Teleportation and Gibson's Vision of a Beige World

I've travelled a lot this year and, unfortunately, I've got several more weekends of planes and car rides ahead of me until I hit my third trimester and mercifully get a doctor-approved break. And as much as I love traveling, I have to admit I find all this back and forth fairly exhausting. To those of you out there who travel weekly for work, God bless you. I can't imagine trying to keep up this pace on a regular basis.

As I sat down to book yet another series of flights and hotel rooms, I couldn't but but speculate how much simpler life would be if I only possessed a teleportation device.

Think about it. It would eliminate the need for airports and road trips (at least road trips that are not of the recreational sort). No more pulling out your laptops and liquids for TSA inspection, or holding it until you drive past a decently clean and/or safe looking bathroom. You could zip across the country in the blink of an eye. You could save hundreds and hundreds of your hard earned dollars by eliminating the need for hotels. Who needs a reservation at the Marriott when you can hop to Paris for the afternoon and be back home before bedtime? Not to mention the effect it would have on long distance relationships and the job market. No need to move to a city that caters to you chosen profession. Live in Chicago but dating someone in San Francisco? No problem! With a handy teleportation device, all your geographic troubles disappear. 

Ideal, right?

But as I fantasize about the benefits of teleportation, I can't help but think about William Gibson's Neuromancer. He wrote of a completely homogenized world, one where countries bleed together and cities around the world are practically indistinguishable. And I can't help but wonder if the lines between cities and countries become moot, would the world's most recognizable and treasured cities all meld together? Would we wind up with a beige world, stripped of what made different places around the globe unique?

Imagine stepping out of a teleportation device and not being able to recognize if you're in Bangkok or London. Of taking a trip to Tokyo and thinking how similar it is to Milwaukee. The very thought of it makes me think a little more favorably of planes with screaming babies, endless miles crammed in a car, too-firm hotel beds and even the dreaded TSA. 

What about you? Have you ever wondered what life would be like with teleportation? 

The Wonderful Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Well, I'm back. Back to the real world and my poor old Muggle life. And boy am I already missing life at Hogwarts. 

For those of you who haven't already heard, I crammed into a car with my friends Andy, Mark, Tina and Andrew and headed to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida. Well, and four other theme parks, but those take a back seat to the amazing sights of Universal Studios' take on Hogwarts. If you haven't been able to visit it yourself, let me say . . . it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. And I'm really not exaggerating here. Granted, I'm a Harry Potter SUPER FAN, but even those who are not as obsessed with Rowling's phenomenon as I am (it would be very difficult to feature my level of fandom) would have to be impressed by the precision and detail that went into this amazing attraction. 

This is the first view you get of the Hogwarts as you approach. The ride within - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - is as fun as it is detailed, taking you on a tour of the castle and catapulting you into the wonderful world of wizards.

Even the signs are beautiful, reminiscent of a real life English village. It makes you feel like you're really there. 

Check out the Hogwarts Express as you enter Hogsmeade and imagine what it'd be like the see it from the magnificent Platform 9 3/4.

You get a terrific view of Hagrid's Hut and the hippogriff Buckbeak in the line for the Flight of the Hippogriff ride. 

Inside Hogwarts is just as impressive as outside. There are portraits with moving inhabitants, the Sorting Hat, and of course . . . the phoenix gargoyle outside Dumbledore's office. 

Perhaps my favorite part was getting to look in the window and peak inside the shops of Hogsmeade. Honeyduke and Zonkos. Gladrags Wizard Wear and Ollivanders. It's incredible. 

My favorite store was Honeydukes. I definitely overspent on Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans. But you know what - totally worth it. 

And don't miss trying the Butterbeer at The Hog's Head. We bought the souvenir mugs and got cheap refills all day. Did I mention it was one of the best drinks I've ever tasted? P.s. The Pumpkin Juice was also amazing. Wizards have the best drinks!

I loved getting to see Mr. Weasley's flying car nestled in the woods. Too bad we didn't get to see it fly. Maybe next time . . . 

You can send postcards via the Owlery (and get a Hogsmeade postmark stamp on them too!).

And buy the wand of all your favorite Harry Potter characters! My friend Andy bought Cedric Diggory's (because, for whatever reason, he considers himself a Hufflepuff). My boyfriend bough Sirius Black's (a terrific choice). And I of course bought the wand of my hero - Neville Longbottom. I wanted to buy Harry's too, but they're a tad on the expensive side. 

The highlight of the trip for me though was the shirts my friends and I made. We got hundreds of comments on them throughout the day. Check them out - Hogwart's Coat of Arms on the front (did you know that the motto written in Latin beneath the crest means "Never tickle a sleeping dragon"?), and our names and Harry Potter themed numbers on the back. If you look closely, there's something special about the names . . . 

There's so much more there that I wasn't able to capture on film. Like hearing Moaning Myrtle's wail in the girl's bathroom near The Three Broomsticks, and the Mandrakes' cries from the window of Dogweed and Deathcap. Every corner, wall and ceiling dripping with wizarding detail. It was nothing short of magical. 

Basically this was the trip of a lifetime. The chance to visit the place I've held dear for fifteen years. The place I visited in my head during those torturous high school years whenever I was sad and lonely. Or when I was bored at work and needed a fantastical break. It's the place I've dreamed about for so long, and last week I got to see it in person. 

And yes, I know that it's really just an amusement park designed to reap the financial benefits of Harry Potter fans who aren't ready to say goodbye to the story they've loved through seven books and eight movies. But with every loving detail they put into it, you can almost imagine, just for a minute, that you really are there. It's not everyone who gets a chance to enter a literary world that's meant so much to them. But for me it was one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life and I can't wait to go back when they've completed the addition of Gringotts and Diagon Alley. 

Peter Pan Syndrome

The body of an adult and the mind of a child - more commonly known as the Peter Pan Syndrome, and more personally known as My Life. I long ago decided that adulthood is overrated and determined to never lose track of my inner child. In fact, I like to think of my inner child as Peter's shadow - mischievous, occasionally troublesome, and lots and lots of fun. 

Which is why I've decided to indulge my Peter Pan-esque nature by taking a long-desired trip to Disney World, Universal Studios, Epcot, and . . . The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! That's right, I'm going to Hogwarts. Or I should say "we're" going to Hogwarts. Five friends, five days, and one MAGICAL vacation. 

This has been a dream of mine ever since I first heard they were building the Harry Potter theme park. Not to mention all the wonderful Disney attractions I haven't seen since I was four years old. And now I get to go with four of my closest friends! How lucky am I? 

Fortunately for me, all five of us suffer (or should I say benefit?) from the same Peter Pan Syndrome, so we can indulge our inner children to their hearts' content. So if you don't hear from me for a couple days, don't worry. I'll just be off in Never Neverland. 

See you soon!

New York, Take Two!

Last week I had the pleasure of taking a trip to New York City, one of my favorite places to visit. It was an amazing trip, not only because I got to stay at the Marriott on Times Square (and thus had a view of the famous Broadway billboards from our hotel room), but also because it was the second year in a row that my mom, cousin and I got to go together (which with our crazy schedules is not easy). Hopefully we'll do the same next year and make it an annual trip. 

The theme of last year's trip was Harry Potter. Though we didn't plan it that way, it seemed everything we did had some sort of connection to my favorite book series - we stumbled across a Harry Potter exhibit we hadn't known about, there were billboards everywhere for the upcoming eighth and final movie, and best of all, we got to see leading man Daniel Radcliffe light up the Broadway stage in How to Succeed in Business (which was incredible). 

This year wound up having a theme as well - superheroes. What a shock, right? It seems this whole summer has been all about the heroes, and this trip in particular was just full of them. From all the posters hailing Nolan's final Batman masterpiece to the Marvel Avenger's exhibit on display at famous Madam Tussauds wax museum, New York was practically raining masked vigilantes. Not to mention the action packed Broadway play we saw . . .

And yes - it was terrific. We happened to be in the "fly zone" and quite literally had Spider-man flying through the air right above our heads. I even found myself ducking down a time of two when he came swinging in very close to my chair. Here are a few other highlights from our trip: 

Crazy New York cab drivers. 

Spider-man . . . and, uh, Spider-Allie.

Hamming it up with The Hulk. 

Me RUNNING from The Hulk.

Dark Knight Rises billboards on Times Square. 

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

Needless to say, it was a wonderful trip. I cannot wait for next year - and I'm already wondering what our theme for that one will be!

Spain and a Few Patronus Moments

Apologies for my resent absence from the blogosphere. I’ve been in Madrid with my best friends Annie and Tina, and took a nice extended break from all things internet related. But I'm back now, and before my life becomes a little too normal, I’d like to take a quick moment to talk about something I like to call Patronus Moments.

For those of you who haven’t heard me talk about this before, a Patronus Moment is an occasion or incident so wonderful it would evoke a Patronus. (For those of you who don’t know what a Patronus is, go read Harry Potter. Immediately.) Extraordinarily, while I was in Spain I experience not one, but two of these moments, and I thought I would share them.

The first happened during one of our day trips to Toledo. Called the City of Three Faiths, it’s home to one of the most beautiful cathedrals I’ve ever seen. Nearly every wall displayed vibrant stained glass windows, the ceiling was high and vaulted, and in the center was one of the largest organs I’ve ever seen. I’ve long thought the organ one of the most visually arresting instruments, and this one was stunning. I spent several minutes walking around, observing it from every angle. And then, just when we were about to leave, a priest sat down and began to play.

In all my years of travelling I've never heard anything more beautiful. I've been to more cathedrals than I can count, but never once have I heard the organ played while inside one. It was such a surprise, and more moving than I can describe. It seemed to rise up to the very highest reaches of the vaulted ceiling, echoing across all the sightseers and worshipers and pouring right through me. There's really no  words that can capture what I felt at that moment, but I know that I'll remember that feeling for all my life. 

The second Patronus Moment is somewhat less surprising, but no less extraordinary. After a long day of sightseeing and a short rest in our hotel room, my friends and I were working up the energy to go out for dinner. As the three of us discussed places to eat while we surveyed the clothes we’d laid out, I felt more and more worn out. But still I tried to rally for Annie and Tina’s sake, not wanting to disappoint them. I therefore could not have been more thrilled when Annie tentatively suggested that we could always just order room service for dinner and stay in the watch the Spain vs. Ireland EUFA soccer game (which, as a fan of both Spain and Ireland’s national teams, was exactly what I’d wanted to do).

We wound up having the best time eating peanut butter sandwiches, hamburgers and fruit in our pajamas and cheering on our favorite players. For all the amazing places we went during the trip and all the amazing sights I got to see, it really might have been my favorite moment of the trip. In the end, it’s nice to know that I can be just as thrilled looking at palaces and cathedrals as staying in with my two best girlfriends and shouting at a soccer match.

Anyway, it’s back to normality for me. But here’s a few memories to hold onto until my next great adventure . . .

Annie, Tina and I at Madrid's famous Plaza Mayor 

Madrid Palace just before sunset

Annie and I taking a break (and revealing our true colors) in Segovia

My newly acquired palace in Segovia 

The beautiful organ in the Toledo Cathedral I mentioned above

Tina and I in front of an awesome mural in the Madrid subway

Me, Annie and Tina in front of the Roman Aqueducts 

The incredible Toledo Cathedral 

Hollywood, Harry Potter and an Award

Last weekend I took a much needed vacation and went to see my amazing friend Julie in California (she callously moved away a few months ago, but I’ve since forgiven her enough to come visit). She planned all sorts of amazing activities, including a viewing of her wonderful superhero themed play – where she amazed me by using one of the superhero alter egos I created for my current manuscript for her own villainess character – a trip to the most delicious bakery I’ve ever been to, a tour of the Kodak Theater, and best of all, we went to Grauman’s Chinese Theater to check out famous celebrity handprints!

It was amazing. We ran around ooh-ing and ahh-ing over Hollywood’s finest. Of course I was thrilled when I came across Star Wars and got to check out the “footprints” of C3PO, R2D2 and one of the best villains of all time, Darth Vadar! Sadly Julie is not a Star Wars fan (something her husband and I are doing our best to rectify), but we BOTH squealed like little girls when we found the Harry Potter crew. Not to sound like a total fan girl, but it was a serious highlight. And for the record, whoever decided that along with their hand and footprints, the three Harry Potter stars would also make impressions of their wands was genius. I may be in my twenties, but I haven’t lost my childish enthusiasm for things like that. And I’m not ashamed to admit that I wasn't going to leave without getting a picture. Check them out:

 Not the best picture I've ever taken, but here's R2, C3PO and Darth Vadar.

Harry Potter hands, feet, and wands!!!

Yup, I did it. I took one of these ridiculous tourist pictures. And I'm not ashamed. 

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I’d also like to thank Cassie Mae for presenting me with the Smart Cookie Blog Award. It was such a – haha – treat! I’m not sure what the rules are for passing it along, so I’m just going to award it to a two of my favorite new blogging buddies from the A through Z challenge, Andrew Leon from Strange Pegs and Michael Abayomi. Thanks for your amazing posts guys!