Things I am Thankful for Pt. 1

I realize that I really should be working on other multiple things but before I really want to scream and tear at my hair because of tech week I just need to share something.

I am incredibly thankful not to be this guy this week.

Harry Potter

So here's the thing, I love Harry Potter. You're probably thinking, "Oh yeah, me too." No.

No, you don't. I really really love Harry Potter. In a spent-my-childhood-with-some-fake-parchment-and-real-quills kind of way. Oh yes.

I grew up with Harry Potter. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone came out in 1998 (I was six) but by the time I was 10 I had quickly read myself through the first four books in the space of a week. That's a lot of pages.

Following that I spent three midnights in our local Barnes and Noble waiting in line for my pre-ordered tome. My best friend until I was 12 read them so many times she'd practically memorized the entire series and then started reading them in Russian. I attended countless Harry Potter theme parties where we dressed up in our robes and were fully informed about our characters. When I was a freshman/junior in high school we flew to London and were overjoyed to see Platform 9 and 3/4. My sister like friend and I ran letters written on tea-bagged distressed paper with feathers and sealed with wax across the street. We were our own owls.

When she called me last month bearing the news that tickets for the first installment of the last movie were on sale I squealed a little bit. Never mind the fact that the movie started at 12:01 A.M. or that we would be getting there at 9 P.M. to wait in line after class, or that I needed to be awake to work with preschoolers the next morning. No, because this was Harry Potter, this was our childhoods and we were going to go. My roommate and I launched ourselves out of our collective black hole to throw on some pigtails and old graduation robes (hint- keep your robe from your Master's- those sleeves are much more magical) and head over to the movie theater. It was the perfect remedy to a not so great week.

Behind us in line were a group of young professionals teaching at the University. They'd carefully coordinated all of their outfits to perfection: Rita Skeeter, Snape, Mad Eye Moody (with a very large googly eye attached to an eye patch), Professor Sprout, and Hagrid. Our group mostly sported eye liner scars and jackets under robes. We made instant friends with the people around us, who were just as crazy to be standing in line three hours before we'd actually get to see the movie. The people ahead of us were dressed in their usual Muggle wear, and being in the minority were slightly uncomfortable.

Sitting down to start a movie at midnight on a Thursday felt completely ridiculous but utterly right. As the starting credits starting to roll the theater full of house-elves, witches, wizards, and owls let out shouts and applause. It was truly the first time in my adult life that I'd been part of some cultural phenomenon. I finally understood the Disney movies people feel deep connections to, and the music and all of it.

The movie was, in essence, a joy.

Tired

So tired, and for no reason. This life needs some sort of direction and new life. There was once some, 7 months ago but that’s all gone now. And I keep hoping for some new idea or passion- something to encourage me to keep going and be interested in what is going on around me. I can be, and I will be but right now all I want to is keep myself curled up with the lights off. For now I think soulful, sad music will have to do the trick.

Midterm Elections

Two days ago I voted for the first time and it felt great. I've been feeling like the world is apathetic lately and it was empowering to walk to my polling station (a place I'd been countless times before), spin the little wheel around and cast my vote. I feel that it's my right as a citizen, a person, and a woman.

So listening to the results and the statistics ended up being a complete let down-

I am a woman. Women are less likely to vote in midterm elections.

I am a person of color. Midterm elections tend to be more "white".

I am under the age of 30. This election, 9% of the electorate was under 30.

NINE PERCENT.

And really, what were my peers doing? I have no idea! For the most part, no one has a family, a job, or any responsibilities that would get in the way of them voting (these "no one"s I speak of are my college age peers) It took me all of 30 minutes and I walked to the polling station. There are 24 hours in a day, I'm sure they could have worked it out.

Some of this anger is about the political apathy of my peers, yes. These changes in our government and country affect them. The other part of this anger stems from the fact that my district elected someone who will never truly represent us in Congress and I'm deeply saddened.

A friend sent me this last night to go over, and it communicates how I feel much better than I can articulate at the moment:

Dear District #5,

Though yesterday may appear a victory for Republicans it is really a loss for us all. Regardless of your political views and how you voted, the "Red Wave" was always going to wash the Democrats from the House and give it back to the Republicans. A vote for Robert Hurt to simply "hurt" Obama and Pelosi was worse than beating a dead horse. Perriello may have voted against your political views but over the next two years that vote would be irrelevant, due to the overwhelming Republican majority.

The loss of his devotion to us will be vast in comparison to gain of Hurt's vote in Congress. Perriello was a politician that understood that election means representing the entire district, not just those that voted for him. He worked hard and listened to us more than any other Congressman to their district. He was bringing jobs back to Southern Virginia and had an exciting future planned for them and the rest of our district. I hope he can set enough in motion before leaving office so that this bright future is not forgotten during his absence.

{Name Omitted}