Letter to Harry

Dear Harry,

In 1998, I was in preschool and every night my mother would read to me from the Sorcerer's Stone.  I didn't learn how to read until first grade, and by then the first two movies had come out.  When I finally got to second grade I tried to pick up the books right from the beginning, but I disappointed myself because someone who only reads Magic Tree House books doesn't exactly understand three quarters of the vocabulary on the first page.  So I waited.  I waited until the next summer and I read all of the Harry Potter books more than I drank water.  All five of them.  I remember I was sick for two days and while the rest of my family went out to camp or to run errands, I sat and read Goblet of Fire.  In two days.  When I got to the end of Order of the Phoenix, I cried and yelled at the book, cursing Bellatrix Lestrange for taking away some of the only family you had left.  As time passed, and I waited in anticipation for the next book, I reread the entire series.  And when Half Blood Prince came out, my mom had to buy two copies of the same book because I refused to wait two weeks for my brother to read it first.  I didn't just cry when I got to the end of that one; I sobbed.  I didn't leave my room for two hours and didn't want to talk to anyone for the next few days.  I hated Snape like everyone else.  Hated him with a burning passion that I just couldn't shake.  I reread the books again.  And again.  And I reread the books seven different times by the time July 17, 2007 came around.  That day I held the book in my hands, I ran up to my room and just looked at it.  I took it all in before I even cracked it.  The cover art, the weight, the way I felt about not knowing the end of the Harry Potter series for the last time in my life.  I opened it to the dedication page and a tingle tear leaked out of my eye, and I began the last installment in the epic tale of Harry Potter.  And I didn't eat until I finished the next day.  My parents yelled at me at two in the morning when I was reading and not asleep. The minute I tuned the last page and saw the inside back cover, I sat there and cried silently.  Because you're not just a fictional character, Harry, you're real.  You're real in the pictures from 2000, when I'm wearing my Hogwarts shirt.  You're real in the corner of my room that is a bookcase completely covered in Harry Potter memorabilia.  You're real in my memories, and speech, and interest in types of books.  Real in my teenage years when I went back to  read the books just to see how another teenage went through their life.  So real in the way that when I had no friends, I had you.  Real in the way that as a definition, you are my childhood.  And most importantly, you're absolutely and most definitely real in my heart.  Thank you Harry Potter, for letting me feel loved by paper, being my best friend, and allowing me a place that made me realize that I'm a part of something simply bigger than just a series.  I'm part of a family, and we are all still waiting for our Hogwarts letters in the mail.

Love always,
Sophie

BEDA: I'M TRYING MY BEST.

I know! I know! I didn't post yesterday, and this is a suckish attempt at BEDA.  So much for the "everyday" part...  But I'M TRYING MY BEST HERE.   Much to my dismay and shock, the world is slightly more complicated than I originally thought, and stuff gets in the way.  Build a bridge and get over it.

There's someone reading over my shoulder now, and, quite frankly, it's making me... awkward...  I can't write anything with some... random.. (not really)... person reading over my shoulder.  He's looking away now so I can think.  HOLLER.  Why is my iTunes library full of random songs that I don't know?  Someone explain?  No, okay... that's cool.

GUYS.

The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 trailer.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why do I always cry when there's anything involved with Harry Potter?? Why?  The tears that were streaming down my face after I saw it (twice), were ridiculous.  It's a book series. 

...

Maybe a little bit more than that. 

*cough* I have a shrine in my bedroom *COUGH*

AWKWARD... for me... again...

Awkward moment of the day brought to by:  I'm-so-tired-I'm-smiling-like-a-weirdo-to-hide-the-fact-that-I'm-about-to-PASS. OUT. from-exhaustion-and-I-still-have-to-start-my-homework.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Song of the day:

Sophomore - Darren Criss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnwLMZhQiWc

BEDA: Nostalgic Submission

My mission today was simple:  Locate and retrieve a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. After dinner, I practically begged my father to drive us to the nearest store that sold DVD's, so naturally, we went to BJ's.  I was completely focused, well, mostly, well... kind of, but anyways - I was focused on finding this DVD as soon as possible because Harry Potter is my childhood, pretty much.  To say that I'm a fan would be an understatement.  You should've seen the look on my face when I found them.  Or even the sound I made.  I'm weird, DON'T JUDGE ME.  So I had the precious gem in my hands, but as I sprinted down the aisle, I saw more of them.  Except this time, they were shinier, and in a plastic case, and had the words "Blue Ray, DVD, Digital Copy" on it, and also the phrase "Includes an opening scene of the final film."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think you understand what happened in my brain for a fraction of a second.  I put the box I was holding back on the shelf, and picked up the encased awesome.  Just to stress the point, I have a bookcase in the corner of my room entirely filled with Harry Potter memorabilia in addition to the two posters I have on my walls.  Yeah.

But the thing that struck a chord in me today might've had to do with the fact that I saw Toy Story 3 for the first time this morning, and tears of joy were leaking out of the corners of my eyes because the last scene is just so perfect for all of us who grew up with those movies.  So, when I was finally in the car with the movie in my hands, I found myself cradling it.  I knew it was weird, but Harry Potter is a part of my life that has been there for over ten years, and I was holding the beginning of the end.  I realized two minutes later that tears were dripping down my cheeks.  

I think it's growing up, that makes it so tough, and I don't mean that in the obvious sort of way, because someone is going to read that and say "yeah, duh.  You're an idiot."  No I'm not, so would you kindly shut up, thanks.  I mean, to realize what you had in the past as a kid is now completely different, or quite possibly gone, is terrifying and makes the word "nostalgia" feel like it's caught in your throat.  That's why I also bought Toy Story 1 and 2 while I was out, because I literally cannot recall a time when I had not had a copy of the movie.  I feel old now.  Wow...  I wonder, to whoever reads this, what's something that was one really big part of your childhood that you remember fondly?  Now I'll go sit pensively in a corner until dawn, thanks.  Total nostalgic submission happening today.  Sentimental has never been so close to home on a random day.  Seriously, nothing significant was happening today, so I watched Toy Story 3.  Just... Wow.

Song of the day is predictable.

You've Got a Friend in Me - Randy Newman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcXURC_nNhc

BEDA: Synonymous of Nerd

So here we go.

Today was Monday.  There's really nothing special about Mondays; people go to school, or they go to work, come home, eat, maybe work a little more, then sleep.  Yep.

Okay, I'm bored; I'm done with that subject.

I like to consider myself a nerd, dork, geek, whatever, I don't really have a preference.  But I do, I mean, I have this entire bookshelf dedicated to Harry Potter, I have two Harry Potter posters on my wall, and my favorite T.V. shows are Doctor Who and Glee.  I like hats and sunglasses, but don't really fancy lots of jewelry.  Last summer I made it my mission to substitute as many words as I could in my American vocabulary with its English parallel.  This mission went according to plan, but I still continue with it well into the present.  Since I've starting watching Doctor Who, though I've definitely made a lot of progress in that area of expertise.  Again *points to face* dork.  I like music, pretty much anything that sounds good to me... Wow, that's specific...

I really hope I'm doing this BEDA thing right.

Song of the day:  Homecoming - Hey Monday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU0fQIezoK0