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[RokofAges75]

Yay!  It's been pretty dead around here for a few years now, so it's always nice when different people pop back on and liven it up again.

HP is my literary happy place as well!  I just finished reading the first book to my class before Christmas, and we're on the second one now.  They're so into it, which makes me happy.  I love introducing new generations to it (or at least getting them to read the books instead of just watching the movies).

That makes me so happy to hear you would even consider trying to revive your story!  Writing is a great distraction from work stress.  Whether you return to that story or come up with something new, I'm here for it!

[mare]

Wow, I am amazed at the 45!  I'm currently reading Cleeton's Next Year In Havana.  I read The Last Train to Key West last year and really enjoyed it.

I'm simultaneously reading Harry Potter 1 but that's not for the first (or second... or third...) time.

Hey! Welcome back!! I haven’t read either of those yet. Are they any good? I set my goal at 60 this year so if they were good reads I’ll have to put them on my list. I’m on book 6 of the year so far.

[ForeverFrick]

Yay!  It's been pretty dead around here for a few years now, so it's always nice when different people pop back on and liven it up again.

HP is my literary happy place as well!  I just finished reading the first book to my class before Christmas, and we're on the second one now.  They're so into it, which makes me happy.  I love introducing new generations to it (or at least getting them to read the books instead of just watching the movies).

That makes me so happy to hear you would even consider trying to revive your story!  Writing is a great distraction from work stress.  Whether you return to that story or come up with something new, I'm here for it!

I love that you get to share it with the class!  The series is so timeless (though I simultaneously love the mention in book one about a VHS and a computer game, and thinking about kids today having to ask their parents about certain things the "muggles" in the 90s are talking about just like wizards would have to in the books. ). 

It's funny, I saw a meme yesterday that said something like-- you're supposed to be embarrassed by yourself 5 years ago; it shows that you've grown.  I read half the HP fan fic yesterday and thought, 'Wow, I used to be pretty funny.'   . I need to finish reading; it was longer than I remembered, which was a pleasant surprise that I was that far along.  The good news is I think I remember where I was going with it.  So I'm definitely going to try to see if I can draft out the rest of the story!

[ForeverFrick]

Hey! Welcome back!! I haven’t read either of those yet. Are they any good? I set my goal at 60 this year so if they were good reads I’ll have to put them on my list. I’m on book 6 of the year so far.

Hi!! That's great you're already 6 books in.  I'm trying to read 24 books this year, so I am in awe of your reading level!  The Last Train to Key West is historical fiction about a hurricane that came through the Keys back before they would've had the storm warnings like today of how bad it was going to be.  It's very character driven and an easy read.  I really enjoyed it, so I recommend it if you like that type of book.

I also like Havana so far (I'm only about 50 pages in).  After reading the other, several people told me this was her best book in their opinion.  It flips between modern day and the 50s. 

[RokofAges75]

I love that you get to share it with the class!  The series is so timeless (though I simultaneously love the mention in book one about a VHS and a computer game, and thinking about kids today having to ask their parents about certain things the "muggles" in the 90s are talking about just like wizards would have to in the books. ). 

It's funny, I saw a meme yesterday that said something like-- you're supposed to be embarrassed by yourself 5 years ago; it shows that you've grown.  I read half the HP fan fic yesterday and thought, 'Wow, I used to be pretty funny.'   . I need to finish reading; it was longer than I remembered, which was a pleasant surprise that I was that far along.  The good news is I think I remember where I was going with it.  So I'm definitely going to try to see if I can draft out the rest of the story!

Haha, right?!  I love the comparison of kids today to the wizards who don't know muggle stuff LOL.  We just read about Nearly Headless Nick's 500th deathday party yesterday, where it has the cake that says he died in 1492, so I always make the kids do the math to figure out what year Chamber of Secrets takes place and then what year Harry must have been born.  Harry's turning 42 this year!

I'm glad you were pleasantly surprised by your story!  I think the whole "You're supposed to be embarrassed by yourself 5 years ago" is more true when you're younger.  If I compared my writing from when I first started to five years later, absolutely, there was huge growth, and I was embarrassed of my early stories by that point.  But if I look back on stories I wrote 5 years ago now, they really aren't much different than what I write now in terms of quality.  Not that we can't all still grow, but I think it's slower and more subtle in your 30s and beyond.  But that's good because if you were embarrassed by your story, it would be a lot harder to go back to it!  I'm glad you remember where you were going with it and are going to try to continue!

[nicksgal]

I'll come back and catch up later. Just wanted to pop in and wish Mare a happy birthday!

[RokofAges75]

Yes, happy birthday, Queen!

[mare]

Aww, thanks ladies! 💕

[ForeverFrick]

Aww, thanks ladies! 💕

Happy belated birthday!! Hope it was a good one and that you got to do lots of celebrating.

I took today off work for my Dad's birthday.  Nice to start the day with some hot tea and not already be on the phone or my work computer.  .

[ForeverFrick]

Haha, right?!  I love the comparison of kids today to the wizards who don't know muggle stuff LOL.  We just read about Nearly Headless Nick's 500th deathday party yesterday, where it has the cake that says he died in 1492, so I always make the kids do the math to figure out what year Chamber of Secrets takes place and then what year Harry must have been born.  Harry's turning 42 this year!

I'm glad you were pleasantly surprised by your story!  I think the whole "You're supposed to be embarrassed by yourself 5 years ago" is more true when you're younger.  If I compared my writing from when I first started to five years later, absolutely, there was huge growth, and I was embarrassed of my early stories by that point.  But if I look back on stories I wrote 5 years ago now, they really aren't much different than what I write now in terms of quality.  Not that we can't all still grow, but I think it's slower and more subtle in your 30s and beyond.  But that's good because if you were embarrassed by your story, it would be a lot harder to go back to it!  I'm glad you remember where you were going with it and are going to try to continue!

Very true!  My earliest stuff is... quite something.     I have a long weekend and plan to finish re-reading HP 1.  I figure that's a good way to jumpstart some creativity.

Love that activity with your students!  Did they have a reaction to Harry being 42 now in "real life"?  I'm sure that's difficult for kids to hear. haha

[RokofAges75]

Happy birthday to your dad!

If your weather is anything like it's been here, it's a perfect weekend to stay cozy and read HP!  We had snow days Wednesday and Thursday because we got dumped on.

They didn't react with as much shock as I thought they would, but mostly compared Harry's age to their parents' ages.  Of course, I compare Harry's age to Nick LOL.  I'm sure 1992 feels so long ago to them, though.  This generation now calls anything before 2000 "the 1900s." LOL.  Technically they're right, but it makes me feel ancient to think I was born "in the 1900s."

Earlier in the year, though, I had a group reading the book "The Lemonade War," which came out in 2007, and they commented on how they could tell it was older because the kid in the book is saving up for an iPod, and iPods are outdated. 🤦‍♀️  Meanwhile, I was reading "Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing" to them, which mentions record players... but I guess record players are cool again now, so maybe that didn't seem as old-fashioned to them as iPods.

[RokofAges75]

My earliest stuff is... quite something.   

Speaking of those embarrassing early stories we all have, here's a question for everyone:  What's something embarrassing you used to do in your writing that you don't do anymore?

I used to overuse the thesaurus on Microsoft Word.  During my purple prose phase that began with Broken, I discovered the thesaurus feature and used it to pick "juicier" words for my descriptions.  Sometimes I would end up with words I had never heard in context that didn't really work for what I was going for.  When I come across them now with an adult's vocabulary, I cringe so much.  I was just looking for a specific scene in BMS and found a sentence that describes sex as "not his most superlative love-making experience."  Superlative?? 🤦‍♀️

I still use the thesaurus on Google Docs sometimes when I'm trying to find the perfect word, but I will only pick words I'm actually familiar with and am pretty confident I'm using correctly.  Some of Google's thesaurus suggestions are pretty funny though!

[RokofAges75]

Here's another question that's semi-related to my last post:  How do you pronounce the word "angst"?

I had one of those "I was today years old when I learned..." moments a few weeks ago while I was listening to a podcast and heard someone use the word "angst."  They pronounced it "ah-ngst," and I thought, Is that how that word is pronounced??  I googled it, and sure as shit, the first pronunciation that came up was "ah-ngst."  Apparently, it's one of those words I have only read and never actually heard anyone say out loud.  I have always said it with the same A sound as in "rang."  But then I found a Reddit thread that offered three different pronunciations, so maybe it's one of those words with more than one accepted pronunciation? https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/mfjfwh/how_do_you_pronounce_angst/

To make matters weirder, as someone pointed out in that thread, it's a German word, which I think I knew.  I took German in high school, so if I saw the word "angst" in a sentence written in German and read it out loud, I probably would pronounce it "ah-ngst" instead of using the more American-sounding "ang" sound.  But I never thought to pronounce it that way when speaking/thinking in English.

So now I'm curious about how other pronounce it!

[mare]

Happy belated birthday!! Hope it was a good one and that you got to do lots of celebrating.

I took today off work for my Dad's birthday.  Nice to start the day with some hot tea and not already be on the phone or my work computer.  .

Thanks Rose!

[mare]

How interesting. I pronounce it with the same a sound in bank.

Meme is the other word that people seem to pronounce different ways. I say meh-um but I know a lot of people who say mee-‘em. 🤷‍♀️