Death in Notebook Form

Currently listening to:
Happy by Fischerspooner

I still have to load my photos from Europe, so here are some newly edited, both old and new photos. 

We grow purple cabbages. 

summer 2011

A column in the Roman Forum, Jerusalem

summer 2010

 Gateway to the West, St. Louis, Missouri.

spring 2009

In the writing world, I'm still toiling away on the outline for Meridian. Between that, taking college classes (which are death in notebook form), and preparing to have jaw surgery in two weeks, I haven't had much time for anything else.  What little free time I have is going into a new interest, fanfiction. (Look at the pretty tab up there!) I've battled with the ups and downs of writing fanfics, but seeing as I'm still outlining Meridian and not writing yet, I wanted to do a little writing, and it's just a creative outlet that doesn't take up too much of my time or energy--I need all of it for class! So I've decided to write a full-length prequel to the Harry Potter books, which will answer a lot of questions and feature our favorite Marauders. It won't be one of those silly who-dates-who and 'prank wars' fics, it's actually going to have a plot. They're in the middle of a war, for goodness sake! And the Marauders aren't going to be the usual self-absorbed inflated-ego pranksters we usually see in fanfics. Well, sometimes it happens, but there's always a reason for everything. The characters are human, after all. The working title is "Brave at Heart" so please, email me or message me if you want to hear more!
I also just finished a short story for a challenge. It's here, and if you're interested, I'd love it if you took a look and left a comment:
Our Heads Could Do With Filling by Mischief1Managed
SUMMARY: In which Harry asks for girl advice and Sirius has just the story from his years at Hogwarts. "Mate, I always thought she rather fancied you but..." he shook his head. "Now I reckon she just likes to make your life difficult!" Who knew that the Marauders had been putting on such a good show? 
(for more info, check the 'fanfic' tab above)




Hautelinks for a Never-Ending Good Time


25 Hilarious Date Ideas: I highly suggest numbers 1,3,6,7, and 16. I could see myself doing all of those things. My friends agree.


Best 100 Opening Lines from Books: Stuck with your opening? How about taking a leaf out of the book of one of the Greats? (literally)


Rock Stars Who Look Like Wizards: Justin Bieber? David Bowie? Lady Gaga... with wands?


Emotional Bag Check: Check your emotional baggage or carry someone else's! I actually had a lot of fun with this one. 


Why I'm Glad I'm Not A Celebrity: So true. I was on a kids' TV show when I was younger. I've always sort of regretted not continuing with it, but I certainly don't anymore. 


Harry Potter Scandals
Favorite headline: 'Daniel Radcliffe's Sex Life.'
Second favorite: 'Harry Becomes a Dwarf.'
Third favorite: 'The Right to Read.' Actually some interesting legal stuff here for authors. 

Harry Potter Gets Drunk on Butterbeer and Pulls and All-Nighter Writing Hundreds of Fanfictions

Currently listening to:
Sons and Daughters by The Decemberists

I promise this is the last Harry Potter post for a while!


The big event of the weekend was, obviously, the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. The experience itself was absolutely amazing--my friends and I dressed up, waited outside the theater for hours (we were second in line!) and acted like total dorks, quoting lines from the books and discussing various plots. At random times during the night I started spouting various tiny bits of trivia that is embarrassing that I even know (for instance, that Hermione's original name was Hermione Puckle, and the creature that sits in Lupin's office the first time he meets with Harry is a grindylow.) One of my friends is literally a carbon copy of Tom Felton and he, of course, was dressed up as Draco. I was Hermione because people tell me I do look a bit like Emma Watson (only I just got really tan on vacation so that took away from it), another friend did a very good Bellatrix, and we had a Luna and a Sirius. Hoards of obsessed fangirls wanted pictures with us because our costumes were so good! Here's what I wore: Click here for a link to the polyvore! It took a lot of preparation.


The movie itself needed a bit of work. I had some issues. Here are a few: (SPOILER ALERTS! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW, SKIP THIS UNTIL I SAY IT'S OKAY!)

• One of my favorite things about the books is the scope of the story. As an author, I love the world Rowling has created. She also pays great attention to the various characters and their stories. In Deathly Hallows, there are so many stories in the book that were missing from the movie, and they all affected Harry in some way. Lupin and Tonks was a nice story, and the fact that they made Harry the godfather was touching. It was a sort of passing-the-torch of responsibility, and now as Harry is going to save the wizarding world, he is the new "protector" of the next generation. Dumbledore's story was alluded to, but not shown. And I wish they would have done more with Snape/Lily. It was such a huge part of the plot of the series. 
• I think Harry's last fight with Voldemort should have been in front of everyone like it was in the book. In the book, it was a group effort. In the movie, it was just Harry, and frankly, it was less powerful. 
• I also think they should have shown Voldemort's body dead on the ground. Without his Horcruxes, he was a human just like the rest of them, and was capable of dying. 

There are many more things I think should have been done differently, and I would love to discuss them with anyone! But I do understand that yes, this is a movie, and no, it's not the book, and you can't have everything. I'm just giving my two cents. 

RESUME READING!

I have also recently started writing Harry Potter fanfiction! You can see my profile here: Mischief1Managed and my first story is Love, Hogwarts. I battled with the pros and cons of writing fanfiction, but I decided that it might help me get over my huge obsession by taking the characters into my own hands. Plus, I'm having trouble with Meridian at the moment, and I hate to be at a point where I'm not writing. So if anyone wants to read it and give me feedback in the form of reviews, I really want to hear what you like and what you don't! I would really appreciate it and I'd love you forever.

I think next post will be some photography from Florence, but don't hold me to it!