And we’re back! It took me an embarrassingly long time to get though Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but I’m finally caught up and ready to move on to Order of the Phoenix. It’s been 10+ years since I last read the series from cover to cover.
Watch the video to learn how I’m feeling about books 3 and 4.
One of my 2017 goals was to re-read Harry Potter. I’d been meaning to re-read the series for a while, and was completely unaware that it was the 20th anniversary of its debut, but that was the plan. I FINALLY started reading it in July (again, happenstance), and am finding it just as charming as ever. However, it got me thinking about my original interest in the story and how I came to read it in the first place. Check out the video and find out what sparked the magic for me 🙂
There were books. There was food. There was hot, hot heat. And there was butterbeer! I recorded a very silly vlog during my adventures (to be edited and posted), but here is a glimpse.
Friday night dinner at D-Luxe in Disney Springs…
Saturday morning. Working it.
Waiting for my crew to show up for our poster session. Trying to look proper.
After business, the pleasure begins.
I waited a long time to visit this park; it was so worth it. The experience totally blew my mind. Just perfect.
I opted out of the opening day HP madness. Instead, I chose to watch the film at a decent hour with minimal contact with children and/or loud, popcorn crunching movie-goers. I chose the drive-in. Yes, retro, sweaty, car-side movie watching is my solution to ensure a peaceful, no-interruptions HP finale. I’ve even packed a picnic dinner with lots of treats. It should be fun.
I’m not going to go on about my HP history; the books always meant more to me, but the movies have been enjoyable. Most of my HP-watching crowd has dispersed, giving in to the claims of adulthood, so this final movie will lack the fanfare of costumes and quotes. It is what it is.
So Monday was all sorts of hell. Lots of things went awry.
Tuesday signaled the beginning of an awful lot of unusual happenings on campus, or maybe not unusual… but unexpected?
First, there were the half-naked firemen. Yes. Half-naked firemen. ‘Nuff said.
Then, there was the return of Scary God Man (as I like to call him). A super-ultra-conservative preacher who turns up around finals week each semester to make with the smiting (he threw a Bible at a student once). He has a sign. Actually, he is a sign. He wears an outfit covered with random lines about why God hates everyone but him.
The irony, while scary God man was raining down the fire and brimstone, the hot firemen were taking pictures with giddy girls.
With Wednesday came the on-campus Green Market and Scary God Man part deux. Green Market 1, Scary God Man 0. The allure of exotic veggies, smoothies, and free green bags drew all the crowds away from SGM.
Plus, there were coconuts. There was a guy climbing the palm trees by the library and tossing down coconuts. Sadly, no coconut water (or yum yum coconut meat) for me; the lingering sense of confusion and annoyance caused by Monday‘s happenings made me forget that the market was going to be held, so I had no cash on hand.
But today was happy mail day! Making up for all prior mishaps.
I arrived home from work to find two packages waiting for me:
1. The beautiful cameo locket that I ordered from the Spellbound Wings Etsy shop
I realized it was big when I saw the measurements on the site, but I never imagined it would be so big. It completely exceeded my expectations and I could not be more pleased 🙂
2. I also received my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. With all the thesis madness, I forgot that I had pre-ordered this, so it was a nice surprise. Probably the last Harry Potter related book I will ever buy 😦
Amazon’s packaging was great, I especially love the instructions.
Michelle of everlasting-peace.org was kind enough to let me adopt the “Wizarding World” fanlisting from her. I was very excited and decided to try something different with the header, so I went for a bubbly look…
62442: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Fanlisting
marginalia and such 