A Smattering of the Many Things I'm Grateful For this Thanksgiving

Christmas Trees     Chuck Palahniuk novels     Live music     Spotify     Jello     Mom's homemade mashed potatoes     Late nights watching How I Met Your Mother with Delia     The Thanksgiving Day Parade     Considering myself a part of two of the most beautiful cities in existence     Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church     Doctor Who     How Dad never complains about picking me up from the city     That Sandy killed my backyard but left my house and family in perfect health     The incredible amount of support I've had from countless friends and family lately     Starbucks     Gustav, the most beautiful bass I could have asked for     Halloween candy     Being a part of Company     Every tiny, insignificant thing about Northeastern     That I didn't make the kick line team in ninth grade and became a music kid instead     Slippers     My adorable little cousins     The advice and guidance from my older cousins     Skiing     Drummers     Flat irons      Shredded cheese     Harry Potter books     That of all thirteen schools I applied to, I ended up at Northeastern University     Husky Hunt     Crepes     The Pep Band     Nutella     Northeastern Hockey Games     That Nonni and Nonno and Grandma Mary are healthy and happy as ever     Lifeteen     Seinfeld     e.e. cummings poetry     Cozy sweatshirts     The friends who hugged me when I cried at the cemetery yesterday     Buona Sera garlic knots     That Alice in Wonderland exists    Musicals in and about New York City     My correctly aligned jaw     That my parents met and fell in love and got married and had me to begin with     That Laura is so accommodating about my messiness and wacky music schedule     Wedges and high heels     That 2 am no-boundaries conversation with Meredith the other night     Chinese food     Bruce Springsteen music     Nerdfighter culture     New York pizza     Being Italian     That Eric texts me goodnight, every night    That I loved Smithtown High School West so much     Pit orchestras     Flip Flops     Breaking Amish   Aunt Grace and Uncle Kenny, my godparents     That Chris, Charlie, Peter, Lauren V, Lauren B, Laura, Ryan, Sarah, Andy, Harrison, and Alfred came to see and hear me in Company     Blogger     Disney magic     That Chris would rather spend three hours tutoring me in Stats than be bored while I spend one hour at the professor's Office Hours     Yearbooks     Everything I learned from Aunt Maria while she fought cancer     Billy Joel     Mr. Nolan's English class     EVERYTHING from the Romantic Era     Easter eggs     That I could have made things work at any university, but that things just work beautifully at Northeastern     Delia's dance recitals     Andy's unbiased and unabashed honesty and advice     That Christie, Brianna, and Alissa are at Northeastern too     David Tennant     My beautiful and sexy 616 apartment and even sexier roommates     That Alaric gives the best hugs known to humankind     Orange soda     How beautiful everything looks when it's snowing     Holiday decorations     That Mom cares enough to bug me for every detail of my life     That I've had my heart broken so few times     The unfathomable potential of every human being     Board games     Chick flicks     My room at home     All the wonderful things Sarah bakes     The picture perfect memories from the Last Day of High School, Prom, and Graduation     That there's never been anything I can't confide in my sister     J.K. Rowling's entire life     Crappy magazines like Rolling Stone and Cosmo     Cheesy flamingo memorabilia     Woodloch Pines     My fairy-tale Sweet Sixteen and all the amazing things I learned from having it     That Lauren Bell never gets annoyed at me for asking for Accounting help     Husky Hunt the second time around    That Dad was so thoughtful to pick me up a 7-11 coffee this morning     Cinnabons     June Claire Dance Centers     That even though we're stressed like crazy getting ready to have 18 guests over, we do have 18 happy and healthy guests we love and can't wait to see     Wicked the musical, but also the book because it gave someone the idea for the musical     That Lauren V is always telling me how fantastic and perfect we all are     That Nothing Changes     That I have the two legs, feet, arms, hands, ears, and eyes; ten fingers and toes; and a nose, mouth, and brain that God gave me to appreciate the world with     Finnish power metal     Mark Twain's writing     Tampons     Eye lash curlers     Converse sneakers     Facebook     That Shannon visits so often even though she doesn't live with us     That Ginger could come to both my and my sister's Sweet Sixteen     When Mom gives me a back scratch     Harry Potter World     What the Pluck?!    Living next door to the Geriens     Marshall Half Stacks     That one time I got to play a Juzek bass in a hole-in-the-wall jazz shop     IV Dining hall pizza     Elevators, ramps, the wheels on my bass case, and all the sympathetic people that hold the door open     Eleven years of bus rides with Jacqui     Stetson East cookies     Every piece of music I've ever listened to and every piece that's waiting to be heard     That I have a bed to sleep in every night     Books and sheet music that smell old     Paws the Husky     That my family misses me when I'm gone, and that I miss them too     Fourth of July Fireworks     Italian ices     Everything that's caramel-flavored     Music     Too many perfect Blue Flamingo vacations to count     Rebecca's Cafe brunches with Christie     That Northeastern's campus is so beautiful, especially for a city school     The Charles River    That picture-perfect moment when Train was singing "Drops of Jupiter" and I was standing alone in the rain     The sights, sounds, odds, ends, and quirks of New York City     Every confused morning when the story of last night gets told to me     That Marianna is only ever a text away when I need her     That Delia asked me to be her sponsor     Twitter     Stephen Sondheim     That Uncle Vic married Aunt Terry     Apple picking as a family tradition     Woodloch crumb cake     That so many people cared enough to check on me this summer when my jaw was banded shut     That my jaw was banded shut and my liquid diet lost me fifteen pounds     Rubber ducks     Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky     The fantastic family vacations Mom and Dad work so hard to take us on     That I had my nineteenth birthday this year     102.3 WBAB     My mac     Grimm, Perrault, and Andersen fairy tales     That Gustav and I played at Staller Center, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center together     Sade, my creamsicle colored bass guitar     That Delia still asks for my help picking out outfits     My crazy curly hair     Secret brand deodorant     Aerie underwear     Glitter glue     That I'm part of the Honors Program at such a good school in such a wonderful city     Rebecca's Cafe sandwiches     My job at Au Bon Pain     That I'm so in love with my major, literally every day of my life     The bright walls in my room     The Cousins Day we had at Lorella, Danielle, Bob, and Justin's this summer     Those vacations we took to Montauk with Aunt Angela, Uncle Mario, Marianna, and Alessia all those years ago     That Nonni and Nonno care about their time and resource-consuming grandkids as much as they do     All the Tooth Fairy, Easter bunny, and Santa Claus stories Mom and Dad fabricated so well for us     Cursive handwriting     That I was School President in fifth grade     That Mr. Roth, my middle school orchestra teacher, had such a positive influence on my appreciation for music     The Smithtown West Music Department family     That the twelve basses I was Section Leader to still call me Mom     Old photos     The Doll House Nonno made for me and Deels     That Nonni taught me how to sew     Grilled cheese sandwiches     Leonardo DiCaprio movies     All the hours they tolerate my presence in the Duplex     All the classy literature and art and music Danielle and I obsess over     Everything I learned my freshman year of college; in the classroom, about life, and about myself     The entertaining antics of Alfred and Harrison     My friendship with Mary, even if it's so much more difficult to maintain since she moved to North Carolina seven years ago     Sweet Sixteen Season     My twin, Brian     Thelemon-scented candle Mrs. Ralph bought me     The purple V neck that Richie wears     That Brianna, Rebecca, Danielle, and Sean called to check on me last Thursday     Ms. Riccoboni's Italian class     Winky, my little Nissan Altima that's as old as I am     Springy beds     Fan fiction     Bananas     That Mike is so good at pestering me to keep in touch with him     Family Gatherings on every Holiday we can     Lindt chocolate     New York bagels     Becca-Brina Christmases     That Tasha was an awesome freshman year roommate     The Blue Flamingo Tradition     The Northeastern bass family: Peter, Colin, Jason, and me     Cold weather     That Lauren kept me company when I sadly and slowly packed up my life in 933 IV last April     That Rebecca knows how much I love and need her, even when I'm God awful at keeping in touch     That Deels and Alex became friends, and then so did Sarah and I over a Play-Doh bakery in fourth grade     That Kimmie and I grew a beautiful friendship out of seeing each other once a week at tap class     Rod McKuen's writing     That Alyssa lived around the block from me in Kindergarten     Sudoku     Carlsson bass rosin     Centennial Quad     How beautiful and quirky Beacon Hill is     New England Clam Chowder     The memory of Deels and I staring jaw-dropped at each other when Daniel Radcliffe got hoisted into the air for the Opening scene of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying     Condiments with Joanna     The Port Jeff ferry     Huntington Avenue     Upton Basses in Mystic, Connecticut     Diaries     My signed copy of Diary, the book     Reeds from Palm Sunday     Northeastern's Husky Hockey team and the hot hockey players     How beautiful Boston is     The T     The way Rebecca and Mike wiped away the tears during our last Adoration together     The fantastic inside jokes Paige and Danielle and I had in Mr. (CrapICan'tRemeberHisName)'s AP Euro class Tenth Grade     Harry Potter as a cultural phenomenon     Eoin Colfer and the Artemis Fowl series     Gas stations     Vanity Plates     Paved roads     That I've never had to go hungry     Charities     The BSO and Boston Pops     The Lilac-themed tea house Brian and I went to for lunch one time     The feeling of being a Goddess when you shave your legs     The color of Dan Frank's hair at prom     The Lifeteen Core that still inspire me     The amazing evening the five of us girls saw Legally Blonde together     That there's a Heaven waiting for all the loved ones I've lost     Rosaries     That Aunt Maria, Aunt Ruth, Uncle George, Grandpa Ken, and Katie will always be a part of me on some level     The feeling of being hugged by someone who loves you     The number of family members and friends I love and who love me back     The way two people's faces light up when they see each other after a long time apart     All the things I take for granted     Every kind of love

And most importantly, I'm thankful for everyone I've ever met because whether you suspect it or not, you've influenced me along the way to becoming the person I am today.  I can't thank you enough for helping me into living the life I do.  

Thank you.

These Days of Summer

Generally, life just keeps getting exponentially better as time goes on since the surgery.  I kind of just want to talk about all the happy things life has thrown at me lately. 


Eric won three awards in two weeks!  Star Student in Family and Consumer Science, and Excellence in Science and Orchestra!!  Yupp, he's a superstar.  I'm beyond proud.  I also love that music runs in the family.  I actually ran into someone I graduated with who saw Eric playing cello and arranging music.  He laughed and said it was cute that Eric takes after me.  


Soooo much How I Met Your Mother lately.  I freaking love this show.  I got Deels in on it too!  It's nice because That 70's Show used to be our show, but it's not on so much anymore.  They have guest stars like Carrie Underwood and Lucy Hale and Donna from That 70's Show and we get so nerdily excited together.


Some days, when the weather, my choice of hair products, and the stars align properly, I get really defined and pretty curls.  Despite how happy they make me, no one else ever really notices because it's so dark.  If hair coloring wasn't so expensive and risky I'd lighten it a little.  Maybe do a dark auburn.  It would just be nice to see the detail that goes into a fishtail or my curls or something.  


Deels had her recitals last week!  She was in Opening (for like 6 counts of 8 as a pipsqueak ballerina...), a BEAUTIFUL Haj Naranji pointe solo (the Genie Number), a Tap Dragon Dance (complete with chopsticks and fans), a stunning pointe Masquerade Waltz, a Matador-themed pointe Flamenco, and a fun jazz Conga.  I'm so proud and happy that she has something she loves as much as I love music!


Marianna and Aunt Grace even came one night.  We had the best time at the diner afterwards.  It was one of those moments when you can't even keep track of why you're laughing anymore, and everyone else in the room is staring.  It was perfect :)


I sincerely regret having to miss Andy's birthday bash last week, but hopefully now that I'm cleared for activities like Splish Splash and running (just no contact sports), we can finagle something for later this summer.  We did, however, throw a wildly successful family BBQ.  All the little cousins had fun and got along, and the food was delectable.   


Although my job hunt was pretty much a bust after three solid weeks of applying and interviewing, I was happy to accept my bass teaching gig for the rest of the summer.  It's what I love and what I'm good at, even if it's only 7 hours a week.  AND THEN MUSIC & ARTS CALLED THIS MORNING. So hopefully I'll be getting started there next week!




Lots of fun quotes lately:


"I'm so hungry... but I want to wear clothes." Laura


"Billie Jean is not my mother." Delia
"Just because I don't know the cashier does NOT mean you have permission to dance." Also my loving sister.


"Mario?  As in 'It's-a me, Mario!'?" Marianna, discussing Eric's Confirmation name.


To sum up my family's appreciation for Star Wars, much to my brother's dismay: 


Eric: "Did you hear what he said?"
Nonni: "Something about trying hard?" 
Eric: "No.  He said 'Do or Do Not Do, there is no try.' That's a very famous quote."


"Eric, this movie is putting me to sleep again." Delia, who has a track record for falling asleep during Star Wars movies.


"Who's that?  He looks like a bad guy..." Delia, about Darth Vader.

Two last things that make me really happy- THE NEW SONATA ARCTICA CD IS HERE!  And it's just as good as I was hoping it would be! Also, A VERY POTTER SENIOR YEAR IS HAPPENING!  I don't even know what could make me happier right now.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fByY1OcHdk

I can't work in fast food all my life...

I kind of wanted to do a legitimate review of The Da Vinci Code because it was such a riveting read, but it's also a profoundly controversial one.  I don't want to offend anyone, so I'll just touch on why I was so engrossed by it.  The books I get most attached to make a point of developing characters and fostering all kinds of relationships between them.  This did nothing like that.  The only character that was developed at all was Leigh Teabing, and even that was only to heighten the intensity of a later plot twist.  The only semblance of characters interacting in a way that wasn't directly necessary for the progression of the plot was a kiss between the two protagonists in the last chapter of the book.  It's completely unprecedented.  Readers may suspect this is coming because that's precisely what happened between Robert Langdon and Vittoria in Angels and Demons, which was Dan Brown's first Langdon-narrated novel.  Nothing ever came of that from the first book to this one, and Langdon often reflects on being used to life as a bachelor.  There's exactly one moment, when Langdon smells Sophie's perfume, that he appears to take any notice of her as a person.  This lack of human development is something plenty of good books can have, but it's not something I've found in any of my favorite reads before.  I guess I'm just shocked that a book with virtually no characterization or human element could hold my attention so strongly.  


That aside, The Da Vinci Code is an eye-opening read because it's so rooted in facts and history.  After finishing, I did a lot of reading into the Gnostic Gospels, the Merovingian dynasty, and the real Priory of Sion.  There are varying amounts of historical evidence for all of these, which was intriguing to learn of.  Despite conspiracy theories and pseudo-historical claims, I really recommend this book.  Just go in with an open mind and be prepared to sort out your own thoughts afterwards.


Gosh, that took longer than I imagined it was going to for not even being a full review. 




Now onto more mundane and happy topics!


Happy Birthday to my beautiful and beloved (and thoroughly missed) Shannon!  Nineteen and Crazy indeed!


Saturday was also Sydney's Sweet Sixteen.  I've been to precisely 13 formal Sweet Sixteens with ball-gown-and-tiara-wielding birthday girls.  Generally, these are preppy occasions.  I've seen dresses in red, orange, gold, green, aqua, teal, purple, fuchsia, hot pink, baby pink, and white.  Girls usually walk in to pop songs like "Gotta Feelin'," "When I Grow Up," or "Party," or equally peppy songs related to the party's theme, like "Supermodel," (Fashion) or "Ever Ever After," (Disney Princesses).  I hadn't been to a single party where the birthday girl didn't do a full or partial updo accompanied by curling iron curls.  
I really have to commend Sydney on throwing a definitively Sydney party.  Very few girls could pull off wearing black at their own parties, entering with a complete Thriller dance number, and requesting songs like "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Sell Out."  Her hair was pulled back just enough that she wouldn't get sweaty on the dance floor, and it was her customary straight, dark red.  I'm just very impressed by how atypically she designed her red, black, and gold Masquerade-themed party.  I'm really proud of her.  I remember the days when our parents would go out to dinner and leave Chelsea, Sydney, Deels, Eric and me at one of our houses and we'd be ridiculous and crazy together for hours at a time.  Remember that time we heard Jake (their dog) running up and down the stairs, and we though he was a burglar?  It was super S's to the rescue that day, armed with brooms and rakes against a cocker spaniel.  Seeing Sydney all grown up and lady-like made me feel nostalgic, but also proud that our families have been so involved with each other for over a decade.  That connection is really special, and I'm beyond honored that we were called up for a candle.  
Basically, Sydney, I loved the unique quality of your party and I'm honored to have been a part of it.  I love you guys a lot and I can't wait until Woodloch 2012!


On an even more mundane note, I today was lovely.  We saw The Avengers which was stunning to watch, even if it didn't have the most clever or original plot.  I say "stunning" because the graphics were unreal.  If you plan on seeing it, it's worth spending the money to see it on the big screen.  Also, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans are wonderful to look at.  A side note would be that I do agree with Andy: some of the dialogue was painful to listen to.  Some though, usually any involving Iron Man (played by Robert Downey Jr., for those living under a rock), were witty enough.  I then did like 10 minutes of Zumba to let off steam and then helped my sister with her Trig homework.  I'm so proud of myself for recalling enough math to actually be helpful! Who knew?  


In other news, I've lost 10 pounds on my all-liquids diet, and have reduced my Advil intake from 90 milliliters a day to 50.  I'm allowed to sleep in my own bed again, and no more decongestants either!  I still can't drive, speak properly, or eat regularly, but we're getting there.  My next check-up is Thursday, which means that with any luck, I can progress to soft foods.  Having pastina on my birthday would make my life much more pleasurable at this point in time.  


I'm having video issues with my beautiful Boston friends, so I'm finishing this blog instead of hanging out with them in Google Plus for a few minutes to give my lazy computer a break.  It should be good now, or so I hope.  Until next time, my darlings.

“Telling someone about what a symbol means is like telling someone how music should make them feel.”

I feel so loved lately.  I want to thank everyone again for the cards, flowers, and messages I've been lucky to receive.  This would be infinitely harder if I didn't know how much love and support my family, friends, and community have for me.  Thank you all so, SO much! <3


So proud of my Blueshirt boys!  Also, I want a Staal brother.  My sister claimed Carl Hagelin back when he was still a draft, so any Staal that isn't already married, I'll gladly take.  


Side note-- I feel WAY less bad about all the losing Northeastern did to Boston College since Kreider is now a solid rock on the Rangers.  We'll get 'em next year, Huskies. 


I can't wait to be back during hockey season at Northeastern.   Pep band and hockey and then all may frandz hangin out an bein silly afterwards sounds delightful.  


Besides the mouth situation (it feels like I'm walking around with a cinderblock clamped between my jaws), my days have been enjoyable.  I've been watching lots of Friends, Seinfeld, and How I Met Your Mother.  Additionally, I'm about a hundred pages away from finishing The Da Vinci Code, which is an utterly fantastic read.  It's been a long time since I've read something so gripping.  It's not my usual genre or style, so I'm intrigued by my own interest in the thing.  It's a historical fiction novel that calls the Roman Catholic Church--not the Catholic faith, but the historical administration of the church-- into serious questioning via ACTUAL secret societies, historical events, histories of symbols and icons, and seemingly insignificant details in the masterpieces of Da Vinci.  Where fact and fiction collide, I'm starting to wonder.  I may do some research once I finish this thing.  After this, it's back to Dante's Inferno, then a short novel by the author of Life of Pi, entitled Beatrice and Virgil.  I'm interested since those are the names of Dante's (sort-of) lover and guardian angel, respectively.  It's actually about a donkey and a monkey, but with a title like that, there must be some interesting connections.  


Also, with so much focus on the Holy Grail in Da Vinci Code, I was inspired to watch Monty Python for the first time.  It is very, very silly.  I was caught off-guard by the "Sir Galahad, the Chaste."  WHERE did "Why, Mister Galahad..." come from, Andy?!  On that note, I love the titles of Andy's blog entries, even though (or especially because?) they don't make sense until you finish reading the blog.  The most recent, entitled something to do with "48 Johannas" got me really excited momentarily.  Having 47 other Sabrinas wandering around could be totally entertaining.


So with all this loafing around and having my butt planted in a recliner LITERALLY 18 hours a day, I'm still managing to lose weight thanks to the "chicken soup and chocolate milk" diet.  I'm down six and a half pounds from Surgery Day!  At roughly 1000 liquid calories plus about a liter of liquid medications dispersed over each day, I am starting to miss real food.  Today was the first day I've been properly hungry since the surgery.  I guess that means my body's that much closer to being normal again, but being able to WANT food again puts me no closer to being ABLE to eat food again.  Other things are pretty much normal again-- swelling has gone down intensely, I can shower normally, no dizzy or light-headed spells, and I'm even feeling good enough to do my hair and makeup again.  I'm thinking it'll get much better after this first week.  Apparently during the surgery, my jaw shattered in an extra spot, meaning the process took an extra hour and I have one more titanium bracket than was planned.  I should have come out able to open to my jaw but I've been instructed not to.  I visit the doctor tomorrow, so we'll see what changes in my diet and abilities.  


If I try really hard, smelling good food is almost as good as having some.  For instance, last night we got Greek takeout for Mother's Day.  Just sitting there and basking in all the aromas of what I'm sure was a delicious meal for everyone else without gorging on the exorbitant amount of calories I surely would have incurred if I'd been capable to eat was almost even refreshing!  Even now, as Dad and Eric munch on Doritos during Period Three of Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals (Rangers and Devils at MSG), I can enjoy them without bearing the burden of 600 extra calories.  I realize this is the flimsiest silver lining ever, but for a girl who has 44 more days until her eating habits can return to normal, it's the best I can do.  


My biggest complaint after the pain, discomfort, and medication schedule is how removed I feel from real life.  I haven't left the house or hung out with anyone in the last six days, save 20 minutes of catching up with Rebecca and a lot of time with my surgeon.  I haven't seen anyone from Northeastern or Smithtown in person, giving me this weird sense of reclusiveness from everything.  As soon as my face stops looking like a teenage mutant ninja turtle, I'm excited to reinitiate Google Plus video chats with my Tremont Street Raiders and future Suities and have all my beloved Smithtown sweethearts come visit me.  Cheers, guys!

After This I'm Harry Potter-ed Out. LOL JK NEVER.

WE NOW PRESENT THE SEVENTH AN FINAL INSTALLMENT IN THE EPIC ANALYSIS OF HARRY POTTER.


DOES EVERYONE SEE WHAT I DID THERE?

To Recap:

Pros:

-BRILLIANT soundtrack.  John Williams did a fantastic job of setting up the main themes in the first three films (The third was particularly dynamic, and part of why this is my favorite movie is the fantastic soundtrack.  I should write an essay on the influence each of the directors has had... Anyway, I recommend sampling the middle of all the songs.  You can find all the soundtracks organized and available for free listening on Spotify.)   Then Patrick Doyle's takes on the Quidditch World Cup, Yule Ball, and Three Tasks in Goblet of Fire were absolutely superb (Wizard Rock is also fun), but Nicholas Hooper rather dropped the ball in Order of the Phoenix and Half Blood Prince.  Don't misunderstand me: These pieces of music are beautiful as well as beautifully performed, but they don't have the same charm as their predecessors do, and don't work in the context of a soundtrack.  The music became less musical and more like a stream of sound effects in places.  Alexandre Desplat rather confuses me.  I enjoy his themes and variations, but dislike the general path the soundtrack takes for Part One.  It's just kind of generic.  Part Two, however, had wonderful interpretations of all Williams' main themes.  Everything from Lily's Theme to A New Beginning, the final track of Part Two, consists of an ideal blend of Hollywood drama, pleasingness to the ear, and a high level of musicality.  If I may make a suggestion, I'd listen to a New BEginning all the way through rather than just sampling it.  Listen attentively, not passively.  It's beautiful and perfect for the moment it portrays.  The same applies to this last musical link.  The coupling of the Epilogue with a freshly arranged version of Williams's Leaving Hogwarts, the former final track in the first film, is highly poignant and expressive.  A New Beginning and Leaving Hogwarts, right after each other, always leave me with tears running down my face and, to me, present a simultaneously emotional, visionary, heartbreaking, and heartwarming finale to the epic series.  Hats off to Mr. Desplat for his work on these two films.


(^^Guys, I cried writing this section.  Music and Harry Potter?  My two favorite things, together?  Was there really a doubt?)

-Tons of direct quotes.  All our favorites were there: "Here lies Dobby, a free elf."  "If we die for them, I'm gonna kill you, Harry!"  " 'After all this time?' 'Always.' "  " 'Does it hurt, dying?'  'Quicker than falling asleep.' "  " 'You'll stay with me?' 'Until the very end.' "  "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" "Do not pity the dead, Harry.  Pity the living and, above all, those who live without love."  My personal favorite: "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on Earth should that mean that it is not real?"  And they finally threw in: "You have your mother's eyes," from the right person, at the right time, even if it was not strictly cannon.  

-Covered plot decently.  A lot does happen in the last 300 pages, and Kloves does get us there in the end.  The right people lived and died in the right manner, the Gringotts heist and escape were loyal to the book, the horcruxes were the correct items destroyed in the correct order, the drastic changes in Hogwarts policies were noted, Helena Ravenclaw helped Harry when he needed her, the Room of Requirement went up in flames properly, the Deathly Hallows were (somewhat) explained, Snape's death was as cruel as it was written to be, Snape's memories were wonderfully poignant, the Resurrection Stone was used properly, Harry spoke to Dumbledore at Kings Cross in his head, and Harry was the owner of the Elder Wand, allowing him to beat Voldemort.  All the elements were there.  

Cons:

-Forgotten-about details.  In a book, you have to have all loopholes closed, and J.K. did that excellently.  When you translate to the screen, many of the small details are unnecessary and are assumed to be accounted for.  It seemed like a huge deal when, during Half Blood Prince, Kloves skipped most of the memories pertaining to Voldemort's ascent to power.  In the last two films, though, most of the lost information is glossed over and the deduction of correct answers are attributed to Hermione's brilliant guesswork and Harry's connection to horcruxes (because you know, they sing to him).   

-All the good scenes they changed.  I personally love the scene in Ravenclaw tower, for example.  It's much more suspenseful than his stepping out from the crowd to chastise Snape.  Instead of Fred telling his last joke, you see him cowering in fear.  That is not how a Weasley would cope.  They weirded up Ron and Hermione's kiss.  That was unforgivable. (The use of any unforgivable... sorry, I had to.)  Harry's dramatic speech in the Great Hall in which he addresses Voldemort as Tom Riddle in from of the whole school and Order disappeared.  We rather needed it there to explain how the hell Harry was still alive.  Also, it would have taken about ten more seconds to add in Harry repairing his wand at the end.  The movies don't even show how problematic the Elder Wand is, with all the bloodlust it attracts, so to non-readers, snapping it was a bit overdramatic on Harry's part.  This is a much more petty point, but since when does Hogwarts have a boat house?  It's not like they've got a sailing team or any team besides Quidditch.  

-The meaning of the book was lost.  The book is entitled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, yet the hallows make very few appearances.  Taking a step back, we also lose a lot of what we're supposed to learn about Dumbledore's family.  Although this isn't a huge part of the plot, it contributes a lot to how we feel about Dumbledore, power, love, and the power of love.  We learn that Dumbledore's weakness is his affinity for power, and that this is why he cannot be the master of all three Deathly Hallows.  Who can unite all three hallows then and become master, conqueror, vanquisher of death?  Why, Harry, of course.  The term Master of Death refers to Harry's ability to use the three hallows to greet death as a friend, to embrace it.  Harry chooses to walk to his own death to save those he loves.  Because Harry can do this, his life is spared.  It’s less about him surviving because he is the wizard that owns the Elder Wand, as the movie plot tells us, and more about the very human quality of being able to love strongly.  What the book teaches us is that the ability to love is stronger than magic in the end.  Those who have read the books know this already, but those who haven't will miss a major message by only seeing the movie.   

In my professional opinion, I’ve given up thinking about whether the movie is effective or not.  What matters is that we, the readers, or audience, or both, understand what J.K. Rowling clearly tells us: Love is all you need.  We all get attached to the very Romantic ideas of magic and Hogwarts and crusading for what’s right, and get caught up in the pen and paper world Rowling has offered us.  Quite apart from how heartwarming and fulfilling it would be to live in Harry’s world, love is all we need.  Nothing more, nothing less.  

Epilogue.  


Nobody likes the epilogue.  More than anything else though, it's incredibly sentimental that Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters as adults, the place where they actually broke the barrier that divides everything mundane that they knew from a whole unknown world they choose to dive into.  The number 9 3/4 is the most emotionally charged symbol in the whole series in my humble opinion.  Many people characterize the series by the Deathly Hallows symbol and accredit it for encompassing so much significance, but I disagree.  I’d poured six years of my life into Harry’s world before knowing that that symbol existed.  That symbol does represent Harry’s ability to face death due to his extreme capacity to love.  This is a major theme in the series, obviously, yet it’s less poignant than the sign in Kings Cross for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.  Kings Cross is a train station, the starting point of a journey.  Rowling alludes to this by setting the scene that takes place in Harry’s head at the station.  Now imagine being eleven and running toward a brick wall.  How exciting, how beautiful would it be to charge straight through and embark on a voyage into the wild and untamed and unpredictable unknown?  Some days that's all I want.  I want to lose the mundane and familiar things.  I want my own personal platform nine and three-quarters to open up a gateway to somewhere full of big adventures and dreams, somewhere where I'm small compared to the rest of the world, and somewhere I can achieve more than I've ever conceived of.  And yet, how ungrateful, how ignorant of me.  Look out a window.  I don't need that gateway because I'm already in that world.  J.K. Rowling said it nicely: "We do not need magic to transform our world.  We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already." 

Always.

Quick Intermission from HPDH Analyses for some Fangirl Madness

These lists are the products of hours of serious thought and consideration.  


THE WAYS I ORGANIZE HARRY POTTER CHARACTERS:

Favorite Characters as People, aka Most Awesome People:

1. Nymphadora Tonks: Absolutely the coolest character in the series.  If I can't be her, I want to be her best friend.
2. Harry Potter: Okay, so like, he's the Chosen One.  Come on.
3. Ginny Weasley: She has an awesome personality according to the books.  Bonnie Wright doesn't quite do the character justice. (Side note, I love this in reference to Book Two.)
4. Fred/George Weasley:  Bloody brilliant.  
5. Sirius Black: Am I the only one who would give up multiple limbs for Rowling to put out books about the adventures and crazy shenanigans of the Marauders?  Particularly the devilishly handsome and ne'er-do-well teen heartthrob Sirius Black?  He sounds like Danny Zuko when I say it that way. 

Best Developed Characters over the seven books (SPOILER ALERT):

1. Harry Potter: Most obviously.  We see the development of his every action over the course of seven years.  He's always been a hero, but it takes us seven years to understand how and why he is so.
2. Tom Riddle:  A huge contributing factor to the extreme success of the series is the characterization and development of Tom Riddle.  The series works because he has a motive and solid reasons for turning out the way he does.
3. Severus Snape:  Although he's a static character for books one through six, his true psyche comes to light in book seven, resulting in intense sympathy from an audience who never saw it coming. 
4. Neville Longbottom:  Quite apart from all the fuss everyone makes about Matthew David Lewis going from an awkward kid to a god, Neville develops gradually from a complete bumblefuck, to a character we have sympathy for, to one who realizes and develops his strengths to save the day.  
5. Petunia Evans-Dursely: Although she appears stagnant in her development most of the time, details about how she became who she is  sneak in here and there in books one, five, and seven.  Like Snape, she never develops during the story, but by the end of the series, again, we understand why she turns out as sour as she does.  

Most important to the story (MORE SPOILERZ):

1. Harry Potter: No Harry, no story.  With any significantly different protagonist, the story doesn't work.  Rowling says the idea for Harry's character "strolled into [her] head fully formed," and she had to work backwards to find a story to go with him.  
2. Tom Riddle:  Again, you obviously need Voldemort for there to be a story here.  Of course, you could argue for Sybill Trelawney's relevance because you need the prophecy, but any prophet could have made the prophecy.  As far as Seers go, she's replaceable.
3. Dumbledore: Although we don't see Dumbledore develop very much (we hear about his past and almost can't believe it really happened because it's so unlike the Dumbledore we know and love), he is a very nuanced character whose ingenuity, talent, and persona are vital to the series.  
4. Severus Snape: Besides bequeathing his memories to Harry (and saving his life multiple times), Snape was more essential in the events that set up the story and circumstances that Harry would later encounter.  Point is, he's super important. (Can't resist.)
5. Tie: Lily and Hermione.  Lily obviously is never really in the series, but if she hadn't shielded Harry with love, Voldemort would have won and that would have been that.  On the other hand, Hermione serves the same purpose as a laptop with internet connection over the whole series.  The girl knows everything.  It's a tie between the woman who died to keep Harry alive and the girl who lives to keep Harry alive.  

Now the fun part!! 

Guys from the books that I’d date:

1. Sirius Black: Like I said, DANNY ZUKO. 
2. Fred/George: Whoever tries to make a case against Gingers must have overlooked these two.
3. James Potter: If Sirius was Danny Zuko, James is Kenicke, his equally attractive and mischievous best friend.
4. Harry Potter: The way I see Harry is not as Dan Radcliffe. There is a separate Harry who lives in my head, and "the collective consciousness of a generation."  I think Dan Radcliffe is a tremendously talented performer, but my Harry is more true to the book.  And a bit more desirable.  
5. Oliver Wood: Thinking of you, Danielle.  This is THE ONLY guy from both the books (my imagination) AND the movies (Sean Biggerstaff is ADORABLE) that I approve of.

Guys from the movies that I’d do-- I MEAN DATE: 

1. Draco Malfoy: I adore everything about Tom Felton.  End of discussion.
2. Scabior: The hipster snatcher with the ponytail and plaid pants.  A bit of a wild card, but he's a likable enough villain.  Actor: Nick Moran.
3. Older Tom Riddle:  Aside from being a teenage super-villain, he's a very sophisticated, classy-looking guy.  Actor: Christian Coulson.
4. Neville Longbottom:  Have we not dwelled enough on this? Actor: Matthew David Lewis.
5. Cormac McLaggen: I know he's annoying as a Cornish pixie in the books, but he's got a very preppy attractiveness about him in the film.  Me gusta. Actor: Freddie Stroma.

I'D REALLY REALLY LOVE IT IF YOU SHARED WHAT ACTORS/CHARACTERS YOU LIKE BEST FOR ANY OF THE ABOVE CATEGORIES! Especially the last two ;) Do it in a comment here or a post on Facebook or whatever.  Love you all.  Mwah <3

Don't we all wish?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows P2 All Encompassing Analysis PART SIX

Hagrid carried Harry's limp body back to the courtyard as he was supposed to, and then the movie sort of goes batshit crazy.  Voldemort asks the crowd to join his ranks, and I like how Lucius and Narcissa have to call Draco out to going them.  Guys, he's a good guy underneath it all, I swear.  Can we talk about how Voldemort hugs Draco?  This defies every bit of knowledge we've gleaned about Voldemort/Tom Riddle's character over the course of seven books and eight movies.  We know the whole reason Voldemort is that he grew up without any love.  He certainly is not about to go looking for love right after he kills The Chosen One and stands on the brink of endless power.  Then, Neville decides the time is right for a monologue about how Harry's death doesn't matter.  I get that they're trying to convey the overarching theme of love being the more powerful force, explaining Harry's self sacrifice.  It comes off more as Neville saying Harry died for the "Greater Good," though, which is Grindelwald's gig.  No me gusta.

Fight breaks out again and more weirdness happens.  Voldemort wraps Harry in his cloak, bondage/S&M style.  SO NOT OKAY.  How does he get out of that, anyhow?  Harry then grabs Voldemort by the shoulders as though to make out with him, and launches them both off a cliff.  They then fly around partly melded together, which is inconsistent with the recent separation of their souls.  They were, but no longer are, conjoined at the soul.  

To be fair, Neville was EPIC in beheading Nagini, and Molly Weasley delivered her revered line, "NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH." But those are the only highlights at this point.

Once the snake is gone from Voldemort's system (which Harry seems to feel as well even though he shouldn't, now that the horcrux is gone from his system, but he should never have felt anyway), Harry and Voldemort glare at each other in a final sort of way and move in slow motion and the music builds to a peak as they cast their final curses at each other.  The Elder Wand flies through the air and Harry, "with the unerring skill of the Seeker" catches the wand.  Voldemort then disintegrates into air pollution.  Although the actual duel and Harry’s victory were done well and dramatic enough,  there were definite issues.  The duel is supposed to be in front of everyone and in the Great Hall.  All those in the Order and who fought alongside Harry deserve to witness the downfall of the source of anguish in their lives.  Harry ought to address Voldemort as Tom Riddle and try to save him by making him feel remorse and repair himself.  Also, Voldemort is a mortal again.  When he dies, he needs a CORPSE.

The rest of the film, I like very much.  The atmosphere in the Great Hall, somewhere between relieved and triumphant and mournful, was just right.  Although I liked the scene in Dumbledore's Office with his portrait, the movie scene on the broken bridge was more poignant.  Despite the movie's flaws, I was crying at the end because it all means so much to me.  That Harry’s adventure is over is devastating, but for the rest of us, it’s only the beginning. 

HP DH Pt. Two All-Encompassing Analysis FIVE

We do now arrive at another shortcoming on Kloves's part.  We get the tiniest acknowledgement of Percy's betrayal of his own family in Order of the Phoenix when Percy assists in the makeshift trial Harry receives for creating Dumbledore's Army.  It's never mentioned again.  Consequently, we never get the tears Mrs. Weasley sheds for his absence or the emotional reunion in the Room of Requirement where Percy apologizes earnestly.  Fred calls him a "ministry loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron" and Percy agrees.  (He DOES come back, but nobody really notices or cares.)  Later, then, when Percy is dueling Pius Thicknesse, Fred is thrilled to hear Percy make a joke.  Fred muses over this with a smile on his face before he's killed.  The movie had him cowering in a corner.  That's not how Fred Weasley went.  Ever the jokester, he died laughing.

The journey that Ron, Hermione, and Harry take to go find Voldemort is executed well, also shows the destruction I mentioned and does definite justice to the epic Battle of Hogwarts.  (Unlike the final scenes of Half Blood Prince, in which there is supposed to be a battle as the Death Eaters and Draco escape, this movie accurately covers the war.)  The giants, suits of armor, acromantulas, and Fenrir Greyback devouring poor Lavender each made the appearances they were supposed to.  I like that Kloves had Aberforth's patrons (goat) save Harry, Ron, and Hermione instead of Ernie, Luna, and Seamus (boar, hare, and fox).  Aberforth still has faith after all.  I'd have liked to see the animal patronuses come back but I suppose a goat doesn't appear as effective as a giant silver shield would, plus a goat could be confused with Snape's doe.  So I do accept this change.  Moving on, I'm confused about why Voldemort's chilling in a boathouse, but if they thought the Shrieking Shack required too much explaining, I'll go with it.  Snape's death, God Bless him, was done elegantly and cruelly, with blood splattering all over the windows.  Snape's last moments were done excellently, and I thought it was a very nice touch to have the memories come out as tears.  He also finally tells Harry that he has his mother's eyes, something we don't hear often enough in the movies, and a very poignant point for those who know what's coming in The Prince's Tale.  Hats off to David Yates and Steve Kloves for some very well- orchestrated scenes here.

When Voldemort calls his troops out of battle, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walk through the Great Hall and observe those who gave their lives in battle (rest in peace, Lavender, Fred, Remus, and Tonks).  Harry then proceeds upstairs to observe the memories.  I do like the line in the book when Harry notes that nothing left to him, even by Snape, could make him feel worse than he already did.  I was and still am very impressed by the movie portrayal of the Prince’s Tale.  The scenes as kids, though abridged and altered, came off as full of that lighthearted magic kids are inherently capable of.  The memories that show Snape coming to the Order’s side of the war and his anguish for Lily’s death are excellent for Alan Rickman’s range as an actor.  My heart breaks with his, though I am a bit weirded out by his hugging her limp body.  I’d have liked to see the scene at the Yule Ball where Snape tells Dumbledore he is not as much a coward as Karkaroff is and will not flee from the strengthening Dark Mark.  Dumbledore calls Snape brave by saying that he wonders if they Sort kids too early.  Snape then looks absolutely stricken at the suggestion of being placed in Gryffindor.  I’m just being picky, though.  The moment when Dumbledore asks “After all this time?” and Snape answers “Always,” is perfect.  That’s when I start crying and never really stop.  The way Severus’s voice breaks on “Expecto Patronum,” a gossamer doe prances through the air, and a tear rolls down his face make the viewer feel the terrible pain that can result from such strong love.  Of course, the message is clear: love is so worth fighting for.  This scene brings Harry terrible news, but is so, so well done.  

I repeat, the tears continue at this point.  Although he isn’t supposed to say goodbye to Ron and Hermione, his stream of consciousness and reasons not to would have been difficult to explain in the movie.  For the purposes of translating a novel into a screenplay, it kind of works that Hermione realized Harry had a piece of Voldemort in him, and that Harry had begun to notice as well.  I’m not crazy about it, but the movie rather needs it.  The goodbye is emotional, though I can only surmise that Ron hung back from Harry out of disbelief, confusion, and subconscious fear.  Harry’s walk into the forest is precisely correct.  Again, we lose his stream of consciousness and the way he remembers the snitch, but it’s easier to remember the snitch’s message from a movie and a half ago than to remember it from six hundred pages ago.  Going along with this issue of being unable to express a stream of consciousness, we do miss Harry's reminiscences of past time in the forest or in Hagrid's hut, but flashbacks of that sort may have seemed cheesy, plus they were done in ORder of the Phoenix.  The Resurrection Stone Scene is exactly as I envisioned it the first and every subsequent time I’ve read Deathly Hallows.  I recall curling up on my sofa, sobbing into the book, leaving the pages crinkled with tears.  (Unrelated and not cannon, but this is cute in a tragic way.)  The way Remus, Sirius, James, and Lily speak with Harry makes me do the same.  It may not be directly because of the scene in the movie, but also because I understand the influence each of these characters has in Harry’s understanding of what he must do and why on a different level.  I’ve spent so many years reading and reflecting on these books that they are an unbelievable combination of historically true and the stuff of legend.  And yet, perhaps that’s precisely what the film meant to do.  It means a different amount to different people. The truth of the matter is that not everyone will interpret this film the same way.  This scene will have to mean more to those whose hearts are ready for it to mean more.  To conclude: I love this scene.

Harry's death was as cold and unceremonious as it needed to be.  It still hurts to think about how scared I was when I first read it.  The King's Cross scene went generally well.  Clothes and glasses were relatively insignificant details.  The shattered piece of Voldemort's soul was sickly and sickening as it needed to be.  Harry's dialogue with Dumbledore took many direct lines, but lacked Dumbledore's whimsical, charming character.  We miss a ton of Dumbledore's family history and, again, more on why this matters can be found in the pros and cons list to follow.  My favorite line made it in: "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on Earth should that mean that it is not real?" This validates the whole series for me.  Even if it's not written down in history books and there's no proof anywhere that anything happened, it certainly happened anyway, if only in our minds.

HP DH Pt. Two All-Encompassing Analysis Part Four

McGonagall was an absolute BAMF in this movie.  She just absolutely owns everything that crosses her path.  Nice job, Maggie Smith.  I do like the visual we get of the school being protected, and the way Voldemort later, enraged with the destruction of another horcrux, breaks through.  I happen to like Scabior as a doofy and less threatening villain, so I'm glad he got a quick moment in this film before the bridge exploded.  On that note, I liked, the intimidating quality of Voldemort's vast army, Neville’s bravado on the bridge scene, and how they referenced Seamus's "proclivity for pyrotechnics."  Both were very Rowling things to do.  Brownie points.

They skipped some details in the Grey Lady's tale.  They weren't significant but they were nice details to know and fit well into the biography of Tom Riddle's life we began to compile during Half Blood Prince (book).  Although I wasn't crazy about the way the Grey Lady appeared more opaque than other ghosts in the movies, I loved her personality and her demonic qualities when she got worked up.  Very well done.

I understand how and why they had Harry find the diadem the way he did in the movie, but the story in the book was infinitely better.  We know he himself placed the tiara on a "stone effigy" one year before trying to locate it as a horcrux.  He himself realizes this in a stream of conscious thought.  I understand that Kloves couldn't write this into the script because there is no mention of a diadem in Half Blood Prince.  (I'd like to point out that Harry and Ginny's kiss got in the way of that, and that the movie kiss was creepy and entirely unfulfilling.  That movie created no chemistry between Harry and Ginny, just a series of awkward encounters in which we know they are each thinking about each other.  J.K. is exponentially more successful at seamlessly stitching their budding relationship into the story.  If they'd have done it her way--flirting and chemistry and a kiss in a crowded common room--they would have been able to do the tiara thing properly.)  It's just so much more climactic when Harry realizes he knows what and where the final horcrux is than when he listens to the nails-on-chalkboard sound that he alone can hear to find the diadem.  

On the note of finding/destroying horcruxes, I'm glad they showed Ron and Hermione taking on Hufflepuff's Cup even though we only hear about it in the book.  (My mac thinks I'm mental right now with all the words that are not in the English language.)  The way Voldemort himself is evident in the aftermath of every horcrux's destruction is a chilling effect as well.  I do take issue with the much anticipated kiss between Ron and Hermione.  In the book, Ron realizes they've got to get the house elves out before they perish in the battle, indirectly telling Hermione that after all her years of lecturing them about Spew and equal rights, he has been listening after all.  She runs at him and is the first to kiss him.  I love that because it reveals just how well Ron's been paying attention to Hermione, highlights both their political consciousnesses, and shows Hermione's nerve in being the one to kiss him.  Going by J.K.'s characterization, that's the way it would have gone down.  (Click to zoom in.)  I also adore when Harry has to yell to get their attention, saying, "OI! There's a war going on!" to which Ron replies, "I know mate, so it's now or never, isn't it?"  However, considering elf rights never came into the movie (Half the elves never even made it in.  WINKY never even made it in.  I take personal offense to this since my car is named after the poor darling.) and it may not have translated well to the screen to have Harry watch awkwardly, it was done well enough.  On a related note, this is cute.

I liked the scene in the Room of Requirement very much.  I like how Draco faltered and confirmed the audience's suspicion that he's not all bad after all.  Ron's shouting about Hermione being his girlfriend was a good touch.  I'm none too bothered that they swapped out Crabbe (arrested for possession of drugs and drug use paraphernalia) for Blaise Zabini. Giving Goyle the role of especially evil best friend instead of Crabbe was fine.  For a necessary change, it was pretty graceful.  Goyle's being unable to put out the fire was shown with humor and clarity.  His death was cruel but warranted.  I definitely cheered when they pulled the direct line, "IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, HARRY." (<--LOL) Malfoy and Blaise are saved because Harry is being the bigger person, though rightly so, for Malfoy isn't a real villain after all.  The fiendfyre was super cool and pretty much exactly as I envisioned it.  The diadem was destroyed, and I generally loved the scene, besides the previously mentioned glitch about how Harry knew where the horcrux was.

As I mentioned, I like the visible protection around the school.  Similarly, I like how we see Voldemort's efforts to destroy it.  The image we see on posters and in clips in the film of the castle--the first place Harry felt he belonged, where we learned the spectrum of beautiful and terrible magic, where our heroes grew up, and where we ourselves grew up in our mind's eye--being annihilated breaks my heart in a way I didn't know the movies were capable of.  Watching these scenes, I become a student of Hogwarts, out there fighting Death Eaters for the sake of all things worth living for, seeing my childhood and adolescence crash down around me, burning and collapsing and crying out in pain.  Very emotionally charged images.