Before college, I really wasn’t that interested in Broadway shows, and I thought musicals were a little cheesy. I liked a few, but I wasn’t as “into” live theatre as I came early in my college years. And one of the shows that contributed pretty intensely to my current obsession, the musical that is easily my favorite and that I’m getting all nerdy-excited that it’s coming back to Columbus in a little over a month, is Wicked. Read more ⇓
Happy Earth Day! While we at the HPA are in full fledged Accio Books mode, it is important to celebrate our earth today, especially after a fantastic NIHN 2.0 campaign. Without our awesome, ever-changing earth, we would have no cocoa, no coffee, and no way to defend ourselves against the dementors of both the wizarding and muggle worlds. And that would mean a lot of sadness. Plus, who doesn’t like smelling the clear air after a big thunderstorm, rolling down cushy grass-filled hills, or feeling the bark of oak trees as you scramble up to lowest branch? (Oops… did I just give away the smells of my Amortencia?) But, you know what I mean. The earth is rad. It gives us good things. And we should celebrate it. 
Earthday.org is the website I used to get my knowledge on about today’s events all around the world. Let me tell you, people are mighty creative. It is not just about kids crafts and planting trees anymore — in Seoul, South Korea, Ecomom Korea is organizing an “Eco-style” Earth Day Flash Mob to a variation of Gangnam Style, the Danish Cultural Institute is organizing its annual CO 2 Green Drive Project where runners, walkers, bikers, and canvasses to spell “CO 2“ with GPS devices, and Veracruz, Mexico’s Tortugas Fundacion Yepez is mobilizing volunteers to protect the habitat of sea turtles by cleaning up the local beaches and organizing a reforestation campaign (who doesn’t love sea turtles after Nemo?). How cool! Is there anything going on in your school or town with which you are getting involved?
Sometimes it is a little hard to put our feet on the ground after we have been traveling to the future to see the planet at its’ end, discovering a much different post-apocolyptic America, or getting wrapped up in the space-age community. Books can do that to us – make us dizzy with the future possibilities and alternate endings of our own, very real earth. Middle Earth, the wizarding world, and countless others seem real, better, and hard to leave. But, I will bet you that sitting in your favorite spot, watching a breathtaking sunset, and listening/smelling/taking in all the good things about the earth are things that no muggle or wizard would want to give up completely. That is why we must celebrate!
Isn’t this so cool? It’s from putitinajar.com
I am planning on reading a book outside, taking a nice walk, and watering all of my plants at home (call me a Mrs.Figg-kind-of-cat-lady, but I love it). I have read a bunch of articles that talk about types of plants that breathe good air into a very stuffy apartment such as mine – maybe it is time to buy some more rosemary, mint, and lavender! I have also been toying with the idea of starting a very small herb garden. These might not be the ground breaking, environment-saving things that follow this Earth Day’s theme of “the Face of Climate Change”, but they are good enough for me.
So, I hope everyone can enjoy some time outside or practice some green things today just to celebrate how wonderful our earth really is. And then donate some books because it’s Accio Books, baby!
Coming at you yet again, that time of the week where you can get to know your bloggers better through sometimes strange, sometimes bittersweet questions.
This week’s question is: What book do you think your house’s founder would recommend? Read more ⇓
I’ve been glued to my TV since Monday, following the Boston chain of events with desperation. I don’t live in Boston, but I’d planned to move there for college, so the recent circumstances have left me reeling in shock. I know I didn’t feel even a fraction of the pain that the Greater Boston area did, but my worry for them was real.
Luckily, the second Boston marathon bomber was captured late Friday night, putting an end to the long week of terror. I obviously couldn’t be there, but I watched the news, saw the people gathering in the streets and celebrating. It kind of reminded me of the munchkins singing ‘Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead’ in Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, or the wizards and witches celebrating Voldemort’s disappearance in the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Perhaps there’s a problem with the fact that I relate everything back to books, but as we at the HPA have realized recently, books have a lot of healing power, especially in wake of tragedy.
It looks like Boston will have a happy ending after all. Everything that happened this week was absolutely terrible, and my heart goes out to those who have been affected by the bombers, but with hope, love, and assistance from the rest of the country, I think healing is not only possible but probable, and likely already in effect.
My only hope beyond the well being of everyone involved in the attacks is that American citizens will use these recent events as a lesson of compassion rather than hatred. The bombings and shootings were carried out by two people and two people alone. Blaming and hating an entire group of people simply because they share the same religion or ethnicity as the attackers will do nothing but breed more fear and intolerance- which, frankly, is the last thing we need right now.
So use these events as a reminder to tell your family, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors- even, or perhaps especially, your Muslim ones- how much you love them. Remember that some people live in countries where bombings are usual occurances, and that we feel safe enough to consider events like this shocking is a miracle in and of itself If there’s one thing this week has taught me, it’s that there is much more good in the world than evil, and we are very lucky to be living among the good, where people recognize that the most powerful weapon is not a gun or a bomb but rather the power of love.
Tomorrow, April 19th, marks the 18th annual Day of Silence and the third Day of Silence in my school, one of the 90,000 in the world that endorsed the initiative. Last year was the first time I participated actively, as a member of our tolerance club, Embrace, with the aim to turn a rather homophobic society into a more tolerant, united community. We in the Embrace club attempted to show our support and make the loudest noise of all – that of silence; but we were met with troubles, doubts, and resistance.
Read more ⇓
A couple weeks ago I was trolling through my attic and I stumbled across a box completely filled with my favorite childhood books. In it, I found a book that I had nearly forgotten about, despite this book having been one of the sole shapers of my childhood. Read more ⇓
I never thought a few months ago when I was writing about Newtown that I would be watching yet another tragedy unfold in front of me so soon. Earlier today, two explosions rocked the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Reports have varied about how many people were hurt or killed, but let’s just say that there were way too many.
The tragedy hurts like hell. In a short time, more people were senselessly killed doing everyday things. All of our hearts go out to the victims, and the families of the victims, not to mention all of Boston and the country. However, as I always like to point out, there is more to the story than just someone creating senseless violence. Many stories have come to light about runners going straight from the finish line to Mass General to donate blood to those who needed it. There are Google Docs of people offering their homes to others who can’t get back to their hotels or homes because of evacuations or mass transit problems. In times like these, it’s almost refreshing and comforting to know that so many people out there are opening their lives to those who are hurting.
Everyone out there, please. Hug your family, hug your friends, Facebook message or tweet your friends in and around Boston, and share the love that we all have in this community. If you are so inclined, light a candle, say a prayer for the injured. The Weapon We Have is Love. It’s a weapon that will never fail, and never lose its power. I love you all, and my heart is with everyone in Boston and across the country tonight.
Coming at you yet again, that time of the week where you can get to know your bloggers better through sometimes strange, sometimes bittersweet questions.
This week, our question is: What is your fondest memory related to a book and/or reading?
Erin: When my sister and I were little, our parents really stressed the importance of reading. We would be read bedtime stories each night, until we were old enough to read for ourselves. But the best part was that on a regular basis (every week or two, if I remember correctly), my mom would take us to the local library along with her huge tote bag and she’d just set us loose. We would fill that tote bag with books–any books–and those books would come home with us until the next library trip. So our bedtime stories were always picked out of the huge stack of library books in the corner of the family room. I’m pretty certain that by the time that particular tradition came to an end–when my sister and I were old enough to read to ourselves and to have our own library cards–we had probably read almost all of the picture books that were in our local library. Read more ⇓
Here at the Harry Potter Alliance, we are continually inspired by the examples set by Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix: two organizations that worked tirelessly to fight injustice at Hogwarts and beyond.
Our friends at the International Quidditch Association have taken JK Rowling’s words to heart in a similar fashion. They’ve been inspired by her vision of a world where witches and wizards compete as equals on the quidditch pitch. And they’re working to make that vision a reality by creating the world’s first post-gender, international sport.
Read more ⇓
Alright, I do believe that all books are good books. If somebody puts time and effort into writing it, if somebody finds pleasure and comfort in reading it- it’s a good book. There may be problematic elements, plot holes, weak writing, but at the root of it, all books are good books.
However, there are some books that rise above the rest- and I’ve found a foolproof way of finding those books. Read more ⇓
©2012 The HP Alliance. All Rights Reserved. The Weapon We Have is Love.
