half-blood prince of darkness

i just killed an embarrassing number of hours browsing j.k. rowling's official website. she just finished writing book 6 of the 7-book harry potter series. in order to view her secret holiday message, i had to solve a series of riddles -- some were obscure harry potter trivia (what british city did hagrid fly a 1-year-old harry potter over? what was hermione's patronus? what is ronald weasley's least favourite sandwich filling?), others were straight-out riddles. the trivia, i could partially cheat on through clever web-searching techniques. the riddles, i had to solve the old-fashioned way. i am not proud of any of this.

i was thinking of having an impromptu screening of "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" this thursday, at my fortress of solitude, but it seems that anybody who might possibly enjoy this will be unable to make it. guess who's getting drunk alone that night?

it's been fairly quiet at work this week. thursday, they'll probably let us out a little early. more time to contemplate the wreckage of my existence.

"ain't it fun when your friends despise what you've become?"