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You are always on my mind (or am I in love with Harry Potter?)

BLOG | Harry Harry Harry. He’s all I can think about. Am I in love with Harry Potter?
A snowy owl photo illustrates a blog post called "Am I in love with Harry Potter?"

Photo by Frida Bredesen on Unsplash

Even with my birthday happening, and fun stories about the Hells (shouldn’t it be Hell’s?) Angels to write (not)*, all I really have on my mind is Harry Potter.

I haven’t actually started Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in earnest, even though I’ve had it in hand for a few days. I’m trying to delay the inevitable I guess. It’s really freakin’ hard! I know people who are already finished and it’s driving me crazy.

On one hand, I want to be done so we can all just hash it out. On the other, if I read it too fast I know I’ll just feel let down. Like it’s the day after Christmas or something.

For those interested, my latest book column published today, in print and online.  It’s all about my Potter predictions.

Only one of them is serious (I didn’t want to ruin anything) and the other two are just silly. If you can’t guess which ones, you’re slow and should probably be eaten by cheetahs. But FYI: if you already know whether I was right or not on the main one, keep mum. Anyone who sends me spoilers will suffer terribly.

Fallen victim to muggle mania,
Jen

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2005, jacket. Illustrates a blog that asks, am I in love with Harry Potter?

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2005.

2018: I still love Harry Potter.

At the time of this writing, my then-boyfriend and I (who lived together, mostly unhappily) had made a bit of tradition of reading new Harry Potter novels together aloud.

He would do most of it, because reading aloud tends to make me anxious, and he did excellent character voices and often kept going for several hours at a stretch. Thinking back on this leaves me with an expected sense of sadness and loss, because it really was a sweet and beautiful shared experience.

It is difficult to reconcile that relationship’s over-arching legacy of anger, hurt, and resentment with happy memories such as this one.

Retrace my early blogging journey by following the tag “baby blogger”. 

*Living in Vancouver, I was forced to write news pieces about various Hells Angels happenings all the time.

I hated it. One such piece is clipped and visible below, published in Dose, July 2005.

A terrible little print news article by Jen Selk for Dose. It's about the Hells Angels. Used to illustrate a blog titled "Am I in love with Harry Potter?" incongruously.

Published in Dose magazine, July 2005.