Goodbye, Harry Potter

It all started nearly 10 years ago. It was the fall of 2001, my very first semester of college. Some hallmates and I were sitting in my dorm’s common room, chatting about whatever and probably avoiding our respective papers and problem sets, when someone started talking about Harry Potter. I was only vaguely familiar with Harry Potter at that point, and so, as I am wont to do in situations where I’m clueless about the subject matter at hand, I voiced my indifference loudly.

"I’ve never read any Harry Potter books. I mean, if someone were to like, HAND me a book and go, ‘Read it,’ I would probably read it, but I don’t care enough to go out of my way for it.”

My friend Tim got up from his seat on the couch and disappeared into his room. He reemerged a minute later, strode across the room, and handed me a book.

“Read it.”

I looked at it. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I was less than enthused, but I’m a woman of my word. When everyone adjourned for the night, I opened the book to page 1.

The next afternoon, I knocked on Tim’s door.

“TIM!”

He opened it. I promptly shoved the book back at him.

“Give me the next one.”

He smiled.

And that was how it all began.

I plowed through the first 4 books with a fervor I can’t say I’ve given to many other things in life. I was completely, totally, unabashedly hooked.

To say I’m maniacally obsessed with Harry Potter is an overstatement. I’ve never seen a midnight movie showing. I’ve never read fan fiction or discussed the books on message boards. I faired pretty poorly on this Sporcle quiz that asks you to name the top 200 most mentioned characters in the Harry Potter series. I’ve never dressed up as any of the characters for any reason, save one drunken night when my friend put on my snuggie and thought she was Albus Dumbledore, so I put on my Hannah Montana wig and pretended to be Fleur Delacour.

I would be lying, though, if I said the Harry Potter series has had no impact on my life at all. I’ve accumulated more than enough great memories over the years.

When the first movie came out in November of 2001, I was there on opening night, my friend Brian and his older sister wearing matching glasses and lightning bolt stickers.

When the fifth book came out in the summer of 2003, my friend Jenny and I patiently waited for our turn to receive a book at Barnes and Noble in the middle of the night.

There was Harry Potter Festathon, of course.

Earlier this year, when my friends and I got rush tickets to see Daniel Radcliffe sing and dance (excellently and adorably, might I add) in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, we never referred to the show by its real name. Only by “Harry Potter Musical.” Because Daniel Radcliffe was Harry Potter before he was J Pierrepont Finch. But even further than that, the other cast members have ceased to be actors in my mind. No matter what else they do, Alan Rickman will always be Snape and Ralph Fiennes, as indistinguishable as his real face is from that of the character he plays, will always be Voldemort.

When the seventh book came out, I hadn’t yet gotten around to rereading the sixth, and I was committed to doing so before diving into 7. After a weekend in Boston, I sat down on the Greyhound bus back to New York and opened up Half Blood Prince. The girl next to me promptly opened up Deathly Hallows. We spent the entire 4 hour bus ride with our heads buried in the books, save the one or two times when I found it impossible to contain my curiosity.

“OH MY GOD YOU’VE READ SO MUCH HOW IS IT!?!?!”

“IT’S SO GOOD! But so…surprising!!! You’re going to love it.”

And then we would keep reading.

When I finally got around to reading HP7, I was torn. On the one hand, I was sneaking out of work for extended Starbucks runs or lunches, settling myself into a table and trying to read as much as possible, hoping my boss wouldn’t walk in and catch me. But on the other hand, I would reluctantly pull myself away from the book at the end of a chapter, not wanting the end to actually arrive.

That’s sort of how I feel now. I don’t want the end to arrive.

I haven’t seen the last movie yet, not because I’ve been avoiding it but because I’ve been busy. But in a way I want to push it off as long as possible. If I haven’t seen the last movie, it isn’t over. Not really.

This movie represents the last Harry Potter related thing I can truly look forward to. Sure, I can reread the books (and I will), and sure, I can rewatch the movies (and I will – can we say Harry Potter Festathon REDUX??), but it won’t be the same.

Since the end will likely come in the next few days, the last time any Harry Potter book or movie will ever be new to me, I feel the need to express my gratitude. To Jo Rowling, to Dan and Emma and Rupert, to the rest of the cast, and to everyone else who will never read this but who had a part in making this franchise the insanely addicting thing it is today.

From those of us who have debated which house the Sorting Hat would put us in (Ravenclaw).

From those of us who know that the original crush-worthy character was not Harry or Ron or Neville (RAWR), but Oliver Wood.

From those of us who have been a fan of Robert Pattinson long before he put on some sparkles and became known as “RPattz.”

Thank you. We’ve lost countless hours immersed in your books and movies, and we don’t regret a single second of it.

My dating venn diagram

After the lovely Jess posted this Venn diagram of her dating life, I knew I had to make one of my own. This needs no other introduction.

Arielle's Love Life In A Few Handy Diagrams!


That is all.

Does this make me a gorilla juicehead?

Oh blog, I have so much to tell you! Sort of. Anyway here’s the first thing.

I am presently on day 3 of a 3-day juice cleanse. What? I know.

It was one of these things I’ve always wanted to try, in the weird way that someone could lust after the experience of only consuming liquid for 3 days.

I am also extremely susceptible to anything that comes as a Groupon (or Gilt City, whatever). And so I got a super sweet deal on the Cooler Cleanse. It took me awhile to schedule it because based on my typical life of shoving too much alcohol and delicious food down my throat, it was hard to find 3 days where I could actually commit to not consuming anything else. This means no happy hour plans, no kickball games (beer after), no book club (wine!), no “let’s catch up with each other’s lives” dinners, and no weekends, period.

In theory I was going to write a post about this before it started, but…well, too late. So now that it’s winding down, here’s how it all went.

Pretty much, they send you 3 sets of 6 juices. All bottles are numbered. Each day, you drink the juices in order, about 2 hours apart.

Juice 1: Essential Green. Sort of tastes like a really refreshing liquid salad. Which is pretty much what it is. Lots of veggies.

Juice 2: Grapefruit Mint. I didn’t taste the mint at all. It tasted like grapefruit juice.

Juice 3: Essential Green…again. By the 3rd day and 6th bottle, it no longer seems refreshing or even good. You sort of just want to vomit green juice everywhere. Okay, it wasn’t nearly that bad. The juice does separate, though, which looks disgusting. But you shake it and all is well again.

Juice 4: Coconut Water. I love coconuts, but coconut water isn’t my favorite. Not bad though.

Juice 5: Essential Red. Some blend of beets, carrots, and apples, I think. Pretty good, especially considering I hate beets.

Juice 6: Almond Nut Milk. With vanilla. Super tasty.

Overall verdict: I’m surprised at how NOT hungry I am. I mean I definitely get the occasional pang of hunger but no more than I would on a regular day when it’s lunch time. Also, this is just a ton of liquid to consume in one day.

As for whether I feel healthier – I’m waiting until tomorrow when I start eating real food again to see. My friend Lauren who did the Cooler Cleanse last month and thus gave me her words of wisdom said she felt more energized in the days following. So we shall see.

Also – on day 1 I went to my first Bikram class in a month. I thought the detoxing effect of sweating balls would add to the experience. I’m not sure if it was from not having eaten all day or no longer being used to the temperature of the room, but I almost barfed. But then I sat down and 3 minutes later I was fine, which is about standard for what happens during a normal Bikram class.

Anyway, I would definitely do this again, but I might just invest in a juicer and do it myself (odds of this happening: slim to none). I don't think I'll pay full price for the CC since it's not exactly cheap, but I'm glad I did it. But I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and have something normal for breakfast.