the blog post that must not be named.

ok, i am going to do it,  write about harry potter.  i have never, repeat never been so into a story or book in my life (i am one in millions of fans, probably billions but, still).  however, the movies have never done it for me, but i caved and went to the midnight premier last night.  i cried.  ok, i balled.  i balled when mcgonagall took over the castle, when fred died, when you see the bodies of remus and tonx lying still, when snape was crying over lilly's dead body, and when harry ventured into the forest to meet voldemort.  i mean sure, i am bugged that they left out percy's return, didn't show nevil being tortured, and they massively drug out the killing of nagini but the movie was unreal.

but while i am raging with excitement, i am going to get on my soap box.  if you have not read the books, spare us all and quit claiming to be a harry potter fan.  the final book is dedicated to those who "have stuck with harry to the end", might i add "those who have been with harry since the beginning".  i can not remember a time in my life when harry hasn't been a part of it.  i not only grew up with the books but, the characters.  ah, i just love them.  i idolize jk rowling.  i don't care what anyone says, she is an inspired lady.  she got millions to love and appreciate reading, to stay up till midnight waiting for the books to come out and to stay up even later, reading the books in their beds after parents had said that enough was enough.  she is brilliant.

harry potter ain't no twilight or hunger games, it isn't just a story (i'm pretty much bearing testimony here...).  The fight between good and evil is epic and you are going to be hard pressed to find a book that demonstrates lessons of courage, love, devotion, family, bravery, friendship, and trust like the harry potter ones do.

GOSH, I LOVE YOU HARRY POTTER!

and geez, if you haven't read the books, do it.  you will not be disappointed and your life will be changed.  i mean, maybe i am crazy for believing that the wizarding world truly exists...but then again, even if it is just in my head, "why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

malfoy family portrait

a splendid thing

i've long searched for a definition of love that satisfies me and i finally found it last night while reading man's search for meaning.  viktor e. fankl defines it so beautifully, i won't even try to paraphrase.

"a thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers.  the truth--that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire.  then i grasped the meaning for the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: the salvation of man is through love and in love.  i understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss...my mind still clung to the image of my wife. a thought crossed my mind: i didn't even know if she was still alive. i knew only one thing--which i have learned well by now: love goes far beyond the physical person of the beloved.  it finds its deepest meaning in the spiritual being, his inner self."

how absolutely incredible?  my dear friend danielle and i were talking about this the other night.

  i remember one of the happiest moments of my life was the day i witnessed a women preach the truth that Christ had risen.  i was riding on a dirty metro in kiev, ukraine and found myself in awe at her courage and faith.  ukraine was such an empty place to be, so full of mistrust, hate, and regret, yet this women found happiness, as do i, in the knowledge that Christ has risen.

"the salvation of man is through love and in love."

we are saved through Christ's love. 

and we are directed to love as he loved.  

cut the crap (as danielle would say).

accept people and their differences and just love. 

truly, love. 

look past the faults, the imperfections and love.

how perfect would our world be if we could do just that?

"God has given us many gifts, much diversity, and many differences, but the essential thing is what we know about each other--that we are all his children. Our challenge as members of the Church is for all of us to learn from each other, that we may all love each other and grow together."

Cheiko M. Okazaki

ruddy owls

i can tell you:

1. what dumbledore's favorite jam is
2. why ron is most afraid of spiders
3. what all 7 horcruxs are
4. why snape is good
5. who merope gaunt is
6. what legillimens is
7. who dies at the end of the seventh book
8. the names of harry's children
9. harry's address
10. what "remember my last" means
11. how to activate the maurauders map
12. why harry could see the thestrals
13. how bellatrix, tonx, sirius, and the malfoys are related
14. who frank bryce is and what town he is from
15. what a bezoar is
16. who the conductors of the night bus are
17. what kind of car the weasleys own
18. why harry inherited the invisibility cloak
19. what the deathly hallows are
20. who sir cadogan is
21. how dobby dies

if you can't....go read the books and then you can say you are a harry potter fan.

if you haven't read the books, you are living a lie and your life is a joke.

the movies don't even compare.

...don't forget the Dewey Decimal system is your friend.

I am need of a darn good book right now...I have been since I finished The Five People You Meet In Heaven. I have to say I am really proud of myself though, give myself a pat on the back, some may say. At the beginning of the year, I made a goal to read more because I detested reading and decided I desperately needed to become more literate. So, goal accomplished. So far, this year I have read 11 books which may not be that much to some, but for me, that is huge. All of them have been killer good reads and if anyone needs a book suggestion I would highly recommend: Left To Tell, The Glass Castle, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, The Wednesday Letters, Rules, The Secret Life of Bee's, Pride and Prejudice, Diary of A Wimpy Kid, Tuesdays With Morrie, and The Five People You Meet In Heaven. Now I just need to convince my mother to let me ready The Lovely Bones. I also saw the trailer for a movie called Flipped that is based on a book. It looked so cute. I think that will be the next on my list. I also would like to read Three Cups of Tea and let's be honest I am super stoked for Mockingjay!! Call me Hermione Granger cause now-a-days, if I am at home, my head is stuck in a book.