The Week from You Know Where

I hate moving. I've had to do it at least twice in the last year and a half, and I have been dreading this day for, oh, six months or so.

It's not that I don't like the idea of living elsewhere. The house we're moving into, though I have yet to see the inside of it, provides us with a lot of space--which is awesome. And it has a basement complete with a laundry room, so that means relaxing/no need to get laundry quarters again for awhile. The house is going to be pretty amazing, and I can't wait to settle in.

Saturday is our move-out day, and Monday is our move-in day. Sunday is going to be that weird limbo where I technically will be homeless. Alisha and I plan to stay in a motel so we may be able to have a real night's sleep on real beds.

But honestly? It's the process of getting to that point that is driving me insane. I'm working most of the week. My plan to have been packed by two days ago was thwarted due to a lot of work shifts after my class ended at the beginning of the month. I find myself overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff I still need to do before moving (and before the semester starts back up again). I'm worried about transporting all the stuff I have; over five years I have acquired a small library and many movies, and I'm a pack rat, so that doesn't help. I am not sure about any possible help yet for the actual moving part yet; I have asked Heidi, but she isn't sure about whether she'll be able to help yet, and as my mom is working this weekend, and my dad's shoulder out of commission...It is all too much for me to handle at the moment.

It doesn't help that my roommates and I are all on edge, and letting the stress vent itself in the form of annoyed bitchiness most of the time in conversation. This isn't helping my mind state at all; I have done my share of snapping at everyone, but it is difficult to alter one's attitude when being attacked, seemingly, from most directions. I mean, perhaps a lot of the frustration is in my head (moving stresses me out SO MUCH), and I'm only imagining most of the tension...but there is still something there. The consolation is that by this time next week, it will have disappeared. Until then, however...

Too many things to think about right now.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch:

• Turns out that Kurt's graduation doesn't mean he's leaving Glee. Brad Falchuk cleared it up at ComicCon. Wooohooo! Words cannot express my relief; Glee doesn't seem like Glee if Rachel, Finn, and Kurt--arguably the most prominent cores of the emotional plot--are not there to take part in some way. Especially Kurt, since he is a character so many are invested in, including myself. (Note: This may be acceptable after a few more seasons, but for right now, it's much too soon to see them go for good.) Related: I never thought I'd be this connected to a television show. This is basically the only one I have stuck with since first watching it, and I'm not much of a TV person at all. It blows my mind. The show is incredible.
• The Glee Project, while still annoying me from time to time, is alright. I'm still not fond of the stupid drama bits they tend to insert here and there--I find it incredibly distracting--but I am really intrigued with the casting process. I was sad when Matheus was sent home--it doesn't feel the same without him--I don't like Lindsay's "can't ever go wrong" demeanor, and I really, really want Hannah to win. She seems the most genuine to me, and I would love to see what kind of character she could bring to the show. 
• I have purchased The Invention of Hugo Cabret and intend to read it as soon as we're moved into the new house. More on this later; but rest assured I am STOKED to read it. 
• Prairie and I went to Waldenbooks on Sunday to check out the blowout sale. Regardless of the fact the discounts weren't as good as I had hoped (I saved only $6), it was surreal and very tragic to think that in mere weeks, Borders will have disappeared. So many feelings....
• This is probably going to be the thing that gets me through the next week and a half. I am so excited to see Struck by Lightning. It is sure to be awesome. Did you know that Chris Colfer wrote the script for it?* 
• Reason #1974626475 why Matthew Lewis is awesome**: He and I share the same passion and associated feelings for Beatles music. And we agree on the best Beatles album. Also, microwaved scrambled eggs? No words. 
• My grandparents will soon be celebrating their 60th anniversary. I'm so happy for them. <3

*Chris Colfer is one of my heroes. He is a genius.

**Matthew Lewis is also one of my heroes. Always and forever. We sent him a K-State hat once because he talked about his embarrassing Order of the Phoenix haircut on an early episode of PotterCast, and there was a call for hats (probably as a joke, but we still wanted to help him out).

Let the Records Show

...that tonight, hours away from the very last Potter release, I still have no clue what to wear to the midnight showing.

Seriously. This is why I'm in this mindstate. What with:

1. The recent confirmation that Kurt's last season on Glee is Season 3 (NOOOOOOOOOO!!) 
2. My work schedule for next week being utterly crazy-cakes (i.e. ANNOYING)
3. Work itself (I want back at the Derb ASAP)
4. I haven't spent more than four days at home since Christmas.
5. Packing and moving over the next three weeks or so, complete with all its confusion, annoyances, and stress-inducing situations, and
6. Oh yeah, and the fact that after the credits start rolling tonight, my childhood, my adolescence, will have come to a close. I will wake up tomorrow morning and things will feel different. They will BE different. 

Too much emotion right now. With the distress and stress and excitement and every other emotion coursing through my veins right now, I am surprised I haven't imploded yet.

But even with all this, I am so very excited. I will cheer, I will cry when appropriate. Bring it on, Seth Childs. Now to figure out what to wear....

The Final Trailer Ever (Most Likely) for Harry Potter

*spoiler alert*

The trailer debuted online on Thursday, and I know I should have mentioned it then, but that was also the same day as Pottermore's clues were put up, so I was a little overcome with various emotions and all I could do after class that night was sit and watch the trailer for the first time. I didn't full-out cry, but I did gasp, and tears did well up....and I had to process it.

The full water-works will hit when watching the film for the first time. I'm almost certain of that. When reading the book, right at the end of "The Prince's Tale" is when everything hits me like a big yellow school bus and I can't stop crying for years, it seems. It starts to pick up when Harry tells Neville to make sure to kill Nagini, and Neville tells him, "We're all going to keep fighting, Harry. You know that?" (p558, UK edition). And it gets worse when Harry talks to his parents and Lupin and Sirius. Never have I cried harder when reading a book, never have I felt the emotions so strongly or passionately. (That's the kind of power Jo Rowling has when she is armed with pen and paper.)

Which is why, when in the trailer, Harry is suddenly talking to his parents and Sirius and Lupin, that I almost fell out of my chair.

It still has not hit that this is going to be the very last Harry Potter movie, ever. (And it probably won't fully hit me until I'm sitting in the theatre, watching the last few minutes of film before the credits.) Since I was a sixth-grader, waiting to find out what happens in Goblet of Fire (which came out the summer between my sixth and seventh-grade years), there has always been something a little more to look forward to. This final release will definitely not reach the kind of emotion of ending that reading Deathly Hallows did, but it will also be the ultimate release of something that has become a part of who I am now. With the release of the book, we still had three movies to look forward to. Now, however, there will be nothing more tied directly to this series that will be released.

I keep thinking about a song by The Byrds, which is based on a set of Bible verses from Ecclesiastes. Things have their time in this world: each and every one of us will have our time, events in our life will come and go. I understand that, and as the years have gone on, I have come to accept it and love it, however affecting the loss in question may be.

But at the same time, however, I'm remembering the excitement of the wait: where we would make predictions about what was going to happen based on mere titles of each book and the precious few tidbits and hints that we were given before each release. I remember fighting with Heidi and Prairie about who was going to get together, Ron and Hermione or Harry and Hermione*--and seeing R/Hr clutching each other at 1:40 kills me because there's so much beauty and power and love and protection there and I want to cry because I had almost the same reaction as FYA did. The rawness, the newness of it all, the joy of spending releases with fellow fans who get that feeling of excitement/fear/love/community...I'll bring that with me for the rest of my life.

The trailer itself is gorgeous, and I'd argue the best of all of them--which is only fitting, since it will probably be the very last one we'll ever get (I'm not counting the TV spots). The dragon's in it, and that made me super excited to see the Gringotts sequence, which is one of my favorite parts of the book because it's so badass. And then the suits of armor (!!), and the Room of Requirement, and all the battle stuff, and I think you also see Neville with sword somewhere in there....Part 2 is going to be amazing. And the way they begin with clips from previous movies? So much awesome packed into 3 minutes.

Honestly, though this is the last movie, and it will be sad beyond comprehension to fully accept that, there will always be more. Perhaps not in the same sense, but certainly in spirit. Rereading the series (something I've meant to do for ages), rewatching the movies, and FREAKIN' Pottermore, when it's true identity is announced to the world next week. And then, anything that J.K. Rowling publishes in the future will surely be top of my to-read list. Also, if I do get married and have children, there will hopefully be a day that my children decide to pick up the books for the first time, taking in every word as I did, eager to find out what happens next.

Most of all, though, I'll keep the books, films and experiences close to me, because they have become a small part of who I am today. These books made me realize how much I love reading for the sake of reading rather than for a few Accelerated Reader points. The many wonderful themes will stick with me, the ones of love, friendship, and many more. Jo Rowling is one of my inspirations for wanting to be a writer. The characters of Luna Lovegood and Ron Weasley--and Snape, too--will always be models to look at when thinking about character. Through these books I've met many people, discovered and fallen in love with Wizard Rock--which led me to meeting even MORE people--and being a part of something more. There is so much more that I will encounter in my life, but I will carry every single aspect of this with me; it's part of me.

*My friend Alicia posted another BRILLIANT R/Hr video on her FB, and I love this one as much as the other one. It's soooo good....where does she find these things? And whoever made it should get an award or something. Seriously.

Neville and the Twins = Badass

Observe:

That is all.

Huge thanks to The Leaky Cauldron.