No, this isn’t the title of a new Harry Potter book. Although it could be – this book would be filled with CHILLS! THRILLS! SUSPENSE! ANGUISH! DOUBT! FRUSTRATION!  And, ultimately: EXHILARATION! Imagine, a midlife Harry Potter decides to augment his magical education by going to business school, ultimately leading to his next career move: Hogwart’s newest Headmaster! Yes, Harry Potter revitalizes the school, putting his newly minted MBA to good use in this exciting new installment in the series!

Well, what the heck else is he gonna do now that the ultimate evil has been vanquished? You know…the V-man – he who must not be named.

I finished the Harry Potter book series last weekend. Can you tell?

Well, let me just say this – I am so glad I had the whole series of books to read at once, one after the other (thanks Caitlin, for the loan of them!). I just don’t know how I would have survived if I had been reading them as J.K. Rowling was writing them, and had to wait for their publication. I finished the last book on October 1st and then immediately  hopped onto the Pottermore website to purchase the digital set for my Kobo…only to find out the release has been delayed to early 2012. Bummer.

To anyone who hasn’t read these books yet (although I firmly believe I was the LAST PERSON ON THE PLANET who hadn’t), I urge you to read this series. These books are for all ages and are full of what makes us human – flaws and all. I will be proud to read these to and with my grandchildren, should I ever get any (no pressure kids!).

I’m pretty sure I am still the LAST PERSON ON THE PLANET to see the Harry Potter movies though…so there’s something else to add to the Bucket List. Cross one off, add one on.

The same day I finished HP, I received an email from my library stating that one of my holds was now available for download:

Game of Thrones Book Series

How could I possibly read all 4 books in 21 days (before the digital download expires) even if I wasn’t in graduate school? And how will this compare to HP? I’ve heard this series is quite…ahem…graphic. So that will be one big difference. I’ll let you know how it goes.

New topic: Exploding Neural Pathways, Batman!

Orientation week of my MBA program was this week. Fireworks are going off in my brain. No, I mean it. I visualize my brain forming all these new neural pathways like exploding fireworks in a summer sky at night. Install and learn to use Lotus Notes software. BAM! Download and set up MBA course applications. KAPOW! Do all this while learning to use new laptop loaded with new-to-me Windows 7 and Office 2010. BANG! Relearn how to write academic papers and cite references in APA format. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! PFFFFT! POP!POP!POP!POP!POP!

Speaking of brains on fire and how to cool them down (how’s that for a segue?): Here’s something JD and I tried when at the golf tournament in Beaconsfield last week (this company was a sponsor):

Here’s what’s in it. A fellow golfer described it as “fizzy herbal tea” in taste. I concur.

My verdict: Meh. Too sweet for me. I prefer my drinks unsweetened. Too fizzy. Too many chemicals. Too expensive! At about $3 a pop (pun intended), who would buy this stuff? We only drank it because they had coolers of the stuff for the participants to grab. Did it work? Well, after walking 18 holes of golf each day and getting about 4 hours sleep each night, it was hard to say conclusively that the drink made us chill (no, duh!).

So that’s all my news for now. Now, back to being all Hermione-like and hitting my MBA texts! Have a great Thanksgiving, my Canadian friends. Everyone else, have a great weekend!