This week, I opened my bedroom window in the hopes of cooling down our apartment (which was ridiculously hot for some reason), and a fresh breeze blew in with the sweetest scent in the air: autumn.
Autumn is my favorite season, closely followed by winter. I love everything that comes with it. I love the cooler mornings and evenings, when the breeze comes in. I love the rain, and the smell of petrichor. I love the shivery feeling you get, deep down inside of you, making every cell in my body feel alive and new. I love the scent of leaves, and that musty decay smell that mixes with the fresh, cool air.
I love the feeling of wearing sweaters and jeans and boots, of pulling out scarves and hats. I love curling up with a blanket and a mug of peppermint hot chocolate and listening to the rain on the windows.
I love fresh apples and everything that comes from them: apple fritters, fresh squeezed apple juice, pie, apple cinnamon oatmeal.
I love the way the sunlight looks different, like it's being diffused in filters of red and orange and golden rod, especially the sunrise and sunset. It's not as glaring as it is in the summer.
I love the sudden bursts of color everywhere; the trees displayed in everything from golden yellow to firey red, the earth becoming deeper, richer brown.
Everything seems softer in the fall. As things start to creep towards winter hibernation and the cold, everything slows down to a comfortable, dreamy sleep-like state, and you can see its beauty a little more.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Some of the most exciting news I've heard for a while
I almost screamed the moment I woke up today, out of sheer excitement and delight.
Luckily, the worry of waking my roommates prevented me from doing so.
Because I saw a post on the MuggleNet page that said J.K. Rowling was writing a screenplay for a Potter related book. It's the first big thing since Pottermore, and let's be honest, it's only a fraction of an inch away from being as exciting as a new book.
Because it's a new story. A new, long series, just this time in film, instead of written form.
Of course, this one won't be about Harry; JKR has said that his story is finished. But the world of wizards is still wide open, and that's where she's returning.
So far, we know the first film at least will be based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the textbook mentioned in the Harry Potter books, that JKR wrote in 2001. The story will focus on the supposed author of the book, Newt Scamander. It seems it will take place in the 1920's, and will begin in New York.
So not only are we going back to the wizarding world, but we're getting the American wizarding world, which can only be as different from the British wizarding world as the Muggle equivalents are.
There's so much possibility here. We could have some of the biggest lingering questions about the world she created answered. And we will see what normal wizarding life is like, as opposed to Harry's story, where the shadow of fame and a looming destiny were always present. And who knows what will come after this film? We could get adaptations of Quidditch through the Ages, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and who knows what else she has tucked in her brain?
All day, everything on the internet has been buzzing. All my fellow MuggleNet staff have been speculating, celebrating, and generally freaking out on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the main MuggleNet site. It's going to be a few years until we get this final product, but we're still anticipating and getting ready for the influx of news.
Why am I so excited about this? Well, besides the fact that I am an enormous fan of Harry Potter, it's almost a do-over for me. I was so young when most of the books and movies were being released, I missed out on the collective excitement that came with the fandom community. I didn't know any news as it broke, I heard no speculation, and I didn't really even have any one to discuss possibilities with. I only went to one movie midnight premiere; I didn't go to any midnight book releases. Now, I get a chance to experience that, and to me, that is absolutely thrilling.
It's like going back to the early 2000's. The Potter fandom is alive and well, and we're as excited as ever for the magical storytelling that can only come from that world.
Luckily, the worry of waking my roommates prevented me from doing so.
Because I saw a post on the MuggleNet page that said J.K. Rowling was writing a screenplay for a Potter related book. It's the first big thing since Pottermore, and let's be honest, it's only a fraction of an inch away from being as exciting as a new book.
Because it's a new story. A new, long series, just this time in film, instead of written form.
Of course, this one won't be about Harry; JKR has said that his story is finished. But the world of wizards is still wide open, and that's where she's returning.
So far, we know the first film at least will be based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the textbook mentioned in the Harry Potter books, that JKR wrote in 2001. The story will focus on the supposed author of the book, Newt Scamander. It seems it will take place in the 1920's, and will begin in New York.
So not only are we going back to the wizarding world, but we're getting the American wizarding world, which can only be as different from the British wizarding world as the Muggle equivalents are.
There's so much possibility here. We could have some of the biggest lingering questions about the world she created answered. And we will see what normal wizarding life is like, as opposed to Harry's story, where the shadow of fame and a looming destiny were always present. And who knows what will come after this film? We could get adaptations of Quidditch through the Ages, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and who knows what else she has tucked in her brain?
All day, everything on the internet has been buzzing. All my fellow MuggleNet staff have been speculating, celebrating, and generally freaking out on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the main MuggleNet site. It's going to be a few years until we get this final product, but we're still anticipating and getting ready for the influx of news.
Why am I so excited about this? Well, besides the fact that I am an enormous fan of Harry Potter, it's almost a do-over for me. I was so young when most of the books and movies were being released, I missed out on the collective excitement that came with the fandom community. I didn't know any news as it broke, I heard no speculation, and I didn't really even have any one to discuss possibilities with. I only went to one movie midnight premiere; I didn't go to any midnight book releases. Now, I get a chance to experience that, and to me, that is absolutely thrilling.
It's like going back to the early 2000's. The Potter fandom is alive and well, and we're as excited as ever for the magical storytelling that can only come from that world.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
The Beginning
Yesterday, one of my best friends texted me: "The study abroad info is up!" Today, I got around to looking at the BYU study abroad site. There it was, a little link leading to a description for "London Summer 2014". Seven weeks of learning about British history, culture, and politics; of discovering the place I've been dreaming of since I was about five years old. Fifteen years later, the dream is just starting to take shape from the hazy dreamland it's been living in, settled in the back of my mind. It has dates; it has an application. It has an estimated program cost. It has course numbers. It has instructor names. It even has a Facebook page.
To a large extent, the dream still has a lot left to solidify; it's still fuzzy flashes of monuments I've only seen in pictures, accents I daydream over, people I've yet to meet, their faces indistinct in my mind's eye.
But it's starting. This is the beginning. And each day brings me closer.
To a large extent, the dream still has a lot left to solidify; it's still fuzzy flashes of monuments I've only seen in pictures, accents I daydream over, people I've yet to meet, their faces indistinct in my mind's eye.
But it's starting. This is the beginning. And each day brings me closer.
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