Friday, September 28, 2007

So I'm putting together all my little chaperone packets for this second school trip to Ashland and trying not to stress out about it too much. I feel quite intimidated being in charge of things involving parents because I want them to see me as a together, in control, oh-so-prepared teacherly type--instead of what I usually feel like: haphazard, thrown together, last-minute, and all that.

And although it's completely unfair to parents, I feel like they usually see me as a version of their kids' elder siblings--bossy, fine to leave in charge now and then, but occasionally needing to be taken down a peg or two. Of course, those of you with psychology degrees will point out how sometimes *cough* certain people find themselves projecting their own feelings about themselves onto others, and yes, you're very right, you clever thing. It definitely doesn't help that I often look around and say, am I really 25? Do I have an actual job where I'm in charge of things? What happened to college? When did I become not a kid anymore?

Perhaps I need to adopt that lovely self-bolstering technique used by villainous masterminds the world over--speaking of myself in the third person. For example, the darkest wizard of modern times doesn't suffer from self-doubt, does he? No. Why? Because when he talks about himself, he uses the third person, like this, "Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, Muggle, for he knows...he always knows..." or "You have disappointed Lord Voldemort, Wormtongue, and Lord Voldemort does not forgive." I think I could modify this for my own uses... how about, "No, Student, Ms. Van Essen will not grant you extra credit, for she knows you blew off the assignment to watch TV," or how about, "You are tardy to Ms. Van Essen's class, O Eighth-grader, and now she has no choice but to write you a detention."

Hmm, this could work. I'll let you know how it goes.

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Posted by: DVE / 5:25 PM
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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

So, I got a super-cute new haircut and hair color--bangs, a little bit of layering, and red and blond highlights. Wow, it's cute. My hair has not looked this good since--I can't even remember when. Not during grad school, I'll say that much. Pictures to come.
Posted by: DVE / 8:45 PM
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Sunday, September 23, 2007

So, usually when I don't blog for this long, it's because I've run out of things to write about. This week, however, I've had a ton of things to write about and hardly a spare minute to get them down in black and white. I don't particularly have a spare minute now (since my bedtime was exactly one minute ago), but thanks to Dutch Bros. I have a bit of artificial energy and I'm at a computer (having just built my Geometry test for tomorrow morning), so farewell, my sweet eight hours--the people must have their blog!

Why has this week been so hectic, you ask? After all, I am now a seasoned one-year-old teacher. All my lesson plans should be written and ready to be recycled. Well... not so much. See, somehow, some of the things I was so excited about last year aren't looking quite so hot by the light of a new day, so there's a lot of revamping to be done. (Suddenly wondering about the "vamp" root of that word... hmm, we'll get to that later...). Plus, I have had, in a 5-day week, a grand total of 1 afternoon and evening all to myself. Every other afternoon I have had some kind of responsibility keeping me at school after hours--meetings, parent orientation, math lab--you name it. Plus, my parents are in Italy (*she pauses to seethe with envy*) so I have to keep an eye on the young ones. And finally, I picked up a nasty little head cold (oh, yes, on the 3rd week of school, that's right) which basically meant I spent my few remaining hours crashed out on the couch in a stupor after school. All this boils down to being very very very behind and rather stressed about it all. But, one weekend later, I am now only behind with one very and not really stressed at all. Also, almost healthy again. Back to normal.

So, on to the fun stuff: First of all, part of my lying on the couch in a stupor involved the DVDs of the 3rd season of The Office that Netflix was so very kind as to send my way this week. I really think that this was my favorite season thus far. The pranks were funnier, and I loved the new characters. I did miss the Jim/Pam interaction, though. Favorite scene: when Jim dresses up as Dwight and acts like him in the opening scene. I watched it twice. And if you had walked in my front door on the second time through, you would have seen me, curled up on the couch in hysterics, tears running down my face, unable to even look at the TV screen for laughing. "Identity theft is not a joke, Jim!" So so funny.

Also, been doing some reading this week. I first noticed the Twilight series when the third book, Eclipse, replaced Deathly Hallows as the NYT #1 bestseller, and then when I learned it was a vampire young adult novel written by a Mormon, well, naturally I had to pick them up at Borders and read through them all in about two weeks. What to say...what to say... Well, here's the gist: Bella is a accident-prone young lady who moves to a new school in a rainy town in Washington. She notices a group of pale, withdrawn, unbelievably gorgeous kids sitting by themselves in the cafeteria, not eating. Well, of course, your mind and mine would naturally jump immediately to vampire, but Bella is not quite as clever as we, and it takes her several more chapters to discover that the kids--particularly the most handsome one, Edward, who also happens to be drawn irresistibly to Bella, as she is to him--are indeed the Undead. Don't worry, though, they're good vampires, who choose to overcome their overwhelming thirst for human blood and eat large game animals instead. Bella and Edward hook up and spend several long chapters agonizing over how they're "not good for eachother" but "can't bear to live without eachother" (with lots of smoochies in between this witty dialogue) before the action hits. Book two ups the ante of emotional manipulation by separating Bella from her true love ("I can't be with you, you're better off without me...") and she turns to the next best thing--her friend Jacob, who, oh, just happens to be a werewolf (better and better), and he and his clan are the bitter enemies of all vampires. High jinks ensue.

So here's the thing about these books: they're an emotionally overwrought makeover of the Romeo and Juliet theme. They're incredibly campy and at times read like a Harlequin romance novel (don't worry, though--no sex. Mormon, remember?); they're about as anti-feminist as you can get (Edward makes all Bella's decisions for her, she needs rescuing in every other chapter, and most of the conflict involves males fighting over her); I in no way identified with Bella--her decisions baffled me and her whining annoyed me; and yet, I seriously could not put the books down until I finished them all, and I desperately want another one to come out. There are about a billion better fantasy books out there (and a fair few better vampire books, I dare say) and yet this series for some reason is at the top of the charts and has a rabid fan base of all ages (of which, I suppose, I can now count myself a part). I have no idea why.

For a brief sample, here is an excerpt from Amazon:
"Softly he brushed my cheek, then held my face between his marble hands. 'Be very still,' he whispered, as if I wasn't already frozen. Slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, he leaned toward me. Then abruptly, but very gently, he rested his cold cheek against the hollow at the base of my throat."
See what I mean? This is not good writing. "...the hollow at the base of my throat"? Eegh.
I guess I'll just have to count this among the many embarrassing things that I like. *sigh* Please, someone else read them and join me in my shameful Twilight fan party.

Anyway, another book I read this week was The Beach, by Alex Garland. (A movie based on this book was made, oh, ten years ago or so, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. I haven't seen it, though.) Now that is a good book. It reminds me mostly of Lord of the Flies--the same setting, the same themes, the same kind of creeping unease and then full-on horror. It's about a backpacker in Thailand who goes looking for a perfect, "unspoiled" beach where he can live in blissful ignorance and independence from "the world" and actually finds it. But then of course, not everything is as it seems. *dum dum dum* Mmm, excellent.

Let's see, what else? I've sang on two Sunday evenings now. They've gone pretty well, except that I came SO close to nearly missing the first one because I thought it started at 6 and it actually started at 5:30. So, I thought, hey, I'll come a half-hour early and make sure we're all set up... hey... how come all these people are here? How come my fellow worship leaders are gathered at the front looking ready to begin? Oh, crap! So that was not the best way to begin. Also, it will be better when I get a little more on top of my school work so that I don't come all stressed out and resenting the fact that I should really be working on lesson plans right now. That will be better.

Next Sunday, I'm taking about half of my 10th grade class down to Ashland to see Romeo and Juliet, which we're reading in World Lit. It's an optional trip because, of course, the school can't pay for it, so I have about 19 students going and 5 or 6 parents. We'll be staying at the same place as I did with the 8th-graders, although we're going to be setting some very stern rules about noise after lights-out this time, let me tell you. I'm going be a little more directive with the chaperones this time around too, so I don't spend every waking moment there counting nineteen noses over and over. I'm trying to be zen about it. I love introducing students to theater, I just wish it wasn't so stressful to be in charge of things.

Speaking of theater, I also took 9 or 10 eighth-graders to Albany Civic Theater's performance of Taming of the Shrew last night. Jen, the other English teacher, came along too. This one was totally non-school-related, since I don't even have most of those students this year. But I told them about the performance and they were all gung-ho to go, which made me feel good about the love of Shakespeare that I've hopefully instilled in young 14-year-old minds. They did have a bit of a rude awakening going straight from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to the Albany Civic Theater, though. We had to have a quick discussion about funding, volunteer organizations in the arts, and community demographics before the show started. I asked Brenna if she thought I should audition for one of the shows someday, and she was pretty adamantly against it. But, I don't know--when another Shakespeare play comes around, I just might. Even if the production is cheap and cheesy, there's just something about saying those lines, getting to inhabit one of those characters... it might be worth it.

So, upcoming events this week: a hair appointment at the Mane Event, where something drastic will be done--not sure what, yet; the beginning of a new Bible study that I'm quite looking forward to; Doctor Zhivago on Netflix; still reading The Mysteries of Udolpho (speaking of emotionally overwrought heroines); and one or two rather difficult situations to deal with at school--I'd appreciate your prayers in that direction.

Alas, my bed is calling me. More could be shared, but I'll save it for later--just in case this week turns out to be so boring that I have absolutely nothing to write about (yeah, right). So long.

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Posted by: DVE / 8:28 PM
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Thursday, September 13, 2007

Our church is starting a new Sunday night program pretty soon, and since I absolutely refuse to volunteer for anything involving children or teenagers, I'm going to instead be singing with the worship team during the group meeting at the...beginning? end?...of the night. Hmm, guess I'd better figure that out. Anyway, I haven't sung on a worship team since high school, when my voice was a whole lot more breathy and a whole lot pitchier. In college, I sang for a year in the college choir and two years in a church choir, but it's been at least three years since I've sung in front of anyone, really. So we'll see if things have improved since high school.

We had our first practice tonight. I'm not in charge (thank goodness!), so I can just make suggestions and not be responsible for anything. It's basically me and this other girl and a guy, and we might have fourth person to sing alto. Tonight's practice consisted of a lot of late starts and rhythm goof-ups and "oh, you sing it this way? well, I sing it this way" kind of conversations, and at the end, the sound guy said we sounded like "a bunch of volunteers." Uhh, yeah, thanks.

Anyway, it's not like it's Sunday morning, and I expect the new program will start with a low turnout anyway, so we'll have some time to get it together. I'm not really too worried. I know that when Sunday evening comes, though, I'll be all nervous and breathless, which is another reason that I'm glad I'm doing this. See, in high school, I could get up and sing pretty easily because I did solos in church all the time (and I didn't know how bad I was), and I had no problem speaking in front of people and all that. But now, I have so few opportunities to be in front of people that I'm losing my ability to not be nervous (which was developed through many many years of elementary school speech meets). And that's sad. I get all nervous and shaky just making an announcement in chapel at school, these days. But I definitely don't want to be one of those people who's afraid to speak in public, and the only way to overcome that, I think, is familiarity--aka lots and lots of practice. So, go worship team! (Even if I do have to sing "Lord I Lift Your Name on High--I hate that song!)

P.S. And yes, I know that shouldn't be my only reason for joining a worship team. Don't worry, it's not--it's just the one that's the most interesting to write about...

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Posted by: DVE / 8:57 PM
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Wednesday, September 12, 2007

As you may have guessed, the internet didn't come last Thursday, for reasons that are more than I feel like explaining at the moment. In any case, even if I did have internet at home, I've been home an average of about 2 hours a day (not counting sleeping hours) for the past 4 days, so I probably still wouldn't have blogged much. Basically, the hectic-ness (hecticity?) of the beginning of school struck the second week instead of the first, this year, and I'm a bit bogged down.

But, in my absence, carve out some time to read this article, from The Atlantic Monthly. (It's rather long, I admit, but you can read the first page or two and get the gist.) The author of this article argues that what passes for "literary fiction" these days (meaning, the books that are printed in the nice, artsy, quality paperback sizes and have their own little display tables at Barnes and Noble) are really just poorly written, pretentious, wanna-be-post-modern bore-fests, which--as he puts it--"keeps the reader at a respectfully admiring distance," so all of us readers should rise up and demand something with some action and a decently written sentence. It's an excellent article and a good affirmation of what I've felt oftentimes when reading some of the books that seem to be circling the book club lists. For example, I picked up The Memory Keeper's Daughter recently, and although the blurb on the back promised an interesting story involving secrets about a hidden child and her estranged family and so on, the result was a tepid, sluggish novel that spent pages and pages showing you how isolated all the characters were and how they all had a "sense" that something wasn't right, but they couldn't possibly talk about it because then something would have to happen and the novel would actually have a plot. Bleh.

This is the reason, actually, that I enjoy children's and young adult novels so much. Teenagers won't put up with a book where you spend all your time in the main characters' heads as they ponder the deep significance of the missing thread in their Dockers and its symbolism of their own inner void. You have to have some vampires or singing basketball players or a kid with a scar and a prophecy to hold their attention.

Also, I think this is yet another reason why I couldn't handle grad school--several of the authors that Myers targets in his "Reader's Manifesto" were on the required reading list for quals or on one of my seminar book lists. And I just couldn't figure out why reading these books made me so bored, when I like reading so much. But, as Myers says, "Many readers...are willing to buy into the scam that anything this dull must be Serious and therefore Fine and therefore Beautiful Writing." Interestingly, Myers is a great proponent of going back and reading the classics, if you can't find anything contemporary that's worth reading. My students would mostly say that that's just as bad, but each to her own.

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Posted by: DVE / 5:00 PM
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Thursday, September 06, 2007

If I were Dutch Bros., and I were doing a promotion where I offered free coffee drinks to teachers on the first week of school, I think I might possibly consider the fact that teachers are extremely busy and overworked and often stay at school far beyond the final bell--say, until 5:00--and therefore I might realize that said promotion should not end at 5pm, or it would eliminate the very demographic to whom it was targeted.

Just a thought.

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Posted by: DVE / 7:58 AM
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Hello, hello. Two days in and I'm still alive. Hoarse, but alive. I've had two days of classes and now we're spending the next two days doing EagleFest (which I talked about last year) which gives me a nice little break--I didn't have to have four whole days in a row of lessons planned out. They're easing us in gently.

My classes this year are, as a whole, louder than last years'. Still working on how I'll deal with that. I like their enthusiasm, though. I'd much rather have a talkative, rambunctious class than a class of silent zombies. Energy can be converted into enthusiasm fairly easily. Inertia is a bit trickier to deal with.

I'm quite lucky with the eighth grade class each year because they come to me from a teacher who is very orderly and strict and by-the-book. So, first, they're well-prepared, and second, they get so excited by the littlest things. "What? You mean we can really pick our own books to read?? Wow!! Cool!!!" That's right, kiddies. Cool is exactly what it is.

I received one of the most exciting (and providing of the most cumulative hours of enjoyment, I suspect) birthday presents yesterday. (And yes, my birthday was over a month ago, but who's complaining?) So I was watching one small portion of said b-day present (which shall remain nameless, lest these guys come looking for me), when I heard a little meow outside my window. This usually means MKF wants me to let her in. So I opened the window and peered outside, and there she was, standing over a very large, very dead mouse. "See what I got?!" she said. By the time I walked through the house and around to the backyard, she was gulping down the last of it. Tail, teeth, ears...there was nothing left.

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Posted by: DVE / 8:53 PM
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Monday, September 03, 2007

Well, school starts tomorrow. I've spent the last week or so preparing my classroom (which looks sooo much better than last year, and I'm not even sure why--I didn't change all that much), preparing my lesson plans (more or less), and preparing myself for a new year of teaching. I'm much more blase about it this year. Not so much fear and trembling. So that's good.



Also, I got a movie tip from the teaching assistant and watched the movie last night--it's called North and South. It's made by the BBC and based on an Elizabeth Gaskell novel. Now, the teaching assistant claims it's "better than the version of Pride & Prejudice starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth." I wouldn't go quite that far. But it is good. Darn good. And there is definitely a similarity in the romantic plotline to "Pride and Prejudice. See? It's a miniseries--four hours on two disks--and rather more somber in tone than P&P. But trust me, it's worth it. If you are a sucker for 18th- and 19th-century flicks like me, Netflix it immediately! Or, actually, I might buy it and then, after I've watched five more times, you could borrow it from me. :) Mmm. Completely swoonable.



**Image file provided by Kiteflier at foolishpassion.com

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Posted by: DVE / 8:45 PM
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Saturday, September 01, 2007

We Talk About the Harry Potter Stuff 

So, how about that seventh Harry Potter book? I feel like there are about a million things to talk about, so maybe I'll break it into sections so those of you who aren't so obsessed can skim. Let's start with....

***spoilers ahead***



General Impressions

Um, loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it. So completely the realization of everything I was hoping for. Ok, calming down now... Yes, there were flaws: there were a few glaring plot holes, a few deux ex machina, a few ends not so neatly tied up. But the action and emotion of the book make up for it so many times over. People have asked me what my favorite part is (and yes, we'll get to that) and I truly cannot make up my mind. There were so many beautiful, thrilling, heart-wrenching, utterly perfect moments that just satisfied every corner of my Harry Potter obsessed soul, I can't choose.

I am truly in awe of J.K. Rowling, given the number of years this final book has been anticipated, that she could have foreseen so clearly the details of the end of her series and then so precisely planted clues and foreshadowings from the very first book onward. This is particularly evident when you look at how the series mirrors itself: books 3 & 5 share many similarities, books 2 & 6 share similarities, and especially books 1 & 7--such as the introduction of Gringots (with Hagrid saying "You'd be mad to rob it") and the trio actually robbing it 7 years later, Harry's arrival and departure from Grimmauld place on Sirius' bike with Hagrid, someone's mention of how Voldemort never dared take Hogwarts and Voldemort attacking Hogwarts years later, Harry looking at the Mirror of Erised and seeing himself surrounded by family and later walking into the forest surrounded by the shadows of his family... The examples just stack up.

I really think that all the hype over these books is not just an empty media blitz. I think that time will prove them to be classics, and not just children's classics either. Maybe someday they'll be on high school Brit lit required reading lists. I wouldn't be surprised.

Favorite moments
  • When Dudley acknowledges all that Harry has done for him and reaches out to make amends. I could have done with a lot more resolution in the Dursley plot line, but this moment was a great tie-up of Dudley's dementor attack in Book 5.
  • Harry chewing out Lupin for abandoning his kid. Not to go all Dobson on you, but what a great message about fatherhood.
  • George. Ear jokes. Need I say more?
  • Hermione explaining what she had done to make her parents safe so she could go on the Horcrux hunt. I almost lost it.
  • The part where Voldemort discovers bad news (I forget which time) and Lucius and Bellatrix just start running for the door, pushing people out of their way, knowing that whoever stays to witness Voldy's tantrum won't live to see another day. And they're right.
  • Kreacher becomes a good guy. Who would have thought? He seemed so irredeemably nasty, but all he wanted was a little love and kindness, poor guy. Awww.
  • Hermione's handbag. So. Cool. I want one. Just think, I could carry around as many books as I wanted, all the time. Brilliant.
  • Ron's scene with the locket Horcrux. I've always thought that Ron had a lot more envious and inferior feelings about Harry than he ever let on, so I was happy that Rowling let us in on that part of his mind and that she didn't tone it down at all. The things the locket said were horrifying but very true to the thoughts that envy creates. The scene makes Ron such a more complex character, and the fact that he is able to kill the Horcrux makes him as heroic as Harry in some ways. Ron has never been my favorite character, but this scene redeemed him a lot in my eyes. Plus, the description of HorcruxHarry and HorcruxHermione was soooo cool!
  • Harry out in the garden digging Dobby's grave by hand. So vivid and so poignant! Rowling is just nothing but brilliant at highlighting the emotional resonances of a tragic scene.
  • That part where everyone thinks Harry is dead and McGonagall cries out, showing how much she really loves Harry, even though she's been scolding and punishing him all these years.
  • Luna's bedroom wall. I really think I heard the collective "Awwww" of readers around the world when they got to that part. "Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends..."
  • Hermione and Ron finally, finally, FINALLY get together. Cheryl of Brooklyn Arden had an interesting take on this scene: she said that Hermione behaves like one of Jane Austen's heroines--she kisses Ron after he has become morally mature, after he shows his compassion for the house elves. Given Rowling's professed love of Austen, I think this is not a coincidence. :) And Harry's response, "Is this the time?!" I just loved, too.
  • All the teacher's rallying Hogwarts for the big fight. I was hoping the final stand would be at Hogwarts, and I just loved the suits of armor coming alive, and all the Order members arriving ready for the fight, and Neville going by with his arms full of poisonous plants, and--oh--the part where Pansy suggests giving Harry up and all the Griffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs jump to their feet and stand in her way. Lovely.
  • And oh, my friends, was I right or was I right about Snape and Lily? And yes, it was a pretty popular fan theory, but I'm still taking personal ownership of it and revelling in my propheticness. That part where Dumbledore says, "Still?" and Snape takes out his wand and casts the Patronus... *sigh* Words fail me.
  • Of course the part where Harry walks into the forest, thinking he's going to his death was absolutely stunning and beautiful. I really didn't want Harry to die, but I always felt like the story required his sacrifice. Luckily, Jo made it happen and let Harry live too--all without seeming contrived or sappy. Wow.

Disappointing and/or Annoying Things

  • Ok, where exactly does a writer get off not giving her readers a romantic reunion between the hero and his girl after the big fight? I wanted to see some smoochies! And no, gazing across the Great Hall at her from under your invisibility cloak is not enough, Mr. Potter. Grr.
  • Wandlore is hard. Extremely hard. I don't get it. Maybe I need a few years of personal tutolage from Ollivander because I don't think there's any other way I'm going to understand the intricate and serpentine path of the Elder Wand and its kinky little wandy motivations.
  • Although Luna, Neville, and Ginny had a few good moments, we really didn't see much of them in this book, which was sad. I missed all the day-to-day school stuff. I know it couldn't be there, but I missed it.
  • The endless hours and days and months wandering around England with the trio got a bit tiring, I have to admit. I know she had to set the stage for Ron marching off, but it was quite tedious after awhile. Nothing happened for pages and pages except whining. Bleh.

Religious Resonances

I don't think you can read this book and not recognize that allusions and images and morals of Christianity pervade the novel and--by extension--the entire series. Harry's self-sacrifice for the redemption of the wizarding world is the biggest one, of course, but there are plenty more. The fact that Horcruxes, which are created by a massive crime, can be unmade by remorse is a very Christian construction. Also, Harry's constant refusal of power and fame, which can be seen throughout the books and is particularly evident in his choice not to pursue the Hallows in Book 7, is part of what makes him an extremely virtuous character by Christian standards.

Pottercast has pointed out that the Hallows allude to the Trinity in some ways and that the fact that the Hallows aren't necessarily crucial to the plot (that is, the story could probably have been told without them) means that they have a thematic significance apart from their role as plot elements. Listen to this week's Pottercast (#115, especially around 20:00) if you want to hear more about this.

There's a fascinating article over at Hogwart's Professor about how "Deathly Hallows reflects the importance of the 'struggle to believe' and arriving at faith by choice, the dangers of the occult, and the consequences of belief that are reflected in our struggles with our very real enemies, both interior and exterior." It's very interesting and thought-provoking--I highly recommend checking it out.

Finally, as many people have pointed out, the fact that Harry finds himself at King's Cross station after being AKed by Voldemort, where he has a talk with his fatherly mentor about whether he's going to "go on" or return to finish the battle is sort of the final stamp on a book that, in my opinion, should be on the shelf next to The Chronicles of Narnia and other recognized Christian classics.

Stuff Without a Category

I'm quite happy that Jo didn't make Snape a "good" character at the end. Yes, he was on the right side, but you still recognize that he's not a very nice person, that he's mostly out for his own interests, and that he really does deeply despise Harry as we've seen all these years. I couldn't have handled it if Snape had suddenly been all saintly, mostly because of how he has treated Neville through all the books. Even the fake Mad-Eye was kind and compassionate to Neville, but Snape always humiliated him at every turn and thus earned my extreme displeasure. But, as Dumbledore has been saying all along, love is a powerful force, powerful enough to make a snivelling, cruel, power-hungry character become one of the most courageous and most heroic.

What is George going to do without Fred? Seriously! Is he going to continue Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes without one of the Weasleys? I just can't see that happening. Maybe he hooks up with Angelina Johnson...

Have you heard? Jo is going to write Hogwarts, A History--an encyclopedia of the Harry Potter world, with all the backstories and mundane details that we nerdy fans crave. I can't wait (although I guess I'll have to--she says she'll be taking a "break" for awhile first).

And so, the saga ends. There are few series that have left me feeling so desolate when I finished them and realized that there would be no new stories from that world. It's just so horribly finite. But, on the other hand, I do love having a sense of completion with the series, the sense that everything has come full circle. Harry returns to Platform 9 3/4 with his own children, who are boarding the train with many of the same feelings he had back in Book 1. Although it's sad that the Harry Potter era is over, the final series is satisfying and rich enough to return to again and again, as I'm sure we all will.

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Posted by: DVE / 8:29 PM
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