Happy Holidays!

Happy Yule, Christmas, Hannakah, Kwanzaa, whatever. And, to quote GalleryCast, "if you believe nothing, Happy day." :) Well, so I opened most of my presents on Saturday, cause that was Yule, my religious winter holiday. Then, we opened the presents from my aunt and uncle on Monday because we always go up to Denver or Winter Park to visit them. And I got the presents from my mom today. Just in case the incredibly small amount of people who read this want to know, this is what I got: Books (yes, all of which were on my list): The Jungle Book, The Importance of Being Earnest, Wind in the Willows, Watership Down, Anna Karenina, Great Expectations, Wickett's Remedy, Peter and the Starcatchers, and Wife in the Fast Lane. HP Merchandise: The Psychology of Harry Potter (amazing book), DA sketch shirt, Harry Potter Gryffindor shirt, Order of the Phoenix DVD, and HP calendar Other: money, Wet Seal Gift card, Gilmore Girls Season 7 on DVD and a few repeat books that I'll return sometime and get different books or maybe a DVD or two I am very happy with all of it. So, I hope y'all had an amazing holiday season...but it's not over yet! We still have New year to look forward too! Much love!!!

Oh, Happy Day!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! OMG, the moment we've waited for for such a long time is here! JO is going to be on PotterCast! Isn't it just so amazing? :) I only wish I were John, Sue, or Melissa... Huh, so that's the most exciting thing that's happened in my life lately. I finished finals on Friday, and so far I have all A's. I'm still waiting for two of my grades to come back, but I'm pretty confident in them...I've mostly just sat around and read a lot since school ended for WINTER BREAK. Only 5 days until Yule, and still a blissful 17 days of freedom ahead of me! Indeed. A very happy day, today is. :D

Random Hary Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone thoughts...

Yep. I watched it today with the PC commentary, trying to avoid finals :D Here y'all go (and sorry for the huge lack of posting): Random Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone movie thoughts Oh, I love the Diagon Alley music. *gasp* C’est Hedwig! And, wow, doesn’t Gringotts look funny? Like the Leaning Tower of Pisa or something…Okay, I want all that money. Lucky, lucky Harry. 713, two vaults away from Sirius’. But it’s just a little package…VERY suspicious. *wink* Aww, ickle Danny: a wand. He sounds so adorable! Yeah, will Ollivander be back? He better, but I don’t recall seeing his name on the cast list. “After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, did great things. Terrible. But great.” Don’t die, Hedwig!!!!!! THE BOY WHO LIVED! *la gasp* Hermione...you're going to marry Ro-on!!!!!!!! Teehee. HUFFLEPUFF!!!!!!!!!! S.Q.U.E.E. Hah! Another Weasley, I know just what to do with you! LOL. Funny floating candles...WE GOT POTTER!!!!!!!! Aww, Harry and Hedwig. :) Oh, come on, Snape! Harry’s just taking notes! Bezoar—pay attention, Harry! It will save Ron’s life someday! Oh, wow, the ceiling of the Great Hall looks so cool in this movie! Ha! Fred got something from Mummy! LOL, I love Ron’s faces in this movie. Harry’s first time on a broom! SQUEE! And Ron’s hit him in the face. :) Poor ickle Neville… “What an idiot.” Bahahahahaha! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!! Harry caught the Remembrall. OMG, Wood. He’s so hot. The Grey Lady, wow. And, gasp, Hermione’s stalking Harry. “This is the third floor.” Woooood!!!!!!!! Seriously, I am in love with him. But you know, he held it in his hand in the movie. So that totally messes up the whole book seven plot. <_< LOL, Seamus’ hair. But poor ickle Hermione. Ron didn’t mean it, sweetie! He loves you! He’s gonna marry you! TROLL!!!!!!!!!!! “Thought you ought to know.” Seriously, who are half of these students? They’re so random! “I think the troll’s left the dungeon.” No doy, Ron. OMG Melissa—Shrek was cuter. Goodness. Oh, yes, Harry. Those ickle rocks are really going to help. *rolls eyes* Yes, Ron, COOL. Oh, wow, FIVE points. So amazing. Uh huh. Okay, this is one of my favorite lines: “I don’t really remember. I took a bludger to the head two minutes in. Woke up in the hospital a week later.” Alas, very comforting. I really love watching Quidditch though. And I’m glad they are leaving it in Half Blood Prince, cause I really wanted it in Order of the Phoenix. Angelina! See, why couldn’t they let her be captain? Hey, are you allowed to kick your opponents? Luna’s commentary better be in, and McLaggen. NO!!!!! Wood!!!! How sad. That should so totally be against the rules. I don’t think they are actually allowed to do that. Honestly, these stupid mean Slytherins. Angelina and Wood are trying to play fair and they aren’t even using talents, just being all intimidating. That broom stuff looks so uncomfortable and sickening…No wonder everyone thought he was puking when he got down. Alan Rickman looked particularly good looking when he flipped his hair off his face like that. Surfing on a broom…uh huh. Dan’s blue eyes still bug me. I mean, what are they going to do for the whole “look at me” scene? Will it just be that Lily had blue eyes? Urgh…why couldn’t Dan where contacts, especially now that he’s 18!? GO, GO, GRYFFINDOR! GO, GO, GRYFFINDOR! GO, GO, GRYFFINDOR! “That thing has a name?” “Shouldn’t have said that.” I love that about Hagrid. Snow! Hey, that’s like outside right now. In my town, anyway. (Note to self: an hour left in movie) “That’s totally barbaric.” Funny. I wouldn’t think an eleven-year old would say that, but it’s Hermione. I want a Weasley sweater. Or, better yet, I want to learn how to make one. Dear Harry: Here’s a Deathly Hallow. You deserve it. I don’t. I’m stuck with the f---ing Elder Wand. Sincerely, Dumbledore. LOL. OH, how creepy, it’s Harry’s arm just floating along there. I wonder if that filmy covering is really there in Harry’s view when he’s under the cloak. *crash* Filch: “You can’t hide!” Harry: “Yes I can, I’ve got this amazing Deathly Hallow. My daddy left it to me.” CRYSTAL!!!!!!!!!!!! =D No, Quirrell, you really don’t want Snape as your enemy. No one does. Oh, he flipped his hair again. So hot. *sigh* Filch is like…freakishly happy about that student out of bed thing. *gasp* C’est la Mirror d’Erised. Oh, wow, I love how they included the text in the movie exactly the way it was in the book. That makes me so happy. LILY!!!!!!!! JAMES!!! =D =D =D =D =D =D =D =D It’s your mummy. You don’t remember me! Well, at leas the actors look like they could be Harry’s parents, despite the fact they are supposed to be 21, not like 35 or whatever age those actors are. “I look good.” Okay, Ron. Whatever. You don’t become Quidditch captain or head boy. Maybe if you’d gone back to school. Instead you go off chasing Horcruxes and become all emo and leave Harry and Hermione. But then you marry Hermione. And have two kids. And take a driving test. And……LOL, okay. Basically the mirror means NOTHING, Ron. Ha! “It does not do well to dwell on dreams Harry and forget to live.” I love that line. And I love Richard Harris as Dumbledore. He was so much better. HEDWIG!!!! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!! You’re gonna die. So many people use that flying in the snow scene in tribute videos for Deathly Hallows, and now it will forever make me cry. Wow, okay. Suddenly all that snow disappeared. Bahahaha, even at this age Ron and Hermione are arguing like the adorable, almost perfect couple they are. “We know about the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone.” “Oh.” Norbert! Well, Norberta! Aww, isn’t the little dragon just so adorable? Granted, I’d never keep one as a pet, but I do have to admit they are incredibly cute. Just they could burn down my house. Or burn off my hair. So, yeah, not keeping one. Sorry Hagrid. “Qua!!!!” Of course McGonagall’s not gonna miss a chance to punish a Slytherin. Filch is PERFECT. Great acting. “Good god man, you’re not still on about that dragon are you?” “Yeah, but what if he don’t like Romania? What if the other dragons are mean to him? He’s only a baby, after all.” Great interaction. Poor unicorns…they’re so pure and innocent, why would you want to kill one? Oh, yeah. You are evil and you want to live. And you lost all your Horcruxes. Harry, it’s Quirrelmort! That’s a hint! *pokes Harry hard in the back* Hint, hint!!!! I wonder if anyone ever counts this event as an escape from Voldemort. Well, probably not, since FIRENZE saved him. Huh, for 2001, those centaurs are pretty dang good. “You are safe now.” Uh, NO, he’s not. And he won’t ever be. “You don’t think he’ll try to kill you, do you?” NO, RON!? He’s not! *rolls eyes* Yeah, but, Hermione, Dumbledore won’t always be around. In fact, he is killed by Snape in just five years. And Harris dies next movie. How sad. (Note: I keep hearing sirens from Melissa’s in New York) “How often do you come across a three-headed dog?” NEVER, Hagrid. Oh, hey, it’s the Grey Lady again, I think! See, Hermione, Dumbledore’s gone! Hermione’s face…LOL. Dun, dun, dun. It’s Snape and he heard them talking about him… “*gasp* TREVOR!” What’s Ron holding right there? Oh, it’s the cloak, I think. Duh, Kat. *slaps self on head* Oh, they messed up Devil’s Snare, too. I mean, it’s okay and everything, but you weren’t supposed to relax. And it was fire, not sunlight. Oh, and they messed up the key scene, too. The keys didn’t attack Harry in the book, they were just really, really hard to catch. “Well, it was worth a try.” Yes, Ron, all those keys are there but a simple Alohamora will work. Right. Seriously, where does Harry get these nice Muggle sweaters from? “This complicates things a bit.” No, doy, Ron. Wow, that’s a lot of keys. “As for me, I’ll be a knight.” Go, Ron. This is one thing you are actually really good at! I really like the chess scene in the movie, it was done really well, even with the crappy 2001 special effects. “Yes, Hermione. I think this is going to be EXACTLY like wizard’s chess.” LOL. But Ron really played this game really well. He managed to play it so only he had to get hurt. But it is quite obvious that it would be difficult for one person to do this on their own. “No, you can’t!” I love you Ron, you can’t die! “Not me, not Hermione, YOU.” Oh, wow, look how scared Ron looks! Oh, no, Ron’s dead already. *rolls eyes* They left out Hermione’s scene, though. I loved that part of the book. “Books and cleverness. There are more important things. Friendship and bravery.” I agree. Harry’s walk down the steps was filmed really well. Amazing. Quirrelmort! “Tell the truth.” Just like in Half Blood Prince. Oh, that Voldemort face is creepy. That’s some powerful stuff there, offering to bring back his parents. “Alas. Earwax.” I love this: as long as you are going to be breaking the rules, do something Dumbledore thinks is cool so he’ll give you all the points so you can win the cup. Yes, Draco, Harry is a gazillion times better than you. Deal with it. NEVILLE!!!!! Probably the only points he ever won for Gryffindor! YAY! I love how Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are just happy that Slytherin didn’t win. Funny. Aww, baby Harry. “Dudley” I love how Hagrid said that. Aww, it’s over. How sad. Bye, Hagrid!!!!! Dooo dooodoodoodoodooooooo. (my attempt at theme music) LONG movie. I’ve been sitting in this chair for 2 and a half hours. *dies*

Happiness is...

Inspired by my BEAUTIFUL friend Chickadee: To me, this is what HAPPINESS IS...

Leaky Friends

After reading a post that Chickadee made in the Common Room today, I suddenly got the urge to write about how thankful I am to have all my Leaky friends. Get ready for a long read (like anyone really reads this), because I have a lot to say.

I'll probably start with Chickadee. Perhaps it's just me, but I feel that the two of us have become really close. She's so sweet and caring. She actually listens to (reads) the posts I make, unlike a lot of the people in the Loft. I feel like she understands me, too. I don't have that many real friends, just people who hang around with my friends so it looks kind of like they are my friends. So I don't have that many people that i can just sit down and have a nice good TALK with, and all they do is LISTEN, without walking away or getting distracted or ignoring me. I always feel so much better if I come home and see a post from her. Of all my friends I've met on Leaky over the past 4 months, I feel closest to her! And, of all of them, she is the one I most want to meet in person sometime, even if it means I have to travel out to North Carolina to do it! Hey, I've never been there, so why not!

Hmm, next would probably be Jeff. He's actually closer in age to me, though I don't feel as close to him. He's brilliant, and the main reason I love him is because he's a teenage guy and a fan of Harry Potter. Really, I don't meet many of teenage guys who are obsessed with Harry Potter, so I really admire him. =D He, too, listens to what I say and pays attention.

Then, there's voldyhate'r. Unfortunately, she seems to have been captured by World of Warcraft or some video game like that so I don't see her very much anymore. But we are the SAME AGE, which is always a plus.

Sethtaylorsummer would probably be another Lounger that I feel close to. We aren't in the same reading group, unfortunately, and she has a lot of work taking care of her kids. But I always have interesting, enlightening conversations.

Of course, I feel I am friends with all of the people who hang out in the Lily&Stag Inn, that was just a quick list of those who I feel closest to. We all have connections. Yes, we all love Harry Potte (duh), but we also all love analyzing books or we wouldn't have joined the reading groups. We all share quite a lot of information on our lives, so I suppose that shows we like to interact with other people!

Anyway, as I said at the beginning of this post, I am VERY thankful to have all of my Leaky friends. They mean so much to me! I try to imagine life back before I found the Lounge...and I can't! I must have been so bored! I didn't have nearly as many people to talk to! I hardly ever feel truly lonely anymore, because there’s almost always someone on Leaky when I sign on! I am so grateful to have all these people who find what’s going on in my life interesting. I’m not used to it, but I’ve learned to dismiss that fact and just love it. What I really want now is to be able to meet them sometime! The Lounge has changed my life in so many ways, the first, obviously, being that it gives me some interaction with other people who actually care about me and know who I am (my name), and I feel that I can tell anything.

Thank you, Leaky! And a big hug and thanks to all my friends and people who have talked to me and reached out to me! You don’t know how much you’ve contributed to my life! I love you ALL!

bad day :(

Why, hello, my Leaky friends. *big sigh* I just had a REALLY bad Friday. Why don't you sit down? (actually, since you are on the computer, you probably actually are) So, well, let's see...swimming wasn't that bad, he made me demonstrate again since I'm competitive and all. English was what ruined my Friday though. Okay, so we took our weekly vocab test and I don't think I did that great...I KNOW I missed at least two, and probably one more on the previous weeks thing. Then we had to watch our video projects, two, including my group's. Now, I completely recognized before and after watching ours that it completely sucked. It was hard, because we were all girls who had to be guys most of the time and one of my members really didn't care. Oh, and we had a really bad video camera. So, my (amazingly wonderful) teacher started talking to both of the groups about what we/they could have done better. And, then everyone else starts saying that it was her fault that they were bad, or she was being biased, or that we didn't have enough time or instructions. Which was totally horrible! It was not her fault, she wasn't being biased because the first group that went on Wednesday was a lot better, and she gave us a month to do this and gave us very detailed instructions. I felt horrible for her and I wanted to throw something at three members of the class who will go unnamed. *sigh* I started crying a little because I was so stressed and angry and annoyed and disappointed in both myself and my classmates. Anyway, so that pretty much ruined the rest of my day because that was all I could think about. I did get a small reward of the girl's team winning jeopardy in Geography. We were playing it to study for our test on Tuesday. But, still, a pretty crappy Friday. And I had been looking forward to this Friday because it meant only a week until Thanksgiving and swim team starting OFFICIALLY tomorrow. But, apparently, if you want a good Friday it turns out to be crappy.

Harry Potter Fandom

Friday 2 November 2007 HP Fandom

So, I’m breaking my streak of chapter discussions here with some thoughts on what’s been going on lately in the Harry Potter fandom. I’m a little annoyed at certain people at TLC/LL who are taking everything so personally. Not everyone…I love my Leaky family! It’s just that some of them take everything Jo says the wrong way and don’t bother to listen to other opinions or read what actually happened. Granted, I think we’re all stressed right now. We’re all tired from school/work. And the fandom has been in the spotlight, the eye of the world a lot since the news about Dumbledore and all. Wee aren’t used to that, just at book releases. We’re used to being our quiet little fandom, full of geeks who understand each other, having most people just ignore us obsessed ones. Or maybe that’s just me…I feel like we’ve been getting too much attention from the media lately. And it certainly IS stressful.

But, where did all this arguing begin? Personally, I think it started with Jo’s suit against India. All I know is that an Indian festival replicated Hogwarts and the Hogwarts Express for their theme and some of Jo’s “representatives” sued them. But, if I heard correctly, India rejected the claim and nothing happened. Personally, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with this suit, but the story caused a lot of disagreement. I don’t know if that’s actually when all this happened, but…maybe.

Anyway, then there was Jo coming out about Dumbledore at Carnegie Hall. We got media attention from EVERYWHERE on that. And goodness, that practically split or normally pleasant and agreeable fandom down the middle. I argued with people I never thought I would ever! There was so much flaming of Jo and her decision. All I did was politely get my opinion out there. I was appalled at how some people acted! A lot of it was disgusting and horrifying. I mean, just because he’s gay DOES NOT MEAN HE’S A PEDOPHILE! Sheesh! Dumbledore is still the same intelligent, wise, friendly old man and the best headmaster Hogwarts ever had. It doesn’t change anything about his character, just like having brown eyes or the favorite color of orange. It does add information to the story—the reason he waited to go after Grindelwald was that he loved him. So, yeah, it’s important to the story, sort of, but Dumbledore is still the same. He’s witty and perceptive and Harry’s most important mentor and guide to destroying Voldemort. I know it’s against some people’s religion (lol, stamp collecting), but that religion also says to be respectful and understanding to everyone. All the flaming of Jo and gays broke my heart. Jo doesn’t want any more publicity, money, or attention. She gets plenty of it and didn’t do any of this for attention in the first place. A fan asked her a question about Dumbledore’s love life and she answered truthfully. She’s an honest, beautiful, and giving woman. And I will love her forever. She’s given me and the world so much, mainly friends. I don’t exactly have many friends (being Luna), and most of the ones I do have I connected with through Harry Potter :D

All right, and now there’s this news about Jo suing Steve for his book he’s planning to come out with. I think it makes perfect sense. Harry and his world belong to Jo, and Steve shouldn’t be making money off her creation. I love Steve, really, I DO. He’s spent long hours and late nights making Lexicon for us so we can look up facts. But it’s free—he’s not making money off of the website. And it really does seem like he doesn’t listen to Jo…I was wondering though, if we would be reacting differently if this was someone other than Steve, who we didn’t love so much.

Well, the fandom just seems to have changed a lot. It’s not the same. *sigh* But I still love (almost) everyone in it! ROWLING’S WOMAN THROUGH AND THROUGH!