It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

As some of you may recognize, the title of this post comes from Harry Potter (and the Sorcerer's Stone). I watched most of the first movie with my family tonight, and oh-DEAR did it bring back memories.

I have such vivid memories of sitting at my father's feet in my grandmother's apartment as he read us the end of the first book (he read the first three, I believe, out loud to my sister and I) -- the chapter that ends with "It wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort." -- and then the next one that starts with: It was Quirrell.

I was so completely taken aback! And I remember being excited out of my wits when they won the Quidditch cup in the third book, falling in love with the idea of the game as well as the idea of all the amazing creatures that were there -- and watching, in a way, as the books became so incredibly powerful in our world. That's something that fascinates me, really. The right ideas, the right delivery, and the right timing for it to come to the public -- all of those had to be in place for these books to take off with such a bang.

And then, watching the movie -- I remember so well seeing it for the first time, and being so overwhelmed by how wonderful I thought the music was. I still think it's wonderful.

It's just crazy to go back and see how much those books had an impact on me when I was younger. I'm happy they came out when they did.

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Books are pretty darn amazing.