Happy Harry Potter Week To All, and To All a Good Night!

It feels as though I have reached the end of an era, despite the fact that this era was only 6 days. Yes, today is the last day of my Harry Potter Week blogging. I'm sure that this is sad to no one but me. I'm also sure that I will blog about Harry Potter many more times throughout my life, but this is the last day of Harry Potter Week, and it's kinda sad to me. Nevertheless, on with the show.

For my last Harry Potter Week blog, I just want to reflect on my gratitude. I know that this might be crossing a line and way past ridiculous, but I am TRULY grateful that I was born in the Harry Potter generation. I mean that seriously! Not because I'm just so obsessed that my life revolves around Harry Potter, because it doesn't. I am not a very creative person. I am convinced that I lack any kind of imagination completely. Whenever I "doodle", I draw stars and hearts, and even they look terrible. I'm a perfectionist, therefore, I perfect what already exists - I do not create new things. I'm also a realist. I don't really enjoy science fiction movies or books unless they mostly involve humans, because then they're more realistic. With those character flaws in mind, that is why I truly am grateful for Harry Potter. It was introduced to me in the 4th grade, and my imagination soared! I was young enough to really get into the books, I loved the movies, and it was just so easy to pretend that they were true stories! Why couldn't there be a hidden world on the other side of England? I've never been there to have it proven otherwise! Why couldn't there be select children that are born with magical tendencies? How would I know the difference?

Did I truly believe that the Harry Potter world was real? No. But I could pretend. I was lucky enough to be born in the Harry Potter generation, and that gave me a profound opportunity to use my imagination and dare to dream that there was more to this world than the reality with which I was presented! (Side note: I already know there's SO much more than this "reality"...I'm a mormon....duh......But you know what I mean). Oh I'm just going around in circles now aren't I? Ok -

I'm grateful for Harry Potter. I'm grateful for the wonderful messages and lessons that can be learned from those books, for the constant reiteration, found within the texts, that good WILL triumph over evil, and for the imaginations it inspires. In a world where literary demand is plummeting, and the desire to read is dissolving, the Harry Potter series answers the call. It is perfect for any age. Simple, yet intriguing - applicable and adventurous. It is tasteful, it is gripping, it is great.

For Harry Potter, I am truly grateful.

Happy Harry Potter Day!

I'm sorry to report that I actually had a terrible midnight showing experience and I didn't love the movie at all, but I hope everyone had a happy Harry Potter Day anyway.

That being said, I have chosen one small topic to speak about today that won't give anything away, in case you haven't seen the movie. All I have to say is: Bill Weasley - welcome to the show! I have never been so happy with the introduction of a new character to a movie. The person they chose to play Bill is just perfect. It's like the brother that you never knew you missed until all the sudden he was there. Furthermore, I feel like the chemistry between he and Fleur was perfect, and those two were spot on. They weren't in the movie for very long, but they did their job and they did it right. I was very impressed. Oooooh FANK YOU Bill Weasley!

Once again, I hope everyone had a wonderful Harry Potter Day, and I hope you like the movie better than I did. I'm sure I will thoroughly enjoy it the next time I watch it. Peace out!

On This Night! On This Night! On This Harry Potter Night!

Tonight, I will travel to Payson, UT and view Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 at 12:05 a.m.!!!! I could not be more excited! Not only is Harry Potter soooooooo great (which I think I have established at this point in my blogging), but any movie is better at midnight! It's true! Midnight showings are the best! And that is where this blog begins.

In 2005, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire made it's motion picture debut. My Mother stood in a HUGE line for a long time to get tickets for the midnight showing, the day they went on sale. What a good mom! I don't remember exactly how the events transpired, but it ended up just being me, my Mom, and my best friend Kira that went to the midnight showing. In fact, I think that was my first midnight showing ever. It was so great! Kira and I both cried like babies when Cedric died! Hahaha Good times. Anyway, since then I have attended EVERY Harry Potter midnight showing. I regret nothing. I had a little bit of a scare with this seventh movie, because I kept hearing that all the theaters in Provo had sold out of their tickets, and I hadn't gotten mine! In retrospect....wouldn't the theaters just open another cinema? Hmm oh well. I got tickets in Payson. 'Tis the land of my Fathers. Actually it's the land of my Mother, but whatev. I love it and any excuse to go there is legit.

And so, I will be enjoying Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 this evening, and I can only hope that you are just as lucky! Everything's better at midnight!

On The Third Day of Harry Potter Week...

My true love gave to me: The Tales of Beedle the Bard! Actually I've had it for awhile.

I just want to take a moment to reiterate how genius J.K. Rowling is. I may not agree with all of her doings, but her talent has floored me time and time again. Not only did she successfully create one of the most renown book series of all time (which she began on a NAPKIN!), but then she goes and creates the The Tales of Beedle the Bard after the fact! And it is so great! Did she need to write an additional book to compliment the Harry Potter series? No. But she did, and it is great. In case you don't know, The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a compilation of children's stories created for those that grew up in the wizarding world. It is, as Hermione Granger points out, like unto Cinderella and Snow White for us muggles. And it is great. Very different stories that still result in well produced themes, highly entertaining, and it even includes Dumbledore's notes that he wrote for the book before he died. It is such a good read, especially if you want to enjoy the magic of Harry Potter but don't have the time to read a whole book just yet (it's only about 100 pages). And best of all, the money spent on this book (and any other Harry Potter book, I'm assuming) will go towards the charity that J.K. Rowling and Baroness Nicholson created, called Children's High Level Group. It's all to do with deinstitutionalizing children with vastly special needs and such.

Long story short, The Tales of Beedle the Bard is great. It is highly enjoyable, and it's just a simple children's book! Or is it?....

Harry Potter Week: Day 2

After much contemplation, I decided that today's post would be about one of the greatest underlying messages of the Harry Potter series. But I will explain in a round-about-way so as to make it more interesting.

How many people can honestly say that Harry is their favorite character in Harry Potter? I'm guessing not that many. My personal favorite is Ron (most of the time), though sometimes it is FredandGeorge (because heaven knows they are really one person). I also love Hermione - she is just beautiful - Luna, who is so great, and Neville....doesn't he just make your heart melt?? Seamus - gotta love him. Even Draco has his moments! Hate Ginny. But how many people love Harry above all the others? Like I said: not many. And yet he is the main character. Harry is always going on about how he's not as great as everyone thinks he is, he just gets lucky and has loads of help in almost every situation. This is very true, and that is what is so great about the Harry Potter series AND real life! The importance of having good friends is undefinable! So maybe you're not the single most talented person on the Earth - so what!? There are people all around you who love you and want to help, and without them nothing would really be worth anything. As Harry himself so repetitiously recites, the difference between Harry and Voldemort is that Harry's got something worth fighting for! Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Seamus, George, Fred, Lupin, Tonks, Dumbledore.... We've got similar characters in our own lives, and aren't they the ones that make it worth the fight? I submit that they are.

You may not be the greatest human being that ever lived, but when you have the love and support of your firends and family, you can accomplish great things! And THAT is one of the great, underlying messages that can be found in the Harry Potter series.

Well Hello Harry Potter Week!

Yay-Yippie-Yay!! Tis officially Day 1 of Harry Potter week! And you know what that means.... One blog post each day that has something to do with Harry Potter. What more could you want??

Today I will write about Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. I have had that name stuck in my head all weekend! Weird? Probably. Anyway, I would just like to quickly express my love for this fictional man. Dumbledore is the I Ching! Do I know who that is? No. But Tom Hank's referenced him on "You've Got Mail", so you know it's legit. But seriously, Dumbledore is like the sum of all wisdom. Well, at least he would be if I didn't have the gospel. Regardless, his wisdom has enlightened my mind on many-an-occasion, and so I would like to share some of my favorite Dumbledore quotes with you.

**"Dark and difficult times lie ahead of us. Soon we must all choose between what is right and what is easy."
**"Every day, every hour, every minute, dark forces attempt to penetrate these walls, but in the end, their greatest weapon is you."
**"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

And my current favorite: "There is nothing to be feared from a body any more than there is anything to be feared from darkness. ...It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more."

How true it is Dumbledore.... how true it is.

It Is What It Is

I am in a blogging mood. Do I have anything in particular to share? No. If you don't want to read the useless ramblings I'm about to produce, I give you full permission to stop reading now. I won't even be offended. Especially since I would have no real way of knowing whether or not anybody reads this.

Tonight I have finished book six of the Harry Potter series. I began the first one on July 23, 2010 and I will be finished with the seventh book sometime next week. I know what you're thinking, and let me stop you there. It's really not that impressive when you have nothing to fill your days with. Nevertheless, I feel really good about this achievement! The only thing that will stop me from finishing the seventh book before the movie comes out (on November 19th!!!!!!!!) is death. Or blindness. No I would just have someone read it to me. Anyway, it feels good to have read the whole series again. This is only the second time I've read each of the books and I must say, my little 4th grade brain simply could not comprehend the utter greatness of this series. Lately my roommate and I have picked up the habit of pointing out things that define our generation, for example: Boy Meets World, Even Stevens, Pixar movies, etc. There are alot of them and they're alot more definitive, but I can't remember them at the moment. Anyway, Harry Potter is the biggest one. But we can hear about that more later. I'm going to blog once a day about all things Harry Potter during "Harry Potter Week" (November 15-20), in preparation for the upcoming movie release.

What else do I want to blog about......? Christmas, I love. Also I heard a really cute song the other day called "I'd Rather Be With You" by Joshua Radin. It's pretty good! I have yet to hear Taylor Swift's new songs, but frankly I'm not anxious at all. I heard "Mine" and, oddly enough, it sounded just like all her other songs! Dear Taylor Swift, for your next album, would you please write a love song that has something to do with fairytales and/or the perfect boy? Also you could throw in some psycho ex-girlfriend songs just to shake things up! I bet no one would see it coming!

I promise I'm not always this cynical, but I am hungry. Anyone that knows me knows that this is not a good thing. I kind of just lose all motivation to do anything necessary when I'm reading or have just finished reading a great book. Necessary things like eating and going to the bathroom. I usually avoid them until I just can't anymore. It's probably not a good thing.....

That's all.