Dear Jo

Last year, I posted an emotional tribute to Harry Potter on his birthday. This year, I'm paying tribute to his creator.

Dear Jo,
How do I start? In a way, it was easier to write to Harry- the name synonymous with yours- last year, on the birthday you share.

He's thirty-five now. The world's only known him for eighteen years. But you were the one who created him, him and his friends and his world. You created, twenty-five years ago, Harry Potter and Hogwarts. And when you showed your creation to the world- we loved it.

We followed Harry's story. We felt as if we were part of his world. We watched as he saved the Philosopher's Stone, as he fought the basilisk, as he resisted Dementors. We were there as he fought through the Triwizard Tournament and witnessed Voldemort's return, as he started Dumbledore's Army and broke into the Department of Mysteries with his amazing friends. We looked on as he tried to find the Half-Blood Prince, as he searched for Horcruxes, as he finally sacrificed himself.

We cheered as he played Quidditch. We laughed at his sarcastic comments and all the fun times. We growled at Malfoy. We cried with him as Cedric, then Sirius, and Dumbledore died. We wept when Hedwig, Mad-Eye, Dobby, Fred, Remus, Tonks, Snape, and dozens of others perished. We rooted for him as he battled through all the obstacles you put in his path and emerged, battered emotionally and physically, but triumphant.

We have a lot to thank you for. We're not a kingdom, you see. We're a fandom. And you're the queen.
Happy 50th birthday, Jo. You're amazing.
-Purple Dragonfly

Amazing What They Do With Corrugated Cardboard

Who is your favourite pair of characters?

Tweedledum and Tweedledee from Through the Looking Glass? Fred and George from Harry Potter? Asterix and Obelix? Laurel and Hardy? Hiccup and Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon? Kristoff and Sven from Frozen? John and Phillipa from Children of the Lamp? Hallie and Annie from Parent Trap? Jo and Laurie from Little Women?

I love all these guys. But my favourite?
Guess.

Keep guessing.
Want a clue?

One's an animal. One's a human.
No. Not Mowgli and Baloo from The Jungle Book (ooh, love those guys too).
Still didn't get it?
Okay, maybe THIS will help.


CALVIN AND HOBBES!!!!

I have been reading Calvin and Hobbes for so long I can't even remember when I started.

Calvin and Hobbes say and do such awesome things. I mean, look at this one.

Brilliance. I wish I had the guts to write that on a test.

During those just-before-lunch classes, when physics equations are deep-frying my brain like a mirchi bajji, and my stomach is playing a Sivamani and Zakir Hussain jugalbandi, and visions of my favourite foods float in front of my eyes, I can totally relate to this strip:

Ha. Calvin, you're only six. Wait till you get to my age. Then you'll see. And, judging by darkly uttered accounts from trusted sources, it only gets worse. *sigh*

Calvin and Hobbes are funny for various reasons.
Calvin thinks he's above everyone else, an unrecognized genius, and so a lot of the justification he gives for his stupid actions is based on that, which is absolutely ridiculous and very funny. Take a look at this one.

Yeah, why can't the world change to suit us?

And then of course there's his astonishingly advanced vocabulary.

I don't know what that title even means

Honestly speaking, my consistently good grades in the vocab section of my writing tasks is largely due to my love of Calvin and Hobbes.

The way Calvin and Hobbes look at the world is kind of...different from the way most people do. Which is a bit of an understatement.
One thing I want to do, with someone who won't get bored by it, is play CALVINBALL. The coolest, most mysterious sport in the world. Most mysterious, that is because only Calvin and Hobbes know how to play it. Heck, even Bill Watterson doesn't know the rules.
Playing Calvinball is probably one of the most realistic things on my list of "Things I Want To Do Because Fictional Characters Have Done It".



Calvinball, in my opinion, is truly intriguing. What's a bonus box? Where's the Song Zone? What sort of a scoring system involves Qs with numbers? Why yell Olly-wolly polliwoggy ump-bump fizz?
Of course, since "you can't play it the same way twice", we can make up whatever we want and play it. This. Totally. Rocks.

Okay, I can fangirl for ages over Calvinball, but let me move on...
Who are the inhabitants of the strip's world?
Other than Calvin and Hobbes, there are only four people I consider important to the strip...
Calvin's parents...

Must be hard, raising a kid like Calvin...

Calvin drives them totally crazy...as is evident, just by reading this one strip.

Now meet Susie, Calvin's neighbour and classmate.

And quite often, she gets the better of him, making him pretty mad.

The fourth person is Calvin's babysitter Rosalyn, whom he hates and fears:


And for good reason...


Because she's the only one who can scare Calvin and actually make him listen. Look at how she threatens him! Reading a strip involving a Calvin-versus-Rosalyn fight gives me about as much pleasure as watching the Avengers beating up Loki in 3D.

I can actually become lyrical about Calvin and Hobbes, which is boring and weird to people who are not such ardent fans. So, let me end with a few of my favourite C&H strips:







   
And to close, a strip that sums up the spirit of Calvin and Hobbes...


There's treasure everywhere.

10 Ways You Know You're A Bookworm

When I checked into Goodreads, I saw a link that said, "Sound Familiar, Bookworms?", followed by the caption "21 Ways You Know You're a Goodreads Member."
The link turned out to be a member-generated Goodreads post listing 21 things a Goodreads member does.

I thought, "Huh, okay. Why not?"
Then I remembered assorted posts I saw on Pinterest: "You Know You're A Harry Potter Fan When..." "You Know You're a Hunger Games Fan When..." and stuff like that.
And then I thought, "Why not make my own?"
Therefore this post.

 You know you're a bookworm when...

1)...you can quote verbatim entire passages from your favourite books

2)...when you meet someone new, and during your first conversation, they mention that they like one of your favourite books, you feel you've met a kindred soul (and if they say they hate it, you think, "I now have no interest in furthering this acquaintanceship")

3)...you can argue for hours about a book or a character ("I feel sorry for Draco Malfoy. I like him." "He's such a bully! Remember 'Weasley is our King'? That's so spiteful!" "He's insecure." "Right, which is why he struts around, all like, 'MY FATHER WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS'.")

4)...you randomly make references in your conversations

5)...you light up like a row of diyas on Diwali when someone understands and appreciates a fictional reference you've made ("YESSSSSS! You understand me!"or, as Tony Stark would say:
)

6)...your to-do-someday list includes drinking blue Coke, or having Butterbeer, or something that only people in books do ("Can we buy blue food colouring? I want to put some in a glass of Coke.")

7)...your family or friends have to yell in your ear or snatch away your book if they're trying to get your attention while you're reading

8)...you don't notice hunger or thirst or time when you're reading ("You haven't eaten for seven hours." "Hmm? Oh, no, I'm not hungry. Look, I'm in the middle of a battle scene, so...")

9)...when your parents or some other adult ask you to sort out books, you eagerly agree and once you start, refuse to take a break until you're done (unless you discover a much-loved book you haven't read in ages and decide to reread it, right there in the middle of the floor)

10)...when you finish a really good book, you talk so much about it, your family seriously considers locking you up and throwing away the key

Aaaaaaaaaand