So True

I noticed this on Twitter today. The trending topic, "HP CONQUERS ALL" caught my eye. This quote epitomizes, in 140 characters or less, my previous post about HP and my love of Stephen King.

@PotterHeadFreak "Harry Potter is about confronting fears. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend." - Stephen King. HP CONQUERS ALL.

Others of my favorite tweets in this trend included:

@12Grummauld_Pl 1,090,739 words. 3,363 pages. 199 chapters. 17 hours and 14 minutes. 8 movies. 7 books. 1 story. HP CONQUERS ALL.
@karlagt Stone? Saved it. Chamber? Discovered. Prisoner? Met him. Order? Joined. Tournament? Won. Prince? Revealed. Hallows? United. HPCONQUERS ALL.
@chelseyaccionox 7 reasons HP CONQUERS ALL. Love. Hate. Betrayal. Anger. Excitement. Fear. Hope.

I love the idea that somebody's stories can so profoundly affect the world. For years.

Thanks again, Harry.

~MJ

Songs Are Great Texts, too

Good writing is good writing is good writing.

Adding a nice sound to those words makes the experience even better.

In no particular order, here is the beginning of a series about my favorite songs...they're favorites because of the combination of words and sounds, but mostly words. These are songs with messages, abou growing up, about de-stressing, about living life, achieving dreams, and acting to make the world a better place.

"Landslide" written by Stevie Nicks

I have three versions of this song, all as beautiful as the next. It's one of the only songs I know where the covers don't sound dramatically different; the haunting similarities, in my mind, speak to just how gorgeous the song really is. Fleetwood Mac, The Dixie Chicks, and even the cast of Glee all bring this song to life for me. I hear it as a song about maturing, about growing up and struggling to be independent but also loving of others. My favorite lyrics are:"Mirror in the sky/what is love?/Can the child within my heart/rise above?/Can I sail through the changing ocean tides/Can I handle the seasons of my life?"

"All at Sea" written by Jamie Cullum

For me, this song is about escape. I always feel myself on a secluded deck of a cruise ship, in the middle of the ocean, with just the sounds of the shifting waters and winds rocking me to sleep. I have literally used this song to take a break from the world when it's stressful. My favorite lyrics are: "I'm all at sea/with no one to bother me/forgot my roots/just me and my thoughts/sailing far away...you don't need it every day/but sometimes don't you just crave/to disappear within your mind/you never know what you might find."

"My Way" written by Paul Anka
This song reminds me to live life to the fullest, to not dwell too long on the negative, and to always accept adventure. Even better, the only version I really love is performed by the one and only Frank Sinatra - and it's his song. The song accepts that regrets happen, than things don't always go as planned. But, "what's more" is that we follow through with our plans, live out every day, and keep going. I love the entirety of the song, but a combination of Sinatra's voice and passion resonates for me with these words: "Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew/When I bit off more than I could chew/but through it all, when there was doubt/I ate it up and spit it out/I faced it all and I stood tall/and did it my way." Also, I've had these times, too.

"Imagine" by John Lennon
Every  time I hear this song, I want something better for the world. That's probably why I have 8 covers of it with a combined 95 plays on my classic iPod (2006 represent). It reminds me that our world is built on social constructions, and just as easily as we created them, we can change the rules. Not everyone sees the world as I do in this sense, which makes a lot of those changes so hard. But this song gets me through those times. "You may say I'm a dreamer/but I'm not the only one/I hope someday you will join us/and the world will live as one."

"Don't Let Me Fall" by B.o.B/Bobby Ray
This song blew my mind the first time I heard it. Well, I saw the video and recognized Red Rocks and immediately became invested in it - yes, Colorado does that to me. Either way, listening to the song made this experience so much better. This is a song about investing in your dreams, keeping faith that you will reach them, and once you have, knowing how to hold on to them. It's about working hard to achieve goals and to make progress, but also to never forget what it took to get there. "Well it was just a dream/just a moment ago/I was up so high/looking down at the sky/don't let me fall.../Yeah, but for once/no one made that pavement is/cause there ain't no parachute/that they can make for  this/cause I put my pain, my heart/my soul, my faith in this/does anyone else feel how I feel?/then you can relate to this." This lyric also strikes me: "To picture my life boy/you need a higher resolution." Isn't this what we all aspire to? Working hard? Achieving dreams? Always making progress?

"Changes" by 2Pac
This song has always been in the back of my mind, but it became so real for me as I worked with my students in Tulsa. This is a song reflecting how poverty structures culture and how hard it is to overcome. It paints a picture we obviously want to change - high crime rates, drug dealing to kids, violence. It also expresses frustration about the obstacles to change - not just the struggle to change mindsets, but the lack of power, and the lack of focus on the right priorities. When I used this song as part of a lesson in my 8th grade class last year, some of my students saw the hope in this song, and others stopped at the lyrics, "That's just the way it is/some things will never change." 2Pac acknowledges all we should change and frets that we haven't made those changes.  But, despite the frustration, the core of his message is this: "We gotta make a change/it's time for us a people to start makin' some changes/let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live/and let's change the way we treat each other/you see, the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do/what we gotta do, to survive." Funny how John Lennon and 2Pac, two men who lost their lives to violence and lived in very different worlds, saw what was needed so clearly. What can we learn from them? I feel like if we can keep singing about the problems, and we know the solutions, we can work to reach them.

There will be more of these posts. I appreciate songs as much as I appreciate books.

~MJ

Thank you, Harry.

Best. Series. Ever.

I left "A Game of Thrones" in my car and a new book I'm reading for work. I may not be able to handle reading much right now anyway, but I glanced at my bookshelf and couldn't resist: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

My mom originally got this book for me over ten years ago. In 7th grade, I heard about the book on The Rosie O'Donnell show (my favorite after school tv pastime) but didn't think much of it. Then, my mom got me a copy as she had heard good things about the book. She only got me paperback, though, thinking that if I got into the series we could do hardcover, but it wasn't worth the investment if I ended up not enjoying the first book.

Little did we both know what a passion it would become.

I raced through the first three books during the fall of my 7th grade year, which, in addition to my other reading, catapulted me to the front of my homeroom class in terms of number of books read. That year I won a CD from my teacher for reading so much - and I thank HARRY POTTER!

In the years that followed, I remember the time spent waiting for a new book to arrive. I always pre-ordered the latest HP novel on Amazon.com instead of doing the bookstore party thing. Amazon always promised it would be delivered day-of-release. Twice FedEx failed on Amazon's promise and I had to wait a few extra days (aka, an eternity). But twice Amazon refunded our money for the inconvenience!

I remember the FedEx delivery guy arrived on schedule for the delivery of one of the books. But he was exasperated  It was mid-afternoon; I had anxiously waited all day and was convinced my book was lost in the mail. I'd also heard about people looting delivery trucks. I also had heard that there were simply too many books to be delivered for them to all arrive on schedule. But, FedEx man arrived. I saw him through the picture window in the living room and it was all I could do not to race to the door before he got to the doorstep. My mom and I greeted him and got the book. I was speechlessly excited. He smiled nicely and I remember my mom and him chatting a moment about his day. He said something about his truck being full of Harry Potter and there not being enough hours in the day. So true, delivery man. So true.

I knew people who read them in 24 hours. I would usually try to savor the book for a week although so often it was hard to put down. I remember growing with Harry - the story lines deepening as I matured. I fancied myself to be the same age as Harry and I still won't let anyone tell me differently. I started an HP fan club online in middle school, in the days of AOL chat rooms, message boards, and list servs. I managed to acquire a following of 70 or so people, from all over the world, for an e-newsletter about Harry. It included columns about the plot and characters and I accepted submissions of something from my readers.

My fascination with local news got me to send the newsletter to a local anchor (Wayne Herman at Denver's 7). He mentioned it on the air during the last segment of a show and subscribed to future newsletters. It was probably my most successful attempt at amateur journalism as a child - fostering a love I already had for writing and letting be a little reporte...thanks to HARRY POTTER!

It still blows my mind to think how deeply I, along with millions across the world, got into HP. I usually hesitate to jump on bandwagons right away, but I definitely rode the wave of HP like a pro - and I long for those times. I wish had gone to a bookstore party or two. I did wait in line for the midnight showing of the sixth movie, although I fell asleep (the movies aren't as good as the books, anyway). I long for the anticipation that came with a new HP book; the novelty of that FedEx delivery every couple of years.

I also miss the adventures of Harry, Ron, and Hermione; the wisdom of Dumbledore and Hagrid; the characters I cried over like Sirius Black, Dobby, and yes, Dumbledore. I miss losing myself in a world mixed of wizards and muggles, broomstick sports and custom wands. And, considering how successful HP is, I wonder why words like "muggles" don't clear my computer's spell-check.

Despite my many years of commitment to HP, I've never re-read the books, unlike so many people I know. I also haven't seen movie 7 part 2, but that, to me, is not as grievous or interesting. So. I pulled book 1 off my shelf tonight. I just wrote a whole blog so I should be able to read a chapter or two.

And still, after all these years, I have a giddy anticipation about opening to page 1 and getting lost in Harry's world.

Thank you, Harry, for giving me that escape - along with everything else.

Here's to books that keep you reading,

~MJ