Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

I might just hyperventilate. Oh. My. God.

I went to the midnight showing last night (under the condition that I would go to school today) and while I was dead all day and yes, I may have taken a nap in study hall, it was so worth it. If you are a Harry Potter fan, either the books or the movies, go see the movie right now. Now. I mean it. Get online, go to the website of the nearest theater, find the closest time to right now, get in your car and go. Got it? Now stop reading this and get to it.

If you have seen it, and you didn't like it, please keep your comments to yourself because I thought it was Brilliant with a capital B. While yes, a few of what some may consider "major scenes" were taken from the film, it still stuck the the book almost precisely. There were even some points at which lines were taken from the book verbatim. And, beyond the fact that it was just flat out amazing, the cinematography was top knotch.

Favorite additions to the movie: Dance scene between Harry and Hermione; Animated version of "The Three Brothers"*

*The animation of this story was a really great way to make it actually involved with the movie and it was really interesting. I enjoyed Hermione's narration of it with only the animation in the background.

I really want to re-read the entire book now. It's been so long since I read it that I didn't quite remember everything. I'd only re-read up until the three are preparing to break into the ministry, so for the rest of it I only remembered  brief parts.

Also, I would like to caution anyone going to see it: Pee before you go! There is one scene where, even if you're expecting it, you will still jump. I had to pee so badly that I nearly peed my pants when it happened, so please take care and go to the bathroom before the movie.

Also, contrary to what some left the theater believing, Harry and Hermione are not, I repeat NOT, a couple. Harry likes Ginny. Hermione likes Ron. Harry and Hermione are best friends and think of each other like brother and sister, and as such feel the need to take care of one another. When Hermione is sad, Harry tries to comfort her to make her feel better and vice versa. They're just looking out for each other. As for the scene with the horocrux, Ron feels like he's not good enough because he's best friends with, well, Harry Potter. That little scene plays out simply to explain Ron's insecurity and worries. Nothing more.

Anyway, I hope I didn't give anything away to anyone who has not seen it, and hopefully explained some things to people who had misconceptions. Now it's time to talk about the characters themselves.

I have felt ever since the first movie that the characters have always been cast well. Scrimgeour is probably the only character I never had a clear vision in my head for when it came to appearance, but after seeing the movie I feel that Nighy was a good fit. There were not many other new characters to be introduced this time around, but as always Daniel, Emma, and Rupert stole the show. Helena Carter shines as Bellatrix Lestrange,

always the creep but perfect in her role of bloodlust. There is just something about her that makes her perfect for that role...

Anywho, go see it. I've been obsessing over it for days, and I have no doubt that, if you like the movies/books at all, you will be too.

Zombie Invasion

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of books out there on what to expect in high school, just like what to expect when you're having a baby. They give you the basics in a nice, organized order with an index to boot and tell you how to make it out alive. They talk about peer pressure, drugs, alcohol, homework. The ushe. And in the end high school is always, "The best years of your life!" Exclamation point, smiley face, cheesy thumbs up and all (with the help of this book, of course!)

I hate to admit it, but I've read more than one of them. Maybe not the "How to Survive High School" book exactly, but a lot of stories that stereotype high school. A lot of what happens in those books is pretty true to life, but none of them say a single thing about this. I wish they would have. Then maybe I could have prepared. But no. I always thought I could rely on books, but this time they've left me out to dry.

It's half-way through second quarter (Literally. Mid-terms were on Monday, people.) and even the underclassmen reek of what has been affectionately termed "senioritis." I feel like my arms are going to fall off every day and almost collapse when I realize I'm only carrying two folders and a notebook. This lethargy won't leave and I know I am not the only one who feels it.

Looking down the hall I can just tell: we are all headed for one, total and utter senior-class mental breakdown.

When I look around the school I replace people's clothes with straight jackets so they're all hugging themselves instead of their books. I picture the white stone turned to white padding. It's not that difficult to do, and when the picture is complete it looks just about right.

Does anyone else feel it? I know you do. Everyone is freaking out, and if they haven't already, they're about to. I'm waiting for the day we all get shipped off to therapy. We need to just admit it: We are all done with this place, but we just can't pinpoint why. We can't explain it. Nothing has changed, but our feelings toward everything has. It's like being on autopilot, and knowing you're on autopilot, and not being able to gain control again. You want to do something out of the ordinary, something strange, just to see if it can pull you out of this rut. (I've been contemplating dying my hair black, myself.) You want to get out and think for yourself but at the same time you know you think too much and if you're fully allowed to think to yourself you worry about what you might think, so maybe not thinking at all is the better option?

Please allow me to speak for anyone that has been, is, or will be a senior. We are 17 and 18 years old, and somehow feel the world expects us to know what we want to do with the rest of our lives. "We are the future," and all the rest of the bull that makes us feel like the fate of the world is on our shoulders. Parent, teachers. Our entire adolescent lives they've been telling us about the "read world," whatever the hell that's supposed to be. Half of that time we spent believing that somehow, the "real world" was none of our concern and that we had time before we had to deal with it.  The second half of that time we've spent yearning for it, wanting nothing but to get out of this damn "fish bowl" called high school. We've been watching the time tick by, waiting for time to be up.

Now the timer is going off. Ding, fries are done, but we don't want them any more. All that time we thought we had has slipped away out the window and down the street past the second star to the left and on til morning. We keep hitting snooze, but the time seems to get shorter with ever push of the button. You can't sleep in forever, sweetie. At some point you have to wake up and greet the day.

It's effing hard  to be a teenager right now. Has it ever been easy? I wonder if everyone goes through this their senior year. I've heard they do, like it's the one thing every senior goes through but no one talks about because this is supposed to be the best year of our life, after all.

And I swear. I'm trying to make it the best year of my life because I've always been told to enjoy it now, but it's so difficult to do it when you can't figure out why you're doing the things you're doing and you have to quit doing things you used to love because you aren't in the right mental state to make the commitment to it anymore. It's a sad day when the people you love feel like you don't love them because you've been distant and apathetic lately and you try to explain over and over again what's going through your head and how you love them so much it hurts but you have to make time to love them because if you don't you'll forget to because you think you're losing your mind and you have a mental disease and you fear for your sanity and-----

It's so hard for other people to hold on to you when you struggle to hold on to yourself. So when you find that moment when you're no longer on autopilot, like when you're driving down the road with a couple friends, windows down in the dark at 8:45 on a Wednesday, blasting Katy Perry through the radio so loud you think your speakers might spontaneously combust, when you find that moment you stretch it out as long as you can because you know that the high of living will only last until you crawl into your bed.

I'm trying to find that thing that makes me happy that I don't have to cling to for a short while and stretch out. I'm trying to find it and trying to switch out of autopilot and trying to explain myself to people who can't understand all at the same time, and it makes me freaking tired. We are all tired. We walk down the hallways and sit in class like zombies.

I'm just waiting for the thing that snaps us all out of it.

Now go watch this --> everything will be ok : Don Hertzfeldt