To Have A Home

Yes, this is another post about Harry Potter and yes, I haven't posted for a while and this is not about history. I need ideas people! What do you want to know about? I almost feel like I'm just writing this for myself, and if that's the case I will most likely just keep rambling on about Harry Potter.

So, unless you are just really out of touch with social media, you've probably heard someone mention the site Pottermore within the last few days.

Pottermore. We're big on the owls

This site is an interactive way to read the Harry Potter books. You'll get sorted into a house, buy a wand, earn house points. It sounds like it is going to be absolutely fantastic and pretty much the entire fandom is dancing with impatience to be let in. Which is where the Magic Quill comes in.

7 attempts at insanity

What is the Magic Quill you ask (unless you just read the banner in which case you already know. Too bad, I'm still going to explain)? The Magic Quill in the books is a quill that writes down the names of every magical child born (within the Hogwarts school district I'm assuming. Although you could always get a boundary exception and go to Drumstrang or Beauxbatons ;) ) so that when that child reaches eleven the deputy headmaster/headmistress can send out the Hogwarts letters.

In Pottermore, the quill presents everyone with an opportunity to enter Pottermore early. 1 million people will get to beta test the site and to choose those people is the Magical Quill challenge. At a random time of day, between July 31st and August 6th a clue with be released, a question that you must find the answer to. Once you have the answer you add it to the URL quill.pottermore.com. If you are correct, you get sent to a screen where you have to catch the magic quill.

Where the hell is that damn quill? (This is the thought that will go through your mind at 2 in the morning when you finally get here)

Thankfully, the quill glows, but it also runs away so you may have to chase it a little (and do not panic if it goes off screen. It'll come back). When you manage to pin it down, you get a Congratulations and are told to begin your journey and fill out some information (name, date of birthday, email, etc.) The last question asked is this:

What kind of question is that?

Personally when I got to this point I found myself thinking, "What kind of fan has been up until one in the morning and hasn't seen all the movies and read all the books?" Because yes, by this time I had stayed up until 1:30AM, scoured my copy of Sorcerer's Stone for the answer (The question being "How many types of owls are on the sign for Eyelops Owl Empourium?") and chase a quill around a screen with a laptop track pad. Why would I do all that if I hadn't read all the books and seen all the movies? That would make me crazy instead of simply a zealous fan.

But I also managed to get in on the first day! Which means I haven't had to go through the insanity of staying up until 2 and 3AM (oh yes, clue one released at 1, clue 2 at 2 and clue 3 at 3. This only works on the West Coast...but I love it) to get the clue last night or the night before. And I got my verification email within fifteen minutes, which is NOT what has happened for others. Some have had to wait an entire day for their verification.

So I get to beta test it early! My name is DreamPotion56. You get your name by answering the registration questions and then picking from five generated usernames. I was almost ShadowGoblet206, but I liked the idea of a dream potion and it seemed to fit me best. I can't wait to meet up with my friends who've also wrangled early entrance and get sorted. Party in the common rooms anyone? I'll bring the Red Vines ;)

It's The End of and Era

So as pretty much anyone who hasn't been living in a tundra devoid of media and human life knows that this Friday is the release of the final Harry Potter movie. It's kind of a heavy moment for all the people who've grown up with Harry and his friends. I mean, it's been in my life for 14 years. That is a really long time.

You may remember that a little while back I wrote a letter to Harry Potter, talking about what he's meant in my life. In honor of the release of the final movie, I wrote another post about Harry Potter and what it means to me. There's so much to say I could probably write a hundred letters and never say it all (side note: I now want to write a bunch of Harry Potter letters and then recreate the Letters from No One chapter in Sorcerer's Stone with either some poor unsuspecting soul or my own children some day far in the future (like leading up to their eleventh birthday when I bequeath them the first book (If I manage to wait all the way until they're eleven. They may be closer to seven or so when they get the first book))). Anyway, here is that post (sorry Facebook friends, you've already seen this. But you should read it again :) )

"I was seven years old when my sister brought home the first Harry Potter book, at which point she promptly forgot about it. I tried picking it up a couple of times, but never got past the first page. Then, finally, I picked it up and was determined to finish. It took three months, but I did finish it and I read it whenever I had time to. I can remember the exact place in the highway I was when I finished and still smile each time I pass it. And I set about procurring and reading the next book as soon as possible.

For the longest time I was always a little younger than Harry, but that meant that he was almost like an older brother to me, a mentor about the periods in my life to come, while still helping me deal with what was happening currently. Harry wasn't perfect, he wasn't self-assured, and he didn't have all the answers. Harry made mistakes, he got upset, he said the wrong thing at the wrong time. Puberty was no easier for him than it was for anyone else.

But he was always able to survive and deal with whatever came his way. He showed me that anything could be accomplished and survived with determination. It wouldn't be easy, but doing the right thing and not giving up would be worth it in the long run. I'd be better for having made the hard, but right choice.

And it wasn't just Harry who became my mentor. Like many female fans I've talked to, Hermione was like the fictional version of myself. She was bookish, a teacher's pet, and a know-it-all. She didn't make friends easily or fit right into the social structures of school life. She knew what it was like to be a loner, emanored of books while people around her found her completely bizarre for her love of school and reading. And yet, she always had the crucial answers. Without Hermione, the trio would've been sunk long ago. Because she enabled Harry to know what he needed to go up against Voldemort and survive.

Because of Hermione, I was perfectly fine to be who I was, without a crippling fear of ridicule from my peers. Because I knew that there was nothing wrong with who I was and that I didn't need a large group of friends for my life to be worthwhile. It was the quality of the friends I chose that mattered, far more than the quantity I had.

Which brings me to Ron. A lot of people, myself included for a while, saw Ron as comic relief and sidekick. He was an intrinsic part of the trio, but you couldn't pinpoint why he mattered. But Ron is as loyal as a Hufflepuff. He is brave (and okay, stubborn) as a Gryffindor ought to be, but he is also completely loyal to Harry, sticking with him through thick and thin. They've had rough patches (hello, Ron's only human) but he never left for good. And when he came back, it didn't get any easier. In fact, it just got harder. But Ron was there for his friends, despite all he had to lose. And of all the trio, he had the most to lose.

As a child, I was sick for a lot of time, especially around third and fourth grade, right before the fourth book had released. And more often than not, it was Harry, Ron, and Hermione that kept me and Mom company at night. They kept me from wallowing in self-pity and losing my sanity altogether, showing me how to keep going even in crappy circumstances. Because things can always get better, but you have to be willing to work for it.

It's at least partly because of these three that I never allowed my IBS to dictate how well I did in school. The example they set is why I would get up after a night of staying up until 2 AM and sleeping curled in a ball, and still went to school if I wasn't still hurting. Harry Potter and my parents taught me the perseverance I needed in my life to succeed as well as I have.

For me, these books have been more than simply words on a page, or even interesting stories. These people have come alive for me in a way few other books have managed. In Order of the Phoenix, when Sirius was getting sucked into the veil, I had to stop and shut the book, not wanting ti read what happened next. Mom came in then and asked if I wanted to put the book in the freezer, which is what we do with books that are frightening or make us cry.

And when the seventh book came out, I was finally seventeen. I was the same age as Harry, at the same point in our lives. And while I wasn't in a position where I had to save the world, I was still at a transitional point in my life. I was about to enter my senior year of high school, and like Harry, I was going to have to graduate and make my way into a new world. And while many may not like the epilogue, that epilogue kind of gave me hope that I would make it. If Harry and the rest of the gang could find peace and happiness, I was sure I could too. Harry was there again to tell me that I'd be okay.

It's because of Harry Potter that I have made some of the best friends in my life. Without Harry Potter, I might not have made as a strong connection with Ron as quickly. Who knows if we'd have been more than passing accquaintances? And without Ron it is quite possible I never would have heard about the Running Start program and finished college in 2 years instead of 4. Without Ron I might have never found Western, the absolutely perfect university for me.

Without Harry Potter, there's no way I would have met Natalie Hoyt or Chris Godwin or Erin Brewer. I never would have met the wonderful people at the Hive, people who've taught me a lot about life and loosening up. The people I met in London started the process of loosening me up, but the people at the Hive helped finish the process, turning me back into a twenty-year-old young woman who can have fun rather than a quiet, homebody who knows more about responsibility than acting like a teenager. These people have enriched my life more than I could have imagined.

I've earned my Snitch wings as a Harry Potter fan. I've sat 19.5 hours in line for the Order of the Phoenix midnight movie premiere, in 103 degree heat. I've frozen to death and burned my hands on a hand dryer waiting in line for the Deathly Hallows Part 1 movie premiere. I have the inscription on Gringotts memorized and have freaked people out by opening foreign editions of the books and reading the first page because I have it so clearly in my mind.

I've fought tooth and nail for Jeopardy victory as a Ravenclaw and corrected people making Jeopardy questions when they've gotten it wrong (like the fact that JK Rowling's middle name is not Kathleen but took her grandmother's name because she doesn't have a middle name). And of course I've had people look at me with confusion, shock, and (very rarely) awe when I recite such facts. I can quote the musicals practically word for word and I've walked through campus dressed in Hogwarts gear.

It's been fourteen years since Harry entered my life. The first time I picked up a Harry Potter book, I'd never cooked dinner or done laundry or driven a car. I had few friends and nowhere near as big a book collection. The internet was still young, DVDs were a novel device and Walkman's were still common. It was a very different world than where we are now, and a simpler time for me.

When I started reading I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I didn't know how to write good stories, or even that I wanted to. But I think JK Rowling is part of the reason why I've become a writer. The idea that entire worlds could be created and people brought to life, simply through words ensnared my imagination. Harry and Jo made me realize I had stories of my own to tell. And that I didn't need to be a writing god to do so.

Harry Potter is one of those generational things that will forever unite everyone in this generation. Even people who don't like Harry Potter are bound to it in a way that's hard to explain but can't be escaped. Everyone knows who Harry is, knows at least part of his story. And it has tied children, growing up all over the world, to each other. One common ground that may seem small, but may end up one day being the difference between peace and war (even if it may simply be a small peace, in the sense of getting along with someone unexpected).

Many fans are saddened because they say this is the end of Harry Potter. But it's not really. It's the end of an era certainly, and I will be weeping at the premiere at the comclusion of another chapter in my Harry Potter experience. But Harry Potter is like Dumbledore at Hogwarts. As Harry says, "He'll never be gone. Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him." Harry will always be there for those that need him, just as "Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home" (Jo Rowling, UK premiere). That is Harry's legacy."

I have also created an "It's the Last Harry Potter Movie EVER" playlist for when I'm sitting in line on Thursday. And I have it here for you, broken into helpful categories:

The Tearjerker I-Can't-Believe-It's-The-End Songs

Open at the Close by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYGUxbGOL8c&feature=related

End of An Era by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vDjOv_B4Gk&feature=related

Marching On by OneRepublic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWKEXvtsWRE

Missing You from A Very Potter Musical (listen to the lyrics. It applies nearly as well for our feelings about Harry) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOI7hnqjvsY

Hallows (Beyonce's Halo Parody) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y_opQoYVHQ

Don't Leave by Ministry of Magic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMsjWSLZL7U

Where Are You Now by Honor Society http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UqlZdqONvY

The Meaning of Lonely by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2_WNYZkRbk&feature=related

Those Voices from A Very Potter Sequel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9S7bFt_1B4

Harry Potter Will Never End

This Is Not Harry Potter by Hank Green http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZaCxfiUHs

Days of Summer from A Very Potter Sequel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fjOr0ZHpS4&feature=related

Book Eight by Hank Green http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGS4nIzelpA&feature=related

Get Back to Hogwarts from A Very Potter Musical http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onLHQzROass&feature=related

What Harry's Meant To Us

Firebolt by BYU's Divine Comedy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySN8Q4U6wys

Not Alone from A Very Potter Musical http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gctiXV0pu_0

Not Alone by Darren Criss (Yes, I needed both. Besides, now Harry Potter is singing it to us) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUquTr3Tcv0&feature=related

To Have A Home from A Very Potter Sequel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8IfUj4ndXo&feature=related

I'm Going to Hogwarts by Lauren Fairweather http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_5EX6llDZk

Tell Me A Story by Librarian Lily and The Tales of the Bard (This song doesn't actually exist online. I only have it because I got a CD at Yule Ball and I don't believe there's a way to post MP3s. Sorry)

Tribute to the Boy Who Changed Lives (And The Ones Who Changed His)

The Boy Who Lived by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P66zZVoYUDw&feature=related

Harry Freakin' Potter from A Very Potter Sequel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7Ffm7jRXtg&feature=related

Waving Flag by K'naan (it's more the sentiment of the song and only some of the lyrics that make me think of Harry (could also apply to the remaining members of the DA at Hogwarts in year 7) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMo9vNVkPOs

Sirius Black, Fly Away by WeasleySweaters (one of the best Friday Parodies ever. It doesn't even sound like the same song) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0vGdmzUEhU&feature=channel_video_title

Give It Up by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZMyJ7r2pgE&feature=related

Mischief Managed by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWdhpHioVqM&feature=related

Fan Pride

We R Slytherins (Ke$ha Parody) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiO3dyAT7pA

Ravenclaws (Friday Parody) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcJ8-qMd400&feature=related

Lumos Flies by Ministry of Magic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d27qTpzBHKs&feature=related

This Isn't Hogwarts by Hank Green http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Gt9m64LBg

We R Lightning Scars (Ke$ha Parody) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUvV0f5SAZU&feature=related

The Harry Song (Lazy Song Paroday) by WeasleySweaters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG_ZzYqKI_4

Accio Deathly Hallows by Hank Green http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvvFiZyEyTA&feature=relmfu

Get Pumped to Fight Voldemort

Voldemort is Going Down from A Very Potter Musical http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JoOuM9dT6w

No Way from A Very Potter Sequel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-rxyizcX18&feature=related

Spells and Scars by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQdp3O-7Ri4

We Are the DA by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uFk8JcwfX4

The Hallows by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8YWAbhY2Ds&feature=related

Hunt You Down by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1MzSnj3MSg&feature=related

Flight of the Prince by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZJlBmw4J_c&feature=related

I May Lose Everything by Ministry of Magic (a little more low-key, but great lyrics that especially dovetail with the end of Deathly Hallows) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j88w2ZDRTJo&feature=related

Adventures in Cooking: The Saddest Little Pirate Ship That Ever Did Sail

A couple of months ago, during the middle of the Spring quarter at Western, Team Starkid was having a contest to advertise their newest show: Starship. To enter you just had to make a profile picture that was in some way Starship related. My friend Becky and I decided that we should make a cake. A pirate ship cake. With stars on it. (Get it? Star Ship?)

To make sure we could actually do this, we searched the internet and actually found directions on making a pirate ship cake (which of course looked epic, as all bakery examples from housemoms with far too much time on their hands tend to do). And we were like, "We can totally do this!" Oh internet, why must you lie so cruelly?

We went out and bought a funfetti cake mix, along with funfetti frosting (because that is the best frosting of all (or it was until they took the candy bits out of the frosting itself)) along with the basic boxed cake mix ingredients like oil and eggs. But alas, after getting it all back we didn't get time to make it and missed the deadline.

Fast forward to dead week of Spring and Becky messages me, reminding me that we still have the cake mix. So we set a day and thus the cake adventure begins. There were signs right away that this would not turn out as smoothly as it should. The first was that we didn't actually have a bowl large enough to mix up the entire box mix.

Okay, no sweat. We split the mix into two bowls and split the ingredients between the two (doing this with the three eggs was very interesting). At first, one was very watery and the other was kind of dry and yellow (it was a white cake mix). But, here the universal rule of sauces appeared: if you let it stand a little, it will thicken up. It finally actually started looking like cake mix and we managed to mix it all together and pour it in the pan (which we did grease).

Now, Becky's oven actually is bitter about its lot in life and hates the people who use it. She told me that once her roommate was making chicken and she'd been waiting nearly an hour for it to cook and it still looked fairly raw. She left it, came back five minutes later and it was burned. Like I said, it hates people.

So we put it in for twenty minutes and went to check it. The top looked kind of golden, so we pulled the pan towards us to check it...and it jiggled. Like it was semi-solid Jello. Yeah, that didn't look right. So we put it back in and decided to check it again in ten minutes. At which point the middle still jiggled. Not good. We put it back in. We pulled it out and put it back three more times before it was finally cooked.

And then we faced a new dilemma: getting it out of the pan. Because it was greased, it should have fallen out gracefully with just a little edge work. We tried to flip it onto a plate. No dice. We shimmied a knife around the edge again and tried again...nada. One more time, we cut around the edge, this time sliding the knife slightly under the cake as well.

Third time's a charm. Sort of. This is what happened:

Half the cake exited correctly. The other half was still stuck in the pan. *facepalm* But it was okay, since we had decided to cut the cake in half to have a base anyway. So ha ha Cake, the joke's on you! (Yes, I am mocking the cake that has already been consumed. This way it can't torture me any further).

We started off frosting the cake with a knife. And right off a couple of issues arose. A) Our cake was still kind of warm because we were impatient ferrets who needed to make it now, and B) we had cut off some of the golden part to give us a flat surface for our deck, which unfortunately meant that c) pieces of cake flaked off. But, we just turned those pieces into our ocean. Yes, we were insanely determined not to let the cake beat us.

At this point we just decided to give up using the knife and instead frost it with our fingers. Well, Becky was frosting it mostly, since I am more of a supervisor than craftsman. Also, I figured that I really wouldn't be doing a better job, although I did try to frost a little bit. And I got the same result of cake collecting on my fingers instead of frosting collecting on the cake.

Oh well, we still managed to get the cake frosted and set a little deck up. We even broke up some tiny Popsicle sticks to make it look more deck-like. Sadly, we didn't have any of the blue frosting you can get that comes out like spray cheese, or we would have used that to color our ocean.

Then it came time to build the mast. Instead of cutting one long piece of cake and reinforcing that one piece so it stood up, we decided to cut up a bunch of little pieces and build it cake brick by cake brick. Yes, we are insane. Even more so when you consider that we had to frost each of these cake bricks to get them to stick together.

There is a very good reason that Becky looks perplexed here. Frosting the little buggers was even more tiresome and difficult than doing the cake. It was like tiny cake imps were shoving the frosting off as we tried to put it on the square. Try to roll it on and it would just stick to your finger. Dabbing, I swear more of the frosting came off, even if none was on it.

I even pitched in to try a couple of bricks. As you can see, more of it ended up on my hands than probably ended up on the cake itself. We probably sat there for a good twenty minutes trying to get these little pieces frosted so they could stand up as our mast. We may not be cake masters, but we were determined, dang it.

In the end, we did manage to get the mast up, but as you can see, it was heavily leaning on side supports and popsicle sticks in the middle. We weren't even entirely sure it would stay up through the finishing touches and travel time to the Glee Mary Kay Party (which is where it was destined for since we couldn't eat an entire cake ourselves). But we gave it the benefit of the doubt.

Okay, so we still had a lot of doubt. We decided to just stick one of the star sticky notes on the cake's mast and call it good. We stuck it on and then frantically took pictures, willing it not to fall down in the process. As you may be able to tell, it was still quite precarious and probably one of the saddest pirate ship cakes to ever be made.

But we were very freakin' proud out it. It was messed up from the beginning, failed to cooperate, looked nothing like the picture, and we still had about a half a can of frosting and a third to a quarter of the cake that we didn't use. But dang it, we made a pirate ship cake. We made a Starship. And despite it's woebegone appearance, it was absolutely delicious.

So that is the tale of the saddest little pirate ship cake in the world. And hopefully the first of adventures in cooking segments to come. Because I keep trying to tell people I can't cook, but I have to learn because otherwise I will live off of toast and sandwiches which, delicious as they are, get a little tedious after a while. So, on to the next adventure!

And Then The Harry Potter Fans Broke The Internet (Plus Geek Is Not A Members Only Club)

Anyone who is a Harry Potter fan probably already knows that at four this morning (Pacific Standard Time) JK Rowling released a special announcement about her new site: Pottermore. This site is going to be an interactive way to read the Harry Potter books. There'll be games to play and you get sorted and get a wand and go to Hogwarts. You can see some of the screenshots here and it looks so flippin' amazing! It'll go live in October, but on July 31st a group will be selected to beta test the site.

Now, as I mentioned, this announcement was made at 4 this morning (at least in my time zone). A normal person would just check what the announcement was first thing in the morning. I am not a normal person. A slightly less sane person may have just set an alarm to wake up, check the announcement, and then go back to sleep. I am not that sane.

No, I am the person who stayed up until four this morning, waiting to see what JK would tell us. Instead of sleeping like a normal person (and one who had to be up at 8:30 this morning), I sat in front of my laptop, cataloging my books, and chatting with other friends who are just as crazy as I am.

I watched the announcement, I followed the owl, and I tried to input my email, before giving up because it wasn't working for me. I have tried periodically throughout the day and only just now made it through. Which brings me to believed that one day, when the internet crashes and dies, it will be because of the Harry Potter fandom.

I have no clue how this phenomenon will come to pass. I don't know what we'll do to flood the servers and break them for good, but I am sure, based on how long it's taken to wade through the masses and finally get my email in, that we will short circuit the internet. Because we're just going to keep growing as years go on and the children of the fans are introduced to the series. The geek generation is starting to have children and they will be Harry Potter fans.

Speaking of the geek generation, I'd like to bring up the mudslinging happening in the bowels of the internet over Miss America winner Alyssa Campanella and whether she can be a geek. People lit up Twitter, arguing that she can't be a geek because she's too pretty. Many people believed she was lying just because being a geek is considered cool now.

One man said on Twitter "anybody that can walk in a bar and get free drinks all night shouldn't constitute as a 'geek'. 'less they're doing ppl's hmwrk." And while I could smack the guy's use of English, that's not the biggest issue with this statement. The biggest issue here is that being a geek has become a kind of club that only certain people are allowed into. If you aren't geek enough, if you're too pretty, if you aren't smart enough, you can't be in the club.

You know what that reminds me of? The popular people clique in high school. The people who dictated where you ranked in school. Isn't part of being a geek being able to throw off the restrictions on what you have to be to fit in? As a geek you get to love things and talk with people who like the same things as you. What part of that says only certain people can do that?

And I kind of get why some people feel threatened by people hopping on the bandwagon because being a geek is cool now. Some of the people jumping in are those who mocked us mercilessly for liking the same thing in school. What's to say they won't ruin the wonderful thing fandom and geekery has created?

But you know what's been created by those things, the best part of being a geek? It's getting to love something wholeheartedly and unashamedly and sharing that love with others. It's outside the bounds of what's "in". Geeks get to make their own niche, burrow down deep, and stay there, nice and cozy, chatting with others in nearby burrows, unaffected by the changing social climate of the world. All we need is a fan to chat with and we're good.

Why aren't other people allowed to love things, just because maybe they're a little late to the party? Are you not a Harry Potter fan unless you've been there since 1997 when it released? Are you not a fan if you only recently fell in love with Doctor Who? Who are we to dictate the love people are allowed to have for things?

Personally, I think even if people are jumping on the bandwagon, there's a high probability they'll find something they truly enjoy and after the social fads have turned to something else, those people will still have a fandom and fans to geek out over things. And then maybe shows like Firefly will get to live on, while some of the more mind-numbing shows can finally be laid to rest (I'm looking at you Kardashians).

Here and here are a couple more arguments about not shunning people from the geek community. I hope that people understand that dictating who can do what or who can be something is absurd. Keep an open mind and maybe you'll get another fan to join your cult ;)

He Can Keep My Bed Warm Any Night

Wow, apparently I completely fail at blogging. And this is doubly fail for the fact that I haven't actually had a lot going on. Plus I even had ideas of what to write. I just never actually did it. That seems like some kind of metaphor for my life so I'm going to walk quickly in the other direction now.

Anyway, I am going to start trying to institute a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule of posting. It doesn't seem that that should be too hard. And Fridays will most likely consist of the newest book blog video and the Nerdtastica video of the week.

So, anyway, this post is actually about a meme I discovered back on my Livejournal from 2008. Which doesn't seem like a long time ago, but I was still in high school at that point. And the meme was The Top Ten Guys You Wouldn't Kick Out Of Bed. Here is what I originally wrote down:

1. Edward Cullen from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series
2. Rob Wilkins from Meg Cabot's 1-800-WHERE-R-U series
3. Numair Salmalin from Tamora Pierce's Immortal's series
4. Nawat Crow from Tamora Pierce's Trickster's series
5. Jesse De Silva fro Meg Cabot's Mediator series
6. Eric the Vampire from Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series
7. Quinn from Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series
8. Rosto the Piper from Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper series
9. Jaguar from Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' Midnight Predator book
10. George Cooper from Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness series

As you may be able to tell, this was before I had hit my stride in the vampire and romance novel worlds. Which means that my list now is way more awesome. You may also notice that all of these people are from books. That should give you a clue about what kind of person I was (and still am for the most part).

I have decided to update this list, in no particular order. And this time, there's a reason.

10. Numair Salmalin from Tamora Pierce's Immortals Quartet

There's actually another picture in this post that I love even more of him, but I also like his expression here. Numair is one of the most powerful mages in the world (he turned a person into a tree, that's how freakin' powerful this guy is) but he never acts that way. When asked what level robe he is, he replies, "None. Do you know how hot those things are?" He's a sweet guy, a loyal guy, and a guy who turns people into trees when they shoot arrows at the girl he loves. Plus, he worried more about Daine's feelings than his own when it came to his love for her, since he's quite a bit older. I've always loved this guy. Lucky Daine.

9. Eric Northman from Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Series

Ah Eric. He's sexy, he has a sense of humor, and he's fiercely loyal to those he chooses. Yes, he can be stubborn and he's definitely a vampire which he never tries to hide or change. He's fine with who he is, but he also doesn't always have the same scruples about killing others that we do. But still, he's my choice for who Sookie should end up with. And that part with his maker, Godric, in season 2? That made me cry.

8. Rob Wilkins from Meg Cabot's 1-800-Where-R-You series

(I can't find any fan art of him :( Sad day)

Okay, why should you love Rob? Well for one, he's an honorable guy. He clearly is in love with Jess, but he backs off because she's underage (okay, partly that's because he's on probation, but I think it's also for her). And even though he can't date her, he still spends time helping her with her harebrained ideas because he doesn't want her to get hurt (or die). And of course, he rides a motorcycle and has the whole sexy bad boy thing going for him. That never hurts ;)

7. Zuko from Avatar The Last Airbender (the show not the movie)

Yes, Zuko has some definite issues (especially with anger) and you kind of roll your eyes at him in the beginning of the series. But by the end, I fell in love with him. So much so that when I look for fan art I don't even car who he's with; I just want some Zuko. Because he's kind of given a crap hand in life and even though it takes him forever, he eventually realizes the right and wrong side of the war. Plus I just want to hug him when crap starts happening to him. Oh and fire is awesome.

6. Prince Charmont from Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted.

I couldn't find one I liked of him alone, but this scene is actually one of my favorites in the book. Ella has sent him a heartbreaking letter and has run from him like a madwoman and he's still completely in love with her (so much he's said he'll never marry because she said she'd been married off in her letter). And yet he tells her, "You need not be Ella if you don't want to be." He's sweet and kind and funny and doesn't act like a pompous prat because he's a prince (*coughcoughJonathanofConteinWWRLAMcoughcough*). In fact he goes out of his way to help his people. And I fell in love with him the first time I read the book (Psst, read the book, don't just see the movie. Char is so much better in the book).

5. Leo from Tamara Summers' Save the Date

(He's from a stand alone YA romance novel. I didn't really expect there to be fan art of him)

Leo is the son of a wedding planner and he's still a romantic. He's funny and sweet and is willing to stick it out through the heroine's paranoia and stupidity. He goes along with her, just hoping he can win her over and see that her idea of a curse is bogus. I think he's the reason I keep reading that book over and over.

4. Flynn Rider from Disney's Tangled

You gotta love the smolder. Okay, I know that as a matter of principle, we should resist the bad boys because they'll leave us with nothing but heartache. But I think Flynn is still my favorite Disney hero. He's daring, he's sensitive (eventually), and he's not so bullheadedly stubborn that he refuses to love Rapunzel. Plus **************SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER**************

he's willing to give up his own life so she doesn't have to live with her emotionally abusive "mother" Gothel. If that isn't real love, I don't know what is (sidebar here: You do not actually need to die to show you love someone. This is more of a he put her before his own desires. You can obviously do this in a number of less severe ways).

3. Nathan Fillion (as Castle, as Captain Mal, as himself, as WHOEVER)

He really is ruggedly handsome. Okay, Nathan Fillion rocks at whatever character he's playing. You're not even really supposed to like the guy in Waitress (hello, he's encouraging her to have an affair and he's cheating on his wife) and I still liked him. As a person, he's genuinely funny and obviously is okay with laughing at himself. Plus, he can sing (if you have no idea what I'm talking about go watch Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog).

2. Zsadist from JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series

Of course I had to have on of my brothers here. It's a very, very close race, but I think Zsadist is my favorite of the brothers. He's also one of the most messed up (the brother tied with him for most screwed up being Vishous, who is almost tied with him for first in my heart). So yes, he had some anger issues and brooding and can slice you up six ways to Sunday (<---this is an odd phrase) before you can blink if you're a lesser. But he also works through it and gets his crap together, not just for Bella but for himself. And he doesn't expect Bella to take him back when he gets it together; he just wants to be able to see her every now and then. Which is why he gets two pictures. The badassery above, and this sweet one *SPOILER FOR THE END OF LOVER AWAKENED*

Awwwwww.

1. Bones (Crispin Russell III) from Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress Series

Yes, this is a photo of James Marsters, AKA Spike. However, Bones is a badass British vampire with snark. I think Spike fits him well. What can I say about Bones? He is sweet, loyal, and incredibly patient (look at all the crap he puts up with from Cat). And he doesn't whine or brood, which I love. He knows what he is and who he is and what he wants. And he is incredibly sexy. I'm sure he has faults (like the fact that he murders and tortures his enemies, but hey they tried to kill him first) but I'm not certain what they are right now.

So there is my revised list. And a few are the same, but many new ones have been added. The old guys are there, they're just further down. Is there anyone on your list that you think I'm missing?

From Imagination to Reality

I am of the opinion that one of the most rewarding things about being an author is probably seeing people take your words and create something corporeal (I just happen to like the world corporeal right now). Seeing an idea made into something tangible is just amazing to me. And I may not be published, but I for one love seeing something I've written in a real life form.

For the purposes of this discussion, we're going to leave out the slightly murky waters of fanfiction (which I kind of love and can see it having it's place. But some authors think it's evil so we're just going to leave it alone. No! Back! We'll talk about you another time, Fanfiction. Go wait over there *points and waits as fanfiction grumbles away). Okay, now that we've established that, what the heck am I actually talking about?

Well fan art, for one thing. I mean, there are some spectacular artists out there. And some of them are fan girls who get giddy about things and draw their favorite scenes or characters from books (or movies I suppose, but movies are kind of outside the bringing to life dynamic I'm talking about here). And these people draw stuff like this:

Sweet James and Lily taking a rest from Harry. Who they love but who I'm sure was a handful. Hello, he had Sirius as a godfather (credit to julvett on DeviantArt.com)

Or this:

A stunning Hermione. Who looks both smart and beautiful. There's a reason she was my rolemodel as a kid. (credit to alicexz on DeviantArt.com)

Or even this:

Numair resting. Probably worn out from doing some impressive feat of magic. And some well-meaning child has lent him a teddy bear. Or that belongs to Sarralyn or Rikash. (credit to waterysilver on DeviantArt.com. Oh, and I want a Numair.)

Aren't these amazing? Wouldn't you absolutely love to be a writer and have someone take the people in your head and bring them to life? I know I do. That's why I always comb the NaNoWriMo boards with huge puppy eyes for people to draw my characters. Because when I draw them, it's not quite the same effect as this:

This is Isabelle, who is the main heroine in my trilogy. And this artist has made her beautiful, with a look like she's casing the room and yet a little nervous (at least that's what I see and what she's feeling at this scene in the novel. Which I need to be finishing. Damn. Credit to NaNoWriMo user Ankhesenamun)

These people are amazing. Fan art in general is just such a wonderful expansion of the creative power of books. Fan art says, "You have inspired me. In some small way you have encouraged my talents and I hope you are happy with the result." Isn't that freakin' amazing? And with the internet, you can create communities where you share these amazing things and then someone else is inspired and so on and so forth. It's a chain of creative encouragement.

And then there are the people who write music. Based on writing! Sometimes the lyrics are beautiful and poignant and encompass the feeling you get when you read the book. Like End of an Era by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls.

A beautiful song about how sad it is that Harry Potter is ending, but the fans will never forget how it changed them. (By the way, Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls is just a fantastic group. The lyrics are beautiful in this song and Open at the Close (which you should only listen to if you want to cry. It focuses on the Forest Scene in Deathly Hallows))

Or the song Sun's Lament by Mitch Hansen Band

Yes, the song is Twilight related. That doesn't make it any less of a great song. It's sad and wonderful. Besides, I like Twilight under the conditions of treating it as brain cotton candy.

And then you have the songs on the more amusing end of things.

(Why no, this isn't an excuse to post more VlogBrothers. Why would you think that? :)) Still love this song. And he predicted Hedwig's death!

An entire genre of music popped up around Harry Potter: Wrock. How amazing would that be? To have your idea so loved that people create music about it? That there seems like it would be a reward beyond your dreams.

And then you have just the fun fan project of when you make up foods in your book and then people go out and create these foods. My biggest example is again Harry Potter. There is an actual Harry Potter Cookbook, with recipes for Pumpkin Pasties (which I can actually make and not screw up! (well, as long as I don't try to make my own pastry dough)) and Treacle Tart. And people have created recipes for Butterbeer! I like this one. It sounds delicious.

I know a lot of this was Harry Potter, but that's because the fandom exploded so much it made it easy to find Harry Potter stuff. There is definitely a lot of other fandoms with art and projects and amazing out there. So go and google your favorite fandom. You make be surprised what you come up with.