怒濤の展開へ・・・

Yesterday's reading ended with my eyes full of tears which swept over me after me reading some exciting scenes in the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
It's so shocking, maybe more than what I felt when I read the end of the Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, that I can't describe my feelings well.
There're, however, still 122 pages left to read, and everything seems to break into a run for the ending rapidly and dramatically, so I have no time to be overcome with grief.
It's because after reading the book up to page 637 now, many familiar names, and, perhaps, almost all of the names I hadn't seen for a long time, appeared and came into action one after another!
Though I saw some of their names in it sometimes, all I could do was wish them safe because I didn't know exactly what they were doing at the time.
Despite my worries, it seemes to me the worse the situation they are placed in gets, the more energy they are filled with, which causes me various feelings.
Some are the same as before, which makes me smile, pleased or frustrated, and some are showing their rapid and amazing growth, which makes me so impressed that I still feel something hot inside me. 
Amid the turmoil caused by almost all of the characters and many kinds of monsters including the kinds I've never seen in it, it's getting more difficult for me to put it down.

う～～ん・・・、毎回何を書けばいいのか、というか、どんなことなら英語で書けるのかと悩んでしまいますが、一進一退を繰り返していたハリ・ポタ最終巻も、もう間違いなく、ラストに向かって怒濤の展開を繰り広げております。
思ってもいなかった人が全くの予想外な形で続々と登場してくるし、見違えるほど成長した人、すっかり様変わりした Wizarding Warld でも全く変わらない人、しばらくお目にかからなかった人、etc... もうこれまで登場したキャラクター総出演させる気じゃないかと思うほどの盛況（？）ぶりです。
大半は出てくるたびに 『キャ～♪』 と声をあげたい衝動に駆られましたが （特に Professor McGonagall！）、Sir Cadogan が登場してきた時は嫌～な予感に襲われました。
案の定、短い台詞の中に（私の）知らない単語山盛り・・・。　~(=^‥^A

"Braggarts and rogues, dogs and scoundrels, drive them out, Harry Potter, set them off!"

・・・相変わらずの勇ましさ。　激なんか飛ばしちゃって・・・。
（敵との戦いそっちのけで一人駆け回るハリーを叱りとばしてるわけじゃないと・・・思う。応援してる・・・のよね？）
結構好きかも・・・♪＞ Sir Cadogan
中世かぶれな台詞が多いのがウザいけどね。　(^m^*)

とはいえ、興奮せずにはいられない盛り上がりの一方で結構ショッキングなシーンもあったりして、昨日は本気で泣きそうになりながら本を閉じましたよ、私。　(/_<。)ウルウル・・
さぁ、もう少しだ、頑張るぞ！　と思いつつ、そろそろ私の方の体力が枯渇しそう・・・
が・・・、頑張るぞ～！！

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Darling and her ample bosom

Amid the bustle of people rushing around preparing for Christmas and the end of the year, and some of my friends being beside themselves with anticipation for Keisuke Kuwata's solo tour, I'm enjoying peaceful days while chatting with my SO and reading the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as usual, not to mention feeding Ruu the budgerigar on my hand.
Especially, spending time with him, sitting next to each other with his arm around my shoulder, feeling his warmth, listening to our favorite songs, is one of the most effective and essential remedies for removing my stresses of daily life.  (*^^*)

Speaking of our favorite songs, two of us love Keisuke Kuwata above all other artists, so each of us has already ordered his new single CD, Darling, scheduled to be released on December 5, and we had a nice time watching the recorded TV program in which he'd sung the song on November 11 and the promotional video on the Net this weekend.
The full-length music video of his new song is being put on his official site for a limited time only, and you can enjoy it, of course, free of charge.
It makes me smile (or maybe I should say "laugh") at least twice every time I watch it.
It's full of closeups of a woman's ample bosom and cleavage, and I can't help thinking it's just like him. (^^;
Besides, "once more, please" he says at the almost end of it is, in a sense, excellent.
If you'd like, please click here and check it out, though I'm afraid I can't tell you until when it's available.

Well, I read the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows up to page 558 by now.
What can they do, or are they going to do, with no plan in their minds now that the thing they got with enormous efforts has been taken away?
Never give up, Harry!!
And I'll also never give up reading through it. Maybe.... (^^;

↑で書いた "being beside themselves"、ハリー・ポッター・シリーズで嫌というほどお目にかかったフレーズです。
”(be) beside oneself" で、（極度の喜怒哀楽で）我を忘れたり、取り乱したり、浮かれまくっている状態のことなんだとか。
直訳したら 「自分自身の横にいる」ですよ。
今、私の周りには自分の横に立っちゃってる人が多くって、ちょっと取り残されたような寂しさを感じつつ、それなりに平和で穏やかな毎日を過ごしてます。
それって幸せってことよね・・・♪　=＾-＾=

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残り３分の１☆

I received a long-awaited package yesterday.
What I took out from a cardboard box is, needless to say, the electrical heater I was looking forward to since having ordered on the Net last week.
Welcoming the first morning with an electrical heater in this winter (or autumn?), however, I feel like it's a little warmer this morning than it has been for the last few days.
Besides, Ruu the budgerigar is cautious about it because of his extraordinary dislike against unfamiliar things despite the fact I bought it so as not to let him catch cold.
It's okay.  No problem.
Because I know well it's just a matter of time before he gets used to it and relaxes in front of it grooming his feathers contentedly on my hand.

And I'm now reading the chapter 25 (page 512) of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
With one third of it to go, it seems to me that the story began to unfold suddenly and rapidly, and that, nevertheless, it's impossible for them to resolve all hard problems and restore peace in the Wizarding World.
I can't even imagine at all how they'll make it, and therefore I become so much more and more absorbed in reading as to want to do nothing else.   (^^)

759ページ中512ページ読破。
本が届いた時には、思わず 『百科事典か！』 とツッコミを入れた分厚い本も残すところあと１／３♪
ここにきてようやく話が進みだしたような気もしますが、様々な謎や解決しなきゃいけないことは、減るどころかどんどん増えてきているような気が・・・。
本当に全部解決するのかしら？

で、今回、特に印象に残った文章は・・・　思い当たらないな～。~(=^‥^A
なので、ハリ・ポタのシリーズでは何度も目にしたこの文法表現を・・・

Had he not known that it was he who stood there, he would have wondered who was wearing his glasses.

この文章は "If he had not known that it was he who stood there, he would have wondered who was wearing his glasses." と同じ意味です。
思いっきり直訳すると、『そこに立っているのが自分だと知らなければ、誰が自分のメガネをしているのかと彼は思ったことだろう』 という感じ。
あと、『へ～』 と思ったのが、

"And this holds true for all wands, does it?" asked Harry.

何となく分かるような、イマイチよくわからないような・・・、ということで辞書で調べてみたところ、"hold true for" で、『（言葉・規則などが）～に当てはまる』 という意味だと載っていました。
そう言われれば納得もできるけど、こういう言い回しを知らずに、いきなり日本語から英訳しろって言われても、私には絶対無理よね。　~(=^‥^A

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半分通過！& 女王様

We Japanese sometimes say "wara nimo sugaru."
When you want to say it in English, do you know how to express it?
To tell the truth, I didn't.
I found it out for the first time when I read the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  (^^;
It seems, according to it, you have only to translate it literally into English like "clutch (or catch, grasp) at straws (or a straw)."
For your information, it's used in the book like this:

"Maybe... maybe it's something you need to find out for yourself," said Hermione with a faint air of clutching at straws.

Through reading books, weekly newspapers and so on, I come across various phrases including both what is hard and what is easy to grasp for us Japanese, which is highly intriguing, isn't it?  (^^)

Well, I'm now reading the beginning of the chapter 22: page 428, of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
It means I managed to get through half of it in about sixteen days, and that it seems unlikely that I can read through it by the end of the month.
It's okay, because I think what really matters is not how long it takes me to get it done but whether or not I can do.
Above all, it's whether or not I can enjoy reading it.
I can tell I have no problem on that point with confidence.  (^^)v
What do you think about this fact, however, that it's after getting through half of it that I saw the words included in the title: "The Deathly Hallows", in the body of it for the first time?
Yeah, there is a long way to go...  (--;

ふと気付けば、ハリ・ポタ最終巻も残り半分を切りました♪　＼(^O^)／
う～～ん・・・、約16日で半分・・・。
とりあえず今月中に読み終わるのはまず無理・・・ということですね。
いいの。　かかった期間の分、めいいっぱい楽しませてもらいます。（ヤケだ）

それと、このあたりを読んでいて一番おもしろかったのが、ハーマイオニーが女王様（？）になっていること！　(^m^*)
不機嫌の極みに達した彼女の行動を表すのに、"condescend" や "deign" と言った単語が使われているんですが、辞書で意味を調べてみて、思わず笑っちゃいました。
それがこちら。

Harry took aim at it with the wand Ron had given him the previous night, which Hermione had since condescended to examine, and had decided was made of blackthorn.
..............
"If it's annoying you, I'll stop!" he told Hermione nervously.  Hermione did not deign to respond, but approached Harry.

辞書では、

・condescend：１．（しばしば戯れ言または軽蔑的）（目下の者に対して）へりくだる、謙遜する、お高くとまらないで～する
２．身を屈して～する、恥を忍んで～する、～のような恥ずべきことをする
３．（軽蔑的）（偉そうな態度でわざと）愛想良くする、親切に振る舞う、（人に）慇懃な態度で偉そうに振る舞う　etc...

・deign：１．（ときに皮肉）かたじけなくも～してくださる、～あそばす、
２．（やや古風）（主に否定語と共に）～をくださる、賜る

思いっきり女王様扱いじゃありません？　(^m^*)
陰険な嫌味というよりは、ハリーのハーマイオニーに対する一種の愛情表現ですよね。 (^m^*)

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幸せのドア 想い出の窓

I got up with a headache yesterday morning, feeling a dull pain in my stomach too.
Opening the window to let fresh air in, I felt as if the cold morning air I breathed pierced my brain like a needle.
There's no doubt I had a hangover.
That's because my SO came over with a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau in his hand at the previous night, and because we finished it off in one night.
To be honest, I can't really taste the difference between wines, and I much prefer beer to wine.
That's okay.
We just want to enjoy it as one of annual events for us two, if it's possible, however, without suffering from a hangover.  (^^;
As the result of having spent a happy time with him (and of my terrible hangover), I couldn't read both of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and this week's issue of the Mainichi Weekly very much.
I'm now reading the nineteenth chapter of it (page 377), it means I read only about 38 pages in last two days.
Besides, I browsed only less than half of the Mainichi Weekly, about seven pages.
I, however, found a nice phrase on the article written by Diane Kichijitsu, an English Rakugo storyteller.
That's this:

Through my own personal experience I've realized how valuable it is to keep the windows and doors to opportunity wide open and, not to be afraind of trying something new.

It reminded me of a part of the lyrics of "ebb tide", a song included in the album "KILLER STREET" of Southern All Stars.
I think it's too difficult for me to translate it into English, but I'll try.

I'm going out of here, leaving the doors to happiness and the windows to our memories unlocked to protect you with my greater love than anyone else can give you.

Hmm...., it's probably beyond my English writing ability.  (--;

どうしよ。　読書が全然進まないわ。
味も分からないのにボジョレー飲んで嬉しいか？　（嬉しいんだ、これが）
せめて二日酔いしない程度にしておくべきだったわ。 ＼(__ )
でも大変楽しゅうございました♪　=＾-＾=

文中で引用した "... keep the windows and doors to opportunity wide open and, not..." 、 "... open, and not..." の間違いじゃないの？
違うのかな？　全く自信がないわ・・・。
で、かな～り強引に訳してみた 『ひき潮～Ebb Tide～』 の歌詞部分、本来は

誰にも負けない愛情で　あなたを守るために
幸せのドアも　想い出の窓も　
鍵をかけずに出てゆくよ

です。
こんなこと言われてみたい気もするけど、結局出て行かれちゃうのよね。　~(=^‥^A

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進捗状況とルー君

I came across the words: a bunk bed, which, according to the Longman Online Dictionary, means one of two beds that are attached together, one on top of the other, on page 274 of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
These words reminded me of the words: double-decker graves, in an article of this week's issue of the Mainichi Weekly written by an English columnist, David Hulmes, about the announcement against the lack of land for graves by the English government that corpses which have been buried for at least 75 years can be dug up and placed deeper under the ground, so that another coffin can be put on top.
(I'm fond of reading articles put on the last page of the Mainichi Weekly including his columns!)
Looking up in a dictionary, I found "bunk beds" has the same meaning as "a double-decker bed."
For me and plobably most of the people, I think the word of "double-decker" is associated with red double-decker buses of London.
I've never gotten on it, so I hope I take a trip to London someday, ride on it and see many things like what I've never seen in my life.  (^^)

Oh, and I finally ordered a electrical heater on the Net as it's suddenly become colder since yesterday.
It's not for me but for Ruu the budgerigar.
I noticed after coming home from grocery shopping yesterday that he'd got the runs, perhaps because of the chill weather.
Though he's got better after an hour or so of sleeping in his well-heated cage, and is now singing his unique song contentedly on the top of my PC rack placed in my room where the air conditioner is working at full blast, I thought it would be better for me to buy a new heater for our comfortable lives as soon as possible, so I did this morning.

I've read the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows up to page 340 out of 759.
Harry faces a lot of problems and difficulties, not even knowing what to do next, which might be frustrating and reminded me of the fact that they, Harry, Hermione and Ron, are only teenagers.
I think that's one of the reasons why he thought when he found his parents' grave that:

And tears came before he could stop them, boiling hot then instantly freezing on his face, and what was the point in wiping them off or pretending?  He let them fall, his lips pressed hard together, looking down at the thick snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of Lily and James lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not knowing or caring that their living son stood so near, his heart still beating, alive because of their sacrifice and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them.

昨日、急に寒くなったためか、ルー君が下痢をしました。
私も昨日から 37.3～6 度の微熱と闘っております。（これは天候のせいではありません。よくあることです）
暖房を効かせたカゴで寝かせたところ、すぐに良くなりましたが、やっぱりジジィ （＝ルー君） は冷やしちゃいけません。
かといってエアコンをつけていると、ババァな私の肌の老化現象が一気に加速されるので、諦めてカーボンヒーターを買いなおしました。（去年まで使っていたものは既にご臨終）
体はすぐに温まるし、部屋全体もいい加減で暖かくなるので冬の間は欠かせません。

それはそうと、ハリー！！
精神的にかなり辛い状況に追い込まれ、ジニーや、特に両親への想いを募らせるシーンに、読んでいる私も泣いてしまいそう・・・。　(/_<。)
それでも少しずつ、ホントに少しずつ話は展開していっているようです。
これからイキナリな衝撃シーン （多分） が私を待っている気がするので、もう少し読み進めてから今週号の毎日ウィークリーに取りかかりたいと思います。

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３分の１・突破☆

I feel like it's become much colder since the last weekend.
Though a kotatsu has already been placed in my room, I'm still not mentally ready for the full-fledged winter.
Maybe I should have bought a electrical heater first, not a cut and sewn, because I wouldn't like to use an air conditioner due to it making my skin dry.
Anyway, which kind of electrical heater is the best for me?  (--?

And I read up to page 270 of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is a little more than one third of it.
Though the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth chapter was kind of boring, some shocking revelations one of which confirmed his death I'd doubted surfaced in it.
Besides, we are made to realize that the whole Wizarding World, not only the Ministry of Magic but also Hogwarts(!), is almost completely taken over by the Dark Lord.
What most surprised me in the chapter 12-13, however, might be the way to enter the HQ of the Ministry of Magic.
Ministry workers have to clamber into the toilet, flush themselves in, and get through the chute into the fireplace equipped in the Atrium of the Ministry in order to get there!!
I don't remember whether Harry and his company had used the same way when creeping into the HQ in the fifth installment as they did this time.
They hadn't, had they?

I'm going to quote some sentences here which also made me a little confused for a moment.

And yet the square was now attracting a trickle of visitors who seemed to find the anomaly most intriguing.  Barely a day passed without one or two people arriving in Grimmauld Place with no other purpose, or so it seemed, than to lean against the railings facing numbers eleven and thirteen, watching the join between the two houses.  The lurkers were never the same two days running, although they all seemed to share a dislike for normal clothing.  Most of the Londoners who passed them were used to eccentric dressers and took little notice, though occasionally one of them might glance back, wondering why anyone would wear such long cloaks in this heat.

If you read these sentences when your brain doesn't work, I'm sure you'll also get mixed up.
Or am I the only one who can't get an immediate understanding of what they mean?  (^^;

ようやくハリ・ポタ７巻の 1/3 を突破しました～♪　 (/_<。) （嬉泣）
13章の後半は結構楽しみながら読みましたが、12章と 13章の冒頭部はとにかく眠かった！
おまけに結構知らない単語が出てきて、いろんなモノと格闘しながらの読書になりました。
さて。　そろそろ停滞気味だった話が （少しずつ） 動き始めそうな予感☆
ところで、Hermione の Patronus がカワウソっていうのは・・・『可愛い』 って言うべきなの？ ~(=^‥^A
それと彼女の夫は、もしかして建物の中に取り残されちゃった？
お～～い。　それでいいのか～？ 一緒に連れて逃げてあげて。
ゲ○ピー責めにされちゃうし、散々よね。＞旦那　(^m^*) ← 笑っていいのか？

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１１章終了♪

While I browse many Internet sites without thinking anything, there are times when I come across interesting goods or items.
I found an attractive turtle neck cut and sewn on one of my favorite shops' site and ordered it on impulse the other day. (^^;
You can see the item I ordered on this page.
It seems so comfortable and simple that I think I can wear it in various situations during three seasons, from autumn to spring, and for a long period.
Though rarely buying clothes on the Net because I want to check them in hands beforehand, I have a feeling it will be a good purchase.  (^^)

And I've just finished reading the eleventh chapter of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: page 222, with difficulty in understanding Kreacher's scripts.
Those are usually easy to read, but I was a little confused at first about who "he" means by Kreacher calling himself "he".
Those are as follows:
(If you've already get through the sixth installments of Harry Potter series, and not read the seventh, I think you would rather not read this.)

Kreacher drank, and as he drank, he saw terrible things.... Kreacher's insides burned.... Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed.... He made Kreacher drink all the potion.... He dropped a locket into the empty basin.... He filled it with more potion.

I thought at first "he" meant Regulus, but because only one wizard and one underage or elf can get there at the same time, it can't be.
After brief deliberation, I noticed that all "he"s (and a "him" and a "his") written in bold letters meant Kreacher.
His habit like this messed me up so much, but it's also interesting to realize such things while both enjoying and being puzzled by reading English novels.
By the way, I read a bit more than one quarter of it by yesterday.
I still have a long way to go to know what happens in the ending... (--;

ハリー・ポッター・シリーズの会話部分は、訛りなどが結構出てくることをのぞけば、特に難しい表現は出てきません。
（私は会話表現に慣れていなかったので、最初の間は会話部分を読むのが一番難しかったんですが、ようやく慣れてきました。）
それでも、Kreacher が自分のことを "he" と呼ぶのには参りました。　~(=^‥^A
"he"？ "he" って誰？ と悩むことしばし。
真相に気付いた時は、Kreacher を殴りたい気持ちが半分、笑い出したい気持ちが半分。

ところで、第５巻の映画化に当たり、『ある登場人物をカットしようとしたところ、「この人物は後で重要な意味を持つからカットしないでください」 と J. K. Rowling から注文が入った』 と某テレビ番組で言っていましたが、誰のことなんでしょ？
まさか Kreacher じゃないよね？
カットされかけたのはあの人で、実はあっちサイドの人だったっていう展開かしら？ とか、彼女は５巻の映画化でもまずカットされないだろうし・・・ とか、余計なことを考えつつ読んでいますが、そもそも私、５巻の映画版見てないし。　ヾ(;´▽｀A``

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進捗状況：８章終了

Though usually only taking a shower, I take a long bath, getting into and out of it every 10-20 minutes, once or twice a week.
Spending time soaking my weary body in a nice, hot bath put some my handmade bath powder in without thinking anything, sometimes massaging my whole body gently, is precious and important to me as well as many Japanese.  (^^)
I enjoyed my relaxing time yesterday too, and after a bath drained a cold 350ml can of beer that is one of what my mother brought the other day.
(Judging by the fact that she frequently brings many cans of beer and food these days despite my decision of abstaining from alcohol as much as possible, I guess she probably wants to make me get fat because I lost a little too much weight.)
Needless to say, I cast myself onto a bed and fell asleep immediately without reading a copy of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. (--;
While giving in to the various temptations, for instance, to drink or sleep, I reached the end of the eighth chapter: page 159, which is less than one quarter of it.
Some nasty characters J. K. Rowling describes, like Uncle Vernon, Rita Skeeter, Auntie Muriel etc, seem too typical, and I can't sense any of her affections for them, so it's a little painful to read depictions of them.
It's natural every person have both good and bad points, isn't it?
It, however, was all the more impressive to read the second chapter of it because I'd thought she was such a kind of writer.

児童書だし、多少勧善懲悪のきらいがあっても仕方ないかなと思いつつ、Rita Skeeter や Auntie Muriel に関する記述を読むのはちょっと・・・、いえ、かなり辛いです。
長所も欠点もあってこそ人間だと思うので、こういう人物の嫌な面だけを強調して殊更に感じの悪い人物に仕立て上げている感じがちょっと・・・ね。
憎まれ役にももう少し作者の愛を感じたいな～と思ってしまう。
それだけに第２章には感動したな～♪（ちょっと笑けてしまいましたが）
嬉しいことに（悲しいことに？）、まだまだ先は長いので、憎まれ役たちの今後にも微かに期待を寄せつつ、コツコツと地味～に読み進めていきたいと思います。
それにしても、いつになったら本格的な旅（？）に入るんだろ？

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第７章突入

As it's getting colder day by day, a cup of hot morning coffee becomes a more essential part of my daily life.
The moment the warmth runs through my body from my stomach to the tips of my fingers and toes always makes me relax.
Hmm..., I have to buy a new electrical heater because the one I used until last winter has broken down.  (--;

By the way, I'm now devoting most of my free time to reading the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, and (nevertheless?) I've just started reading the chapter seven: The Will of Albus Dumbledore.
Though having been surprised at the sudden battle scene, I seem to have entered kind of a dull part of it now, and to be no longer able to enjoy descriptions of HER acts in the rest of the story.
The fate which attacked her terribly got me down, but I wonder whether HE really went the same way as everyone else thought.

Oh, that's all for today because there're a few articles I've not read yet in this week's issue of the Mainichi Weekly.

え～・・・、何を書けばいいのかわからなくなってきました。　~(=^‥^A
とりあえず、昨日読んだハリーポッター７巻の中で、ちょっと面白いなと思った表現を１つ書いとこ。

....., and she ushered the Delacours into the house, with many "No, please!"s and "After you!"s and "Not at all!"s.

Weasleyおばさんが Delacour夫妻を案内しながら発したセリフを可算名詞扱いにしてますよね。
おばさんが舞い上がって、『いえ、結構ですから！』 『お先にどうぞ！』 『いえ、そんな全然！』 と繰り返してばっかりいる姿が目に浮かんで笑えます。　=＾-＾=
ハリーポッターを読んでいると、英語初心者の私には想像もしなかったような表現に出くわすことが多くて時々戸惑ってしまいますが、それも大事な楽しみの一つです♪

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I finally got and started to read a copy of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (US) yesterday after having several days' respite from English reading.
The one I bought is a hardcover because the paperback edition of it is still not available, so I thought it must be much bigger and thicker than a paperback of the sixth volume of the Harry Potter series, which is, I described before, as bulky as a dictionary.
In a sense, my guess was right, in another sense, however, it was wrong.
The size of it is beyond my imagination!
It's almost the same size as an encyclopedia!!  (++;
Besides, it's full of unknown words from the first page though I thought I memorized a lot of words through the reading of the third and sixth installments of the Harry Potter series.
I wonder if I can get through the 759-page book.  (--;

And I've just finished reading the chapter 4.
Though it's merely the beginning of the story, I already came across unforeseen scenes in the chapter 2 and 4.
One is oddly touching, and the other is a sad incident which I didn't even want to think about, and which I can't help but question.
What is the spell "Confringo" for?
Has it been already used in the previous installments?
Was that explosion just the result Harry desired?
I have no alternative but to work my way through it to get more details, don't I?

By the way, one of scenes that made me laugh is this:

"Once I'm seventeen, the protective charm that keeps me safe will break, and that exposes you as well as me. The Order is sure Voldemort will target you, whether to torture you to try and find out where I am, or because he thinks by holding you hostage I'd come and try to rescue you."
Uncle Vernon's and Harry's eyes met. Harry was sure that in that instant they were both wondering the same thing.

Whether Harry do it or not is undoubtedly a mystery.  (^^;

私が２日間で読む量としては結構多めの62ページを読み終わりました♪
毎日ウィークリーが届かなかったから、日曜日の半日をハリー・ポッターに捧げちゃったの。
それにしては、読むの遅い・・・わよね～・・・。 orz
あ～・・・、電子辞書欲しい。（モノに頼る主義）

２章のイラストを見た時から 『もしや！』 とは思ったけど、２章のラストはちょっと感動。
ディメンターも役に立つじゃないか。（？）
それと、Confringo って何の呪文？
彼女（？）はどうなっちゃったの？
もうダメ？ 諦めるしかないの？ この先どうなるの～～？ (/_<。)
少しでも早く先を読みたいのに、月曜日の午後に毎日ウィークリーが届いてしまったので、今日は毎日ウィークリーに重点を置いてリーディングに励みます。
しかし、月曜日の午後配達ってどうなのよ？
土・日を使って読んでいる人もいるんじゃないの？ と、クレーマー・モードな私です。

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届くモノと届かないモノ

This week's issue of the Mainichi Weekly has not arrived yet despite it being published on Saturdays and usually delivered by Saturday afternoon at the latest.
Though I checked my post since Thursday again and again to make sure if it had arrived, I found no sign of it.
Has something happened to it?
Though I think it can't be, did someone sneak it out of my post?
And tell me what I should do in this case!  (T-T)
I think I can give up reading most articles of it if it's only once, but I don't want to miss a single installment of the Roald Dahl's serial novel.
Well, I'm going to wait and see until Monday afternoon...

Also today I'm due to receive a package I ordered from Amazon the other day.
What I bought, needless to say, are a copy of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (US) and a copy of the Tachou Tadoku Magazine (Oct), a quarterly magazine which recommends English-learners to listen and read as much as possible, and which I've wanted to read for a long time because of the good reputation on the Net.
I hope it acts as a good stimulus to me.  (^^)
I'd been meaning to finish reading this week's issue of the Mainichi Weekly by the time I got my purchases, though.  (--;

どうして今週号の毎日ウィークリーがまだ届かないの？
購読継続の手続きはしたし、そもそも今週号までは前回の契約の範囲内じゃないの？
う～～～ん・・・、　あんまり考えたくないし、そうそうあり得ないと思うんだけど、まさか誰かポストから持っていった・・・？
１週間分ぐらい別に諦めてもいいんだけど、ロアルド・ダールの連載小説は見逃したくない！
だって、思いっきり話が盛り上がってきたところなんだもん！！ (/_<。)ﾋﾞｪｪﾝ
くすん。　一応月曜日の午後ぐらいまでは待ってみようかな・・・。

ハリー・ポッター第７巻は結局安いUS版を買うことにしました。 ~(=^‥^A
例のロケットが表紙になってるアダルト版(UK)にも惹かれてたんだけど、まぁ、縁がなかったということで・・・。（？）
それと、以前からネット上で結構評判の良い多聴多読マガジンも買ってみましたが、どんな感じでしょ？
こういう雑誌には直接的な成果を期待しているというよりも、英語の勉強を継続するうえでいい刺激剤になってくれればそれでOK♪
楽しみだぁ～☆　=＾-＾=

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そんな時もある

It's hard to believe that we are already into November, the beginning of the long and cold winter, isn't it?
The older I get, the faster time flies without me having seen any progress in my English learning despite the fact that it's been about 8 months since I started it.
Or have I been able to get any better though I can't feel it?
Or is it wrong that I thought I might be able to improve my English in only several months or a year?
Anyway, all I can say is that I have no choice but to go on, and that all efforts I've ever done come to nothing if I give up.

I went to the hospital to have my monthly medical checkup and the hair salon to have my hair cut which I usually use.
And I don't like my hair style at all!!
My SO said to me it's not too bad, but I'll never go to that salon. 
Absolutely not!!  (T-T)
I don't want to go anywhere...  (T_T)

By the way, this week's issue of the Mainichi Weekly has not arrived yet.
Why?
It means I'd better sleep a little more, doesn't it?
Yeah, it's just there are times when things don't go the way I want.

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