Harry Potter is finished!

I finished the final chapter in the Harry Potter series. It only took me about eight hours of reading scattered throughout four days but I finished it and I'm kind of sad! The series is finished, no more tales of the exploits of the boy wizard.

I guess that what I most want to know is how others felt about the book. I loved it, especially how it tied up loose ends with characters from all the other books as well as added the view into later life for some characters.

I'll stop typing now so that I don't inadvertently give something away other than it is a great book and a great series that everyone must read, especially if you have students who will be reading the books!

Ed U. Cayshun

I'm embarrassed to admit but...

I feel a bit childish and am a bit embarrassed to admit but I'm really looking forward to something that is set to happen tomorrow, July 21st; the release of the new, and last Harry Potter book.

I had never really been an avid reader except a time in my life when I was working a late shift at a radio station. That eight to midnight shift afforded me a lot of time to sit an read between mindless chatter, weather reports and pushing play on the CD players. My appreciation started when I was given a list of 30 books to read for my Children's literature class in college and the first book of the Harry Potter series was on that list. Following that class I let Harry sit until a few years later when My family hosted a German foreign exchange student who initially got my wife into Harry Potter. Not wanting to be left out of the discussions I chose to read the books rather than rely on Hollywood's versions of the books. I devoured the books at home and while subbing in High Schools, which also afford time to sit and read and now I have only one story left to finish the series.

It's hard for me to imagine my excitement as being solely based on my love of the characters, I think part of it is , finally finding out what happens to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, seeing Harry grow into a full fledged wizard and mostly that this concludes the whole journey.

At any rate, the final book is supposed to be here tomorrow and I can't wait to read it!

Ed U. Cayshun

My fathering days are over.

So far in my life I have made three things that I am very proud of; my three sons! I love them dearly but my wife and I decided that three was enough so Friday I put a stop to my fathering days. That's right, the swimmers have left the pool, or at least have no way to get out of the pool anymore. I went for the big "V" and I ain't talking about Vegas!

All things considered it wasn't too bad. There were two things about the minor out patient procedure that really caused me pain; the needle for the I.V. and getting the tape that held that needle in my arm pulled off. Other than that the actual operation was pain free. The day after was another story!

I woke up Saturday morning feeling like the circus side-show fat lady had used my manhood as a stepping stool to reach the bon-bons off the top shelf! Thankfully modern pharmaceuticals helped ease that discomfort.

To sum things up, I wouldn't want to go through it again but I would recommend the operation to anyone NOT wanting to have any more children.

Ed U. Cayshun