Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

“‘It only put me in Gryffindor,’ said Harry in a defeated voice, ‘because I asked not to go in Slytherin. . . .’
‘Exactly,’ said Dumbledore, beaming once more. ‘Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.’” (Chamber of Secrets, ch. 18)

Really, there were so many hilarious quotes from this book that I have saved. This is the only real inspirational one that I have written down, although I'm sure there are more in the Chamber of Secrets, I just don't have them on me.

Anyway, this is a rather well known quote from this particular book. I feel bad for the Slytherins out there though. All those dark wizards/witches and Malfoy and other dark wizards that come from Slytherin really make Slytherin have a bad reputation. Although I'm sure Salazar Slytherin would have thought it a good reputation rather than bad. We don't really hear much about the nice Slytherins, I have friends that would be perfect in Slytherin ... but they're hardly evil. But in this quote Slytherin represents evil, I guess.

What I love about this quote is that it shows that we always have a choice, even though it seems that were destined to go a particular way, we can still go a different way if we'd rather. Harry Potter could have easily chosen to go into Slytherin, then become best friends with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, and then eventually be killed by Voldemort cause ... well ... that's what the prophecy dictates. I'm pretty sure Harry would still be hated by Snape though. However, all those choice would  go completely against the very person that Harry Potter is.

He's wonderful at Quidditch, at DADA, and is incredibly lucky, but those abilities do not show who he really is. The choices he's made showed him to be loyal, brave, a risk taker, and extremely humble.

He has abilities that are quite similar to Voldemort's, but his choices are the opposite. They looks similar (well, when Voldemort was Tom), they share a connection, they were both orphans, and even their wands are brothers. However, Harry doesn't want to be special and recognized like Tom did, Harry was full of love while Tom chose to hate because he thought that would be stronger, Harry spared several people's lives, while Tom killed anyone. Tom was manipulative and Harry is very honest. The list goes on, of course.

It's wonderful to be good at things, to have the abilities to be special in something, but it's more important to make the correct decisions for yourself. Who cares what the Sorting Hat says? You are what you chose to be, not what a Sorting Hat says you are.

Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone

The last Harry Potter movie will be coming out soon... and as a true nerd that adores the series I will be the first to admit that I will cry my eyes out in the theater. I don't care who sees, because I freaking love Harry Potter. I've already warned my boyfriend that I'll be crying. I'm so glad that he's not embarrassed of his nerdy girlfriend especially after I told him that George Weasley is my fictional boyfriend ... even if he is holey. 

So in memory of Harry Potter, this post will be quoting ... quite quotably ... one of the Harry Potter books. One quote for every book, I would promise that this project be done by the time the last movie comes out but ... I don't like breaking promises.

So here we go with the Sorcerer's Stone ... or the Philosopher's Stone if you prefer:

". . . After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all – the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.’” (ch. 17, Albus Dumbledore)

The Stone created so many selfish people, Nicholas Flamel and his wife, who died (in the books) at 665 and 658 respectively, and Voldemort, who also wanted to live forever and ensnare everyone under his evil powers. Yea, the Flamel's didn't try to kill anyone (the opposite actually) but they were still rather selfish. Why would anyone want to live forever? ... Well, at least that's what Christians are thinking but this isn't an argument about Heaven/Hell or anything like that. This is just a comment about how we seem to choose a lot of things that are really bad for us, but how do we figure out the correct things to choose? I guess that comes with maturity ... or maybe not considering how old the Flamels were. I guess we should just take a page out of Ablus Dumbledore's book and do things out of love, it saved Harry Potter didn't it?

“‘There are all kinds of courage,’ said Dumbledore, smiling. ‘It takes a great deal of bravery to standing up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.’” (Albus Dumbedore about Neville Longbottom, ch. 17)

I had to add this second quote because Neville Longbottom, although hesitant, always shows how is truly a Gryffindor even though sometimes you have to wonder if the Sorting Hat couldn't have made a better decision by choosing Hufflepuff instead. Really, these books were the first things to show me what real friendship is and as nerdy as this may be, the characters feel real to me, they're like my real friends. These books helped me to understand that if my friends aren't doing something they should be and they ask me my opinion, I'm going to tell them. And if they put me in a full body bind like Hermione did to Neville and disagree then they are perfectly at liberty to walk by me and do whatever they want.

I'm so glad that I learned this and I wish I could have learned it earlier cause I'm sure that some things could have been avoided if I had just stood up to my friends. I'm also really glad that my friends will stand up to me, it's stopped me from doing many stupid and unneeded things.

I think the best thing that can be taken from that scene is that Neville stood up to his friends, they disagreed, put him in a full body bind, continued on their way, and they stayed friends. They didn't have hard feelings, just differing opinions and that's okay.

Best and Worst

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
- Marilyn Monroe

I think many of us have already heard of this quote before. I can't help but love it though because no one seems to think like this anymore. We're always trying to show our best side to everyone, even those who are closest to us. But why are we trying so hard? Our friends are our friends and that shouldn't change just because we have faults. I understand wanting to look and be our best and maybe even hiding some of our flaws to the general population, but why can't we relax around the people who care about us best?

There's only two people that I can think of that I'm completely and utterly relaxed around. That's sad. I mean I'm myself around everyone but I'm not completely myself and completely comfortable with my flaws with anyone but two people. They've accepted me at my worse and sure as heck have proven to deserve me at my best.

I'm outspoken, loud, also a little insecure, selfish, indecisive at times, stubborn, have a lower self-esteem, too forgiving, and have many other negative characteristics. If you can't accept this then you don't deserve to know about my positive characteristics.

Only Certain People Can Fly

"Why can't you fly now, mother?"
"Because I am grown up, dearest. When people grow up they forget the way."
"Why do they forget the way?"
"Because they are no longer gay and innocent and heartless. It is only the gay and innocent and heartless who can fly."
~ J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Seriously, why can't we stay "gay and innocent and heartless" and why don't some children get the chance to be? Well, life happens. You get screwed over or betrayed for the first time. You realize that your parents can't fix everything. You find out that people are capable of terrible, horrible things that you wish you had never heard about in the first place. Terrible news is everywhere and I'm glad that we are aware of it. I don't want us to be ignorant of the things happening around us. So yea, it's impossible to be innocent. However, how about the great things you learn as you get older? Like who your real friends are and that you have people that love you.

As adults with our "realistic" thoughts, I feel that we defeat ourselves before we even start. We are never too old or too young to completely change ourselves and our lives. If I wanted to I can change who I am at this very moment, it's my choice. You can start over. I don't care who is around you or who remembers the way you were. If they can't get used to the new person they see before them, well then I guess those people will have to become your past too. You can make things better for yourself. If you don't think you can, then talk to someone who can give you strength. It will be difficult if you feel like you need to change, but sometimes the best decision is difficult to accomplish.

One of the benefits of getting older is making mistakes, right? So why don't we take advantage of that and fix our mistakes and our faults. I don't mean for this to sound like a cheesy motivational speech or anything even though I'm sure it does sound that way but in general people change over time anyway. My personality is the polar opposite of what it was in Junior High and I thank my lucky stars for that. I wouldn't have any friends right now if I was still a brat like back then. Then again, I still have some brattiness in me, but all I can do right now is strive to be a better person.

Porn and Disney Movies

From: Stuff No One Told Me

Isn't it true, we girls see "Prince Charming" through pretty much every movie that has even a hint of romance in it... then some of us wonder, "Where is my prince charming?" or even worse, "Why doesn't my boyfriend act like that?"

We all agree that the movies aren't realistic, but do we really realize just how much guys don't act like princes? That doesn't mean they're jerks but truthfully, I don't want to date a prince and I'm not dating a prince. That's completely okay with me. I don't want a sappy guy who pays for all our dates, opens every door for me, and texts/calls me every two minutes. It's inefficient and not sexy, at least in my eyes. I want a guy who doesn't mind confronting me on an issue, I want a guy that's not scared to discuss or even have a fight with me. Unfortunately, you don't see many guys like that on movies. Also, I never want a guy whose happiness is dependent on me. You see this all over movies but it's completely unhealthy. Yeah, my boyfriend can affect my happiness and I can affect his happiness but we are no where near dependent on each other. That is also, inefficient and unsexy.

And dudes, I know that most of you have watched porn and I know that there's more than a few girls on here that have watched it to. That's not the point, the point is don't expect your girlfriend or wife to just be a little sex kitten that will be up to do whatever you want to do. Many woman are not comfortable with what porn stars are comfortable with and they may never be. That is not saying that an open minded and more adventurous woman is a whore. That's not what I'm trying to express at all. I mean to say that by desiring the typical women in porn you will be disappointed because there are women out there who are fine without experimenting and if you already expect a woman to want to do all kinds of awesome/crazy things but she doesn't want to ... well, you're out of luck. Also, by wanting a typical porno star you may be asking for something you don't really want because if she is really an "insatiable whore" then she probably won't be satisfied with only you. She'll be out getting satisfied with your best friend instead and that won't do much for your ego.

Yea, there are some women who will do whatever in bed with you and only you. But there is an obvious difference between the porn stars usually seen in porn and your significant other. Don't treat her like a slut ... unless she's into that.