Finite Incantatum

And just like that, it's over.

I actually just woke up 45 minutes ago after taking a 3 hour nap upon returning home from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Over a decade of dedication and study. Now what am I supposed to do? What new adventure must I immerse myself in? For now...

YOU GOT IT: SPOILER ALERT!  IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FINAL FILM YET (WHAT KIND OF FAN ARE YOU) YOU MAY WANT TO WAIT ON READING THIS.

I am so glad they decided to chop up the last film in order to really cover this epic finale. The first time I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 I felt exhausted mostly because they covered 500 pages in one film. That would be like squeezing books one and two into a single film. It wasn't until the second and subsequent times was I really able to relax and take in the whole movie. I am quite happy with the result of Part 1. As mentioned in earlier posts, they never really built Dobby like they should have so his death was a hard blow only because I remembered how I felt when it happened in the novel. All his devotion to Harry outweighed his fear regarding returning to Malfoy Manor to rescue Potter and the others. It is more a slap in the face that Dobby had to die for it (at least that's how I felt). Everything else really fell into place and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how they told the story of the "Three Brothers" in Part 1. It is only because they were making two movies from one book were they able to do this I'm sure.

So this morning at 10:00 A.M. I took my seat in anticipation of the final piece in the Harry Potter puzzle. I don't think in 2001 I really acknowledged that this would all come to an end some day. I definitely did not realize how involved I would be with all the characters. Yes, I cried A LOT during this film and even threw my hands up and cheered multiple times. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 did it's best to give me the final installment I so anxiously awaited. The only real rub I had was Harry breaking the Elder Wand in two (which does NOT happen in the book). Now, I would have been fine if they had him do this after he repaired his original wand like he is supposed to, but they didn't. That irks me because the act of repairing his own wand and reburying the Elder Wand with Dumbledore (which IS what happens in the book) shows how mature and humble he is acting in not accepting the Elder Wand as his own therefore avoiding any temptation of greed/power. However, I can live with that since it is the only real problem I had.

Everything else went well. They didn't cover Dumbledore's life and family secrets or his relationship with Grindenwald, but really it was an okay subplot to avoid. They did keep the scene at King's Cross, and the major points were covered. They sort of blew over the death of Fred which I'm okay with because that particular scene in the novel D-E-V-A-S-T-A-T-E-D me! (Percy redeems himself a mere second before his brother is killed! WTH? Percy should have died because no one likes him anyway!) My heart broke mostly for George who would never have his twin with him again. As sad as I was about Tonks and Lupin, I think they handled that well (except for the random comment Lupin makes about his son when Harry uses the Resurrection Stone-since they didn't build that subplot up properly it was a weird comment to make in the film).

I think I cried the hardest at Snape's incredibly violent death and then his crying (like with his tears) out his memories to Harry. Honestly, I always routed for Snape even when it seemed like he had done his worst by killing Dumbledore. I was so relieved when I read the seventh book to discover that my faith in Snape was rewarded. In the novel his memories are sad in that he causes Lily to cut off their friendship after calling her a Mudblood (it would be like Ron calling Hermione one) to look tough while being bullied by James and Sirius. In the film they made it seem like their first year in Hogwarts Lily just seemed to take a shine to James over Snape. I'm okay with it but would have like to see them all as teens since that's when Snape's heart is broken for the first time. Yet, I LOVE how they show Snape discovering Lily's body after Voldemort murders her. I was a sobbing mess!

Finally, the epilogue was perfect! Now I am an adamant believer that Rowling NEVER needs to write about any of this ever again. She did a lovely job of tying up everything and showing how life goes on in her epilogue. I don't need to know what Harry's children do at Hogwarts. I don't need to see what happens directly after the fall of Lord Voldemort (The Harry Potter Lexicon is a wonderful site if anyone wants to know what happened post Voldemort). I am quite content where she's left us. My sister had commented that she wished they had put wizard pictures of the Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione weddings and their lives on the sides of the credits. That would have been cool, but really I'm happy. I did register at Pottermore where it looks like Rowling will be posting all her notes and back stories, etc. but that doesn't mean I want her to actually publish this stuff. I fear that if she does, she'll "jump the shark" and the original seven stories will lose their magic (no pun intended).

So good-bye for now Harry Potter at least until my super-duper mega Blu-Ray boxed set of all the films is available:). (Damn it. I'm choking up again just typing this!)

Let the Harry Potter Movie Marathon Begin!

Instead of writing last night over all the movies, I decided to make it an ongoing observation while I watched all the films today leading up to seeing the final Harry Potter movie tomorrow morning. My goal will be to use five sentences or less for each film. I want to cover how I feel about the movie version of each novel and what they should have or have not done. Here we go:

AGAIN SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT READ OR SEEN ANYTHING HARRY POTTER (GET OUT FROM UNDER THE ROCK YOU MUST BE WEDGED UNDER) BE WARNED THAT I DISCUSS IT ALL IN HERE.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone-this was pretty easy to translate to the big screen. I don't mean to belittle the difficulty in making the movie; I mean that it is the smallest novel so most of the story made it into the movie with a few minor details that were okay to live without. However, they placed Ron in the Forbidden Forrest when it was in fact Neville who had to accompany Harry, Hermione, and Malfoy on detention. This seems innocent enough, BUT it is a vital piece when thinking about Neville's roll later in the series. It definitely makes his courage at standing up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione a little less urgent than it actually was since in the novel he had to suffer the consequences of their negative actions.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets-Again, the novel is small enough that nothing was really altered too much in the film. I do love Kenneth Branagh as arrogant and incompetent Gilderoy Lockhart. Yet in the end this is my least favorite book and movie. Therefore, I watch it more out of my obsession since I can't just skip it. I do wish they had showed a little more about Ginny's feelings for Harry because it would have tied in nicely in later films.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban-My favorite film (not book). Cuaron managed to completely recreate Hogwarts by giving it a more sophisticated look and allowing the "students" to dress like actual teenagers. The cinematography is unmatched in any other film, and the Dementors are truly frightening. Of course I'm disappointed they aren't more forthcoming about who actually created the Marauder's Map (James, Sirius, Lupin, Pettigrew), but I'm okay with Harry getting his Firebolt at the end of the film instead of the middle. What I wouldn't give for a Time Turner!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire-Here's where we start running into trouble. The novel is much larger than its predecessors; therefore, there must be decisions made for the movie. I think they did pretty well by making sure the Triwizard Tournament was enticing, but they chose to leave out a few bits I felt needed to make the cut.* Ludo Bagman would have been a great comical character to add a little dimension to wizards in general showing that they too are susceptible to something as minor as addiction. They should have DEFINITELY included Winky and the story behind Barty Crouch Jr.'s escape from Azkaban, Hermione's obsession with liberating house elves (S.P.E.W.), and it should have stayed Dobby and not been changed to Neville giving Harry the gillyweed.
*I will go into greater detail about vital story lines that were left underdeveloped at the bottom.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix-This is the most disappointing of all the films because they cut out incredibly vital information. Naturally, I was a little more critical since this was my favorite novel, but I don't think my disappointment is unjustified. Although this film's take on the fascist-like regime of the Ministry of Magic is intriguing, I would have preferred to see St. Mungo's and the lifetime ban from Quidditch that Harry receives allowing Ginny to start forming as a solid character. This will be sentence five; therefore, I'll save my corrections that should be made for my extended explanation at the bottom.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince-My biggest beef with this film is how they add things that don't even exist in the novel at the expense of omitting some key elements. How about instead of blowing up the Burrow we show the relationship of Fleur and Bill? Or instead of Harry watching the tube cars at the beginning we actually show Harry spending his summer with the Weasleys and getting to know Ginny a little better so that we don't have to fabricate a relationship that seems based solely on inappropriate sexual tension instead of a firmly built friendship?! I am glad they have the memories of Tom Riddle, but the really good back story (the Gaunts) they don't include. The comedy in this film was also pretty good especially the scenes after Harry takes the Felix Felicis.

Here is where I will stop examining each movie since I'd like to tackle both installments of the final film after seeing it tomorrow. Below is a quick list of things the movies didn't cover that I feel cheats the viewer and angers those of us that love the stories:

1. Neville is poorly set up in the earlier movies (remember he was left out of the forbidden forest scene), and they also neglect to show his depth at St. Mungos in movie five. Because of this, his bravery at destroying the final Horcrux (although awesome I'm sure) will be missing some of its greatness.
2. Dobby disappears after movie two and doesn't reappear until the first part of film seven. Dobby is a constant aid and support for Harry throughout the stories (Dobby gives the gillyweed, discovers the Room of Requirement, follows Malfoy around to see if he's a Death Eater, and encourages Hermione's obsession with S.P.E.W.) and isn't given his proper due. Therefore, his death in the seventh film, though sad, isn't nearly as devastating as it was when I read it. Not to mention the importance of Harry carving "Here Lies Dobby: A Free Elf" on Dobby's tombstone is completely ignored.
3. Harry and Ginny's relationship is a ridiculous and awkward one because they are trying to cram a whole bunch of feelings into inappropriate moments (bending down to tie Harry's shoe, snogging in the Room of Requirement-for some reason they gave Ron and Lavendar Harry and Ginny's kissing scene, zipping up dresses where clearly no bra is being worn). Ginny gradually rises as a strong and independent character throughout books five and six. She takes over as Seeker when Harry receives a lifetime ban on Quidditch in book five proving her athletic ability. She also becomes a key member of Dumbledore's Army showing she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty and is a powerful witch. All of these things make her a sharp contrast to the other girls in Potter's world who are focused on the lovey-dovey girly things of adolescence. Harry doesn't have time for this kind of nonsense since his whole wizarding life has pitted him against pure evil. Ginny gets that hence making her the perfect partner for Harry.
4. They should have had some form of Quidditch in movie five in order to lead to the lifetime ban to lead to Ginny's character development. They should have showed Ron and Hermione becoming Prefects and not Harry in order to show that Harry isn't always the Chosen One and how he handles that (not very well actually). They should have shown St. Mungo's in order to see the broader world of witches and wizards AND how Neville handles being the son of demented aurors. They should have made the prophecy more clear in that it only states a child born near the end of July and not specifically Harry Potter because Neville was also born near the end of July and could have been the Chosen One. However, Lord Voldemort decided Harry (the one who's ancestry was only half-wizard like his own instead of the pureblooded Longbottom) would be his equal. It's all so necessary! They should have shown Harry destroying Dumbledore's office at the end because Harry's a teenager who's been expected to act as a savior on multiple occasions and just lost the last living member of his family. He needed a catharsis and this would have shown it. Ahhh!

Regardless of my "issues," I never miss a chance to watch these films. I love when ABC Family has a Harry Potter weekend. I own most of them on DVD and have already informed my husband that I will be purchasing the super-duper mega extras included blu-ray complete set once they are all out. I just love this magical world and will relive it as often as possible.

Tomorrow's a big day, and I must prepare for it!

Magical Me

In three days I will see the final installment of the Harry Potter movies. This will bring to a close over a decade of adoration and adventure with a beloved book series that has been created into an (almost) equally captivating movie series. Since anyone who knows me is aware of my ability to "geek-out" when it comes to Harry Potter, I've decided to dedicate two posts to this cultural phenomenon. Tonight: the books!

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE ANY INTENTION OF READING THE NOVELS (AS YOU SHOULD) I DISCUSS A FEW OF THEM HERE.

As an English teacher, it is no wonder that my heart will always favor the novels. Rowling's work manages to envelop me every time I pour through the pages to experience the tale of the boy wizard. I fell in love with these during college in 2000, and continuously kicked myself for not noticing them sooner. Perhaps the reason they stayed off my radar is the same reason so many (unfortunate) people have yet to run through the barrier at King's Cross Station onto Platform 9 3/4: they have incredibly negative pre-conceived notions about who Harry Potter is.

It is not just young adult fiction. It is not just fantasy fiction. This is actual literature. Rowling manages to lay out the entire Hero's Journey across all seven novels. Archetypes pop up throughout the entire series with Potter being the Scapegoat Hero in the end. The writing advances with each book earning them upper level reading lexiles. This is genius in that the books are meant to grow with the reader. Even as an adult who reads the whole series on a regular basis (at least once a year), I try to get through the first three as quickly as possible because they are a bit juvenile They reflect the life of a 11//12/13-year-old, but by Order of the Phoenix I've escaped back into Harry's world because the much larger themes of humanity, loyalty, friendship, integrity, love, death, etc. are all present and just as meaningful to a 30-year-old as they would be to a 15-year-old reading them for the first time.

As soon as I was hooked, I made it a point to be at every midnight release for books 4-7. I did stay up through the night devouring Rowling's words much to the teasing of some of my friends. I just had to know what happened to Harry! I have a vested interest every time I read because I love the characters and feel their pain, happiness, anger, fear. Harry grows page after page and I remember being a teenager and what that entailed (two points: Harry was born in 1980 which would make him MY age and even though I was never expected to bring the downfall of an evil regime, I still had to make my way from awkward teen to responsible adult like Harry does).

One of the most beautiful aspects about Rowling's writing is her ability to weave the stories across each other. Everything has a purpose. Nothing is superfluous. If she mentions in one book that two characters have birthdays around the same time of the year, it will be important later (it could have been Neville Longbottom and the Sorcerer's Stone). That is also why re-reading them is just as entertaining and awesome as reading them for the first time. In Order of the Phoenix, Petunia makes a reference to Dementors that "that boy" told Lily about. Well naturally the reader is to assume Petunia is speaking about James. It isn't until Deathly Hallows that we learn it is actually Snape! Brilliant!

I know I keep referencing Order of the Phoenix. It's my favorite, and I'm okay knowing that I'm in the minority in that. Here is where Rowling really shows her eloquent grasp on what it means to be human especially a human teen. Harry is arrogant and angry and agitating. He has already saved his own skin multiple times and feels entitled to leadership rolls including being a full fledged member of Dumbledore's "good guys" club. As an adult, I know that Harry still has much to learn about himself and the world (I'm sure my friends in their 40s and 50s would say I still have much to learn about myself and the world). Naturally, I like watching Harry be knocked back a few pegs by not being selected as a Prefect. He may be the "Chosen One," but he's still only 15. (I teach 15-year-olds and wouldn't trust them to take down Voldemort.) He must learn to deal with not being "chosen" for once, and it is difficult for him. Everyone deals with "failure" at some point.

One of my favorite places we are introduced to is St. Mungo's Hospital where witches and wizards are taken care of by Healers when they are ill. I love that we see this side of the magical realm. Even with their abilities, they are still human and flawed. They can still be hurt and die. It also shows the wide range of careers witches and wizards enjoy (this includes all the things going on in the Ministry of Magic which we also get to know in book 5). They are people with 9 to 5 jobs and families to feed. In doing this, Rowling only makes her world and the characters within in it so much more believable. Perhaps the most poignant event is Neville visiting his parents. This gives him a dimension we have yet to see, and we understand a little more about the pressure his Gran places upon him to become the great warrior for good his parents were.

Order's greatest antagonist is not Voldemort this time, but rather a toad faced witch: Dolores Umbridge. She is the personification of all that is wrong with bureaucracy and the education system. As a teacher in a system that I feel is sometimes beyond help, Umbridge's declaration that passing tests is what school is all about solidifies my distaste and hatred for her and those/the system like her. She's the worst kind of evil because she truly believes she is doing what is right and has the powers in control supporting her!

Then there's the death of Sirius Black. He's the best link to Harry's past since he is Harry's godfather and James' best friend. My hopes where set on Harry and Sirius being a family when all was said and done. For three novels Rowling had me believe in it. It's just so upsetting I'm not even sure I can even continue writing about this...

All the books are timeless and the bottom line is these books are so much more than paper and ink! One of my dear friends loathes to read the written word, but she managed to read this entire series. I think that says a lot. I cannot wait until my son is old enough for me to begin reading to him the tale of the boy who lived!

Thicker Than Water

I love this song by the Laurie Berkner Band. It's a nice sentiment, isn't it? "If you're in my heart, you're in my family..." Yet I've learned that it is so much more complicated than that. I wish it were as simple as choosing who to keep in my heart therefore creating my family. That would make it incredibly easy to surround myself with "yes" relatives. Never again would I have to listen to a point-of-view that didn't coincide with my own!

Fortunately, God knows better than I and saw fit to place me in a family that is going to do what is best for me regardless of what I want to hear, see, or do. Actually, they have saved me from making a few HUGE mistakes in my life while also teaching me to step back and really look at a situation before I allow my hopeless romantic tendencies to shoot me in ridiculous directions. I can't really complain when I look at my life now and see how great it truly is. Even though it was key I make some minor mistakes while growing, saving me from the negative life changing ones is an important job for family. In the end I know that I learn from ALL members of my family whether or not I am in the mood to keep them in my heart.

If I didn't already make it clear in earlier posts, my husband's grandmother "gave" us a set of dishes that I didn't want or need. By gave I mean she conned us into paying $100 for them to get them off her hands. This angered me greatly and when they arrived it took everything in me not to kick the UPS boxes down the street. Deep down I know that marrying my husband meant the joining of our families, and if I expect him to respect my family, I should show his the same courtesy. (People can argue with me all they want, but I believe that you marry more than that one person. It's a package deal, so if the future in-laws are pains in the ass before the wedding it is probably wise NOT to get married.) I was due for Reconciliation anyway (I go once a month), so I figured I should ask for some help in handling the anger I felt towards the grandmother-in-law (GIL).

No, the priest did not guilt me into keeping the dishes. Actually, he had me laughing so hard I sort of wondered if I could be heard outside the Confessional. My favorite part was when he told me it would have been instantly gratifying to go skeet shooting with the dishes and when GIL asked how the dishes were working I could say they were a blast! However, in the long run he knew I would feel bad, since the dishes are really nice, if an occasion arose where the dishes actually came in handy. He reminded me how important it was to look at these situations in various ways and helpful if I could find a way to turn the frustration and anger into humor (he also referenced Everybody Loves Raymond in there somewhere). When I started to think about it, it was $100 that we didn't have to pay on the room where we stayed or on admission to museums or food since hubby's dad paid for pretty much everything. Do I like that I was bamboozled? Of course not, but GIL will be gone some day and those dishes might be a fond memory for my hubby if only for him to shake his head and smile/smirk about his grandmother.

Soooooo....

We have a new set of dishes:

Have Tot Will Travel

There are a few things I came to grips with while traveling with my tiny tot. Naturally, my anxiety level shot through the roof when my hubby proclaimed we were taking a 5 day vacation out of state because that meant we would be on an airplane for hours (I don't do road trips). I remembered the days of being on an airplane with someone's kid screaming or bludgeoning the chair in front of him with a foot (I usually was in said chair as it happened). Then there was all the stuff I didn't want to forget to pack. Small children require a ludicrous amount of luggage especially if they are not potty trained yet. Since we made it back to Texas a happy family, I did a little reflection and decided to offer up some useful tidbits:

1. ALWAYS pack the stroller. Even if you have to check it at the plane. Even if your hubby says it's for lazy parents because two parents should be able to tag team and watch one kid. Even if it will cost a small fee. Just take the damn stroller. There will come a point when your little one will refuse to do any more walking (which-chances are-you already knew as an intelligent mother hence arguing with your hubby about whether or not to take it) and will need to be carried. At 30ish pounds, that little stinker can get heavy.
2. Don't worry about being judged. It finally occurred to me on the way home that the only people judging my parenting skills if my son lost it on the plane would be the ones who have NEVER had kids or been around them. Everyone else either had children my son's age or older children who were once my son's age, so they were more empathic than irritated whenever my son reared his terrifying terrible two head. (So all those people who were hacked during that less than a quarter of the flight my son cried can go do something inappropriately diabolical to themselves. He's two! He's never flown before! He was a perfect angel on the flight home.)
3. Don't pack "baby" items that you can buy at a local store. My son already required a ton of packing, so we didn't pack diapers. We had a few to keep in the carry-on for the traveling, but then hit up the Golden Eagle to buy a package of them once we got to Slippery Rock. That saved suitcase space and weight. If my son was still itty-bitty, I probably would have done the same with formula.
4. Allow others to watch your child. I'm sure somewhere someone will think I was just being lazy. However, whenever we were near family everyone else wanted to play with or watch my son. I would have simply added to the old adage "too many chiefs... ." Therefore, I sat back and let the great-grandparents and grandfather walk around and entertain my son. I felt bad the first 10 minutes but figured "oh well-they wanted to meet him so they can get to know him while I enjoy my vacay."
5. Over book the activities (but make sure to rank them in case you can't do them all). I knew that one day would be a complete family day, but that still left roughly 3 days to entertain my son and myself. I made sure to have a list of places to go and see. It turned out that my list came in handy since we did everything I suggested. The one day we didn't plan anything other than family time turned out to be a disaster.
6. Make sure all activities are appealing to you and your child. We had a blast at the Children's Museum, and my son actually enjoyed the Museums of Natural History and Art (we "rented" a stroller for that one). The zoo was the only iffy activity, but it still worked out okay for us. Nothing we did was entirely for adults or entirely for children (not even the Children's Museum).
7. Be grateful that ketchup is classified as a vegetable. I bet most mothers are concerned about making sure their children eat as balanced a meal as possible. Unfortunately, vacation means eatin' on the fly most of the time or going to restaurants that don't necessarily cater to stuffing kids full of vitamins and minerals. My son lived off of hot dogs, grilled cheese, and cheeseburgers. Most of these didn't come with a side of broccoli, so fries and ketchup it was. I figure that five days of that won't kill him.
8. Be understanding if your hubby gets a little edgy toward the end of the trip because the two of you were sharing one room with your kid. I don't think I need to explain that one any further.

I would like this list to be an even 10, but alas it looks like 8 is where it must stop. However, feel free to comment any other tips or tricks you've learned while going on holiday will the kiddos.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I Love You Tomorrow

There's a small part of me that is sad to see Pennsylvania go. It might have something to do with the fact I actually had a pretty good time this week, but mostly I think it is because the low at night has been around 50 and the high each day has only reached 75. As much as I love Texas, I do NOT love the humidity that awaits my return (neither does my hair).

Today's trip took us all to the zoo/aquarium. I don't think my two-year-old is quite ready for a zoo because he seemed more entertained by the playground within the zoo than the actual animals. Hmmm. I'll give it another go in a few weeks with the zoo back home.

This vacation has really caught up with me, so the rest of this post will be a short photo journal of my day; however, I am already compiling a "things I learned while traveling with a two-year-old" entry for tomorrow:

No, no, no Grampy! Don't feed me to the tigers!

Waitin' for the tram and eatin' Cheerios.

 Wow! The animals actually come out during the day at this zoo because it is ungodly hot.

No slide to big for this boy.

Holy cow! I've never seen a sign that designated someone be short.

This has nothing to do with the zoo, but I figured I should document my son's redneck tendencies.