beatriceeagle

“The books you loved when you were in fourth grade and read them to tatters, you’ll never love another book like that.”
Daniel Handler, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events

Harry Potter was such a large part of my life for so long that I don’t even know what it’s given me. Apart from a few things—one very close friend, a moral compass in one moment of dire need, and a detailed knowledge of how to make a cloak out of a bedsheet—it’s really impossible for me to pick out the things that Harry Potter gave me from the things that I would have had anyway.

Maybe if I had picked up the books for the first time when I was eighteen, I could tell you, without bias, whether they were well-written or not, what their strengths and weaknesses were. But I can’t. For good or for ill, I loved them and love them still. They’re a part of me.

So thank you, Harry Potter. Thank you, J.K. Rowling. Thank you, fandom. Thank you, Sugar Quill, SQ87, and Arya. I like who I am. Thank you for the parts of me that you gave me.

Hey, flist! If you're one of the super-special people who used to frequent the Sugar Quill, you should come to our post-Deathly Hallows Quill chat on Saturday, at 4 pm EST.

Yes, that's right, Quill chat. You remember those, I'm sure. Not having the resources or the authority to use the old Quill chat, though, Saturday's chat will be held at

http://tinychat.com/b1jfg

No password or account required. Just use your old Quill name as a nickname.

Please be there. You guys are all awesome.

(Also, if you're coming, spread the word! We're probably all in contact with at least a few Quillers, so post on your LJ or let them know.)

But it's time for my annual "I love birthdays" post.

Because I do love birthdays, even if mine isn't until Saturday. I was woken up from a nap at about 5 this evening to find almost all of my friends gathered in my living room, where they gave me, instead of a cake, a platter full of deep-fried Oreos. They'd deep-fried them themselves. (I'd never had one before, and I'd always really wanted to try one, and I was right! They're awesome!) And then my roommate gave me a board game that I'd been wanting, and my former roommate gave me a T-shirt she made for me that says "I'm somebody's gay best friend." (I knew that one was coming. I picked out the shirt and the paint colors.) And then my friend Paul made me two cakes, because he didn't make me one last year. And then I went to improv and got to pick a game to play, and...

I love birthdays. They remind me that I love my friends unironically and unsarcastically, even if I mostly relate to them through irony and sarcasm. Seriously, days like this just make me feel loved, and appreciated, and I don't think it gets better than this.

My president does believe in atheists. He does, he does!