Things I don't like at all

1. (This is first on my list because it is irritating me the most.) Blast-Ended Skrewts. Please appreciate how much I don’t like them by the fact that they make the top of the list over number two, which is really indeed very annoying. I hate those Blast-Ended Skrewts. I JUST HATE THEM. One of the main reasons I like Goblet of Fire less than the other Harry Potter books is those damn Blast-Ended Skrewts. The more I think about them the more I hate them, and it is possible that I like Goblet of Fire even less than Chamber of Secrets (hitherto my uncontested least favorite of the six), simply due to the fact that the fourth one has the Skrewts inside it. They are so explodey. And what a waste of a lesson that could have contained interesting animals. I’ve loved Hagrid increasingly as we’ve moved away from the fourth book and the Blast-Ended Skrewt era; I think before I read the seventh one, I should reread all the Blast-Ended Skrewt bits and all the Grawp bits to make myself like Hagrid less so that if (when) he dies I shall be resigned to it.

2. Stomach cramps. Now this is really unfair. I’ve been living in England for months and months eating my own cooking, which I assure you is no pleasant task because I can only make like calzones and chicken and asparagus and steamed broccoli and grilled cheese sandwiches, and every other recipe in the world demands too many ingredients. At last I am back home where they know about Mexican food and all manner of exciting foods are here for me, and all the rich food has given me vicious stomach cramps that caused me to get only three hours of sleep last night because of the horrendous painfulness. WHY, GOD, WHY?

3. Essays. I have four. I would gladly chew my own foot off if it would mean that my essays would all magically get written. I am tired of writing essays. They are foolish. I also don’t want my grade for Symbolic Imagination because that last essay was utter crap and it will make me realize how important it is to get a good mark on this next essay, which is about Modernist poetry and bewilders me entirely.

4. Dress prices. Laura and Diwen picked me out a pretty dress that I could wear to the Summer Ball, but it’s rather expensive and I could just wear Robyn’s prom dress which is also very lovely. Only I haven’t owned a dress for years, and I’d kind of like one of my very own.

5. The fact that the next episode of Skins will not come out for months. And I won’t be in Britain when it does so I won’t see it so I’ll have to wait for the DVD and it’ll be like a year. Or two years. It’s ghastly to imagine.