. Indeed, heContinue reading “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapters 32/33”
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapters 30/31
The Occlumency subplot of this book seems a little wonky to me. Was Snape really the ONLY person who could teach it to Harry? Especially considering how bad of a teacher he seems to be! Considering that the main thread of the book involves a group of students learning magic beyond their years and teachingContinue reading “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapters 30/31”
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapters 28/29
Can I just say that I love Fred and George here? Their uprising against evil, authoritative rule is inspiring – vive la resistance! It’s sort of neat, too, how we get multiple examples all at once of kids out-magic’ing grownups: Fred and George’s uprising, Hermione’s sneak pimples. (Is this the first time we’ve seen evidenceContinue reading “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapters 28/29”
No Requests
It has been 30 years to the day since my dad died. 30 YEARS! 3/4 of my life! I don’t know which is more sobering, that it is the 30th anniversary of his death . . . or that it has already been 10 years since I pondered the 20th anniversary of his death! It’sContinue reading “No Requests”
Third Derivative: My Next Great Adventure
Far over the misty mountains coldTo dungeons deep and caverns oldWe must away ere break of dayTo seek the pale enchanted gold. I have founded or led eight climate tech startups. I’ve had one really big success, a few smaller successes, and a few “learning experiences” along the way – but every one of themContinue reading “Third Derivative: My Next Great Adventure”
The End of Smart OES
Last year Smart OES was acquired by Ingenero, one of our corporate strategic investors! I’ve been meaning to blog about this momentous event, but the acquisition itself and then major moves in other areas of my life (More on that soon!) have kept me busy. Finally I have a chance to reflect back on SmartContinue reading “The End of Smart OES”
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapters 24/25
I think Harry is so much better at resisting the Imperius Curse than he is at Occlumency because . . . he had a better teacher for resisting the Imperius Curse. That’s right, a Death Eater pretending to be a mad ex-auror is better at teaching than career educator Severus Snape. Fake Moody prepared theContinue reading “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapters 24/25”
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapters 18/19
Chapter 18: The leader of my Harry Potter book club pointed out that Hermione sounds a lot like Mrs. Weasley in this chapter, chastising Sirius for taking unnecessary risks. Oedipus much, Ron?? Chapter 19: It’s interesting that teaching is the first thing that Harry has been really good at since flying. Now that I thinkContinue reading “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapters 18/19”
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapter 11
I wonder why Slytherin House remained at Hogwarts after Salazar Slytherin left. It would seem that someone so passionate about his views on the worthiness of students might have left and started a competitive school – and surely the students/parents who agreed with him would have followed him. Along the same lines, it seems weirdContinue reading “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapter 11”
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapter 10
On the topic of thestrals, this continues the theme of “mundanization” of magic found in the last book. The first books are all wide-eyed wonder at magic: carriages that pull themselves, a majestic feast that magically appears on the tables. Now we pull the curtains back and realize that those are the results of theContinue reading “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapter 10”