Hazel Ceej

Lumos Maxima! A bored muggle needed sufficient light to pore over the final Harry Potter book not once but twice, thrice or Voldy knows how many times. Yes, we can say the name now . These are lines I remember from The Deathly Hallows for reasons bubbling with toads and whiskers in my cauldron recently: 1. All's fair in love and war and this is a bit of both. - Ron Weasley 2. Mudblood and proud of it! - Hermione Granger 3. Of course it is happening in your head, but why on earth should that mean it is not real? - Albus Dumbledore to Harry 4. I think the answer is: a circle that has no beginning. - Luna Lovegood 5. We teachers are rather good in magic you know. - Minerva McGonagall 6. We did it, we bashed them, wee Potter's the one, And Voldy's gone moldy, so now let's have fun! - Peeves 7. It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up t

If you like period films you must have seen most if not all of these titles. I am fond of such films but this list consists of what I haven't watched; except nos. 4 and 12: 1. Love on the Land   post civil war America 2. Versailles: The Dream of a King   Versailles, Europe's most splendid palace 3. Bleak House  mid 19th century England about British judiciary system 4. Under the Green Wood Tree   rural town life in the mid 19th century England 5. The Buccaneers   four American girls in London searching for husbands 6. Upstairs, Downstairs   servants and masters in Edwardian London 7. Angel   Edwardian Cheshire about an eccentric British writer 8. A Month in the Country   1920s rural Yorkshire 9. Circle of Friends   1950s Ireland 10. True Women saga of love, war and adventure; Texas Revolution thru the Civil War 11. Sally Hemings: An American Scandal   Thomas Jefferson and his slave mistress 12. From time to time   ghost story spanning two worlds two centuries apart 13. Gl

Sent via email from Forbes, I didn't pay attention to this list until probably last week when I was at the Stock Exchange of Thailand to attend a classical concert for Japan. No royals there; just approximately seven ambassadors in attendance, but enough to see some connection to draw up an 'affluent' list. 1. Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, worth $30 billion 2. Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, worth $20 billion 3. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud, worth $18 billion 4. UAE President Sheik Khalifa bin-Zayed al Nahayan, worth $15 billion 5. Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashedal Maktoum, worth $4.5 billion 6. Liechtenstein's Prince Hans-Adam II, worth $3.5 billion 7. Morocco's King Mohammed VI, worth $2.5 billion 8. Qatar's Sheik Hamid bin Kalifa al-Thani, worth $2.4 billion 9. Prince Albert II of Monaco, worth $1 billion 10. His Highness the Aga Khan, worth $800 million 11. Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said, worth $700 mil

Thirteen things I remember from reading experiences as a kid: 1. A rhinoceros having his first birthday party - the main character of my first animal book. I remember my parents taking me to the city, we came back with loads of books. 2. Tell It Again Series - books that my mother read to me. I remember images of papyrus, the Nile River, an ark, a sling shot, a taskmaster beating a slave, an ark. If you haven't guessed it yet these are illustrated Bible stories. 2. Clue in the Crumbling Wall , NDM. This book ignited my love for mystery 3. High Road to China - could not finish it so my father told me the rest on the staircase of our rented Spanish house. 4. The Aeneid by Virgil. Even in English I didn't understand it. I lasted til the end of the first page which was about half A4 5. Bible . It's not an ordinary book at home. My mother made sure I understood it was a holy book and was treated with utmost respect. I read it without understanding it. 6. Violet Winspear .

Hazel stars mysteriously in Mars Hazel dances with the czars Flap your wings and fly with me We dream, we explore magically. - Hazel , Delineating Des A note before we take off: The links are to acknowledge sources and that apart from them, the only thing that's mine in this post is the introductory babble above. Here's hoping the attempt didn't wreak too much damage on the magic below. Here we go -   1. An old charm for curing an adder bite requires a piece of hazel wood in the shape of a cross to be placed upon the wound, and the following lines repeated: "Underneath this hazel in mote, There's a braggoty worm with a speckled throat, Nine double is he, Now from eight double to seven double And from seven double to six double and so on until: And from one double to no double, No double hath he" 2. An essay by Megan Elizabeth Farris: The "Ruint" Doll: Hazel 's loss of innoncence in Kettle Bottom   3. The Song of the Wandering Aengus by W.B.

These are things said to me recently. I treasure the first one, well, coming from a little son who is in therapy. I listened to the second til the tenth with a yes, yes attitude. The twelfth sounds touching and the final words catapulted me out of torpor - 1. I love you, Mommy 2. You are the best cure for when I am down 3. The BNP is a racist organization totally against immigration in the UK 4. It amazes me that when ever I walk away from reading your email I always have another thousand questions to ask 5. A myriad of emotions crows in on a man in love making a seething cocktail of fizz 6. To go tech diving is very expensive and very complicated you have to balance all kinds of gas in your tanks 7. You are right when you said most charities are bent and corrupt. 8. When you only put on a simple black top you look absolutely sensational 9. This love has turned into something which cannot easily be shifted by a few choice words or barbs. 10. You're crazy you know that? 11. I don&#

"Sawadee krap!" the Eagles greeted Bangkokians Sunday night. Exuding cultural cognizance Tim Schmit spoke a whole sentence in Thai and the Impact Arena erupted. Woe is me. I've been in Thailand 13 years and I didn't even know what Tim said. Anyway I felt like I got back a decade younger being happy and thrilled at their performance. A trumpet played the intro to Hotel California. I never heard that before. These are 13 Eagles hits that I love: 1. Desperado 2. Seven bridges road 3. I can't tell you why 4. Take it to the limit 5. Life in the fast lane 6. Best of my love 7. Take it easy 8. Busy being fabulous 9. Love will keep us alive 10. In the city 11. Long road out of Eden 12. Lying eyes 13. New kid in town Megan and Janet host Thursday 13

Lazaruz Vault by Tom Harper tells of knights and castles; a 12th century poem kept deep in a Scottish forest. The star character, a gradschool student lured by old world affluence, is wondering about what lies on the 6th floor of her employer's headquarters as much as I furrowed my brow over some words in the story. There could be more as I haven't touched chapters 20 - 53 yet. I make each vocabulary simple with just the obvious term of the definition and reminders intended to warn my mind against wandering off. 1. hauberk is a shirt not a partner in crime 2. bittern is a bird not a betel nut 3. fascia is tissue not a hue 4. vavasour is a tenant not a sour guava 5. breton is a horse not a variant spelling of briton 6. brigand is an outlaw not a brigadier 7. declension is an inflection not necessarily a decline 8. donjon is a keep not a dungeon 9. seneschal is a butler not Senegal in the 2000 FIFA World Cup 10. fewter is a holder not Harry Potter's cauldron 11.

The second clinical impression on my son has just been forwarded to me. It is PDD (pervasive developmental disorder). Through the daze I decide to tackle it with optimism, and with as less drama as possible. In an effort to find something to kick start work on this challenge I find inspiration in the words of people who had learning difficulties and disabilities. From Tourette's syndrome to dyslexia, to OCD, to stuttering, they have been there, done that, got the T-shirt. I am going to get my T-shirt too. 1. Adversity leads us to think properly of our state, and so is most beneficial to us. Samuel Johnson 2. Courage is fear holding on a minute longer. George S. Patton 3. If you are going to go through hell, keep going. Winston Churchill 4. Passion is the great slayer of adversity. Focus on strengths and what you enjoy. Charles Schwab 5. We think of children as vulnerable. In my experience, they’re giants. Their bodies and souls are amazingly resilient. What we often mistake for

Have you ever sat down reading something routine and suddenly you have to scramble to the dictionary? I swear I used to eat these words for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A four-year hiatus from the research lab and wait, what...? threaten to punctuate the flow . They are getting back to my diet again, but they are so obvious they are killing me. 1. theory 2. latent 3. variable 4. delimit 5. experiment 6. framework 7. philosophy 8. correlate 9. dissemination 10. cognitive 11. proselytize 12. epistemology 13. empirical Megan and Janet hosts Thursday 13 .

I usually try not to begin my very first sentence with I. In blogging. The title of this post is borrowed. Now isn't that desultory? Today I ramble. 1. Burlesque is coming up on the big screen. A genius integrated my idol into the trailer. 2. I frequent this cafe in front of my workplace because of its English magazines. Beside my iced mocha, a recent Reader's Digest issue features the best universities in Asia (University of Hong Kong is top) and quotes the Microsoft chairman, "Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose." 3. "We are two of a kind, Hazel - ying and yang, but beautifully blended into one," wrote someone to me an hour ago. 4. Youtube user Niva20011 commented on a Khmer Rouge clip, "can you smoke (Pol) Pot?" 5. You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one . Yoko Ono's husband's voice plays in my head when I remembered that I have forgotten to review The Killing Fields .

Golf is my ex-hubster's sport. It is also his friend's son's nickname. Golf's younger brother's nickname is Beer . Ex-hubster's nephew is fondly called Fluke , and somewhere in this strange kingdom I came across a girl nicknamed Gift . Check out some of the rest, spelled as they are in documents and see what they mean in someone else's local dialect: 1. Virus destruction, harm, jealousy personified 2. Birat pronounced bi-lat which means female genital 3. Paleeya bitter gourd 4. Anus down the alimentary canal, out of it 5. Auten male genital 6. Pota prostitute 7. Sukanya his or her vomit 8. Panit skin 9. Atchara papaya pickle 10. Tilawan to taste 11. Olopong serpent 12. Sombut alternately to confront and a confrontation 13. Karoon now Find more lists at Megan and Janet's T13

All my life I have never been to a halloween festival or party. But since I frequented cyberspace, what with all the hype, I thought I should try it if there's a chance. So when a friend rang to see if I was interested in one, I went in a heart beat and 1. traipsed Khao San Road with friends, where the party was 2. admired an antique BMW motorbike 3. posed beside two decomposing kids 4. wore a borrowed battery-operated pair of horns 5. watched how a young drunk in high heels sway and drop to the ground 6. stared at a waved sign: Beer - Fucking Good! 7. dropped 1 baht on a beggar dog's bowl 8. folded my arms beside an emaciated male zombie badly in need of a mammogram 9. took a shot at a gawking skull with big teeth intact 10. offered my neck to a loch ness mutant 11. checked out prices of witches' hats 12. ate calamari 13. drank margarita Glad I lived to tell the tale. Megan and Janet host Thursday 13 .

October means work break for me. A plan to head down Khao Yai National Park is in conflict with a friend's timetable. I am forced to socialize elsewhere. These are what I saw and did at Camp Facebook: 1. "Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is little like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian." -Dennis Wholey 2. A few acquaintances want to troop down some videoke bar, but have no idea which bar. I suggested Bangkok Hilton. The staff there tolerates the indignity of my off-keyness . 3. “Cases of involuntary disappearances are usually filed under kidnapping, murder .... Our laws should recognize this distinction from other offenses,” emphasizes Miriam Santiago, a Philippine senator. She eats death threats for breakfast. I like her. Minus her breakfast. 4. It's raining men hallelujah! Seriously I hope the floods in the northeast stay there. 5. Yeah, yeah, I'm so getting it..., my reaction to "Getting your

"So that's how it looks like," I thought as I stared at a blurred image on Cambridge U's 800th anniversary portrait. The page shows a document stamped S E C R E T . I leafed through and tinkered with the text mode of my camera. But the real fun was just setting eyes on things for the first time. It makes up for not having been to any museum in awhile. Besides, I'm not sure how easy or difficult some of these things are to view from anywhere other than the book. This is what I meant on my T13 last week when I said, "into my lap a treasure fell..." 1. Extract from the annotated first edition of Principia Mathematica, 1686 2. Undergraduate record card of Frank Whittle, inventor of the jet engine 3. A 3D silicon nanostructure fabricated using chemical vapour deposition 4. In the pages of the Blue Boy Magazine, err... the Varsity 5. John Milton's manuscript of Lycidas 6. Ernest Rutherford's notes on the structure of the atom 7. The Chancellor's

... observes the Duke of Edinburgh. Someone from Cambridge University Press came to speak to us. He gave away Cambridge: 800th Anniversary Portrait to a Thai teacher, who handed the book to me as if she was glad to get rid of it. (It's ok. She doesn't read, nor speak English) Into my lap a treasure fell. Some days must be bright and cheery :-) 1. "As an undergraduate I was persuaded that the Dons were a wholly unnecessary part of the university. I derived no benefits from lectures, and I made a vow to myself that when in due course I became a lecturer I would not suppose that lecturing did any good. I have kept this vow." Bertrand Russell , The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell , 1967 (p.53) 2. "Cambridge, wet, cold, abstract, formal as it is, is an excellent place to write, read and work." Sylvia Plath , writing to her mother, 1956, from Letters Home , 1975 (p. 17) 3. "Dear Sir, I will be obliged to you to order me down 4 Dozen of Wine, Port, Sherry-

Monday was not bad. Technology did 95% of my job and I was paid for warming a high-back swivel chair in a lab full of computer geeks. When I started noticing how 'alien' their language is to me, I explored their dictionary. These are 13 of what made me go like, oh, I see then is that so?... and in between, what? -- 1. glambassador a diplomat selected for his or her celebrity and appearance, not for any particular knowledge of foreign policy or international affairs. For example, "Linda Gray of TV's Dallas was just made goodwill glambassador for the U.N. Population Fund." 2. gutenburg a person who insists on printing out everything available onscreen. "Keith is such a gutenberg. He printed out a 150-page manual just to read a few sections of it." 3. leetspeak a.k.a. leet, lite, elite, eleet, 1337, 3l337, l33t, 3l33t Leetspeak, or "leet" for short, is a type of online jargon in which a computer user replaces regular letters with other keyboard

Half an hour before boarding the bus that would take me and friends to Trat, I skimmed online reviews of the resort we were to stay in and beaches on Elephant Island that we wanted to go to. 1. Yet there's still that hint of surprise at finding reality: rocks instead of black sand at least abound on Pearl Beach, and Lonely Beach is not lonely at all. But discovering Koh Chang's hidden charm is good consolation. One of us baptized this place Hansel and Gretel's cottage. 2. I was right to have taken some work with me. Facebook-depriving elusive Wifi saved friends from being harrassed with islandish shoutouts at 20-minute intervals . 3. Work was a question to research the moment I was back to the mainland: if integrative complexity was high, would the number of assassinations go down? 4. Legs connected to the brains entertaining morbidity in the midst of holiday were clad in a long, flowery skirt. Mixing business and pleasure, for crying out loud. 5. Let's go music and mov