How I know that the HP fandom will not die out.

Today at work, as I was walking through our workshop floor and I saw someone reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (just in case any one's wondering, it's a union shop, so he was on break and not doing this when he should have been working).

Needless to say, I felt the need to approach him and start up a conversation on the series. He was only a few chapters in, so I was very careful not to spoil anything for him, but merely stated how much I enjoyed reading it and hoped that he found the story as exciting as I did. He thankfully, had not been spoiled of the ending and told me how much he had enjoyed reading the series and seeing the movies, and shared his disappointment at the series coming to an end. He and I both share a similar view in that we can't believe that the series is coming to a close, and share the hope that we will continue to see the release of additional books, whether they be parallel stories, prequels to Harry Potter's saga, or *crosses fingers* an Encyclopedia of the magical world that JKR has introduced to us. I went on to share how unusual it felt to think that there are fans of the series that are so interested in these books that they will spend hours discussing the details of the series and even meet up at conferences and find ways to bring the stories to life. For "true fans" that may read this, please know that I am only a few mouse clicks away from succumbing to fan/peer pressure, as I'm finding myself interested in attending a conference to be held next year. As hard as is is for the rational, skeptical side of me to believe, I am finding myself drawn further and further into the world of a young wizard that has united so many different people from so many different walks of life.

For the longest time while reading and enjoying the series over these many years, this was one of the first times I had met someone who seemed to be less of a "fan" than I was, although 6/7 months ago I would have considered myself to have been in the same situation of fan-limbo-ness (if you can call it that) as he still is. But with the hype of the DH release and the OOTP movie release, and going back and listening to the podcasts from PotterCast and MuggleCast leading up to the release dates, I can't help but realize that my obsession with "Potter-dom" has grown in leaps and bounds.

I can remember just this past Christmas when I was talking to a cousin who had been hesitant to read the series due to all of the negative Christian feedback that the series has received and feeling that I had merely expressed myself as someone who enjoyed the books and movies on their own merits - as a story that showed a "coming of age" for a young boy and how he struggles with a battle of good and evil, and only uses magic as a method of telling the story, comparable to C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Madeleine L'Engle.

And here I am, writing filks and actually sending them out to a podcast that the whole of the HP fandom may hear it and spending so much time thinking about HP that I feel the need to share it as a part of something that has become something more than just a good book I once enjoyed - HP is becoming infused with my life!

Well, anyways, from personal experience, seeing that it has been 2 months since the OOTP movie release and just short of 2 months since the DH book release, seeing my own reactions to the series continuing to grow, and realizing that there are still many people in the world who have not yet been spoiled of Harry Potter's fate (which of course will continue as long as HP fans introduce younger generations of readers to HP) that we are looking at a love for a book/movie series that will not die out. After I go talk to one of my friends who started reading HP and squee-ing over the excitement of new book releases long before the movies sparked my own interest in the series, I might just be meeting up with even more dedicated fans at an upcoming conference! Oh, the insanity! But this is normal to some degree, am I right? *go hufflepuff!*

Blogging is the new mode of procrastination

How silly of me to start up a blog and never update it!

I guess part of my problem is that I only want to send out into the space of the web somewhat clear and coherent thoughts that have come up in my mind recently, which of course happens all of the time, but because I have such a crazy attention span and ... ooh look! Kittens!

Sorry. What I mean, though, is that I really do have a lot of things I can share, but I can't keep up with all of them, and somehow type them all up and keep each post on one particular topic....
So hopefully I'll have an update soon, since I've been needing to file some of these ideas away some place safe to come back and look at them later.

Later!