LeakyCon Take Two -- Reflections

Ever have that feeling that you know you're exactly where you belong?

I had that feeling this past week, bonded together with 3400 others through the love for a boy wizard -- Harry Potter.

At LeakyCon 2011, it was not out of place to proudly display your House colors, spontaneously duel another wizard while waving your wands and shouting spells, or break out into wizard wrock songs. To see Dumbledore wandering the halls, or be greeted with a "Constant vigilance" by Mad-eye Moody, was also common.

But that's not all. Here, among all these other witches and wizards, it didn't matter who you were, where you were from, what you looked like, or any of those other things upon which "society" seems to impress importance. Here, you could be yourself and be proud of it.

I read the Harry Potter series for the first time in 2006, so I started fairly late in comparison to other Potter fans. This due to the fact that my parents were the worst sort of Muggle. Their view of Harry Potter rivaled that of the Dursleys' view of magic. I kept my books hidden very well and could only read them after everyone had gone to bed and even then only by the light of my laptop, with my bedroom door tightly shut, my ears pricked to any movement, as I posted on the Leaky Lounge. I literally felt like Harry Potter in that regards.

When LeakyCon 2009 was announced, I knew I was going to go no matter what. That conference showed me that there was a whole community based on love and Harry Potter and I felt at home. After that trip, I moved and was out from under my parents and able to be free to read Harry Potter whenever and wherever.

Then LeakyCon 2011 was announced...

I immediately made plans to go to Orlando and participate, both as an attendee and staff and presenter with the Leaky Lounge reading groups. I needed to go home to Hogwarts.

To say this experience last week was life changing would be an understatement. The new friends I made and the old friends I was able to see again will always be with me. Being there gave me a sense of purpose, a sense that "I'm not alone". To be surrounded by amazing people I could connect with easily was the best part of LeakyCon, and the Harry Potter fandom as a whole. I could be me.

To everyone out there who may feel like they don't belong, that no one understands them, that life just seems too difficult, remember this: Hogwarts is always here to welcome you home.

The weapon we have is love!

How Decisions Affect Our Future

Have you ever sat down and thought about a decision you made in the past and followed it's 'consequence' to the present day? If you have done that, have you also wondered how different your life would be if you had made the decision differently?

Obviously, we are unable to go back in time and change the past. But the fascination is how the past affects the future in ways we could never imagine--for better or worse.

Case in point, today I was thinking about my really good friend back in Montana and was reminiscing about how we had met. Then I made a crazy discovery. Are you ready for a story?

*settles down in his comfy armchair*

Some of you have heard part of this story before, but for those who have not, here we go. It was April of 2008 and I was all set to graduate from college in a couple weeks. Several friends and I had just gone to the spring play the college had put on and we wanted to head out to a restaurant to eat. Only four of us ended up going, and we headed off to Chili's. My three friends got something to eat, but I really didn't have enough money for a full meal, so I just got water. But then, as I was flipping randomly through the drinks menu because I was rather bored, a drink caught my eye, so I ordered it (and yes, I was 21). Now, understand, I went to a Christian college and all alcoholic drinking was prohibited as long as you were enrolled at the college (that meant, no matter if you were on campus or off campus, you would still get in trouble). My friends were a little uncomfortable, but I knew they wouldn't say anything. However, I did not factor in that sitting a couple booths behind us was another group from my school. One of the kids saw what I had ordered and called up the deans. To cut down the story, I ended up getting kicked out.

(Now, before you get all riled up about this, please understand that age didn't matter over the rules of the college. All that is in the past and I graduated the following year with honors, so no hard feelings. The story is told for background purposes.)

Anyway, after I got kicked out, I of course had to head back home. After a few days at home, my parents suggested I get a couple jobs so I could raise the money I needed to pay for my final semester. So I went back to KFC (I had worked there during highschool, and during college Christmas breaks) and then got a night job working as a delivery driver at Pizza Hut. While working at Pizza Hut, I met this girl that was just simply amazing and we ended up becoming very good friends both at work and outside of work and have stayed close to this day.

Now you're probably thinking, 'Ok, get to the point already.'

My point: If I had not made that ridiculous decision to buy that alcoholic drink at Chili's back in college, resulting in my expulsion, I would have most likely never worked at Pizza Hut and would have most likely never met this girl who became a very close friend and a light in my life. It is truly amazing how something that started out as a terrible decision ended with a friendship to last a lifetime. (Yay for alcohol? =P)

So, although we can not predict the future, we can control our present choices. And the cool part is, we have no idea where those choices will lead us.

Life is crazy, huh?

A little introduction

One of the things I've been meaning to do is start my own blog. Well, I finally got around to it and can scratch one more thing off my to-do list. Yay!

Anyway, my name is Daniel. I'm 23 years old and just graduated from college with a degree in business management. I currently reside in Montana where I was born and raised. My only disappointment is that I wished I had grown up on the western side of the state in the mountains instead of in the badlands/plains of the eastern side. I love the mountains! One of these days I hope to live close to mountains...

I digress...

What is this blog going to be about, you ask? Anything and everything, I answer. Maybe it's something I've been thinking about, a funny story, comments on a new movie/book, etc., or just randomness. One of the subjects that will definitely be incorporated a lot is Harry Potter.

I work for The Leaky Cauldron, one of the largest Harry Potter news/fan sites on the web.
Check it out here -------->>>> The Leaky Cauldron

And just what jobs do I perform there? I work in the forum section of TLC called the Leaky Lounge. And you can check that out here ----------->>>> Leaky Lounge

The section I work in is the Lily and Stag Inn, the Reading Group forum. We read through the Harry Potter series and do chapter-by-chapter discussion of each book with lots of fun randomness thrown in with it. And speaking of discussing, the Reading Groups are going to start discussing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix starting June 20th!

If you love discussing Harry Potter or just want to hang with some of the coolest Harry Potter fans in the world, please check out both sites!

Enough shameless plugging for my place of work. =)

And that's me! Until next time...