If you go to wizard rock festivals, you never know when shallow wizard rock may turn into something genuinely inspired. If you don’t go, you don’t even know if it’s possible. For that reason, I wish I was going to this weekend festival in Potosi, Missouri. I’d love to be there to support the Harry Potter nerdiness.
www.wrockstock.com
OK, when I joined Twitter I didn’t get it. Why not just have a facebook and update your status all the time? That was almost two months ago… and now, finally, I’ve gotten myself a profile picture, I’ve customized my profile page, I’ve set up my phone so that I can update my status from it, I’ve searched for my favorite bands, news sites, and websites to follow, gained a few followers myself, and just generally have been enjoying myself.
So definitely check out my page if you want to keep posted on all the exciting things I’m up to: www.twitter.com/josahlin.
In other news, I had a most amazing weekend. My family visited from California, which consisted of my first-cousins-once-removed (my dad’s cousin and his wife) and my second cousin. We went to our cabin and my uncle took us out on the boat, and my cousin water skied and I went on the inner(inter?) tube, and now my arms are very sore and I’m happy about that. :)
My cousin and I had great bonding experience; we talked and talked and talked, which I’m ecstatic about. I finally feel like I have more family members, rather than feeling sort of marooned and cut off from them. She has great insight and she’s 27, so she’s good at giving advice without being too pushy or motherly. On Friday we went and got sushi and went to my aunt’s house to watch Harry Potter 5, and that was great because I could tell them what was beyond the movie (since they don’t do any justice to the books!). But, to my surprise I realized there were holes in my explanations, which clearly means that I have to reread the series… oh darn. :P So after I finish this post, I’m going to start the series over and be done with that by the time “Half-Blood Prince” comes out in theaters. Then after seeing that a few times, I’ll probably reread the Twilight series so that I can stay caught up with my friend who knows everything about that one.
I’m continually amazed by the integrity of the Harry Potter series. It’s just incredible that it is so popular and so influential, while being subtle. Granted, it took a while for the books to get to that point, but eventually they broadened so that they would still be universal, but also deeper. … I think I’ll write an actual article about it soon.
Oh, and on Friday when we went boating, my uncle’s “lady-friend” came with us. They had met maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago on Match.com, and here she was. She was… so… nice. Honestly, she was the nicest person. But… too nice? Something like that. We talked about it at length (that was kind of cool too, because we are NOT the kind of family that talks about each other when we’re not around, but now we had a topic to bond over with the Cali family) and my insight was that she didn’t have an “edge,” and my uncle needs someone who’s edgy, not just quietly quirky (ha, *you* try making alliteration with Qs!). Anyway, the bottom line was that we couldn’t imagine it going anywhere.
We didn’t tell my uncle this, of course, but as my aunt said, “he’s no fool,” and he either got the message or didn’t need it in the first place. None of us were worried about him making the “right” judgement call, so what may or may not have been gossip didn’t amount to any drama whatsoever. And that’s a very, very good thing.
So then Saturday we went to my uncle’s house for our 4th of July dinner, which was amazing because there were TEN people at the table! My aunt made amazing food and my grandma looked SO cute–white pants, white sandals, and a sea blue tunic top that she had made, beaded, and embroidered herself(!)–she’s absolutely amazing–and the family gathered and talked about the weird things we talk about. Grammar, Michael Jackson (for, like, the fifth time that weekend, gah), writing, Jewish things (my dad’s cousin’s wife is Jewish and my dad’s cousin converted to marry her), the great food, our heritage and other family members, grammar (trust me, it’s a big issue; everyone in our family is meticulous about grammar, spelling, writing, and anything of the sort and has some related pet peeve), the food (also a recurring topic since it’s always so good), pets, some current events…
Actually, it sounds blissfully normal… I think? What do other people’s families talk about?
