Throwback Thursdays: Dear Mr. Potter...

It's been over two years since I spent an evening in a Spanish-language movie theater in Sevilla, crying over Harry Potter y las Reliquias de Muerte (Parte 2) and the fact that after twelve years of my life, the series was finally over. The Harry Potter series was and always will be my favorite series of books and movies, and it was such a huge part of my life growing up. Instead of writing an entirely new blog post about it, though, I decided that I would share my Dear Mr. Potter letter, which I wrote two days before the final movie came out.

Trying to get onto Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Station in London, Summer 2007.

For those of you who don't know, Dear Mr. Potter is a project run through the Harry Potter Alliance that collected letters to Harry about how the series changed their lives. So many people wrote letters, including other authors and actress Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna in the movies, and many of them were eventually compiled into a book. I wrote mine more for myself than anyone else, as a way to try and put into words what the series actually meant to me. I haven't really shared it because I was really emotional while writing it, but two years after the fact... I'm actually still emotional about it, but whatever. I hope you all enjoy reading it.

Why I Love Crappy Shark Movies

So I have a not so secret confession to make. I absolutely LOVE crappy shark movies. Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, Swamp Shark, Super Shark, Sand Shark, Two Headed Shark Attack- I have seen them all and I love them all.  Tonight, Sharknado premieres on SyFy, and in honor of this wonderful event I thought I would talk about why these horrible, predictable movies are so amazing to me.

On Being a Female Sports Fan (or, why it's seriously 100% okay to think athletes are hot)

I've been watching sports for literally as long as I can remember- I was basically born an Atlanta Braves fan, and over the years I've been a fan of far too many sports to list. Thanks to the Internet, I've been able to be part of great communities of fans, particularly female fans, but with all of these communities there have always been those women who want to tell you the right way to be a Real Fan. It happens with every single sport (I'm assuming it also happens in ones I don't care about like basketball and football) and honestly, it needs to stop.

Newsflash: if you like something, you're a fan. It doesn't matter if you think one athlete is hot, or if you proudly support a team, or if you just enjoy watching a sport in general. There is literally no wrong way to be a fan of something, and there is no such thing as a Real Fan.

Watch It Wednesday - Bob's Burgers

Sometimes people recommend me shows and I just think "eh, I don't know." If I had a dollar for every time someone told me I should watch Sherlock because I love Doctor Who more than anything else, I would be rich (and for the last time, no I will not watch it because I have zero interest in anything Sherlock Holmes related, thank you very much). So when Brandy and Jessica told me I should watch Bob's Burgers I was a little skeptical, especially since I've never been a huge fan of Fox's animated shows- I think there are maybe two funny episodes of Family Guy. Luckily for me, Bob's Burgers is completely different and definitely worth watching.

Watch It Wednesday - Orphan Black

I was originally going to make this TV Tuesdays, but then I realized that today was Wednesday. Oops. But I watch a lot of TV shows, and I figure people will be looking for new things to marathon during the summer. So Watch It Wednesdays will feature a TV show that either I've started watching or a show that I love that I want you to love, too.

For my inaugural "Watch It Wednesday" post, I'll be talking about a show that I'm actually in the middle of watching right now, a show that basically everyone on the internet is talking about: Orphan Black. (minor spoilers through the first four episodes, but really nothing more than is revealed in the trailer.)

Throwback Thursdays - Summer League Swimming

One of the trends on Instagram is to post a "throwback" picture every Thursday for "Throwback Thursday" (#tbt). Since my past is actually more exciting than my present, at least when it comes to things to blog about, I'm going to try and write Throwback Thursday posts every week about things I used to love, stories from back in the day, etc. And, of course, a potentially embarrassing old picture.

In 2000, my local neighborhood pool formed a summer swim team. I joined with a few of my friends and thus began my (not-very illustrious) competitive swimming career. I went into the beginning of the season only knowing how to do freestyle, but by the end of the summer I was doing the 100 IM at meets, and I was hooked on swimming.

My team picture from 2002, back in the days when I used way too much Sun-In

Movie Review - This is the End

On Monday night, I had the amazing opportunity to attend a free screening of Seth Rogen's new movie This is the End. While I can safely say that this movie is not for everyone, it was definitely the right movie for me. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a movie theatre since I saw Bridesmaids back in 2011.

Let me preface this review by repeating that this movie is seriously not for everyone. If you're over the age of 40, unless you have a weirdly youthful and drug-related sense of humor, you will hate this movie. I knew for a fact after about ten minutes of the movie that my mom would've hated it. There were at least four people in the screening that were way older than her, and I'm honestly curious as to why they were even there - sure, it's a free movie, but I wouldn't go see a free movie that I had zero interest in.

With that out of the way, let's get on with the review (with some slight spoilers I suppose):