Books That Make Me Emotional

What is the one scene in a book that has had the most emotional effect on you?  I've read many things that made me emotional before, but there's no doubt that my answer to this question would be the entirely of the Into the Forest Again chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  There's not one scene in a book that has had as much of an effect on me as that one.  If you've read the Harry Potter series, then I don't think I have to explain why.  I don't think anyone who's made it through the entire series can be unemotional when they reach that chapter.

I'm planning on beginning reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green tonight, and I've heard that it's a pretty emotional book, so maybe I'll have a different answer soon.  I doubt it though.  The Fault in Our Stars will probably make me cry, and I have no doubt it will be emotional.  I don't think it can rival Harry Potter though.  It's not anything against John's writing, but the biggest reason Into the Forest Again had such an effect on me was that it was nearing the end of a seven book series that I'd read since I was eight.  Still, I imagine I'm going to be bawling my eyes out soon.  I don't know whether I should be looking forward to it or not.

Sleep and I Don't Get Along

Why is it that I tend to be the most crankiest on the days I actually get a decent amount of sleep?  Sleep and I just have an all around crazy relationship.  I'm always tired, no matter what I do.  That being said, sleeping in was great, and I felt great when I woke up.  It wasn't until later that I felt tired again.  I'm starting to wonder if there's something wrong with me.

I managed to watch both Naruto and How I Met Your Mother today.  Plus, I also wrote a bit, and I'm going to work on prereading a fanfiction for someone after I finish this post.  After that, I plan on reading some more of an awesome Harry Potter fanfic that I was reading earlier.  Other than that, my day hasn't really consisted of much.

Oscar Nominations

For those who don't know, today was the day the Academy announced the nominations for the Oscars.  I've never really cared much in the past, but this year was a little different.  1.  Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss in the Hunger Games movie) was announcing the nominations.  And 2. I (along with a lot of other Harry Potter fans) was really hoping the final Harry Potter movie would get some nominations.

I watched the video of Jennifer and the Academy president announcing the "main" nominations when I got home from school.  Before I watched the video, I already knew that Harry Potter was nominated in three categories, and none of these would be mentioned in the video.  I'm a bit dissapointed that Harry Potter didn't get a bigger nomination, but at least it got some.  It's nominated in visual effects, make up, and art direction.  I really hope it wins all three, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Although, some people related to Harry Potter did get nominated for other films.  Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) and Kenneth Branagh (Gildory Lockhart) were both nominated as well as Christopher Columbus who directed the first two movies.  There may have been some others as well that I didn't catch.  I'll definitely be cheering for all of them as well!

Other than that, I haven't really seen many of the movies nominated, so most of it means nothing to me.  There are quite a few that I want to see, but haven't gotten the chance to yet.  I'm sure hearing the Oscar hype for some of these movies will just make me want to see them more.

Church Dinner, Dan Radcliffe on SNL, Etc.

It has been a long day.  I had trouble sleeping last night, and then I woke up today feeling a little sick.  I don't know if I really am sick or it's just allergies.  Whatever it is, my head feels congested, I can barely breath through my nose, and my throat feels kind of scratchy.  It's not too bad though, and I hope it doesn't get worse.

I'm really happy tomorrow's a holiday, and there's no school.  After getting no sleep last night, I really need another night to sleep in before going to school.

We had a dinner after church this morning/afternoon.  It was kind of a welcome to our priest (who came a few months back) and new parishioners.  I was probably there for about an hour, but I came home a bit earlier than most of the others because Ji was coming over to drop off some Friends DVDs and The Hunger Games that she had borrowed.  (She didn't actually ever read The Hunger Games, which dissappoints me a bit.)  We watched Daniel Radcliffe on Saturday Night Live (He was amazing, and I love the Harry Potter sketch!) and some Youtube videos before she left.

Other than that I didn't do much today.  I, of course, did some homework, but that's about it.  I actually got less homework done than I had been planning on because I didn't know that Ji was going to come over, and I didn't know about the dinner at church until this morning.  (Well, I knew it was happening, but not that it was today.)  Since I didn't get much done today, I'm also going to have to do more tomorrow than I planned on.  It's not much though, so hopefuly it won't take long.  I want to be able to enjoy the day off from school.

Board Games I Love

I don't play board games incredibly often.  It's not because I don't enjoy playing them.  I mean, I asked for two new board games for Christmas.  I just don't usually have anyone willing to play them with me, or I just never even think to get them out.  I haven't even played Scattergories (which I got for Christmas) yet.

Quelf is definitely one of my favorite board games.  I love how crazy it is.  There's no way you can play it without laughing.

Apples to Apples is another one of my favorites.  I got Disney Apples to Apples for Christmas, and I love it.  Adding Disney to anything only makes it better.

I have no idea how much of a board game Scene It is, but I love it as well.  I have two different Harry Potter Scene It versions that I haven't played in forever.  It's hard to get people to play it with you when they're not as big of a fan as you.  My sister also has Friends Scene It, and I have Twilight Scene It.  I like these more than the normal Scene It since I know the movies/TV shows better.  I don't really know many of the movies on the normal Scene It.

Clue is another board game I love.  In addition to the original Clue, I also have Harry Potter Clue.  The Harry Potter edition is a lot different than the original, but I still really like it.  It can be a bit confusing when you first start playing it though.

I remember that my grandma used to have a Game of Life computer game that we used to play all the time at her house.  I think I played that before the actual board game.  I love it as well, and I own the Twist and Turns version, which I don't like as much.  The games are over in about ten minutes with that version.

My grandma, sister, and I used to play Monopoly all the time, so I have to add it.  I particularly like the newer version.  Plus, there are lots of different versions you can get for different fandoms and stuff.  There are several I would love to play but haven't gotten to.  I think I played the Disney version once, but I'm not sure.

What are some of your favorite board games?

The Saddest Moments in Harry Potter

This post is going to be what I feel are some of the saddest scenes in Harry Potter.  It's not an all inclusive list, and there are other scenes that I also found sad.  In fact, there are quite a few, so it would take a while to include all of them.  Most of these are from Deathly Hallows as I find that to be the saddest of the books.  These are kind of in order from saddest (for me) to least saddest, but not entirely.  That's just kind of how they ended up since the saddest came to me first.

Into the Forest Again.  This has to be the saddest chapter in the entire Harry Potter series.  I can't remember ever being as emotional about a book as I was when I read this the first time.  I didn't know what was going to happen to Harry, and after he discovered that he had to die, I was slightly terrified that he would in fact die.  Once he gets to the forest and uses the resurrection stone I was a complete mess.  For me that is the most beautiful and heart-breaking scene in Harry Potter and quite possibly any book I've ever read.

Harry seeing the dead in the Great Hall.  There's something about seeing the Weasleys sobbing around Fred's body that just kills me.  For me that was worse than reading about Fred's death although that also deserves it's place on this list.  Then, we (and Harry) find out that Remus and Tonks, two of my favorite characters, are dead as well, and Teddy is now an orphan.  I think this is a really simple moment in the book, but it really affected me when I read it.

Dobby's death.  I'll admit I might have a slight obsession with house elves.  I love Dobby, Winky, and even Kreacher (more so after he tracks down Mundungus).  I was so happy when Dobby appeared to help Harry and the others, but I was in shock when he suddenly died.  I don't think anyone expected Dobby to die, and that just made it more emotional to me.

Hedwig's death.  Yes, I am aware she's just an owl.  However, she is an amazing owl!  In all seriousness, Hedwig's death came as a huge shock to me.  Other tan Charity Burbage, who we had never seen before, this was the first death we saw in Deathly Hallows, and it was an innocent owl!  It kind of brought home the fact that there's a war, and if an owl is murdered, than everyone is open game (although Dobby's death was still shocking).  The fact that I adore Hedwig, and she's the reason snowy owls are my favorite animal may have made it slightly more emotional for me.

Snape killing Dumbledore.  Looking back on it, it seems slightly obvious that Dumbledore would die, but I was only eleven when Half-Blood Prince came out, and for me, it was entirely unexpected.  I think this was the first time I cried while reading a Harry Potter book.  (No I didn't cry when Sirius died...  I almost feel bad.)

Sirius' death.  Speaking of Sirius...  Although I didn't cry when he died, I did find it sad.  It's just that I was about nine or ten when I first read it, and it doesn't have quite the same impact after the first time.  It wasn't until I was older that I was really affected when I read that scene.  Harry trying to run into the veil after Sirius, Remus holding him back and saying he's gone, and Harry chasing after Bellatrix is all incredibly emotional.

Bellatrix torturing Hermione.  Ron's reaction to Hermione being tortured absolutely kills me.  It's heart-breaking.  Should we count how many of the things on this list Bellatrix is responsible for?  I bet it's quite a few of them...  (It's really only three, but that's still more than any other character I'm sure.  Actually, it's four if we count her killing Tonks...  I'm going to say four.)

A Long Day with Awesome People

It's late, and I'm extremely tired.  However, there are a few things I want to blog about before I forget.  This post will probably be a little disjointed and jumpy.  I'm just trying to get things down before I fall asleep.

I love when Harry Potter comes up somehow in everyday life.  Yesterday my yearbook teacher's daughter was there, and she played The Mysterious Ticking Noise for those of us in the classroom (a lot of the class was over in the computer lab).  No one had seen it before.  I got so excited when I realized what she was playing.

Today Jordan and Haley started writing A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel quotes on the dry erase board in AP English.  Everyone kept asking what AVPM and AVPS stood for, and no one really knew what the quotes were.

We had a fire drill during econ today.  Those are always fun during the winter.  We also finished watching a movie called Madison.  I may do a post on it later...

This evening my grandma, Aunt Kate, Aunt Linda, mom, sister Regina, cousin Danielle, and I all went to Red Lobster.  It's my grandma, Aunt Kate, and mom's birthdays soon, so it was their birthday dinner.  It was a whole lot of fun.  We also went by my Uncle Ken and Aunt Linda's before and after.  Four of the male cousins and my brother where there while we were at Red Lobster.  I'm always guaranteed to have a good time when I'm with my cousins.  They're always doing something interesting.

After all of that, my mom, sister, and I went to the mall to do some Christmas shopping.  It was late and I don't like shopping, so I really just wanted to go home.  Then I remembered that Summer works in the mall and had told me earlier she was working tonight.  I have seen her since July!  (I need a car and more time...)  I wasn't sure if she was still there or not, but when we entered the store she works at, sure enough she was there.  She looked up at me and Regina, looked back at what she was doing, and then looked back up and realized it was us.  She immediately started talking loud enough that the whole store could hear.  She hugged me and started telling everyone, "This is my best friend since first grade."  She got so excited.  Haha.  We couldn't stay long, and she had to work.  Still, it was awesome to get to see her.  I don't get to see her nearly enough anymore, and talking using a phone or computer just isn't the same.

Horcruxes or Hallows

Harry has to make an important decision in Deathly Hallows.  He has to decide whether to search for the horcruxes or the hallows.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione were split on which they should go after, but of course, they finally chose to continue searching for the horcruxes.  And everyone who's read the book or watched the movies knows this turns out to be the right choice.  I can't help but wonder which I would have chosen to look for.  Would I have continued looking for horcruxes, knowing Voldemort needed to be destroyed, or would I have been too tempted to go after the hallows? 

The honest answer is I have no idea.  I like to think I would have continued searching for horcruxes, but I have to admit that the hallows sound incredibly cool.  I'll never know which I would have chosen of course. 

One thing I can tell you: if I was forced to choose between one of the three hallows, I'd choose the invisibility cloak.  I'm not saying that because it's supposed to be the wisest choice.  I've just always wanted to become invisible.  It's always my answer to what superpower I'd like to have.  (And it was one of my answers during the sorting quiz on Pottermore.)  I'm probably one of the few who wouldn't be that interested in having an undefeatable want.  That just screams trouble.  I don't want anything to do with that.  I would pass on the resurrection stone.  I've lost loved ones, but I'm happy to let them stay in peace.  I know nothing good could come from bringing them back.  As it says in Deathly Hallows, they no longer belong in this world.  The cloak though, I'd definitely want to try it out.  It's the only hallow I'd have the slightest trouble resisting.

Hogwarts Classes

I don't believe I've mentioned on here yet that I'll be one of the astronomy professors over on myHogwarts.  I'm really looking forward to it, and I can't wait to get started!  How I ended up applying as an astronomy professor as opposed to another subject is kind of interesting.  When I applied to be a professor, there were only a few subjects on the list to apply for.  I think it was just astronomy, herbology, and (maybe) potions (although when I went back later the list was longer, but oh well).  I chose astronomy because it is something that I'm actually interested in in real life.

If I were to really attend Hogwarts, I think astronomy would be one of my favorite subjects.  I took an astronomy class in school last year and loved it.  When my family went to Kennedy Space Center last year (which was actually for my brother who also loves space), I had so much fun.  I think it would be extremely cool to become an astronomer if it didn't require so much math.  Luckily, the astronomy class I took didn't involve much math, and from what we see of Hogwarts, their astronomy class doesn't seem to either, so I think I'd enjoy it a lot.

It's hard to judge how much I'd enjoy the other classes of Hogwarts.  I've never done magic.  Maybe I'd hate performing spells in charms and transfiguration.  I'm a huge history nerd, so I'd probably be one of the very few to get enjoyment out of history of magic (although Binns teaching wouldn't be so great).  I'd probably enjoy care of magical creatures as I love animals, but I can't see myself being that into herbology.

One thing I do know for sure:  I'd hate potions.  Potions require getting too many things exactly right.  I'd hate potions for the same reason I hate doing crafts.  I feel like everything has to be perfect (and in potions it really does have to be), and I'd just get frustrated when I am unable to get it perfect.  Potions would probably drive me mad.

What do you think your favorite and least favorite Hogwarts class would be?

Female vs. Male Point-of-View

I have yet to write a story with a male main character.  Being female, I just relate more to that point-of-view.  It's familiar to me.  Sure, every girl is different, but there are still a lot of things that usually stay the same from one girl to another.

Someday I may try to write about a male main character, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.  It would definitely be a bit of a challenge I think.  It'd be something new and interesting.  If I do ever write from a male perspective though, I see it as being years from now.

The truth is I really like writing in a female perspective, since I am female.  It's what I know, and it's what I want to write about.  I can't see myself writing in a male point-of-view.  To be completely honest, that doesn't sound as interesting to me although I have no idea why that is.

This is kind of reflected in my reading too.  Almost everything I read is in a female perspective.  It's actually a bit strange that Harry Potter, my absolute favorite series, is just about the only books I read with a male main character.  Other than Harry Potter, John Green books, The Giver, and The Chosen are the only other books I can think of that I really enjoy and have a male main character.  (Although Harry Potter and The Giver are female authors writing male characters).

I may explore writing in a male perspective in the future, but for now, I'm going to stick with my female protagonists.

Favorite Antagonists in Books

Trying to think of my favorite antagonists from all of the books I've ever read is difficult.  I know I'm going to leave some awesome antagonists out of the list, but here are a few of my favorites.  Warning: most of these contain at least slight spoilers.

Voldmort and the Death Eaters from the Harry Potter series.  I couldn't help it.  They had to start off this list.  I would have listed several different Death Eaters seperately, but I didn't want to clog this list up with Harry Potter characters, so I won't list any Death Eaters individually.  I don't think I could ever despise another fictional character as much as I do Voldemort, Bellatrix, and Wormtail (and the next character on this list).  They're so well written and so horrible.  Plus, I love that we get lots of backstory on Voldemort, and we get to kind of understand why he turned out the way he did.

Umbridge from the Harry Potter series.  She's almost worse than the Death Eaters.  I can't stand how she does whatever she's told to by whoever has the most power.  I swear she would have become a Death Eater early on if she'd known Voldemort was out there and would control the Ministry.  Not only does she act like a puppet in order to gain power, she also does horrible things on her own, such as giving a fifteen year old boy a detention where he has to write lines in his own blood.

Coin from The Hunger Games series.  I'm putting her on this list but not Snow.  Ever since reading Mockingjay I've hated Coin more than Snow.  Snow tells Katniss they shouldn't lie to each other in Catching Fire, and he really never does lie.  Everyone (except the Capitol citizens of course) know that Snow's corrupt/evil/etc.  Snow does horrible things, and sure, he puts on an act when he's in public.  Coin, however, goes even farther in my mind.  She tries to act like she's on Katniss' side, even to Katniss, and then, she tries to kill her.  It's not really that different from what Snow's doing, and yet it seems so much worse in my mind.

Dr. Cable from the Uglies trilogy.  She doesn't have that large of a role for most of the books, but the role she does play is very important.  She's interesting because she's not really evil.  As far as she's concerned, she's doing what she needs to do to protect the society they live in.  Plus, she surprises Tally (and me as well) towards the end of Specials.  I think that's when I really realized that she isn't that bad of a person.  I don't think she thought of what she was doing as wrong, and I can see her justification for her actions.  I think she's a very interesting character.

I'd add more to this list, but it's past midnight and I need sleep.  Besides, most of the books I read don't have one clear-cut antagonist.  I actually realized that in most of the books I read the protagonist themself is also the main antagonist.  Still, I hope this list is fun to read, even if it is short.  I feel like it's almost unintelligible because I'm half asleep.  I'm going to bed before I fall alseep while on the computer.

Harry Potter Spells I Wish Were Real

I'm sure most Harry Potter fans wish they could perform the spells they see in the books and movies.  How cool would it be to be able to do magic?  These are the spells I wish were real the most:

Accio.  I can't even tell you how many times I could have used this spell.  It would be so handy when you can't find things.  I spent hours searching for something the other day.  I can't be the only one who's said this in complete desperation when I've been searching for something forever.

Expecto Patronum.  I would never want to come face-to-face with a dementor, but I would love to see what my patronus would be.  I hope this will be something Pottermore will do when it gets to Prisoner of Azkaban.  It could be like finding your wand.

Alohamora.  This kind of goes along with accio.  I wouldn't want to break into places or anything, but it would be handy when you're locked out and things.  I had keys and locks.

Episky.  This spell would be handy when you're injured.  Being someone who absolutely hates blood, I'd love to be able to have this spell rather than actually dealing with a wound.

Lumos.  As someone who's scared of the dark, I would love this spell.  Most people don't carry flashlights all of the time, but if you could do magic, you'd almost always have your wand with you.

Muffliato.  This would be handy when you really want or need to talk about something with someone, but you're in public.

Disillusionment charm.  I would love to be able to become invisible, and this would be the closest I could get without an invisibility cloak.

English Papers and Fanfiction

Remember how I was having such a hard time writing my paper in AP English yesterday?  Well, today proved to be a lot better.  I'd say I'm about one-third of the way done with the paper (rough draft only of course).  It's still not that great, but at least I have something down.  I can work on it from there.  I'm having bit of trouble describing the Harry Potter situation though.  I mean I'm trying explain about Voldemort ordering Draco to kill Dumbledore, the Unbreakable Vow, Dumbledore asking Snape to kill him, and more in just a few paragraphs.  It's difficult to do that in a way that makes sense to people who haven't read Harry Potter.  I'm kind of using Ji and Kayla as test readers.  I've asked one of them to read bits of my paper at least a million times and tell me if it makes sense.  I have a lot of work to do.

We had a sub in Econ(omics) today, so we spent the entire time watching a movie.  We watched The Italian Job which I had never heard of.  It's an okay movie, but I'm not really that into it.  It doesn't help that I know when we finish the movie tomorrow I'm going to have to write about economics in the movie.

I don't know if I ever mentioned it in a blog post, but if you follow me on twitter or have noticed the little button on the side of the blog, you'll know I'm a prereader for Sparkly Red Pen.  I became a prereader for them a few months ago, but I was just assigned to work on my first story today.  I'm so excited!  I'll definitely let you guys know when the author posts the first chapter.  I have the first chapter, but I can't actually preread it (like comment and stuff) until I hear back from the author.  I'll let you know when the first chapter's up.  Hopefully, it's good!  It's the author's first fanfiction, but she really seems to have a good start.

Favorite Harry Potter Movie

Over the years my favorite Harry Potter movie has changed numerous times.  For a while, my favorite Harry Potter movie was just the latest one.  As I got a little older, I began to constantly describe Prisoner of Azkaban as my favorite film because I found myself watching it almost every week (compared to every month or so).  I still absolutely love Prisoner of Azkaban and consider it one of my favorites, but over the past few years it's been over shadowed by the last three films.

Even though Prisoner of Azkaban was my favorite, it's also the one I complain about the most.  I mean, where's the Marauder's backstory!?  I think that's the reason it slipped lower on the list.  I love the way the last three films were done, and there weren't any major changes that I got really upset about.  If the Marauder's story was in PoA it would probably still be my top Harry Potter film.

Out of the last three, I think Deathly Hallows Part II is currently my favorite.  I say currently because I don't feel like I've seen it enough to firmly proclaim it as my favorite.  I only saw it twice in theaters, and I definitely need to see it more before saying it's my absolute favorite.  From my two viewings, I think it'll be able to stay at the top after a million and more viewings.  I thought the whole movie was beautiful and brilliant.  Were things cut and changed?  Yes, but none of it was done in a way that ruined the story.  Were things added?  Yes, but I thought they did it really well.  Things were different, but it was still very true to the story J.K. Rowling created.

Although I don't want to inscribe it in concrete yet, I'm fairly confident that Deathly Hallows Part II will be my favorite Harry Potter movie for years to come.  (But I want to say that I love them all so much, and it's very hard to choose between them.)

Harry Potter Books vs. Movies

While you'll find lots of people who have watched and enjoyed every Harry Potter movie without ever reading one of the books, I've never found one person who's actually read the series and picked the movies over the books.  How can you when the books are so great?

Don't get me wrong.  I love the Harry Potter movies.  They're some of my favorite movies in the world.  Deathly Hallows Parts I and II were freaking amazing.  But even they don't quite compare to the awesomeness of the books.  This isn't really just a Harry Potter thing.  I love movies, but I would always pick books over movies.  I like being able to imagine things in my head.  It gives you a certain leeway to decide things on your own.  You have descriptions to go by, but overall, what things look like is all up to you.  Get a group of people who've read Harry Potter, and each one of them will have imagined Hogwarts just a little bit differently.  In the movies, you don't have that option because Hogwarts is given to you right on the screen.  That's not really a bad thing.  I love actually getting to see a version of Hogwarts, but it's not the same as the Hogwarts in my head.

Of course, we could also get into the changes that were made in the movies.  The movies could never fit in all of the tiny details we get in the books.  (Or apparently big details like the Marauders' backstory.)  In the movies, we didn't get Archie and his nightgown, Remus rushing to Shell Cottage to announce Teddy's birth, or any of Winky's story.  None of these things a really important to the plot, but they help make the books special.

The Harry Potter movies will always be special to me and some of my favorite movies.  They're wonderfully made, and I love almost every single actor in them.  The books just happen to be a bit more magical.  I like that they give us small little details sometimes, and that they allow us to imagine things on our own.  These things make it seem a bit more real and allow us to make the Harry Potter universe our own in some ways.  None of us experience the books in quite the same way.

Harry Potter vs. Hunger Games vs. Twilight

Comparisons between Harry Potter and Twilight are everywhere.  You see them less and less now.  (Now, it tends to be Hunger Games vs. Twilight or even Harry Potter, which is just as bad.)  Still, I see the comparison pop up every so often.  I think comparing series like this is one of my biggest pet peeves.

What do Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games have in common?  Nothing really.  Sure, both Harry Potter and Twilight have vampires and werewolves, but they're not even similar vampires and werwolves.  The Hunger Games isn't even fantasy but dystopian.  I've never understood why people insist on making comparisons between the three.  You can't compare things that are so unalike.

Yes, I know most of this comes from the fact that all three are extremely popular book series there were or are being turned into films, but I don't think that makes it reasonable to compare them to the extent people have.  I hate that almost everytime I see an article on one of the three (other than on fansites) one of the other two is almost always mentioned.  For the most part, it doesn't happen when talking about Harry Potter and not so much Twilight anymore, but almost everytime I see something about The Hunger Games, the article will also mention Harry Potter or, more often, Twilight.

I just wish this would stop.  Why can't the three series remain separate.  They're way too different to be compared.

Debates, Papers, Yearbook Covers, and Dress Week

The first thing that happened today was our debate in AP U.S. history.  Our group was debating the cons of Indian removal.  I was really worried about how the debate was going to go because I didn't feel as if we were ready.  I was pleasantly surprised that it went extremely well.  Our group argued our point well, and I think we definitely got our point across.  It went great, and I had so much fun.  It makes me wish our school had a debate team.  It would be so much fun.

We're getting ready to start writing our next paper in AP English, and it's going to be an analysis that deals with obedience to authority.  Guess what I'm analyzing.  Voldemort ordering Draco to kill Dumbledore, and Dumbledore asking Snape to kill him.  I'm so excited!  Hopefully I can make it work well.

I don't think I did a blog post where I mentioned our ideas for the yearbook cover.  Well, we were going over ideas for the cover the other day, and I think it's going to be awesome!  We had some awesome ideas.  I just keep getting more and more excited for this yearbook.  I can't wait to see it finished!  (I can't believe I'll be in college when it's sent out.)

Play practice was interesting today.  This week's dress week.  I can't believe it's that close to opening!  We had to change around jobs and things for one of the scene changes today, which was a bit stressful.  Now, instead of bringing stuff out on stage during the first scene change, I'm helping Bridget with her quick change.  I wasn't sure how that was going to go, and I was a bit worried that she wouldn't get ready in time and it would be my fault.  Luckily, she got ready in time.  Overall though, I think practice went well.  I think we'll be able to pull everything off this weekend.  Some of us crew members are now doing our curtain call behind the "window" too, and five of us have to climb up on this bench thing.  I hope that doesn't look to awkward (and that one of us doesn't fall over or something).  Hopefully it all goes well.

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had an awesome Halloween.  Mine wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't the best either.  It really wasn't very Halloween-ish.

There's really no way to describe last night other than weird.  I feel like I spent most of the night only half asleep.  I kept waking up, but I can only vaguely remember it even though I could out of bed at least two or three times.  I've felt half asleep all day.

Since it was Halloween the first thing we did at school today (after announcements that is) was watching the Halloween parade.  Every year my school lets the people who dressed up to walk down the hallway, and then they choose cutest, scariest, and most original costume.  Ji was taking pictures for yearbook, but it turns out the camera's memory card won't upload to the computer, so we can't really use any of them (or any that we've taken recently).

The only good thing about not being able to use the yearbook camera is that a lot of the teachers recently got iPads, so we can use our yearbook teacher's to take pictures.  Ji and I spent yearbook class walking around the school taking pictures of people who dressed up.  Interestingly, most of the pictures are color-coordinated.  It just so happens that each class tended to have people with the same color costumes.  I think it looks cool.  My favorite pictures we took was of what I'll dub the "black group."  My friend Haley's in the picture with a Slytherin tie and Harry Potter glasses with a terrified look on her face while a vampire is behind her about to bite her neck.  They're not the only ones in the picture, but that's basically the focal point.  We actually got several hilarious ones of that group.  They were the largest and really the only ones who posed in a funny position.

Our computer applications teacher gave us blow pops because it was Halloween, which was pretty awesome.

After school came play practice as usual.  You'll be hearing a lot about the play from me this week as it's dress week, and we open Friday.  This means five and a half hour practices all week.  The awesome part is that we get supper, and there's not really anything left for us to do other than scene changes (and people doing lights and sound), so I have time to do my homework during practice.  (Not that I got much done today during practice.  I don't work well when I have a headache.)  It's weird thinking that the play opens this Friday.  It doesn't feel like this is the seventh week we've been working on it.  Hopefully, everyone who comes to see it enjoys it!

Sorting: Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff?

For years I avoided sorting myself into a Hogwarts house.  I'm not sure why.  I saw everyone else in the fandom doing it, but I just never did.  I don't know if it was because I was unsure about which house I belonged in or another reason.  I know I dreamed of being a Gryffindor when I was really young, but I grew out of that as I got older.  (Brave isn't exactly the best word to describe me.)  Still, I avoided actually putting myself in a house.

At some point I began taking sorting quizzes whenever I happened to stumble upon them.  I was always sorted into either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.  In fact, it was always pretty evenly split between those two houses.  I can't remember being sorted into Slytherin or Gryffindor even once.  (Except the WBsorting quiz that put me into Gryffindor, but anyone who's taken that quiz knows it's definitely not accurate.)  This made me realize something that would have been obvious anyway if I'd thought about it:  I was definitely either a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, but I began becoming extremely conflicted over which house I really was.

Eventually, I decided I was a Hufflepuff.  This wasn't a simple decision though, and it took years for me to actually say I was a Hufflepuff without second guessing myself.  The main reason I decided this was because one of the Hufflepuff traits is loyalty.  After an experience in eighth grade, loyalty became one of (most likely the number one) trait I value most in a person.  I always try to be loyal, and I can't be good friends with a person unless I believe they'll be loyal to me.  For this reason, I believe it was at some point during freshmen year that I firmly decided I was a Hufflepuff.

That was about three years ago, and over those three years there were numerous times where I'd sometimes still second guess my decision.  Everytime I asked someone I knew what house they believed I was, they'd answer Ravenclaw.  Always.  Because of this, there was always that underlying doubt.  I knew it was incredibly possible that I was a Ravenclaw.  I love learning, and you'll almost never find me without a book in my hands.  (Although I'm sad to admit that I've found myself without a book more and more recently.)  I stuck with Hufflepuff though, and I became a very proud Hufflepuff.

When we began learning about Pottermore, and we found out that we would be sorted, I was excited but also really nervous.  This sorting quiz would be created by J.K. Rowling.  If there was one person who could come up with an accurate sorting quiz, it would be the person who created the houses.  I was so scared that I would be sorted into a house other than Hufflpuff, and although I didn't want to admit it, I knew that chances were high that I would be made a Ravenclaw.

If you've watched my sorting video, you know that I was in fact sorted into Ravenclaw.  While this wasn't really a surprise, you can tell I'm not jumping for joy in the video.  It was slightly disappointing honestly.  There's nothing wrong with Ravenclaw, and I'm really proud to be a Ravenclaw.  Still, there's a large part of me that feels a really strong connection to Hufflepuff.  I completely understand why Pottermore sorted me into Ravenclaw, and I've almost come to terms with the fact that I really am a Ravenclaw.  Yet I don't think I'll ever come to a point where I'm completely satisfied with that.  There's always going to be a part of me that's going to be conflicted between the two houses.

Harry Potter Pick Me Up

Do you have books that you constantly find your self picking up whenever you want to feel better?  I do.  Harry Potter.  I can't even tell you the number of times I've picked one of the books up and have instantly felt better.

I think I've mentioned this somewhere online before, but my sister and I used to play this game whenever we had severe weather.  (She's not a Harry Potter fan, but I practically forced her to play with me.)  One of us would open a Harry Potter book to a random page and read a quote, and the other would have to guess which character had said it.  Regina, having never read the books, had a lot harder time with this than I did.  After a while, she'd get frustrated and start giving me one word quotes becuase she didn't want me to guess them.  This game always helped me keep my mind off the severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings/watches.

Harry Potter's cheered me up in a lot of other ways as well.  I always do something related to Harry Potter when I'm feeling down.  It doesn't even have to be one of the books.  I may listen to wizard rock, watch one of the movies, read fanfiction, or anything else that's related to Harry Potter.  When I'm feeling really low, I definitely pick up one of the books because nothing will ever beat them, but there are many other ways Harry Potter helps me at other times as well.

How do you make yourself feel better during scary, sad, etc. times?  Do you have a book (or books) that always makes you feel better?