I just finished watching the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. GREAT MOVIE.
So I don't usually record the random little happenings that always make me wonder "coincidence? or something more?" but something brought me to this blog to write again, so what the hell...
So there's this line in the movie where the two lovers, who both have their memories of each other erased, via some new scientific process, but even that can't do the trick. "Meet me in Montauk..." is the line. It's symbolic. Like I said, just watch the movie. It's worth your time.
So I was surfing the web checking out Rainn Wilson's twitter page, which led me to his sweet site www.soulpancake.com (check that out as well!), which led me to a discussion page about the pursuit of happiness. Long story short... I found myself reading an article in which one of the lines read "...we can accurately predict that we'd rather be stuck in Montauk than in a Midtown elevator..." It was simple, yet it struck one of those "whoa" chords in me.
I had never even heard of Montauk before tonight, and then I hear it twice within the same hour. Coincidence? Or something more? I'll let you decide. I thought it was refreshingly randomly cool.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Make Magic
I didn't plan on it being Friday the 13th, but I got chills thinking about it after I closed the last page to the adventure about twenty minutes ago. The sole light in my abysmally dark dorm room is casting long creeping shadows that melt into the inviting darkness as I am sprawled out in the chair with my electronic pen-and-paper "in hand" right now. Everyone lies still here, slumbering, yet I stir with life. But I am not alone, because I have Harry. I will always have Harry Potter.
Guess what? I finished J.K. Rowling's epic seventh book just like every eager kid did: one page at a time. Wow. Wow. Wow. What a masterpiece! I planned on taking the book with me to my track meet in Indiana this weekend, but picking it up tonight to "knock off a few chapters" turned that plan, along with sleep tonight, into impossibilities. Three hours later, I placed the book back on the shelf, elated and exhausted, and now here I am, mystified and wondering the thoughts that dance through all of our minds at times. Where do I go from here?
Harry had a deep connection with a major character in the book, a connection at many times unexplainable. The whole time I was with him fighting Dark Lords, searching for answers, and growing up through the past nine years of my life (seven years of his), I had the one person on my mind with whom I have one of those magical connections. She will awake tomorrow to find a clue of a text message on her phone, leading her to a gift that will bring emotions only I can relate to. We are the same person.
The quest has come to an end. There is no more left for the uncanny young fellow with the funny glasses and crooked scar; the Boy-Who-Lived, they all called him. But Rowling got it wrong. Harry Potter is the Boy-Who-Lives. His story ended on page 759 of Book Seven, but his heart and soul is the true hero, living on forever in the hearts of millions. Many people cried, I heard, sad to see it end. We all hate saying goodbye to the ones we love. (NOTE: This does not refer to plot points a.k.a. whether or not Harry lives or dies in the end! Read it to find out for yourselves!) Whether they are living and breathing flesh and blood or living and breathing from pen and paper, they are part of us. It's no lie that I fought back a tear or two, thinking of the journey I began with young Harry nine years ago in my life.
We all have a little piece of Harry inside of us too, as cheesy as it sounds. The courage to do what is right. The strength to love unconditionally. The humility to live for others. J.K. Rowling took the classic battle of Good vs. Evil, and showed us, even at the heart of a fantastically imaginative fictional world, that it is always real. She showed us how love, above all other things, is the true magic of this "Muggle world we live in." Fate? Destiny? I'll stray from those philosophical topics and let you make up your own minds about Harry's life as well as your own. Isn't that the point? Even Harry doesn't have his all figured out yet.
The book has it all. Love, suspense, action, comedy, tragedy, betrayal, loyalty, life, death, victory, defeat, etc. In fact, read all seven books, or forever hold your peace with negative words about Rowling's stories. I won't tell you I read all seven books either. It wasn't reading that took place when I had Harry's journeys in my hands. From page one of book one, J.K. Rowling pulled me into Harry's world, throwing me head first right there by his side for the whole ride. I wasn't reading; I was disarming Death Eaters and hunting Horcruxes and vanquishing Volde--- I mean He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It was magical.
Friday, February the 13th, 2009. 587 days since the book came out, and I just now finished it. What the hell was the holding me back all that time? I don't know. A little bit of laziness? Probably. A subconscious nostalgia for what was to come when there would be no more Harry, no more Ron, no more Hermione to escape this world with? Most likely. But here I am, freshly finished with the book, satisfied.
I know that Harry will always be there for me now by my side, hidden from view (because of his invisibility cloak, of course), helping me along my epic journey that I am creating one instant, one page, one chapter, one book at a time. It's one of those stories, just like Harry's, that can't be read, but must be lived. Bed time.
Guess what? I finished J.K. Rowling's epic seventh book just like every eager kid did: one page at a time. Wow. Wow. Wow. What a masterpiece! I planned on taking the book with me to my track meet in Indiana this weekend, but picking it up tonight to "knock off a few chapters" turned that plan, along with sleep tonight, into impossibilities. Three hours later, I placed the book back on the shelf, elated and exhausted, and now here I am, mystified and wondering the thoughts that dance through all of our minds at times. Where do I go from here?
Harry had a deep connection with a major character in the book, a connection at many times unexplainable. The whole time I was with him fighting Dark Lords, searching for answers, and growing up through the past nine years of my life (seven years of his), I had the one person on my mind with whom I have one of those magical connections. She will awake tomorrow to find a clue of a text message on her phone, leading her to a gift that will bring emotions only I can relate to. We are the same person.
The quest has come to an end. There is no more left for the uncanny young fellow with the funny glasses and crooked scar; the Boy-Who-Lived, they all called him. But Rowling got it wrong. Harry Potter is the Boy-Who-Lives. His story ended on page 759 of Book Seven, but his heart and soul is the true hero, living on forever in the hearts of millions. Many people cried, I heard, sad to see it end. We all hate saying goodbye to the ones we love. (NOTE: This does not refer to plot points a.k.a. whether or not Harry lives or dies in the end! Read it to find out for yourselves!) Whether they are living and breathing flesh and blood or living and breathing from pen and paper, they are part of us. It's no lie that I fought back a tear or two, thinking of the journey I began with young Harry nine years ago in my life.
We all have a little piece of Harry inside of us too, as cheesy as it sounds. The courage to do what is right. The strength to love unconditionally. The humility to live for others. J.K. Rowling took the classic battle of Good vs. Evil, and showed us, even at the heart of a fantastically imaginative fictional world, that it is always real. She showed us how love, above all other things, is the true magic of this "Muggle world we live in." Fate? Destiny? I'll stray from those philosophical topics and let you make up your own minds about Harry's life as well as your own. Isn't that the point? Even Harry doesn't have his all figured out yet.
The book has it all. Love, suspense, action, comedy, tragedy, betrayal, loyalty, life, death, victory, defeat, etc. In fact, read all seven books, or forever hold your peace with negative words about Rowling's stories. I won't tell you I read all seven books either. It wasn't reading that took place when I had Harry's journeys in my hands. From page one of book one, J.K. Rowling pulled me into Harry's world, throwing me head first right there by his side for the whole ride. I wasn't reading; I was disarming Death Eaters and hunting Horcruxes and vanquishing Volde--- I mean He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It was magical.
Friday, February the 13th, 2009. 587 days since the book came out, and I just now finished it. What the hell was the holding me back all that time? I don't know. A little bit of laziness? Probably. A subconscious nostalgia for what was to come when there would be no more Harry, no more Ron, no more Hermione to escape this world with? Most likely. But here I am, freshly finished with the book, satisfied.
I know that Harry will always be there for me now by my side, hidden from view (because of his invisibility cloak, of course), helping me along my epic journey that I am creating one instant, one page, one chapter, one book at a time. It's one of those stories, just like Harry's, that can't be read, but must be lived. Bed time.
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