Here's a little song I wrote

( Kitty's Facebook Profile. )

It's so exciting! Mum and dad finally picked a good place to spend the holidays this year. Usually mum likes to go to places like Milan that have good shopping but I told them that if we didn't go somewhere interesting I was not coming! So they picked Portugal! Isn't that wonderful? I've already started planning a visit to the Madeira islands to see the Laurisilva! It's a unique type of subtropical rainforest in Europe and in the world! Only in Madeira island it's possible to observe more than 250 species of land gastropods. Isn't that brilliant?! Mum, dad, Lindsay, Seth and I are leaving as soon as Lindsay goes on break at Hogwarts! I'm already starting to pack.

Perhaps I'll write a song about this!

( Hexed Private to Lindsay Corner by James Potter )

Miss Zeller reminded me today of why I participate in the things I do. WETA, PETA, BUAV, MILF and the like. It's because I TRULY believe that all living things deserve the same fundamental rights. Every living being has the right to life. She suggested I write a book, but who would read it? Why not put it here where it's available to everyone. I can't stop anyone from eating animal products, but I can tell you a little bit about where it comes from.

( With pictures, since no one reads a lot of words without pictures.  )

( If you want just pictures )

I don't want to tell people that they have to or should be a vegan. Because that is a personal choice. But I believe you should make an informed one! Know where your animal products are coming from. If you must eat meat, eat organic or free range. It is still inhumane, but much more regulated. This is only the tip of the iceburg of the animal cruelty running rampant in the world

Today's protest in Cornwall went beautifully! I got to sing and make a speech against captivity of animals for use of prophet and only three protesters were arrested and I was not one of them. Well, almost, but There is an active picket line going on preventing all customers and owls from getting to the apothecary. Business is bound to suffer. But we will not rest until that acromantula is released from wherever it is being held captive. Of course the owner claims there is no acromantula, but the constant and fresh supply of acromantula venom is quite suspicious!

Nick, did you enjoy it? Wasn't it exhilarating?! You will have to join me for another one.

( Seth Corner )

I was five when Lindsay was born. I remember a lot of it. Mum and dad readying the nursery, putting my hands on mum's stomach and laughing when Lindsay kicked as if it was the funniest thing I'd ever felt. I kept asking mum to "do it again!" When she was born I remember not getting what the whole point was. She cried a lot and her room was near mine and she'd wake me up and I'd get so mad. But then she stopped crying and became more interesting. Mum and dad always involved me, from nappies to feeding times to play time. I got to hold her hands when she started walking, and I'd always let her crawl into bed with me if she had bad dreams. Eventually I grew to love being an older sister, even though Lindsay's always been more responsible.

When mum said she was pregnant again I didn't believe her. Lindsay is seventeen. I'm twenty-two. We're much too old to be having a sibling now. I went from disbelief to acceptance rather fast. It was going to happen whether I believed it or not, so might as well make the most of it. At some point I think I began to resent the baby though. Here I was, moved out and gone. My room was being turned into a nursery. I was being replaced. What use would my parents have for a child like me? So I went through the motions. I smiled. I planned. I helped.

And then he was born. I was so young when Lindsay came, old enough to understand but not quite old enough to get it. When Seth was born I got it. He was small and wrinkly and screaming, but he was beautiful. Yes, he might be a midlife crisis baby, but he was his own little individual person. With his own eyelashes and his own tiny fingernails and his own personality. He couldn't replace me. Just as Lindsay couldn't replace me. He'll be as different from Lindsay and I as we are from each other. Maybe he'll be emotional like mum is, with a talent for all things charms? Or maybe like grandmum he'll be artistic with paints and a brush? Maybe he'll cook, maybe he'll have a love of history, maybe he'll join the government or maybe he'll Heal? Who's to say.

All he knows now, at two weeks old, is that when he cries he gets fed or changed or held. He knows the smell of his mother and the feel of his father. He knows the pressure of a kiss to his forehead and the sound of a lullaby as he sleeps. And he knows that he's loved by his family. Because I do love him more than I ever thought I could.


Lindsay and I, our first Christmas

LINDSAY!

I'm at Mungo's but there's MLE everywhere and I'm trying to get to mum's room! Is she alright? She hasn't had it yet, has she? Where are you guys?

Everywhere I look is bab I'm going home this weekend to help Dad clear out my old room in order to turn it into a nursery for the new baby. Now that I have a steady job and benefits I guess we don't have to worry about me being evicted? I feel repl The baby shower plans are going well, I think. CM, Lindsay, how are your tasks coming with that?

I feel like half my life is entwined with untangling the wishes of the dead, and the other half is preparing for the arrival of the living. It's a bit of a headache.

I missed a protest against The Muggle Life and their treatment of animals as well as their wardrobe which utilizes the pelts of at least six different endangered species

I feel old

Linds, how's mum doing? Sorry I haven't visited. I slept at my desk almost all week.

The job is interesting. Not that bad. I'm not in the office a lot because I'm assigned to Stubby's case so I spend most of my time at his offices and houses going through journals. It feels wrong somehow, like I'm spying. But even in his most personal journals I find codes for the will. So I suppose I'm on the right path. It's coming along.

I noticed something in his journals though. At first I thought it was part of the code. Just scribbled in the margins. "4) Smaller left hand" or "7) Funny laugh" and "16) Quiet times." So I marked them down. And the further I got into his books the more I began to realize that it was a different code. Not related to his will. Not really a code either. A list. I noticed it when I saw in tiny print "Catylyn 1) Vanity." Most Hobgoblins fans know about Catylyn, vaguely. Come Kiss Me Catylyn was their first single and catapulted them into stardom. Stubby never spoke of her except for that song. A young Welsh girl who broke his heart.

I realized that scattered across his life, his songs, his books, even scrap pieces of paper crumpled in desk drawers were numbered items. "11) Stare through me." And it's amazing. Despite 7 divorces and numerous women he never forgot Catylyn. The girl he fell for when he was still young. And it makes you wonder, doesn't it? People say that there's plenty of fish in the sea. Young love never lasts. Your first love is just practice. But is it really? Do you ever move on or do you end up making lists of the things you miss in the one you couldn't hold onto?

I wrote a song about it. It's... not like my usual songs. It's about Catylyn. And the numbered items I've found. I don't know why I felt compelled to. Maybe as a reminder.

( Part Of The List )

I have a job

A real one. Not involving cafe's or bars or even music.

And that's really all I want to say on the matter.

Due date: August 10th
Currently: 6 months
Sex: Unknown (but desires a boy)

Theme: Baby Book Shower. It's gender neutral and mum and dad were both Ravenclaws.
Ideas:
Welcome-
+Create a memory book for the baby - and do a specific page for each person.
# Use a newspaper from the date of the baby shower to create the background for the memory book. That way, the baby will be able to see the important people, and news, of the baby shower day.
# Have the page ready with a spot for a picture of the guest and a place for them to write their wishes for the baby. Take their pictures as they arrive so that they can be pasted in the book by the end of the baby shower.
# Take a binder and cover it with batting and material of choice. Insert a spot for the picture by cutting a frame out of cardboard and covering with same or separate material.
# Prepare pens, markers, materials and embellishments before hand so guests can take turns decorating the memory book.

Decorations-
# Hang different books around the room and use them as table centerpieces
# Children's books like fairy tales
# Some of her old childhood books. She keeps everything so there should be some.
# Grandmum Mei Lin will definitely have lots of beautiful books to use
# Use popular characters from kids books or fairy tales as table themes.

Games-
# Give everyone the name of a book or a character in a book and you have to call them by that the whole day. If you mess up and are caught you're out. Last one standing wins.
# Read a part of a nursery rhyme and have them fill it in. Most right wins.
# Make a list of statistics for the guests to guess about the delivery day. Some ideas would be to guess baby's weight, height, length, and gender(if unknown). Winner will be determined later.

Food-
# Not book themed, but rather mum's favourite foods or whatever the Healer tells her she can eat. Will include non-vegan food because it is her shower. Will have vegan options so I do not starve.
# Cake will look like mum's favourite fairytale - Snow White. Except open to a page with fake writing and a picture of Snow White and the Prince. Snow White will look like mum, the prince dad, and Snow White will be holding a baby.

Invitations-
+Create a bookmark for your guests by making a bookmark templates and cutting them out of poster board. Use a hole puncher to punch a hole in the bookmark. Tie yarn or thick thread through the hole to make a tassel. Write in gold pen:
Here's something to bookmark! We are having a book baby shower for Cho Corner on [TBD] at [TBD]. Please bring a favorite baby or child's book instead of a card to help start a great library for the new baby!

Today Stubby Boardman died. I know most kids today don't know Stubby well. The Hobgoblins aren't Charm Blast (and thank Merlin for that). What they do know of him is that he was the old, eccentric leader of MILF. And he was those, yes. Old, eccentric, the face of MILF. But he was also brilliant. He's won more Gelly awards than any other Wizard or Witch in the history of the awards. He even nicknamed the Wizarding Music Awards the 'Gelly's'! In 1970, after he was nominated for (and won) 4 awards the spring after the Hobgoblin's first came out. 'Come Kiss Me Catylyn' was their break out, and still my favourite (though 'Lemon Letters' and 'Dancing with Storm Clouds' are still special to me). The band followed it with hundreds of hits in the decade they performed before Stubby was struck by that turnip and retired after being declared legally deaf in his right ear.

But that didn't stop Stubby. He still wrote music. Writing some of the best music bands like Hand of Glory, Merlin's Beard and The Jobberknoll's ever recorded. And winning Gelly's for his artistic talent in writing them. Every major rock band out today has taken some influence from Stubby and The Hobgoblins. They were revolutionary and are singlehandedly responsible for making Wizarding music worth listening to. That's why they are always listed by these new bands as inspiring them into music. Stubby was inspirational. And anyone who has listened to his music or met him knows that.

My Grandpa Chang introduced me to Stubby's music. I was listening to it in his kitchen while he cooked and we'd sing it together. It's one of my first memories. And it has to be what inspired me into playing music and singing, though I've always had a passion for it. I can't remember ever not loving music or not loving Stubby Boardman. It's just been a part of me as much as my Mum's legs or my Dad's laugh. A feature I haven't been able to help or delete. Dad wants me to take a job at the Ministry. But how can I do that when it means not doing what I love for a living? How can I give up my dreams when even at Stubby's deafest he never stopped doing what he loved?

I've had the honour of not only meeting Stubby, but working with him. He takes a special interest in every member of MILF. He wants to know you believe in the cause, that you're heart is in it for the Mooncalves. Just the other day he had sat down with me and asked me to play a song he was writing for Morrigain De La Morte. He asks me to do this a lot. Says my voice helps him know. It's the best compliment I ever had. And I'm really going to miss him.

( Some memories of Stubby )

( Me singing Stubby's song )

MILF is holding a memorial service on Sunday. They're letting us use Ikley Moore since that's where Stubby really tried the hardest for the Mooncalves since it was their biggest mating ground. But no one could refuse us this request. Please come if you can. This man influenced the world. Even if you don't realise it yet.

I wish I could see the pink snow. It would make the most lovely snowmen I imagine.

Teddy, I'm looking forward to our date tomorrow. Remember: nothing involving dead animals, please?

I got hired to play some music at this cafe in London on Saturday afternoons!! I'm very excited. I've done protests with the owner and she's absolutely lovely. I haven't gotten to play in so long, it'll be nice to perform again.

Comrade Plunksky and I have settled into an arrangement, since I felt very uncomfortable with keeping an animal in captivity even if he was Br. But I realised that he isn't my pet, he's my flat mate who I care for and help to ease his physical limitations. He's very independent too! Except for early mornings when I'm drinking tea and watching telly, he likes to curl up next to me and have his back scratched. I think we're rather similar in that regard.

I just thought everyone should know:

If you protest with songs outside of the Mortlake-Dunstan home - they will call the MLE. And if you refuse to go with them based on the grounds that the streets are a public place and you have the right to protest stupidity... they'll arrest you for resisting arrest. But most of them are very nice about it. I had a lovely discussion about beets with one of the guards.

Hi.

How are you?

I really adored my cousin. I knew Bruce before I knew my sister. I was 4 when he was born. The second grandchild and the first boy. And I loved him immensely. I was a 4th year when he came to Hogwarts and I was so excited to have family around - even if we were in different houses. But he was so excited about everything. And I loved showing him around and teaching him things and watching him grow. He was such his own person, with this aura that was undeniably Bruce. Especially when it came to food! At family events, when I'd be served something with animal products, I would always pass it to him because he could and would eat anything and everything!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Bruce was one-of-a-kind. He was vibrant and funny and all around a wonderful person. And I'm going to remember him like that. My little cousin. The first baby I ever held in my arms. Happy. I'm going to remember him happy.

If you want to talk about him or say how you'll remember him or post a picture please share. I really would love to read it.

Also, I was given Comrade Plunksky while I was at Hogwarts by the Hufflepuff head of house. I can take care of him, but if anyone had a deep affection for him I would hate to separate you.

The male preoccupation with breasts (or nungas as I see they are now being called. What a queer name, nungas. It sounds almost oriental in orgin) goes back to their time as a breast fed infant. For the first part of all of our lives the only thing we remotely cared about was food and being loved: both came in the form of Mum's milk. We'd reach our miniature hands up towards the bosom, suck on the teat and imbue that nutrient rich liquid which gave us the strength to cry and giggle and eventually walk, talk and play.

Weaning is a traumatic experience. All of a sudden we go from that ultimate display of love - mum giving us her own liquid to sustain us - to the cold hard reality of processed formula and foods which pale in comparison to that sweet nutrient we'd enjoyed. Mum must not love us anymore if she's depriving us from herself. But eventually we move on, learn to enjoy and disgust in certain foods and breast feeding becomes a distant memory.

To a woman we come to terms with breasts. We grow them. They're round and soft and look quite divine in lace brassieres or low cut tops. We accept them and sometimes seldom think of them. We know their true purpose is to provide milk for our young and whether we have them or not, that's really their only use. Other than attracting men.

Which brings us back to the male obsession with breasts. It's all Freudian, really. Men, not possessing breasts and therefore not having years to adjust to their presence and purpose, are fascinated by them as they do not own them and their own dangling parts are far less pretty. It goes back to the time they were weaned. The breast is to them a symbol of all that is great about a woman since it was their first encounter from a woman. The food source, the proof of love. To be allowed to touch a woman's breasts is to be allowed an intimate part of her that they have not experienced since that cold drizzly Tuesday they were so unfairly dragged away from its warmth.

Don't forget this women, while you are smarting in their reducing you to an object. Men are fascinated with your breasts since they're fascinated with their mums. And your breasts - no matter the size or shape - are perfectly lovely and beautiful. More beautiful than their bits by far.

Chances are if you are being set up on a date by your mum then she has given up all hope on you. For a girl this might not be the worst thing in the world, since a lot of girls perfer men their mums never would go for. So when she sets up her daughter with a "nice gentleman" it's because she really dislikes the bloke with the dreads that she saw you with the other week.

But for boys I can't think of anything worse, really. No girl is going to take seriously a boy her mum sets her up with and approves. He's already lost the element of surprise. And she'll dislike him on the sheer principle of the fact that a girl will not likely tell her mum "You were right, I was wrong, a barrister is exactly what I've always wanted." So really a bloke looses before he ever meets the girl.

I say this because my mum has just owled me, annoyed, at the way I treated Harold. Or Harvey. Or Fredrick. I can't remember. This is bachelor number 6. And apparently this is the penance I must pay for asking her for bail money that time I accidentally slapped the MLE bloke at the protest against the war in Lima.

Lindsay? Did she say anything to you about Lucky number 7?

no sun will shine in my day today
the high yellow moon won't come out to play
darkness has covered my light
and has changed my day into night
now where is this love to be found, won't someone tell me?
'cause life, sweet life, must be somewhere to be found, yeah
instead of a concrete jungle where the livin' is hardest
concrete jungle, oh man, you've got to do your best, yeah.

no chains around my feet, but I'm not free
i know am bound here in captivity
and i've never known happiness, and i've never known sweet caresses
still, i be always laughing like a clown
won't someone help me?
cause, sweet life, i've, i've got to pick myself from off the ground, yeah
in this here concrete jungle,
i say, what do you got for me now?
concrete jungle, oh, why won't you let me be now?

i said life must be somewhere to be found, yeah
instead of a concrete jungle, illusion, confusion
concrete jungle, yeah
concrete jungle, you name it, we got it, concrete jungle now

( concrete jungle, what do you got for me now? )