Catch-Up

So now that I've made my birthday post, it's time for some catching up. I know I didn't write for a long time until recently. Therefore, this post is dedicated to telling you all the things you missed. This should be fun.

Other than it being summer, there are two main things that have happened that I think that my blog has missed. Both of which I have written about before: Jennifer Jareau and Harry Potter.

First, JJ. You may recall my post, The Imminent Return of JJ, in which I discuss my issue with CBS cutting Jennifer Jareau's character on Criminal Minds. At the end, I believe I said something like..."if you somehow happen to be an executive at CBS or in any position of power to bring JJ back to Criminal Minds, please consider my rock solid reasoning. I know thousands of fans would absolutely love you."
Well, I am pleased to announce, an executive must have been reading my post because they have officially brought JJ back to Criminal Minds for good! That's awesome news, right?! I knew that post would make a difference. ;)

So my character will be reunited with her BFF, Spence, and everything will be awesome this next season. :)
That's it for JJ, though.

On to Harry.

If you've not been keeping up with my blog, you may not know that I blogged my way through reading Harry Potter for the first time this past winter. Naturally, I fell in love, became obsessed, etc., etc... An accomplishment that had no public outlet until just recently, with the release of the eighth and final Harry Potter movie!
I decided to go all out, wearing full Hufflepuff costume and brandishing a homemade (but seriously legit) wand. I told people I was Hannah Abbott. And that I marry Neville.
[I know I was against the Hannah-Neville relationship before, but my selfishness won out. I want Neville for myself, and I think I'm Hannah Abbott. There is nothing wrong with me.]
Here is a picture of me (Hannah Abbott) and Kelsey (Hermione) at the midnight showing!!

The movie was wonderful, more than I could have hoped for. Someone freaked me out before the movie started, saying something about how they might not have the part where Neville kills the snake (then I started wondering if they maybe had someone else do it instead), and so I spent a good majority of the film all tensed up just waiting to see Neville in his moment of glory.

They threw me for a loop, too, though. They gave Neville this whole bridge scene where he's being chased by an army and the bridge is collapsing, and he falls off the edge, but still manages to hold on! And as soon as that part was over I was like this is not good, they only gave him that whole heroic part because they're going to have someone else kill the snake, I just know it.

And so later, Harry tells Hermione that she needs to kill the snake, and I honestly whispered No! in the middle of the theater. If Hermione was going to kill the snake, someone was going to pay after the movie. Probably someone dressed up as Hermione in close proximity. Not boding well for Kelsey.

So THEN, when it comes time to kill the snake, seriously EVERYONE attempts to kill her. Hermione's out there with a basilisk fang, taking stabs at the snake, and Ron's right there with her. It's like, the quest to kill the snake, and everyone but Neville gets to try. I was about to cry.

BUT THEN THE MOMENT OF TRUTH! NEVILLE KILLS THE SNAKE IN ALL HIS GLORY!! IT WAS EVERYTHING I COULD HAVE EVER WANTED.

I love that man. I love him so much.

So enough gushing about Neville. God knows there's enough of that all over this blog. But the movie was brilliant, despite some itty bitty things I would have enjoyed seeing.

1. Hagrid being more distraught over Harry's death. I know it's nit-picky, but in the book, Hagrid's reaction is heart-breaking. In the movie, he's just like "No! 'Arry!" And then he's all stone-faced as he carries him to Hogwarts. Shed a tear or two, Hagrid. You cry over dead spiders.
2. Harry creating his old wand using the Elder wand. He just snaps the Elder wand in two. Like...didn't you want to do something with that before destroying it? You really want to be left with Draco's wand? Okay...
3. Kreacher fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts. I honestly consider Kreacher one of my favorite characters now, and the fact that he wasn't even included in this movie was depressing. I love how he changes and how he ends up fighting with the house elves.

So that's it for my complaints. I told you there were few. I may think of more, but I won't post them when I do; I'll just complain to whomever's around. :)

But that wraps it up for Harry Potter! And this post. So I hope that was enough to make me feel like I can blog about current things now. And not everything all at once. And I promise, I won't write about Harry Potter all the time. Although I will have a Pottermore post for sure. :)

Til later!

Goodbye, Teenage Years

I realize I have plenty that I could write about right now, seeing as I haven't posted anything in months. But my birthday was yesterday, so that seems a convenient thing to write about.

I'm twenty now. Dang it. But let's not dwell on that.

Yesterday was a good day. :) I got to go to Champaign with my two best friends from home (Kelsey and Hillary) and see some of my best friends from school (Betsy and Minyona)! We went bowling, and I scored a 109 on my second game. Not too shabby. And then we went to Cocomero and had nummy frogurt and drinks!

Hillary, Kelsey, and me!

Me, Betsy, and Minyona!

Anyway, that was the fun part of my birthday.

Now for the sad part. You may know that Borders, the bookstore, is closing nationwide. You may also know that the Borders in Bloomington was the choice hangout of the Phalanx (me, Kelsey, and Hillary) until it closed in the winter. You may even know that yesterday, my birthday, was the last day that Borders was going to be open normally before putting everything on a liquidation sale.

I could try to explain to you how much Borders meant to me and my friends. 

How we started going there just to do math homework during our senior year in high school, and one Saturday we spent 8 hours there catching up on all the homework we had put off until then. 

How we had the menu memorized, how we filled out our punch cards to get free drinks until they did away with those and started keeping track electronically.

How every time we ordered drinks, we used different names and tried to pass them off as our own until the workers realized that we were different people every time.

How we had our own special table with our own usual spots, and if anyone was at our table when we got there, we would wait and take over it as soon as they got out of their seats.

How we went there to celebrate good times, like the beginning of summer, or someone's birthday, and how we went there during the worst times.

Borders was our home.

But nothing I say can fully explain how important Borders was to us.

Point being, yesterday was our last day getting drinks at a real Borders cafe. Having said goodbye to our own local Borders months ago, we had to go to the one in Champaign.

We really only wanted to get drinks, sit there for a while, and maybe buy one last thing with a few remaining gift cards.

So this is what happened. We walked in, saw a sign on the cafe and freaked out that it was already closed. It was a false alarm, but still terrible because the sign actually said they were out of the bonding powder to make Javakulas, which are our usual drinks. So we were really mad about that.

We also needed to come up with weird names. We decided on our recognizable but sufficiently strange Star Wars names (Kelsey is Princess Leia, Hillary is Yoda, and I am Obi-Wan).

But then, the best part of the Borders experience for the day, we met the cafe worker. I don't know his name; he didn't have a nametag. But he was super nice. He offered to make us iced Javakulas instead of the less-desirable alternative drinks we had chosen. And when we said our names, he called them loud and clear with pride for Star Wars. He even said "Master Yoda." And then he spoke in a Yoda voice. He was kind of weird. But we thoroughly appreciated it.

Anyway, Kelsey told him it was my birthday, so he only charged me for a latte, even though I was getting something more expensive, and said the rest was on him. And he gave us whatever toppings we wanted on our drinks because they needed to get rid of them anyway.

I know this is a long and pointless post about Borders, but despite it being our last day going there ever, it was about the best day I could have asked for.

So Borders closing was the end of an era for us. The end of my teenage years, as well.

All of it is bittersweet.

But there are different, yet equally as exciting things ahead. We may never find another "Borders." I'll never be a teenager again. But I still have my amazing friends and a super-privileged life, and I could not be more thankful. :)
Happy birthday to me!