Wrock it!

I have a lot of regrets.

Loosing my vast CD collection on an airplane, never becoming a sports person, cutting my hair - the list goes on and on. But the biggest regret I have, at the moment, is this list-topping bit of woe:

That I missed out on Harry Potter and The Hype of Hogwarts when it raged in its full glory. (I made up that title, by the way.)

I didn't really care about it all when the books were new. Now, I sincerely wish I had.

On a recommendation from a couple of friends, I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I was hooked, and, weirdly, I can't explain why. I thought the book would be silly and - I don't know - thin. Childish. But I found myself rooting for characters, and soon realized that I would have to read all of the other books as well. My family went away for about four weeks in June, and I spent that month reading and watching all the Harry Potter stories. I wanted to have read all the books, and seen all the movies by the time the Half-Blood Prince film came out. I went to the library at least three times a week, and spent many a night huddled under the cover, reading until the wee hours of the morning. I could not put the books down.

It's hard to describe the pull those books have. There are a thousand reasons why they are so intoxicatingly interesting. The story is enthralling. I want to go to Hogwarts. I want to wear ties and sweaters, have an accent, fly on a Firebolt, visit the Burrow - all of it. It's every kid's dream world. If I could mix it (minus, you know, bad things) and Narnia into one world...oh my poor heart would burst.

But I so, so regret not having read the books when there were still books to come out. I feel like an outsider. I want to be a part of the Potter world in it's true glory days - not read about it. Waiting for the movies is not the same. At all.

I'm coming cross all bitter in this post - and I intended to be happy!

The happy thing is (and this shows how truly dull my life is) I splurged on some itunes the other night, and bought five fabulous wizard rock - or wrock - songs. When you have no source of income, five songs is a big deal. Wrock is a whole new genre entirely devoted to Harry Potter. The songs, bands, everything is Harry.  I mean, it's awesome. Unabashed geekiness.

The Remis Lupins are a favorite - I quite enjoy "Alone on Valentines' Day" and "For all the Hufflepuffs". "The Last Word of the Book Wasn't Ska" by The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office is also rather catchy.