In Which I Apologize Profusely for having been Absent from the Blogosphere

Seeing as how I have once again been MIA from my blog for awhile, I thought I’d ease us all back into things. Slow and steady, no? So we’re just going to play catch-up. Last I posted, I wrote about my time in Dublin. Wow, that seems like forever ago. So much has happened over the last two and a half months (has it really been that long since I’ve posted? I’m the worst), so here’s the quick and dirty:

December:

• I returned to the States! I finished my time abroad and flew into DC to hang out with my friends at GW during their reading week. This was really important to me since a lot of my friends are now abroad. Visiting in December was my only real opportunity to see them before our Senior Year started. Waiting that long to see all of my wonderful friends just wasn’t going to cut it so I did what made sense – I came to DC for a visit. We watched the requisite winter movie Love, Actually. We watched political debates. We ate peppermint bark. We went out to dinner. We reconnected.
• I visited family. No matter what, winter break is a time for me to visit family. I managed to squeeze trips to both Michigan and New York out of my four week break. I hung out with my cousins, ate amazing Polish food, hit the outlet malls, cleaned out my grandparent’s kitchen, drove through Allegheny National Forest. It was a grand ole time.

January:

• I watched my beloved Alabama Crimson Tide trounce LSU. I made caramel corn during half time and wore my Roll Tide t-shirt.
• I moved back to DC and into my new dorm. I’ve been really busy with school and work, and spending time with my friends (none of whom live in the same building as myself) but I like my room well enough. It’s tiny and doesn’t have enough storage space, but it’ll do for a home away from home until May.
• I celebrated a birthday! It was really low-key, but I was with my friends, and that’s all that matters. We ate chocolate-covered cheesecake. Need I say more?
• Band started up again! I basically spend all of my time with them, bouncing between Symphonic Band and pep band rehearsals and basketball games, but it’s always fun. We have traditions and inside jokes and a lot of love for each other. It’s wonderful.

February:

• Celebrated the first annual Alan Rickmas. What is that, you may ask? The Sunday before Alan Rickman’s birthday you get together with a bunch of your friends and day-drink while watching Alan Rickman movies. This year we watched Nobel Son, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Galaxy Quest, Love Actually, and Die Hard. It’s a grand day that we hope to replicate for years to come.

Can’t you see I’ve been super busy? I hope y’all understand why I haven’t been posting. I’m also taking a creative writing class this semester which is taking a lot of writing focus. So is my recapping duty over at Off Color TV for Parks and Recreations. You can find my posts here.

In my free time (when not hanging out with friends, obviously) I’ve been trying to catch up on all of my TV watching. I’m floundering to keep up with my regular shows week-to-week, but I’ve managed to watch all of Party Down (loved it so much; can’t wait for the movie), and have worked my way into season 4 of Supernatural (enjoying it a lot).

Trying to spend more time reading because I feel like I’ve been neglecting my books. I’m halfway through the third Hitchhiker’s Guide book. I finished Downtown Owl, finally. I just purchased Bossypants and The Hunger Games to reread over spring break and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? because I love and admire Mindy Kaling.

Nothing too exciting is in my near future. I’ve been applying to summer jobs/internships so that I can (hopefully) stay in DC over the summer. I’m impatiently awaiting March 23rd because I just want to see the Hunger Games already and… Guys. I have a lot of feelings about this book. Expect a post about it in the near future. Suffice it to say for the time being that I’m in need of a good cry and the dam’s going to break when I see that movie. I’ve already warned the friends I’m going to see it with (midnight premiere, what-what?). I plan on packing lots and lots of tissues.

Have a listen to one of my favorite songs from Brighton, which I’ve been told is finally starting to be popular Stateside. Just remember, I heard/liked it first.

The End of an Era

My childhood is coming to an end in the most profound way imaginable – with a movie franchise. But honestly, it’s not just any franchise, it’s Harry freaking Potter. The Chosen One. The Boy Who Lived. Potty wee Potter. We’ve both grown up, and it’s time to part ways. But I’m not leaving his side without a fight. No way, no how. I’m taking the last stand at the Battle of Hogwarts. just like all of our classmates.

That’s right, our classmates. Because I was there, right along with him. Ever wonder why you don’t know all of the girls’ names in Harry’s year in Gryffindor house? Because one of them is me. Hermione, Parvati, Lavender, and Molly. Fit right in, don’t I?

And I’m trying really hard to keep my cool about the release of the final film. Though I know that I’m going to fail spectacularly, I have to at least try. Because, for the rest of the week, if not the entire summer, I’ll just be a blubbering mess.

The other day my brother said I used to be obsessed with Harry Potter. I thought it funny he used the past tense. I pointedly corrected him, saying that I am still very much obsessed with it and not at all ashamed. He found that odd, as he was used to using “Harry Potter fan” as a disparaging remark. He never really got Harry Potter, preferring JRR Tolkein’s world of Hobbits. To each his own, I guess, but I’ll stick with the wizarding world of Harry Potter, thank you very much. We got into a discussion of which world was superior, which characters stronger, who would reign supreme in a fight. (The wizards, obviously. All you need is the flick of the wand, and besides, Harry’s got the sword of Gryffindor on his side.)

One of my ongoing struggles with my dad is my seemingly futile attempt to get him to understand just how big a part Harry Potter has played in my life. I once told him that the best prank he ever could have played on me would have been to give me a fake acceptance letter to Hogwarts. He could’ve filmed it. My reaction would have been worth over a million hits on YouTube, easily. Because you better believe I waited for my letter. Not just when I was eleven, but until I was 20. I’ve now resigned myself to the fact that I’m probably just a Squib.

Anne and I have had many a conversation about Harry Potter, as well. Our topics of discussion would range from what house we’d be in to what classes we’d take. (Obviously I’m a Gryffindor, but I wouldn’t shirk away from being placed in Ravenclaw. Anne’s somewhere between a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw.) My favorite topics of thought tend to be what classes I’d get to take if I went to Hogwarts. Of course I’d take all of the basic, required courses, but when you get into your 3rd year at Hogwarts, you also sign up for some electives. Choices include: Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Whereas Anne would pull a Hermione and take all of them, I would restrain myself to Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes.

The thing that I don’t understand about Harry Potter, (that’s not true, there’s a whole litany of things coming in a different post) is how every muggle-born student doesn’t excel at their schoolwork? How could they not be so freaking excited about being magical that they wouldn’t devour every book placed in front of them? That they wouldn’t practice every spell, charm, enchantment, and jinx until they nailed it. Because that’s what I’d be like. I’d be another Hermione Granger and I would never, ever apologize for it.

I can’t fathom not being a complete geek about Harry Potter or his world. I let it pull me in like it was Devil’s Snare. Because Harry Potter has a real world, it’s just not tangible. I’ve been a part of the world for the last eleven years and I don’t plan on leaving any time soon. I’ll know the spells, the secret passageways in Hogwarts, Mr. Filch’s list of banned items, the members of the Order of the Phoenix. I’ll cower away from Fluffy and those damned Blast-Ended Skrewts. I’ll defend Neville and Luna, jinx Pansy Parkinson, and punch Draco Malfoy. I’ll attempt to disarm the Death Eaters I happen across. I’ll drive away dementors and obliterate boggarts. I’ll keep Hagrid and Fang company and be a faithful customer at Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. Hell, I’d probably have been one of their test subjects during the early days of their Skiving Snackboxes. (That’s not true, there’s too much Hermione in me; I’d try and confiscate their goods for my own nefarious purposes.) I’ll have an Arnold, a Crookshanks, and a Hedwig. I’ll own stock in sugar quills and always have a bottle of color-changing ink handy. But I will never, ever, buy that putrid pink parchment that the deplorable Dolores Umbridge favored. Oh, and I’ll own a broomstick, but I still haven’t decided between the new Cleansweep or the new Nimbus yet.

After tomorrow night, once I’ve seen the final premiere, can someone just come over and obliviate my memory? That way, I can enjoy Harry Potter again, just as if it were the first time. Otherwise I’ll just be here, sobbing. Because it’s the end of an era, dammit. At least I’ll have Pottermore to look forward to.

To: Stephen Sondheim, Re: Company

Dear Mr. Sondheim,

I would like to take this opportunity to express my extreme gratitude to you for bringing the world “Company.” I’ll admit it, the first few times I saw it, I wasn’t so sure. It’s a musical about relationships and marriage. Kind of a tough sell, don’t you think?

It wasn’t that I didn’t love the first version that I saw. The 2006 Broadway Revival cast with Raul Esparza as Bobby was great. He did a wonderful job. The minimal set was crisp, clean, and I loved the fact that the actors played instruments.

But it didn’t really “pop” for me. It was kind of blah and left me feeling meh. For what’s a musical without some flashy, showy, grandiosity? Nothing. I mean, what would the Music Man have been without “76 Trombones”? Or Rent without “525,600 Minutes”? What would the 2011 Tony Award winning, The Book of Mormon have been without “I Believe”? Just a boring story about Mormons, that’s what.

But I have to admit, over the past few months I’ve slowly fallen in love with Company. To the point where I actually wanted to take a Megabus up to NYC to see the New York Philharmonic’s performance. Alas, I didn’t have that kind of money to spend, so I was over the moon excited when I found out that it would have a limited release in theaters this summer. Honestly, it was my second-most eagerly anticipated theater release this summer, only beat by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II.

The cast was phenomenal. I honestly enjoyed everyone’s performance; the casting balanced Broadway with television perfectly. Here’s were the notes that stood out the most:

• Christina Hendricks did a good job. Honestly, I haven’t really watched Mad Men (I know, I know – for shame!), so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, one of my favorite moments througout the entire production was her character April’s story about the butterfly.

• Stephen Colbert had a serviceable voice. I had only ever heard him perform at the Rally for Sanity, and that wasn’t really the optimal setting to judge his voice. He did well, but looked super awkward while singing. It just seemed like he didn’t know what to do with his hands. Jon Cryer looked much more at ease.

• I fell more in love with Neil Patrick Harris, a feat I no longer thought possible. Keep in mind that I watched this after his hosting gig at the Tonys. Is he ever not delightful?

• Aside from April’s butterfly anecdote, my favorite scene was Amy’s wedding freak-out. I think that happened because I could easily identify with her. Committing to one person for the rest of your life? That’s crazy talk! But she’d really already been in that position. She metaphorically hit herself on the head and charged ahead.

The format in which the musical was presented – not a full stage production, but not simply a concert, either – and cast really pulled me in and made me understand the musical better than I had on my previous three viewings. I felt more connected with the characters and plot. For the first time I really came away feeling like I understood everything that was being broadcast instead of kind of being comfortably confused about it all. Bobby became less of a character and more of a person to me. The story seemed juicier as well as being easier to swallow. If this version ever comes out on DVD, I’ll actually go out and buy it. Even if my friends already have copies.

So, if you ever feel like doing another stage showing of Company, allow me to make a few suggestions. May I present to you my Dream Cast:

Bobby: Neil Patrick Harris

Sarah : Ellen Degeneres

Harry: Nathan Fillion

Susan : Evan Rachel Wood

Peter : Jason Segel

Jenny: Felicia Day

David: Joel McHale

Amy: Jayma Mays

Paul: Rob Lowe

Joanne: Jane Lynch

Larry: Robert Sean Leonard

April: Zoey Deschanel

Marta: Rosario Dawson

Kathy: Sarah Paulson

Sincerely,

Molly

Anticlimactic Summer Plans

I’m pulling a Hannah, and there’s no way I will apologize for such behavior, because she is awesome. Anyway, the other day, Hannah posted her summer reading list, and I figured, why not do the same? Especially since the guilt of not posting in over a fortnight is crippling me. But that’s the way it goes, nothing happens in the summer, least of all May. Just me bumming around, waiting for friends to come home, waiting for work to start, making playlists for the imminent hours to be logged at the lovely BVFAC. So, without further ado, my summer reading list:

Zombie Spaceship Wasteland by Patton Oswalt

Loud in the House of Myself by Stacy Pershall

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (because I haven’t read it in 3 years)

The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris

The Magus by John Fowles

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (because it’s my dad’s favorite book and I haven’t read it in over a decade)

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy by various authors, and not insignificantly the BBC

On the Road by Jack Keruac (because, unlike Hannah, my beatnik phase is just dawning)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

Portrait of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (despite the fact that mom spoiled it for me)

Hey Rube by Hunter S. Thompson

Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman

Believe it or not, that’s only about a third of my real list. But, keeping things in perspective, I probably won’t get more than this read seeing as how they’re almost exclusively literary fiction or non-fiction. Challenge accepted. I already knocked out This Side of Paradise (Fitzgerald) and Unfamiliar Fishes (Sarah Vowell). Aside from these, I also plan on reading the the 5th, 6th, and 7th Harry Potter’s in anticipation of the new film. Expect a couple of book reviews and a few more Harry Potter posts before the end of the summer. If you have any suggestions, throw them at me in the comment section!

Are You Ten Years Ago

Give or take a fortnight I’ve lived through exactly two decades. With the aughts winding down, I thought I’d take a look at the advancements, publications,  and occurrences of the decade* that were most influential in my life.

Music: iTunes, dub-step, auto-tune

• Radiohead
• The Decemberists
• The Killers
• Tegan & Sara
• Kings of Leon

Television: HD, on Demand

• West Wing
• Stargate SG-1
• Veronica Mars
• LOST
• The Daily Show

Movies: 3D (for this one I’m doing directors, it’s just easier)

• Joe Wright
• Quentin Tarantino
• David Yates
• Jason Reitman
• Lee Unkrich

Books:

• The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
• Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell
• Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
• Summerland by Michael Chabon

Fashion:

• leggings
• “vintage” t-shirts
• skinny jeans, or, conversely, jeans that are too baggy
• Vera Bradley bags
• North Face fleece jackets

Technology:

• GPS
• iPods
• Smart Phones
• Internet (modems => cable => broadband => wifi)
• social networking (Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, blogs)

Current Events:

• 9/11 terrorist attacks
• medical scares: SARS, Avian Flu, Swine Flu
• America invades Iraq & Afghanistan
• financial crisis
• hipsters

*This entire list is made up of my opinions, and the things that were the most influential to myself. Given that, I figured it’d be easiest to limit every category to five items. Keep in mind that, to me, the decade started in 2001 and lasted until the last moment of 2010. The next decade will be 2011-2020.

Generation X, Y, Z… HP?

I’m 19 years old and I never received my letter from Hogwarts. I’ve been waiting for 8 years. I’m starting to worry that I might actually be a muggle. I’d settle for squib at this point.

Being born in 1991, I am technically on the cusp of belong to both Generations Y and Z. In reality, however, I belong to the Harry Potter Generation.

Sure, I’m fluent in text-speak, can’t remember a time without cell phones or laptops, jump to the internet for the most basic queries, can barely remember using a modem for the internet… hell, I can barely remember not having the internet. Regardless, I’m not truly a member of Generation Y (1982-1994) or Generation Z (1991-2009).

~            ~            ~            ~           ~            ~          ~

I was 7 years old when the first Harry Potter book was released in the US. I picked up my first copy when I was 9. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the first book I can remember buying new from a bookstore – it was a present from my mom to read in the car while moving from Alabama to Ohio. This is a boy – a complete set of extended family, friends, enemies, mentors and teachers – that I’ve grown up with. While Harry Potter does get credit for re-engaging an apathetic generation in reading, that’s not why it’s famous to the kids who read it.

I started reading Harry Potter when I was 9 and he was 12. He was only ever a couple years older than me, in print. In the movies, we were even closer in age. I’ve literally grown up with him; I’ve snuck down the 3rd floor corridor on the right hand side, traipsed through the Forbidden Forest, punched Draco Malfoy in the face, cowered from the Death Eaters, cheered from the stands of the Quidditch World Cup, sobbed when Sirius, Dumbledore, Hedwig, George’s ear, Fred, Lupin, Tonks, and even Snape died – any emotional high or low that Harry’s been through, I felt it too.

I’ll forever resent my generation for regressing in terms of vocabulary, but I’ll champion the word “muggle” being added to the international lexicon. I won’t forget standing in a parking lot at 2 am with my friends, pretending that Roman Candles were actually wands, and that the sparks shooting out were actually related to the spells we shouted. I’ll still try to “accio” a book from across the room, “muffliato” when I’m trying to tell a secret, “sectumsempra” my brother when he gets on my nerves or “levicorpus” my roommate on April Fool’s Day.

The thing about Harry that bothers me the most, though, is that his age is a lie. Not in the sense that he’s timeless – though he is – but in the fact that this past July 31, Harry actually turned 30! In reality, he’s 11 years my senior. It feels like, just a little bit, Harry betrayed me. It’s like that episode of Friends: The One with the Ick Factor in which Monica, at 26, starts dating a guy she thinks is 22. She, lies, telling him that she’s also 22, before finding out that he’s actually only 18 – resulting in an eight year age gap.

I’m just saying, Harry, you took advantage of me a little bit. You cheapened our relationship. Regardless, you could pull a Malfoy – stomp on my face, cover me in an invisibility cloak, and leave me on a train for God knows how long – and I’d still find it in myself to forgive you. Because, Harry, you’ll always be my Chosen One.

Lock it up, Shut it down.

To quote Chris Colfer:

Today I passed a man with a “The End is Near” sign. With Oprah, Larry King, and the Harry Potter movies all ending, I think he’s right.

It’s true. Some iconic tv shows were laid to rest this last season, including: 24, Flight of the Conchords, Law & Order, LOST, Monk, and Reno 911. But, two of the most influential series of the last decade are finally shutting down. On the one hand, you have Harry Potter, and on the other, LOST. And, while I recognize that you can’t really compare the two, I’m going to anyway:

While Lost and the Harry Potter series were both  wise in knowing when to call it quits and how to wrap up their intricate plots in a relatively timely manner, overall, Harry Potter has to take the cake. Lost, while managing to change the way people watched tv, got hung up on slow reveals that weren’t always satisfying. Harry Potter, however, managed to re-engage an apathetic generation in reading.

The Final(e) Breakdown:

LOST:

• I wasn’t disappointed, but I wasn’t overwhelmed, either.
• There were a lot more questions raised than answered.
• Ambiguous which can either be satisfying for a large audience or just frustrating as hell. I was kind of cheesed off, and saw the ending as a bit of a cop-out, even though I enjoyed it. (Kind of like The Awakening.)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (book):

• Spectacular, but I thought the epilogue was a bit of a stretch (though ultimately satisfying).
• Credit for keeping the action flowing and for tying up all the loose ends
• Daring: lots of death and intrigue
• The more anticipated of the two.

Let’s get Literal, literal! I wanna get Literal…

The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows premiere is only a month and a half away and I couldn’t be more excited. Confession: I’ve never before been to a HP midnight premiere. This will be the first time. We’re getting the whole gang together for it. Costumes will be donned, the series re-read, and tickets purchased a month in advance. Look out, Georgetown, you’re going to get invaded by muggles who wish they were wizards.

This summer I confessed to my dad that when I was eleven I waited for my (seemingly inevitable) acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Clearly, it never came, seeing as how I’m sitting in my GW dorm room, but whatever. Maybe I was a little naive. Of course I wouldn’t be accepted to Hogwarts. That school is for British students. And no matter how much I wish I were British, it wasn’t going to happen. My dad mocked me for a very, very, very long time, but I don’t miss having that hope. I did, however, ream him for not having made me a fake letter and having it delivered to me. Would that have been cool, or what? If I ever have kids and they get addicted to Harry Potter, I’m for sure creating a fake wizarding school for them to be accepted to. Or I’ll kindly explain that they’re squibs. It depends on how much I like them.

Regardless, the hope that one day, maybe, I would board the Hogwarts Express with all of the other muggle-born students never really died. Sometimes I catch myself wondering: did the letter just get lost in the mail? For now I’ll just sigh and keep studying my political communications. Maybe one day I’ll be able to work as ambassador for muggle-wizard relations.