Why do kids like Harry Potter?

I was watching the first Harry Potter movie today (yes, I'm a nerd) and remembering when my mom first brought home the books for my brother and I to read. I was fourteen and Jason was eleven. He read them first. I remember asking him how he liked them and he replied, "I want to BE Harry Potter." I was horrified because this was the same time that the whole witchcraft/magic/this-is-sinful debate began. Then I read the books myself, and understood a little better. Of course, what child doesn't imagine what it would be like to be invisible or to fly? But it's not just that. There's something appealing about Harry's world that's about more than just spells and magic. I realized today that Harry's world just isn't...safe. Having the most evil wizard in the world as one's mortal enemy certainly doesn't help, but even just daily life for the students at Hogwarts is a series of potential accidents. Staircases move without warning, spells blow up in their faces, dangerous magical creatures run around loose, and sports are played hundreds of feet in the air. Harry's teachers certainly don't want any serious harm to befall him or the other students. But they also don't go out of their way to minimize all of it. A world of unpredictable magic, dangers, and enemies is also a world full of untapped potential and adventure. There are always corridors to explore, new skills to learn, and new challenges to face. Harry's life is not boring.

Maybe by the time most of us are adults, we've lost our thirst for adventure. Most kids still have it. They want to be told "yes" more often then "no" or "that's not safe." To explore. To take things apart. To climb things. To blow things up. To be a hero. To test their limits and explore their potential. To become really good at something. To take risks and fail. To take risks and succeed. They recognize what they're missing when they see Harry's life, even if they can't fully articulate it. We live in a world that's medicated, vaccinated, full of kneepads, helmets, seatbelt laws, and health food. Our playgrounds don't have tire swings or tall slides. Our hiking trials are paved and have handrails. If anything hurts us, we sue its owners. If anything could even potentially hurt our kids, we don't let them near it.

In Harry's world, parents let their kids be exposed to potetial harm because that is the only way that they can really learn. School is about learning practical skills that will be used in life. Some of it is tedious book learning, but much of it is hands on life-learning. Life learning is hard and sometimes hurts. If children are allowed (within reason)to get hurt, and to get back up and keep trying, they learn that lesson much sooner. They're more aware of their own limitations, and their capabilities.

The other criticism I hear often about Harry is that the books encourage kids to break rules. Yes, Harry and his friends break rules. So what? I'm not trying to encourage disobedience, but there are a lot of "rules" in life that we are sometimes better off not following. Norms, expectations, "playing it safe," "going by the book"--everyone who was ever wildly successful was willing to step outside the boundaries of what was known or acceptable and take a risk. Harry and his friends do break rules and sometimes get in trouble for it. But they also learn what is really valuable and what is worth taking a risk for--valor, friendship, honor, goodness, and self-sacrifice.

Why do kids like Harry Potter? Because they want to BE him. And that is not a bad thing.

If you want something done right...outsource it to Japan

I'm learning in my "old" age, that I just can't be good at everything. I know, I know...it shouldn't have taken me so long to figure this out. I've always been kind of a jack of all trades master of none. And that was okay because I never felt like I had to be *the best* at everything, but I wanted to be *good* at as much as possible. Now, even good doesn't quite cut it. For instance, I'm really awful and most things crafty (crocheting, scrapbook, etc). I've never managed to successfully light a BBQ. I've pretty much given up on snowboarding. I don't know what to do with babies and small children.

Most of these things aren't a big deal, but some things in life are more essential. Fundamentally, I'm fine with the idea that I will need to ask for help sometimes. That there are things that I am just not good at or even (heaven forbid) incapable of doing myself. Humility is good. Learning to rely on others is good. The problem? "If you want something done right, you have to DO IT YOURSELF." This is so ridiculously true, it's not even funny! Other people--even so-called professionals--just don't care enough to do a decent job.

Case in point: When my car battery kept dying, I took the thing to three different professionals, all of whom told me that there was nothing wrong with the car. Then my dad--who has never worked on cars in his life and I don't think even knows how to jump a battery--figured out the problem on his own in fifteen minutes. FIFTEEN MINUTES.

I have a confession now--I have never done my own taxes. Last year I tried to do them using the free version of TurboTax, but they were too complicated. I spent hours, ended up in tears, and sent them back to my dad, who did them for me. This year, they are even more complicated--too complicated for TurboTax. I know that taxes are something that I am incapable of doing on my own. I am not good with forms and numbers--and the whole things stresses me out to the point of nervous breakdown.

But...I just don't trust anyone to do this for me. Even paying a professional...I just don't think they care enough to do it right. Maybe that's ridiculous, but that's how I feel. If I knew how to do it, I would be much more comfortable doing it myself. But I don't know how. I will never know how.

I think I've just lost my faith in humanity. I trust my family because I know that they care enough about me to legitimately help. Everyone else, I'm just not sure.

Where cussing can get you, if it doesn't get you fired....

The last few days have been pretty awful. I had jury duty. My computer crashed. I started a new (temp) job that I don't particularly like. I lost a friendship that meant a lot to me. Dealing with each one of these things in turn has been a complicated multi-step process that more often than not has been met with failure and frustration. I know it's going to get better soon. In the meantime, I've been trying to find good in every day. Here's a few things that I've come up:

1. Meeting Janelle for lunch on Tuesday
2. Not having to be homeless and sleep outside in a sleeping bag in the rain
3. My bus driver who decided to announce every insignificant location that we went by: "Ballard: Fred Meyer, Trader Joe's, LA fitness, Jack-in-the-Box..." Made me smile.
4. Going back to WSHA and having everyone be excited to see me
5. Accidentally overhearing a bathroom conversation about me, which included comments like "She's really sharp. Apparently everyone loves her."
6. Talking to my mom
7. Not being in Haiti right now. Wow, when I compare my problems to that, they seem so insignificant.

So, to top off my lovely week, I got a letter from unemployment security with questions about my "self-employment" (meaning the 2 or so hours of contract data entry that I was honest and noted when I filed my weekly claim.) They barely gave me any time to send it in before they were going to come after me for "overpayment" so I realized today that it would be necessary to call them today because the form was due today, but it confused me so I hadn't sent it in.

Anyway, calling them is a NIGHTMARE and you usually end up on hold for 30 minutes to an hour. Well I called on my lunch break and their call volume was so high that the recording would just apologize, tell me to call back later, and hang up on me--wouldn't even put me on hold. Called back a few times, tried dialing 0, but still couldn't get through. This is completely unacceptable. I actually have a job this week (which is what you WANT, right unemployment?) so I can't spend all day calling them.

Then I remembered this magazine article that I read once about how to get ahold of a live person. One way is to mention a compenetitor's name while you're on hold because apparently many companies record you and will get to your call sooner if they think they'll lose your business. Another way to get their attention is to start cussing. Option one didn't apply. Option two would be hard to get away with in a professional office. But another option was to just start pressing buttons to confuse the system into thinking you're dialing from a rotary phone. So I called them back and at the first menu, I started pressing as many buttons as possible. I got some garbled dialogue out of the recording and then bingo! IT PUT ME ON HOLD! Woo! And then about 5-10 minutes later, I GOT A LIVE PERSON! I BEAT THE SYSTEM!