rat to the rescue.

i just started reading my first harry potter.

i read all kinds of books. all kinds. really, i do. come peruse my bookshelf. you'll see.

i don't know why i've avoided reading these for so long. i used to say i was waiting for all of them to come out, so i wouldn't have to deal with the suspense. but that's not really it. i love suspense! and i'm not one of those people who avoids things that are popular. that's a lame reason to avoid something.

i actually decided to read them now because they're so popular. if i can read popular books from the past, why avoid what's popular now?

plus, i like children's books. in a couple weeks at work our curriculum is all about "books." i just decided today that my classroom decorations will be inspired by eric carle illustrations. he's my favorite children's author. because of the illustrations. it'll be great.

anyway.

i'm only 112 pages in, and this book is so cute i can't even stand it.

i'm sure that as i go along some amazing plot will develop, and i'll never be the same.

but right now i'm enjoying reading a children's book as an adult.

i love that every kid at hogwarts (listen to me! hogwarts! i'm reading harry potter!) has their own pet. i'm sure they'll serve some magical purpose later on, but i think it's cute that they all get their own pet. any kid reading this book will be like "MAN! i want my own toad! or rat! or owl!"

i think it's cute that harry has formed a friendship with a lonely boy on a train. i remember making friends when i was younger. it was so simple. or maybe it just seems that way now.

i think it's funny that first year students aren't allowed to have their own broomsticks. like freshmen in college aren't allowed to have their own cars. way to slip a joke in there for the oldtimers, rowling.

i like how things are named. one guy used something called a "Put-Outer." it put the lights out.

i could go on. it's so easy to recall feelings and experiences from childhood when you read a book like this. i wonder what i would have thought if i had read it as a 10 year old.

i love being taken to that place.

and i am glad that i have a deeper understanding of one episode of "the office" now. it's the episode where michael takes them all to the beach to play games, so he could give the winner his job. (oh, michael...) and they're naming their teams, and jim names his team "voldemort" and dwight says: "he who should not be named??" and then jim starts chanting "voldemort! voldemort!" just to freak dwight out.

good one, jim. good one.

i guess the next step is for me to go buy a cape or something. no, not a cape. a robe.

capes are for hobbits.

well, capes made by elves are for hobbits. specific hobbits. with a harrowing, life-or-death mission to take care of...

and i bet you thought i was cool because i read shakespeare and tolstoy.

turns out, i'm just a nerd who likes to read a lot.