This has been a rough week for culture. First David Bowie, and now Alan Rickman has succumbed. There’s a reason why we use the word “cancer” to name a scourge that plagues us.
In 20 minutes, I will convene my Harry Potter class, and we will pay tribute to the man who gained an entirely new generation of fans by embodying the Half-Blood Prince.
Probably I will show them this:
And then I will show them this:
Rest in peace, Alan. Enjoy the Bowie concert.
I’m so pleased to announce that an essay of mine about Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Harry Potter, and reading with my daughter across the generations has been posted at one of my favorite blogs, Femmeliterate, as part of their Women Writers Reading series. Go check it out! Just click on this link to go there: http://www.femmeliterate.net/reveuse-by-angelique-jamail/
It feels like Monday to me because the school where I teach is excellent enough to take Columbus Day off every year. Not to give the students a break while the teachers sit through a marginally useful inservice, no, but an actual holiday. A true three-day weekend. Love!
But now I’m back at work, and this gem crossed my inbox, and I felt the need to share. Many of you are already aware, no doubt, of my love of the Harry Potter opus and of my benevolent tolerance of the Twilight “saga” (put in quotes because a saga it is not, no matter how many marketing execs call it that). If you need a refresher on why I find Twilight to be entertaining but not particularly good for you if you’re young — nutritionally speaking, it’s a big bowl of candy — then click here.
And then you may click here to view a delightful comparison between these two literary phenomena, from the Life As A Reader blog. Perhaps you’ve already seen it. Perhaps you will simply enjoy it anyway.
Cheers!
PLEASE NOTE: This is a repost from earlier today. Due to some technical glitches in the system, this post was not received by some of my followers in their email, so it’s being resent. The post has not substantially changed since earlier.
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I recently read Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, and for days afterward, I had to distract myself with other things to keep from breathless reverie. I’m trying to remember the last time I was so affected by a book, and I think it was the first time I read
I recently read Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, and for days afterward, I had to distract myself with other things to keep from breathless reverie. I’m trying to remember the last time I was so affected by a book, and I think it was the first time I read
So I was recently awarded a Dodisharkicorn Best Commenter Award from the lovely ladies over at Snobbery. (Yay!)
In fulfillment of this award, there are some things I must do. First, proudly display my award badge, which I will do here:
Next, I must answer the following questions:
My answers are below.
Next, I must announce my winners and pass them on to my Top 5 Commenters. However, since the directive of the original award is to “spread it around like Nutella” and some of my commenters are tied for frequency, I’m giving it to more than five people. Lucky them! They are (drumroll…)
1. Cindy and Seema tied for 1st place
2. Kara in 2nd place
3. Alanna, LouAnne, and Peggy tied for 3rd place
Now, this award is all about frequency. Please rest assured that all my commenters are awesome in terms of quality! And if you weren’t named this time for the award, you definitely have the chance to participate more on the blog to increase your chances for next time. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)
So winners, please answer the questions! You may do so in the comments here, so that we can all enjoy them, or if you have blogs of your own, please pay this award forward there and link back to this post. (It’s just good for your karma to do so, and you know it.)
To set a shining example, I will now answer these difficult questions to the best of my ability. Enjoy.
1. My third favorite color is emerald green.
2. What would I rather be? It’s a very tough choice between a wizard/witch and a Jedi, but I think I’m going to have to go with Jedi Knight. I once dressed up as one for work — I teach in a high school — for a themed costume day. The theme was “Come Dressed As What You Want To Be When You Grow Up,” and when I was a kid, Jedi was high on my list. My costume was awesome.
3. My favorite Doctor is probably David Tenant because I like his other work. Sadly, I missed the boat on Doctor Who decades ago and have only a fleeting familiarity with it. Heresy, I know, and I hope you will all forgive me this severe cultural transgression.
4. I cannot whistle and am thus an embarrassment to my family and to my species in general.
5. I would name my child Sirius Albus if his father were Harry Potter. Beyond that, this is an exclusively theoretical question, so I’ll just say, sure. Why not.
6. 42. This one’s almost too easy. RIP Douglas Adams, you betoweled hoopy frood extraordinaire.
7. I own a lawnmower in the sense that my husband has one, and what’s his is mine and what’s mine is his. But you’re not likely to see me lay a finger upon said lawnmower, unless it needs to be moved from behind my car before I back out of the driveway because my husband left it there. Reciprocally, my husband has a collection of absolutely exquisite hats he wouldn’t touch with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole. I like to wear them when I go out for tea.
8. Yup, I sure do. Please observe this photograph from very shortly before Peter Jackson’s first LotR movie came out, of my darling husband who is as unpansyish as a man can get and still be intellectual and liberal, and of his cat who is no longer with us. For further evidence of his unpansyishness, see the note about the hats, above.
9. Although there’s a tough competition between this and any of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, I think the trashiest thing I’ve read lately must be A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole. Please feel free to cover it for Trashy Tuesday. I’m not sure I could do it TT justice myself, although I might blog about it at some point in the future. I promise, I do read quality stuff, too, most of the time! In fact, Cole’s book really didn’t have much competition here.
So that’s all! Have a good week. Award winners, comment here with your answers and demonstrate just how awesome you are, and how sincerely you deserve this award!
Sappho's Torque 