LeakyCon: Made of Awesome

Okay. I'm going to do this. A blog about LeakyCon is in every way long overdue, but there's no time like the present, right? In all honesty, I think the time that has elapsed since that special weekend in Boston has not made the memories fade but instead has strengthened my overall impression - the impression that will stay with me into the future. It's this impression that I hope to convey to you.

But where to even START to begin? A definition, I suppose:

LeakyCon: (n) A conference put on by the staff members of the Leaky community (the hundreds of staff members and thousands of members that discuss news and ideas about the Harry Potter books and films on the Leaky Cauldron or the Leaky Lounge). The first of, hopefully, several LeakyCons took place at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel on the weekend of May 21-24, 2009 and was, in every possible way, a made-of-awesome weekend and a wild success. The second LeakyCon is scheduled for July 2011, in Orlando, Florida.

May 21-24, you might say if you know me... wasn't that the date of your high school graduation? Why, yes, I would answer, it was; a realization that came to me with a sudden burst of horror in December of 2008. I checked, re-checked, and probably triple-checked calendars and dates, but there was no way around it: I was faced with a big decision. I won't go through all the details or the whys and hows of what I chose what I did... I'll just make a long story short and tell you that I chose LeakyCon. With a hint of foreshadowing for what I hope to express in this blog post, I don't regret this decision AT ALL.

I very well could spend thousands of words breaking down everything I said, saw, heard, or did during the entire weekend in an attempt to SHOW you what made LeakyCon amazing, but I still doubt that would cover it. Instead, I'm going to break down exactly what made the weekend special into a few manageable pieces.

The conference itself: I haven't been to any other Harry Potter conferences, but I'm pretty darn sure it's safe to say that this one blew the others out of the water. From the people who were there - all the PotterCasters, the Wrockers, the VlogBrothers, Maureen Johnson, Michael Goldenburg - to the programming, to the details like the drool-worthy decorations in the Castle... the LeakyCon staff simply thought of everything. It was so very cool (in a nerdy way) to turn around at any point during the weekend and see Dumbledore buying a drink for John Green, John Noe filming for his documentary (which looks amazing, by the way), or Melissa Anelli and Hank Green dancing like maniacs.

It was incredible to hear the thoughts of a *real* Hollywood screenwriter in an intimate luncheon setting. It was SO much fun to see the vlogbrothers off a computer screen and to see PotterCast to come to life. It was fabulous to be introduced to wizard rock through live performances of the groups themselves. (I'm now an avid Ministry of Magic fan, thanks to their show). It was AMAZING beyond words to hold a real life Lily and Stag Inn discussion of Order of the Phoenix. It was surreal to casually grab lunch with Maureen Johnson, and come home to find that she had twittered a photo of ME. Every moment of the programmed weekend was special in its own way. And it didn't end when the Registration Booth closed... every moment spent with LeakyCon staff, even just hanging out, was a moment I will treasure.

That brings me to the staff: This is probably the coolest group of people on the planet, if you ask me. Leaky staff is one big family, devoted to making the world a bit better through promoting fun, acceptance, love, and diversity. The staff members I met are of all ages, backgrounds, nationalities. These are people who spend their spare time volunteering for a community, pouring hours of effort into projects, interactions, discussions, and ideas just because THEY CAN.

I had a bit of a fear walking into Leaky that I didn't wouldn't know anyone. I mean, wouldn't have anyone who knew me. But I got there and... Man, there were the L&S Staffers that I have worked with, and it was bizarre and wonderful to put faces and personalities to the screen names and typed words on a screen. And then there were all the other staffers that I have bizarre pseudo-relationships with through Twitter. I'll say again that I had a moment's fear of walking into a strange crowd, of people with pre-formed friendhsips, of being out-of-place... but I can't tell you how wrong that was. If acceptance can happen in a millisecond, walking into a group of Leaky staffers erases doubts just like that As screen names, twitter names, pictures, and faces came together, this group of people - this family - came to life before me... And this, I will always remember.

Ideologically: There are a lot of things that the Harry Potter books and - by proxy - this conference stood for that made me proud to be there. Of course, this is simply due to the nature of the books, but also to the wonderful participation of the Harry Potter Alliance, a group that takes the messages in these popular books and uses them to fight for causes in the real world. One of the reasons I find these books so powerful is the promotion of LOVE as the strongest power of all. This idea extends to the need for acceptance... and this positively permeated the entire weekend. Andrew Slack's sweet opening speech invited all LeakyCon participants to open their hearts and minds to each other, to welcome strangers into your life for a weekend, to suspend judgement or fear of being judged.

I cannot tell you how liberating this was. To let the "nerdy" or "geeky" facade fall away... To be able to show passion for something that may earn you weird looks in the "real world"... To discuss fictional characters that mean the world to you with someone else who knows how you feel... To honor the message Harry stands for and the lessons Dumbledore taught... this was quite powerful and inspiring.

Personally: Yes, I'm getting to a personal, going-to-tear-up train of thought now... One of the reasons I chose LeakyCon over graduation was that it was all about looking forward. Graduating is about celebrating past accomplishments, saying goodbyes, preparing to move onto the next chapter of your life... But when it came to Leaky, this is a community that I hope to continue being a part of, friendships I wanted to cultivate even more. It was, all in all, about the future. In a lot of ways, this became a self-fulfilling prophecy. As soon as I had this goal in mind, it was sure to come true. Through LeakyCon, I delved deeper into the fandom. I finally expanded my repertoire to include wrock, I got to know various fan"celebrities" in the HP world, I met people who are also in this community for the long-run, and I became invested in looking forward to the next LeakyCon in 2011.

I guess what I'm starting to say is that LeakyCon changed me... It helped me accept this part of who I am, to not want to hide it in college as something people will judge me for. It gave me a community to nestle into when the new world of college is scary. It gave me something to do - I hope to participate in the planning of the next conference - that feels bigger than myself.

So, on a deeply personal note, this weekend moved me. I can't even begin to explain my shock and gratitude for the beautiful surprise graduation party that my lovely L&S friends threw me. I want to thank anyone who welcomed me as someone they already knew, who congratulated me on graduating, who shared a laugh or a story or a moment of fun. I want to thank LeakyCon staff for even thinking of this conference, let alone making it happen.

Above all, I just want to thank the universe for somehow allowing me to go be a part of this weekend... because in so many ways, this was an experience I will never forget.

DFTBA. <3

Summer Time and the Living Is NOT SO Easy

Can it be that this is my first blog post of the summer? That's hard to believe... especially because I've been off school now for exactly 19 full days. (Wow.) To say I have a lot to talk about would be a bit of an understatement. I'm a bit afraid of talking about anything that will feel like "old news" - but perhaps I'll get over that, write the entries that have been floating around in my head for weeks, and then move on to blogging more regularly. That is, after all, one of my goals this summer.

First, though, let me take a step back and do a little bit of maintenance here. This summer, I do not have a job or very many fixed plans. I have a few little things littering my time here and there (CU Orientation in July, Marie's wedding in August, etc)... but overall, I am FREE. My overall goal this summer is to rest, relax, recharge, to do the things I want to do, and beyond that, to be creative. Let me take that a bit at a time...

When I picture an ideal summer day, it involves sitting at our neighborhood pool with a cool drink and a good book. Classic, right? It involves me, a person who sleeps in until a reasonable hour, reads a lot, sees a great number of movies (in and out of theaters), exercises regularly, and floats through days - being productive where I need to be, and someone who is, overall, very happy.

This plan has hit a few snags. SNAG #1: The weather. It hasn't reached above 70 in the past few weeks here. The last two days, we have had INSANE torrential rain storms in the afternoons, with clouds the rest of the time. In short, sitting at the pool sounds a long way away. I know that as soon as hot weather hits, I'll be lusting after this cool weather once again, but right now it feels rather depressing. SNAG #2: [I need to preface this by saying that I am not complaining, merely stating the factual evidence of events.] My mother had a hip replacement surgery two days after I returned from LeakyCon. The recovery has been harder than expected and, most recently, I have been doing enough work for several people in this house... Myself (live my life), what my mom usually does around the house (namely clean), what my mom usually does for herself (like get dressed, shower), and what my dad should be contributing to helping with my mom (he's out of town). Needless to say, I'm a bit burned out. I do not want to complain - my mom needs help and I see no reason why I should not have to give it to her - but this is A LOT right now.

And so I find myself stuck in an odd limbo... What I'm waiting for, I don't quite know, but I feel like my summer has yet to begin. Maybe when my mom gets better, maybe when the weather improves, maybe when I get the first round of "tasks" done to begin the summer... Maybe then I'll settle in. But for now, honestly, life seems kind of blah.

I mean, I'm reading and watching movies - certainly. I'm enjoying my new camera, my photos and memories of LeakyCon, my graduation gifts, THE IPHONE I JUST FRIKKIN ORDERED. Life is by no means BAD... it just hasn't hit the high note I was expecting as soon as the chains of high school were lifted.

So, now that I've talked myself into this dark hole of what very nearly sounds like a bit of depression, let me back up and flip on the optimism switch. More importantly, let me do what I do well: make some goals, plan some ideas... And maybe, just maybe, I can still turn my blah summer into a fabulous one.

BOOKS: I'd love to read 52 books in 2009. A book a week sounds pretty darn impressive and with all this time this summer to skew the average, I bet I could do it. Going into the summer, I had read 14 books. Since getting back from Boston, I have turned that into 18. (For comparison, there have been 23 weeks so far, I think). Not too bad for little over two weeks. I'm currently making my way through all of Maureen Johnson's books - Right now I'm reading 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and then all I have left is Devilish. But, I have so much more I want to read, including (but not limited to):

- Seer, Wizard, and Hunt Quest by Lisa DeGroodt

- Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion by Jane Austen

- The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

- The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

- Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

- Dracula by Bram Stoker

- 1001 Arabian Nights

- The Illiad

- Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce;

And that's just what is literally sitting on my shelf right now.

MOVIES (and TV on DVD): I have a rather succinct and current list on my wall right now, and I'd like to make my way through it. Recently, I have crossed off four films from it: Happy-Go-Lucky (cute), Flashbacks of a Fool (very good and interesting - I highly recommend it), When Did You Last See Your Father? (sweet, well acted), and Elegy (sexy and thoughtful). Next up on the radar is the HBO Mini-Series John Adams. I've heard great things about it and my mom and I are really looking forward to it. I haven't had a chance to hit the theaters recently - I still want to see UP... but the next big film I'm counting down until is Johnny Depp's Public Enemies (July 1). I've already made my mom promise to be ready to see this one with me. :)

BLOG: I want to keep talking on here frequently. There are a lot of topics that I've been meaning to write about... Season Finales of some of my favorite TV shows and LeakyCon are at the forefront of this list. I'm having a bit of a hard time feeling like it's "too late" to write about these things, but I think I just need to get them down on *ahem* paper. Other than that, I'd like to keep talking about my life, quite simply, what I'm up to and what I'm thinking about. I'll probably keep reviewing movies, books, and even music. On top of this, if you don't already know, I'm writing a blog about the experience of starting college, a project which is sponsored by the CU Book Store. I'd love for you to follow along with this blog - you can find it here.

CREATIVE: Originally, I had several main ideas for how I would stay creatively busy this summer. The first was writing - aka blogging - as I just mentioned. I also would like to learn a bit about photography, especially now that I have a nice new camera which has an optional manual mode. I'd like to re-learn a bit of piano and maybe learn how to play basic guitar. On top of all this, I'd LOVE to finish a painting of Jack Sparrow that I started in freshman year. But that sounds like a lot... I'll have to see what I can actually accomplish.

OTHER: And on top of all that, I'll have some activities like Leaky - we start our reading of Order of the Phoenix on June 20 and I'm working with my friend Daniel to bring some new technological uses to the Lily and Stag Inn. I'll still be doing my Jane Austen book group - we're finishing Northanger Abbey this weekend by watching the BBC film. I'm going to try to be a bit more active socially in preparation for the fall... I hope to meet with some people who are going to CU next year (mainly people I've already "met" on Facebook) if they come to Boulder. I did mention exercise earlier - and I hope to get back into a routine. Right now, though, I can't quite get my self to just GO TO THE GYM. Again, maybe when it's sunny(?)

But right in front of my feet are a couple of exciting things... I'm going to see RENT in Denver this week with a friend from Leaky who happens to be in town. (OMG!! SQUEE!) I'm getting a brand new set of RAM and a new HD installed in my computer to boost up its speed and size. I'm getting my hair cut and straightened (EEK!) And that's all just this week.

... Well, I actually do feel in a better mood. I have a lot of time ahead of me, but I have even more activities to occupy that time. So, perhaps, if I stay the course, get a bit more focused, and let the sun shine in (even when it's cloudy), this summer will turn out just as fantastic as I imagined it would be.

So, I'll see you very soon, hopefully.

Cheers, <3