I am having a great deal of fun listening to Keith Olbermann's predictions for the end of the Harry Potter series. He has some points, and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being pretty close. His ending makes a lot of sense, and incorporates some aspects that I hadn't thought about before. OK, the redux of the Sopranos finale was a long shot, but the rest of it makes sense.

I still haven't filled up my icon allotment, but I'm working on it. I keep hoping to find the Perfect Icons. Yeah. Not going to happen. I should load icons from my GreatestJournal account and be done with it. I can replace them later. I certainly have enough icons there. No, I don't keep a journal there.

One more thing. I haven't said it before, but you should really check out Kiva.org. I love this website more than I can describe. You can loan people what it takes to help them earn a living for their families in some of the poorest parts of the world! At $25 at a time. And it's a loan, so you should get your money back - to loan again or put back in your pocket. This strikes me as one of the best ways to help the developing world. I'll stop pushing this now, but I would really appreciate it if you at least consider joining this effort. I have made five loans so far and it is a cheap mood improver. Do the research. These people are for real.

I have a new toy.

I finally downloaded Gimp and I have been learning the tricks. Lots of fun. So far I have three new icons to show for it, but I am sure that they will not be the last. I may have to start making icon posts once I get the hang of what this thing can do.

I had been seriously tempted by Photoshop, but the price is a bit much for a budget that is formed from a retail job (besides, there are beads to buy!). So, freeware it is. Those of you who are artistically inclined should give it a shot. It is a bit complicated, but the basics are pretty easy to learn. The fact that I bought a book made it a lot easier, but the only one I could find was fifty bucks; thank you, employee discount. There is information online about how to use it, plus the help menus, but I have always found books to be easier to learn from.

Look out, world. I now have a decent program for playing with pictures.

This thing beats the snot out of Paint.

In other news:

Quote from the seven-year-old kid across the aisle from me at dinner, as he was talking to (I think) grandfather, "You're fifty-three years old and you're still alive?!?!" Mom, who is still alive and in her sixties, nearly choked when she heard it.

The office politics at work continue to be interesting. M is still on the outs with just about everyone, even though everyone seems to like him on a personal level these days. Boss Lady (as I should have mentioned a while ago) left to pursue things far away from the book business and has yet to be replaced. Instead, we have been treated to a series of "rental" managers from other stores, who invariably try to take over the store and make it a clone of their own. They have all failed at that, but have been able to leave without starting any wars. We do have a new assistant manager and she is already well-liked - she is fairly easy-going and has a wicked sense of humor. B, my supervisor, will be leaving sometime in the near future, and thinks that I should try to replace him. He can keep dreaming. There is no way I'm going to try to be a manager right now. With my luck, I would end up working very closely with a bitch-on-wheels general manager. I'll keep a safe distance until I know what kind of person ends up in charge of the store, thank you very much.

I really don't see myself ever trying to be a manager there, to be honest. The chain likes to eat managers and then spit them out again. I have yet to come across anyone who has really been happy with the decision to get a set of store keys.

But I don't know what my plans are. Someday, I'll have to figure out what to do.

General politics continue to boil around here. The blogger who was wrestled out of the Omni Hotel is now being held pending possible charges of assault against some of Sen. Allen's staffers. I don't know many details, but I doubt they will be believed unless it was caught on tape. It will not help Allen's campaign, I'm sure. The Republicans are dealing with a scandal on the national level that will likely hurt them as well; a major religious figure for the Christian Right has been forced out of his job as pastor because of accusations involving male prostitution and meth use. A part of me is glad to see the neocons getting kicked in the teeth, but I'm also just so sick of them that I wish the political muck could be cleared away. Why can't these people act like the adults they appear to be? To a certain extent, that goes for both sides. I've been yelling at the attack ads from everyone's campaign lately.

Is it Tuesday yet?