That time I almost didn't blog in October

October has been a very busy and exciting month for me and in the whirlwind it looks like I've lost my ability to type words and share pictures. I've been equal parts happy and exhausted but I didn't really want to look back at my archives and see a big blank nothing for October 2011. So here's what's been kickin'...

*I received my Hufflepuff shirt so I could continue to show my Hufflepuff House pride.



*I began packing up the room I've lived in (off & on) since I was 11. I've moved out, but my stuff has never left...until now. I found lots of things, put 900 photos into albums and reminisced a lot.





(my first cell phone; gear from my first midnight Harry Potter; my first homecoming; my first lead role; a bday mix cd featuring my first "ships".)

*I phone chatted several times with bestie Tina and we discussed how we are turning a bit into each other, probably in an attempt to compensate for our absence in each other's lives. Tina loves dark colors--her wardrobe consists of a lot of black. I wear bright happy colors whenever possible. But now with my new job half my closet has turned black! Not to mention I bought the same bedspread she has...in a dark color! She in turn has started wearing bright colors and it's weirding her out.

*My nephew continued to grow cuter and tightened his permanent grip around my heart. He turned 6 months a few days ago!




*I celebrated Abbi's 20th birthday and decided I love her more each day. We painted fabulous aspen trees with mini-TARDISes hidden away and laughed a lot. We had a moment where we laughed so hard we bumped heads and that only made us laugh harder. You know.



*I moved out of said childhood room and took all of my stuff this time. I lived alone for four years of college in a state 4 states away and then I lived alone in Spain, so I'm no stranger to independence and survival....and yet this feels like my first real big girl apartment. I think it's because I'm only 15 minutes from home but all of my stuff is with me that this feels so real. But I am in love with my place and the city we (my 2 roommates/HS friends) live in. Here are some "crappy camera phone pics" per Lauren's request.

So here I am in my new beautiful apartment and I'm pretty content with life. Things don't seem to be slowing down, but that's perfectly fine with me...for now.

How has your October been? Tell me things!

{Did you notice all these photos are two thumbs down? Yeah something weird happened when I sent them from my phone to the 'nets and they're all blurry and crappy and sad. Sorry...I decided to blog anyway.}

Hufflepuff and Proud

Hey, remember that time I talked about Hogwarts sorting? Yes, I'm doing it again.

Pottermore is pretty much the official word in House sorting since it is JK Rowling’s own pet project. Barring actual access to the Sorting Hat, this is the most accurate we’re going to get. So, needless to say, people have been getting pretty worked up about their results. I’ve had friends going through identity crises, friends boasting their excellent placement, and I have heard one too many people say “Anything but Hufflepuff.”

And that brings us to the point of today’s post.

I finally got into Pottermore on Monday and I raced through the chapters until I could get sorted. I was really pleased with the process. I was so afraid that the “sorting” would be just another predictable questionnaire, easy to manipulate (see: is your favorite animal an eagle, badger, lion or snake?) This was not the case. There were a few questions where I felt I could predict what a chosen answer would indicate, House wise, but even those weren’t terribly obvious. My answers always came down to a Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw choice (as far as I know)—which is typical because I believe if it existed, I’d be a Ravenpuff. For instance, on one question I was stuck between selecting “fresh parchment” or “home” as my favorite item on the list. I sat there for a good five minutes before ultimately selecting home, the Hufflepuff choice (I believe).

Unsurprisingly, but to my delight, my results popped up and I read: Hufflepuff!

{via.}

Badgers for life.

As you’ll recall, I have always knows I was a Hufflepuff. I’ve never felt ashamed of that fact—heck, if I had, I’d probably have tried harder to manipulate the sorting. I don’t feel ashamed because I don’t agree with the Hufflepuff stereotype.

Oh, are you not familiar with the stereotype? If I had to guess, I’d bet most of you are. But here’s a little hint:



I love poking fun at myself and the things I love, so I’ll be the first to tell you I LOVE this video. Now that I’m officially sorted, I’ll often follow a particularly dim-witted moment of my making with a cheery “I’m a Hufflepuff!”

…But still, deep down it saddens me that so many people take this stereotype to heart and feel that Hufflepuff would be the worst place to be. The dullest. The daftest.

Does nobody remember my homeboy Cedric? Sure, we don’t know his IQ, but he was hardly eating paste in a corner. He was charming, made friends easily, and best of all, he wasn’t fake. Hufflepuffs are true, it’s said, and I believe it to be so. Cedric wasn’t just some pretty boy putting on an act so everyone would like him. That’s what bugged Harry the most when Cho fell for him—Cedric was genuinely good, loyal, kind…true. And, of course, he was just. He never tried to get ahead of Harry unfairly, even when he could’ve.

I describe Cedric because I think he helps due our House justice that it is denied elsewhere.

I think in general we all tend to pigeon-hole the Hogwarts Houses in our minds. You like books? Ravenclaw. You want to fight your way to the top? Slytherin. You’re always up for an adventure? Gryffindor.

No one is that one-dimensional. The good qualities don’t only apply to members of the House that claims them, nor do bad qualities. Maybe we’ve seen a few members of Hufflepuff have daft moments (a group of 2nd years turning against Harry when they worried he had petrified Justin Finch-Fletchley), but we’ve seen that same ignorance or silliness elsewhere. Lavender’s behavior when dating Ron. Cho’s when dating Harry. Heck, Harry’s dating Ginny. Not to mention Seamus turning against Harry when he claimed Voldemort was back. And remember the times when Hermione’s judgment was clouded by emotion? Remember when in the heat of the moment she forgot that she could create sunlight with her wand? We all have moments.

Likewise, I know that I share characteristics of all the Houses and that makes me happy. I know that I have many Ravenclaw attributes. I love books more than food (and I love very few things more than food). I am pursuing graduate school to become a librarian. I received a Bachelor’s degree from an excellent college and lived alone in a non-English speaking town. I am intelligent. I’ve gone on many adventures as well—remember, living alone in Europe? Twice? Not to mention everyday adventures. I’m brave when I must be, particularly if I can do so to help family or friends. And I can have a cutting edge to my humor, a sarcasm reminiscent of a Slytherin.

I am all of this rolled into one girl, one Hufflepuff. And ultimately, I am a Hufflepuff. Not because I have my slow moments, which I do, but because I believe in being: Just, hard-working, loyal, patient…and so much more. Those four words are the Hufflepuff epithet. Patience is NOT so much my virtue, but I think the others apply very well.. I am a hard-worker; in school, in work, in relationships—whatever the situation is, I’ll do the most I can. And truly, injustice has always been something I cannot stand. In fact, I even find it unjust that in the very end of Philosopher’s Stone, Gryffindor wins. Am I rooting for Harry & Co? You know it! Was I secretly thrilled to see the “bad guys” beaten? Heck yes! BUT there was that other Hufflepuff part of me going “yeah, but not every Slytherin is a Draco Malfoy, and some of them worked really hard for the points that won them the cup and now all of a sudden with not so much as a ‘heads up! Your dreams are about to be crushed,’ their title is taken away? That’s not fair.”

Loyalty. I think loyalty most of all is what brings me to Hufflepuff. Once you have my friendship, I will never ask to part with you. My family and friends means more to me than I can say and they will never have to doubt that I am on their side, there to help fight their battles, heal their wounds, be their comforting shoulder. Sometimes it is hard to feel loyal to so many loved-ones; sometimes time simply does not allow the level of dedication to each individual that I’d desire. But I will always be there to do the utmost I can.

Hufflepuff has those four key words, but to me it is more: It is kind students, giving students, those who live their life with an open-heart, those who are intelligent but don’t boast it. It is, as my bestie and fellow Puff Tina described, the tender-hearted and the true.

So I’m damned proud to be a Hufflepuff.

And did I mention? Our common room is next to the kitchens. If nothing else, that says it all about why I belong in Hufflepuff. ; )

P.S.: According to JK Rowling herself, Neville marries a Hufflepuff. Just wanted to throw that one out there. (Even if I did prefer him with Luna.)
P.P.S.: Yes, I did buy the shirt featured above. House pride!

On the Potter Fandom

This article is the inspiration for and is quoted within this post.

"If you tell people on the street that you prefer Hermione with Harry, they look at you strangely and say, “Don’t you know she ends up with Ron at the end?” And if you tell people on the internet that you like Harry and Hermione, get ready for a storm of indignation, wrath and ridicule, the likes of which you have never seen before. Harry/Hermione fans are reviled on the internet. I’m not kidding—I once had someone accuse me of supporting incest (which…if I say that someone is like my sister THAT DOES NOT MAKE THEM MY SISTER...)"

I could practically write a dissertation on why I grew up believing in Harry & Hermione, and someday I probably will. Actually, I have written quite lengthy arguments before--on the FictionAlley.org, a very renowned Harry Potter fansite of its day where the ship (relationship pairing) debates raged on and the fans proudly sailed. The nature of the fandom has changed drastically since I became a fan at age 11. It used to be that you could support Harry & Hermione and that was all fine and well because anything goes. In the "old days" it was openly acknowledged that the tide could move in either direction and fans were free to ship as they liked. Then after Book 6, when the ships became pretty set in stone, the fandom became more volatile and suddenly it was as thought you had Avada Kedavra-ed someone's kitten if you claimed you still, yes still, believed that Harry and Hermione were better for each other. Suddenly opinions that were long held made you enemy #1. The thing I don't think anyone will ever understand is that at age 11 I read the first three Harry Potter books and I saw a deep connection between Harry and Hermione that meant love to me. It was what I envied and would love to emmulate; not the bitter and cruel way Ron could treat Hermione.

I can accept that what I want didn't happen. But it doesn't mean I ever have to stop believing that a love between Harry and Hermione could've been possible or that it's what I would've preferred. It may not have been the obvious thing, but it's what I saw underneath the surface when I looked past the pretense of the Ron/Hermione spats and romantic tension. I will never understand how people expected a large portion of the fandom to just shut up and change their minds the day after Ron and Hermione became book fact. It's not fair to expect someone to just stop feeling what they feel because it didn't happen, especially not after 7 years of vested interest. It's like a break-up: If you liked a guy and saw a future but then he ended it, would you feel nothing the next day? Even if everyone said there were signs all along and you missed them? Would you just accept that what you'd believed wasn't "right" and move on, never looking back? That's not how human emotions work.

"But the beauty of being spat upon by the collective Harry Potter fandom is that you learn…not to give a crap! You learn that the people and things you love won’t always be popular, but you can still love them anyway. And you learn not to judge other people for the things that they love."

I'm sorry that people still feel angry at me when I say that I will sail HMS Pumpkin Pie (it's a fandom thing, guys) for life, but can't we live and let live? I am not pretending that they end up together in the books, I am not actually delusional, but I do wish they had ended up together. And that's ok. You still win, right? No harm, no foul.

"Just because a relationship didn’t end in happily ever after doesn’t mean that it wasn’t meaningful and true. As Dumbledore says to Harry, “Of course it is happening inside your head…but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

And next time you want to tell me I'm totally off-base or insult my ability to read properly (all things that have happened), just remember, even Ms. Rowling herself admits that us Harry & Hermione fans aren't pulling ideas out of thin air:

"Now the fact is that Hermione shares moments with Harry that Ron will never be able to participate in. He walked out. She shared something very intense with Harry…So I think it could have gone that way." -JK Rowling

One of my favorite scenes between Harry and Hermione is in The Deathly Hallows. It's the tender, emotional, quiet scene when the two of them visit Harry's parents graves:

"Hermione had taken his hand again and was gripping it tightly. He could not look at her, but he returned the pressure, now taking deep, sharp gulps of the night air, trying to steady himself, trying to regain control. He should have brought something to give them, and he had not thought of it [...] But Hermione raised her wand, moved it in a circle through the air, and a wreath of Christmas roses blossomed before them. Harry caught it and laid it on his parent' grave.
[...]
He put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, and she put hers around his waist, and they turned in silence and walked away through the snow, past Dumbledore's mother and sister, back toward the dark church and the out-of-sight kissing gate." -Deathly Hallows, pg 329.

This, among a multitude of reasons, is why I love them and always will. As Jill Slattery says in her article, I understand the firm argument that their relationship is meaningful, but only a friendship, not love. Sure, that's true for how the books ended. But while some people prefer the type of love that comes from passionate spats turned passionate love, others do prefer the intense love built from a solid friendship. I don't think we were wrong to see the potential for friendship to grow into romance between Harry and Hermione, even if it went unrealized.

I'm sorry if this makes you angry. I would be happy to agree to disagree with you and I am happy to hear your thoughts in the comments. But if you feel an urge to yell at me? Take it elsewhere. Because trust me, after 10 years in the fandom, I've heard it all. And if you're feeling mature and inclined, I urge you to read the article I've linked to. I think it puts forward my feelings and the reason some of us ship Harry & Hermione very very well. Better than this blog post, that's for sure.

...And seriously, in the end, how is Harry and Hermione actually worse than Harry and The Giant Squid? Or Hermione and Snape? Because yes, folks, those are actual ships supported on Harry Potter forums. My hand to God. (More popular but subversive ships include: Draco & Hermione, Draco & Ginny, Harry & Luna, etc.)

*Some Potter fandom lingo from the old days, just for fun:
Ship: Derived from relationship. On the forums, each couple had a ship name and so fans were said to "sail a ship." For example, Ron & Hermione are The Good Ship, Harry and Hermione are HMS Pumpkin Pie, Harry and Ginny are HMS Orange Crush, and so on. They are silly names, but they all have history's behind them and most ships have their own vernacular and inside-jokes/codes. Ship also becomes a verb when supporting a couple. IE: I ship H/Hr.
Initial/Initial: In Harry Potter fandom ships are called by their forum name, or initial/initial. Hermione is always Hr, Ron is R, Harry is H, etc. So you might ship R/Hr, H/Hr, H/G, N/L ...5 points to the house of your choice if you get that last one.
OTP: One True Pairing; the ship you love the most and believe to be the "right choice." Not exclusive to Potter. H/Hr is my Potter OTP, while Peeta/Katniss is my Hunger Games OTP. Do you follow?
OBHWF: One Big Happy Weasley Family. Those who supported R/Hr and H/G often did so because of the idea of how wonderful it would be if Harry and Hermione could be brought into the Weasley family. While I think this is indeed nice, I hardly think it's a reason to marry someone.

That's all for now. Wow, I really revealed my not-so-hidden dork side today, didn't I? Let's just say, if you spoke to me about Harry Potter between ages 11-15, you probably would've only understood every 6th word given the lingo we used, as exemplified above.

For a twist, here is some further reading that supports Ron as a romantic hero...also well-written with intelligent points to make. See? I can admit to two points of view! :)

July 31st

July 31st is one of my favorite dates out of the whole year.

Today I am celebrating 46 years, 31 years and 3 years.

Today Joanne Kathleen Rowling, the woman wrote down the stories that changed my life, turns 46.

Harry James Potter, the boy who lived, turns 31.

But most importantly my dear sister and her wonderful Marine hubs celebrate 3 years of marriage. And what do they have to show for it? Oh, only the most adorable baby boy ever.

HA! I had a little fun with my scarf the other day. Sorry, G.

{Jen + Chris = G. Redington Beach, FL 2011.}

{Pregnancy Photo Shoot with Lauren in February 2011.}

Happy July 31st, everyone!

Love you Jen & Chris.

Horcruxes

My dearest minxy friend Justine recently did a really intriguing post: If I made some Horcruxes. I couldn't resist joining in on the (slightly morbid?) fun.


1.) This quaint sketch of the house I grew up in that my sister did for an art class back in Middle School and gave to me after we moved to Colorado and I was home sick.


2.) My very favorite Harry Potter book. Yes, I would make a Horcrux out of the book series that invented Horcruxes.


3.) My sweet bunny friend who I received when I was six months old and still sleep with every night.


4.) This is a postcard of my favorite place on Earth, but I would make the actual Horcrux a statue on top of one of my favorite hills in the city. The view at sunset is mind-blowing. I won't tell you more details so that you won't be able to destroy all of my Horcruxes.


5.) These are the journals I decorated magazine-snippings collage style and wrote in from Freshman year of high school through Freshman year of college. My soul is pretty much already in them anyway. I guess I'd have to pick one, but I won't say which.


6.) The "Chipmunk" bracelet my sister gave me when I was her Maid of Honor. I'm not going to explain, but it means more to me than a lot of things (literal inanimate objects, not people) in this world.

And finally...


7.) ...No, don't worry, I would not stick part of my soul into my precious nephew. {Though I bet he'd look adorable with a lightening bolt scar.} In fact, part of my soul is in me so I'm the 7th Horcrux!

What would your Horcruxes be? Tell me in the comments or ff you do a post, please leave a link so I can see. :)