The · Fifth · Side · of · the · Pyramid

Was looking back at this journal for whatever reason today, and realized that it has very literally been years since I've posted anything here!

I'm not sure what got me to thinking about the HP community again. I guess it was this assignment for a sociology class I'm taking - I'm meant to break a "social norm" and write about.

So I'm racking my mind, trying to think up a social norm I should break, and my mind kept drifting back to Harry Potter communities - the mods, the unspoken rules, the comments, the flames, etc.

It really is an interesting community here on LJ. Probably will end up writing on the Harry Potter livejournal community. Now it's just a matter of which aspect!

On another note, hello everyone! :)

And the LORD God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife and clothed them.
Genesis 3:21

God, our master, gave Adam and Eve clothes when he cast them out of the Garden. In the wizarding world, a master must give his/her house elf clothes in order to free the elf. Also, most house elves do not want to be freed, just as Adam and Eve do not want to be cast out of the Garden.

Just an interesting parallel. Any thoughts?

I was reading through/thinking back on some theories about the prophecy. There a quite a few really good ones out there, with really pretty wild interpretations of it.

But then I realized something rather important:

The prophecy is portrayed as SELF-FULFILLING. The fact that it is self-fulfilling is vital to the theme of the story, that we are who we are by the choices we make.

Therefore, what we think about the prophecy matters little. How it COULD be interpretted matters little. Voldemort's and Harry's reading of it are all that matter.

Voldemort's Death Eaters were formerly known as the Knights of Walpurgis.

This is interesting for a few reasons:
1. Walpurgis Night is a pagan celebration of the coming of Summer.
2. Walpurgis Night is April 30. Hitler committed suicide on this night. One historian suggests this is symbolic - Hitler was offering himself up to evil. Note that Tom Riddle was in school during the second World War.* Also, Dumbledore defeated the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945 - the same year WWII ended and the same year Hitler committed suicide.
3. Saint Walburga's feast day is May 1. She converted pagans throughout Germany in the 700s, and is the patron saint against disease. Sirius's mother, Mrs. Black, shares her name.
4. Walpurgis Night is opposite Halloween on the calendar, the night Voldemort first fell.

I'm not quite sure what all this means quite yet. I do imagine, however, that the final battle will take place on the night of April the 30th.

Thoughts?



*Redhen wrote an essay, which I currently cannot locate, theorizing that Tom Riddle had alot to do with the downfall of Grindelwald, and that Tom Riddle derived alot of his power as Dark Lord from Grindelwald and his followers.

The book covers for HP7 have been released.

My Pottergasm is the culmination of the UK book cover and this essay written by mrs_wolf ages ago.

fdsnkajfj;dsak;lsa jkds;jfkldsa jidas;jfklshgjs dh;fdshfj;dsavb;u iahdfjhdfj klfdsgadls.

That pretty much covers it.

So, now that we know when the 7th book is coming out (JULY 21ST!), I feel that it is completely necessary for me to get over-involved in fandom again. I have an essay in mind (which I'll probably write some time next week), and I need to catch up on all the new, interesting theories that have come out in the past few months. Suggested reading?

Once all the noodles are gone, who really enjoys drinking the brothy part of the soup? Certainly not a younger version of myself. I can remember sitting at the kitchen table, slurping happily at my soup, eating every bit of chicken and every last noddle. I finish, with about a centimeter of polluted (rogue cracker particles and miniscule shreds of chicken) broth. I eye it, not particularly wanting to eat it, so I ask to be excused from the table (a habit of mine which has gone the way of chivalry). My mom looks into my bowl and repeats that favorite motherly adage, "There are children starving in China. Finish your soup." I cannot remember if I ate it, or sat at the table, watching it get cold, in boycott. It hardly matters now.


I was driving back to college with my mother the other day. "What you'll do with your life is still a mystery. I know whatever it is, it'll be great. You're good at English, but I still think that your thing is math. I can't help but think you'll do something with that," she says to me. I nod, wondering whether or not I should tell her I have been considering more and more going the way of the English major. I decide against it. My mother, who stopped understanding math half way through algrebra, thinks I am a mathmatical genius. I think back to the father in A Bronx Tale proudly telling his son not to "waste talent," a sentiment I know my mother shares.

I realized over a bowl of soup the other day that my mother is China. My mathmatical apptitude is the broth at the bottom of the bowl.

There are children starving in China. Finish your soup.

Did I drink the broth? Perhpas it matters more than I ever thought.

"Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things."
- Denis Diderot

I've been contemplating this recently, and a bizarre moment of clarity this morning I think I decided what I want to major/minor in. If I think about it too much I change my mind. When I think too much, logic gets in the way and says "but I'm good at this." I like this Diderot fellow. Screw the logic. You might be good at something, but it doesn't matter a rat's ass if you're not passionate about it. Nothing will come from empty genius.

According to imbd, Keith Richards will be making a cameo appearance in POTC 3 as Cptn. Jack's father. He won't be a main character (he probably won't even have any lines, as it is, reportedly, a cameo appearance), but I suspect he will be talked about. So, who exactly is Cptn. Jack Sparrow?

One possibility I've been toying with is that Jack Sparrow is a pseudonym.

Both "Jack" and "Sparrow" are significant in sailing. "Jack" refers to a sailor. A sparrow tattoo signified that a sailor had travelled over 5,000 nautical miles.

Cptn. Jack Sparrow, through his name, is referencing the fact that he is a well-travelled sailor. Notice also that "Captain" seems to be part of his name, or he views it as such.

So, what could Cptn. Jack's real name be?

Smith, perhaps?

It told you he was telling the truth, ;P

Mr. Loffredo went on to testify that a hypothetical "ChryslerDaimler" headquartered in the United States would face a 67.5 percent tax rate, while the actual Daimler-Chrysler, headquartered in Germany, pays only 44 percent.

The Fairtax Book, page 66

This knowledge pisses me off greatly. Here we have politicians leading us to believe that overseas corporations are being taxed practically nothing, so the logical thing to do to bring jobs back to American would be to raise tariffs. Am I the only one that sees a problem with this? 44% should NOT be a tax advantage.

Damned politicians.