I was the biggest bookworm when I was a kid, so much that my mom would worry I’d just buy books and nothing else (that, for sure, has changed- and maybe she even regrets that statement haha.) Chapters was my safe haven and I feel quite happy that I have attended a few of their media events now. In November, I went to a preview at Chapters to check out their holiday collection. There was also a contest where you fill out items (a style item, home item, tech item, baby item, and a book item) on a list and they draw out a winner who will win everything..and dun dun dun, I was the winner! I rarely win anything on such a big scale, thank you go the book gods!! Best surprise Christmas present ever!!
Watching the Cripple of Inishmaan and want to meet Daniel Radcliffe? Find out how.
So as many of you blog readers may know, I am a die hard Harry Potter fan. (Sorry for the lack of my regular blogging, but many beauty posts will be coming soon!) And on June 12th, 2013, I made my 12 year dream come true- I got a picture with Daniel Radcliffe.
If there’s any event in my area that is Harry Potter related, I’ll be there. Midnight screening of them movies? Check. Cosplay convention? Check. This month, I had the opportunity to travel to London and I got to visit some filming locations of the Harry Potter movies- including the coveted Warner Brothers Studio Tour at Leavesden- a Harry Potter fan dream. However, my ultimate goal since I was 11 was to meet the one and only Daniel Radcliffe.
Prior to going to London, I already knew he was going to do a play in London, and I knew this was my only shot in meeting him. His play is “The Cripple of Inishmaan” and I highly recommend it, not only to Harry Potter fans, because it shows a lot of depth of what Daniel Radcliffe can do, but it is also an entertaining play. I found the stage door where the stage actors exited. After the play, I had the best five seconds of my life- getting Daniel Radcliffe’s autograph and getting a picture with him.
So, I pretty much travelled halfway across the world to accomplish one thing I ever wanted to do the most, and it happened. Number 1 item on my bucket list? DONE! Daniel Radcliffe went back inside after ten minutes, and lots of people didn’t get either. I was so worried for disappointment, and I think for any Harry Potter fan, that feeling is terrible. Hence, I am writing this blog post.
For all those fans travelling to see him, here’s my steps on how to meet him.
1) Find the stage door. The play is held at the Noel Coward Theatre. If you are outside facing the theatre, turn to the left and there is a small alleyway near pubs. Keep walking and when you reach the end of the theatre, turn right and on the right, you will see a door that says STAGE DOOR.
I scouted out this route couple days prior to the play to get ready.
2) Book it out the theatre as fast as you can after the play, AND WAIT THERE. There is most likely going to be barriers set up, so try to stand close to it as possible so you can hand Daniel Radcliffe the play program, which costed 4 pounds (or whatever for him to sign.) Also, some people are out there before the play ends- I’m not sure if they left the play early, or they just lined up without watching the play. Those people who lined up earlier were carrying Harry Potter related objects, so I think they just waited outside without watching the play.
I sat at seat A27 at the Royal Circle – which is kind of like the front row of the second floor balcony area. It costed 59.50 pounds. Although you’re not 10 feet in front of the stage, the view is excellent, and it is close to the entrance of the theater, so it was easy for me to make a quick getaway right after the play ended.
3) Get a sharpie, cap off, ready for him to scribble his signature.
4) Be patient. The play ended around 9:30, and I rushed to the stage door ASAP, and waited for around 40 minutes for him to come out. There will be a huge crowd.
5) When he comes, STICK YOUR ARM and WAVE ABOUT and hope he will see you. He really does try to address every fan and sign whatever is handed to him, but please respect him!
6) While he is signing, ask if you can take a quick picture with him- which is what I did. And the golden moment came when he leaned close to me while I was holding my iphone up and I got a selfie. And that was the best 5 seconds ever. I thanked him and he said you’re welcome. Afterwards, there was a lot of jumping coming from me.
7)It was hard for me to wedge out of the crowd since I was sandwiched between people who were a feet taller than me (I’m 5″1 sooooo…) but I realized… if you are holding a sharpie without a cap, PEOPLE GET SCARED..I am not joking.
So this is my experience…
After the play I ran for my life to the stage door. There were around 10-15 people waiting, so I thought I was luck as the guards were putting up barriers and I was right by the barrier, although it was a bit far from the stage door. However, we were told that we had to move to the middle..and I was like omg… because I ended up behind three guys who were probably 5″11- 6 feet tall and I was probably near invisible if Daniel Radcliffe came out of the door right then.
However, this was a life-or-death moment for me and once I want something, I will fight for it.
The moment he stepped out, my body was in FIGHT OR FLIGHT mode, and I found a little hole between two of the guys and stuck my arm out. I was wearing a super bright yellow jacket (not sure if that worked in my favour,) but I saw Daniel taking my play program and my sharpie and was signing it. I didn’t know what happened all of a sudden, but I managed to squeeze myself between these two huge men and thanked Daniel Radcliffe (thank goodness I didn’t cry) and I asked if he could take a picture with me, while I held my phone up. It is vital to be quick and multi task since it is extremely crowded. He leaned in to me and I *snapped* a picture and I almost died of happiness.
Horrible picture of me, but my expression says it all.
Right after, it was getting so crazy, I had to get out before I get ran over, so I tried to escape the crowd by crouching underneath people’s armpits. However, people are very very unwilling to move. I am tiny so force was useless. However, an uncapped sharpie pen, is quite threatening, because people like their clothes. Some people started to sort of move around me and I eventually near-crawled my way out and ran to my friends, and screaming my head off. He also went back inside after ten minutes, and I felt so lucky to be able to get an autograph and a selfie with the guy I’ve been pasting on my walls since I was 11 years old.
Click youtube clip- since I recorded the scene after I got my picture:
Needless to say, I am extremely happy and proud of myself. Honestly, I had that 1% of thinking that he may not take a picture with me or may not see me. I think I’ve been blabbering about how much I love Harry Potter/Daniel Radcliffe since I was a kid and people either
a)thought I was crazy/creepy/obsessed
b)completely agreed with me
Most people went with Option A and I don’t blame them. As I am in my young adulthood stage, most people may have grown out of that Harry Potter phase, but for me, nope. Deep down, I wonder if people thought I was being very, very unrealistically hopeful and that I will probably never take a picture with him or meet him or whatever. This may seem kind of childish/immature to be so happy over something like this, but I’ve been having this Harry Potter passion fueling inside me over a decade, and I think as long as you go with what you believe in, things will come your way.
Just like Emma Watson’s acceptance speech for the Trailblazer award at the MTV Movie awards, she said ” If you truly put your heart into what you believe in, even if it makes you vulnerable, amazing things can and will happen.” And for once, an amazing thing happened to me, because I really did believe one day I will be able to meet the boy who played my favourite character of all time. I hope all you Harry Potter fans will fulfill your Harry Potter dreams too. :’)
So, thank you Daniel Radcliffe, for those five seconds of your precious time.
DIY Robe: Luna Lovegood Costume
Taking a break from constantly blogging about makeup or food or whatnot, I was going through old pictures from my computer and found my folder of pictures I took while I was lining up for the midnight (for 12 hours) showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. As some of you may know, I’m a diehard Harry Potter fan, and one of the items on my bucket list is to meet Daniel Radcliffe, despite whatever age I am, I’m still true to Harry, hence the word “wand” in my website title.
I’ve always prided on my semi-creativity to make something out of scratch, and I was determined to construct a Luna Lovegood costume for the midnight showing.
To make the Ravenclaw robe, I used instructions from this site here. I bought the cheapest blue and black fabric I could find, since I was on a budget, and I paid approximately $10 for fabric. I didn’t have a sewing machine at the time, so everything was (messily) handsewn. Of course, I didn’t want to just make a robe, I wanted to go all out.
Underneath my robe, is the school uniform. I wore a plain white dress shirt, grey vest, a grey skort, and a Ravenclaw tie. I didn’t want to buy one, so I bought a blue tie from a dollar store, and painted bronze stripes over it!
I also made felt raddish earrings. I got the pattern from a felt strawberry sewing pattern, and modified it a bit to make it look like a raddish. I also made Luna’s spectrospecs by printing the pattern offline, colouring them in, and pasted them over my own glasses! It’s very hard to cosplay in glasses, but I’m glad Luna’s costume made it work. Embarrassingly, I also borrowed my friend’s Hannah Montana wig so I would even pull off Luna’s golden hair.
Lastly, Luna is not complete without reading her Quibbler turned upside down! I took a magazine, and just painted the front page with a teal colour and drew the rest out with a sharpie- mimicking from an image I found on google.
Here’s the overall look! Unfortunately, I do not have big eyes like Luna, and I was squinting at the Quibbler paper because it was very sunny that day.
It was extremely fun making this costume from head to toe! I wish I had a chance to wear it again 🙁 With no more movies, I can only cherish my handmade stuff from my bedroom!
Do you handsew stuff? Are you a Harry Potter fan? Let me know! 🙂
LIFE THOUGHTS: Identifying me via Pottermore
So, for all those who are out of the magical wizarding network, J.K. Rowling had created an interactive site for fans to explore and live her books virtually- Pottermore.
Along the way, you can read more about the characters, such as Professor McGonagall and the Dursleys. You also get to collect stuff along the way, such as galleons and books, trading cards, and potion ingredients.
To some, this was a elevated level of Harry Potter experience for the fandoms. Especially nerds like me.
I was lucky enough to get beta access of Pottermore last summer. To get beta access, there would be a clue released at a certain hour of the day, once a day, for one week. You have to find a “magical quill” which would lead to a question, and once you find the answer, you get access to the beta site.
The initial clues came at the worst times for me (and all those living in Canada, not UK) an d I tried to stay up till 4 am and missed it. I was frustrated so one day I pulled myself out of bed at 6 am, found the magical quill and I was one of the million lucky users around the world to try Pottermore early. I was so excited.But I was only confirmed I would be let into the site early compared to the public, but I couldn’t actually explore the site yet.
Four weeks later I got an email saying I can finally enter the site.
With my beta account, I was most excited about two things: Getting my wand and getting sorted. I loved my wand; it was made of Alderwood, Phoenix Feather core, 11 inches, and slightly spring. Harry’s wand had phoenix feather! It’s the rarest core types!
Then came the sorting and everything went downhill. I was sorted into Hufflepuff and I was at a loss, because I don’t think I should belong in Hufflepuff! I definitely have a “evil” side to me that is not suited for Hufflepuffs! One of my friends kept convincing me I was a Hufflepuff, but I knew it couldn’t be right. After a couple weeks, I had ditched the site because I found it boring, and the wizard dueling wasn’t working.
Fast forward to April 2012.
Pottermore was finally open to all public (it should have been since last October. All my other friends who didn’t have beta accounts started making accounts and we all wanted to duel, so I decided that I would make another account to reconfirm my true status of which house I belonged to. If I was a Hufflepuff again, I’ll take it loud and proud.
So I made a new account…and I was sorted into…
Gryffindor.
And thus I came across several revelations why I am so suited to be a Gryffindor. I realized, when I took the quiz for the first time , I chose answers that the “good” side of me would want to be- I don’t want to spoil too much, but basically I picked answers how I rather be liked and how I want to make love potions and all that sugar and sweetness. But that’s not actually me. It’s what I hoped I wanted to be, if that made sense. However, because I prefer other qualities, what I hope to be me is not what I hope yet.
When I was doing the test again, and I had some new questions in the quiz about the sorting, I also had some same questions the first time I got sorted. I realized I didn’t want to be liked, if I had a choice to be other things. I wanted to be envied. And I didn’t want to admit that to myself, but honestly, I do. I’m sick of being the Ron Weasley next to all the Harry Potters of the world. I’m exhausted being the Blair Waldorf next to Serena Van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl.
I wanted to make a potion for glory, not love or wisdom or power. I felt like I was getting more and more vain when I was thinking about my answers when doing the sorting quiz, but I had to admit the worst of me. And after the whole quiz, I was a Gryffindor!
So I thought again, why would I be a Gryffindor? As much as I crave for the spark of attention like Harry Potter draws, I do not have the courage of Harry, don’t expect me to ride broomsticks 50 feet above the ground, fighting dragons, and saving the wizarding world. I don’t have the cleverness of Hermione either.
I thought back when Harry first put on the Sorting Hat during the ceremony in The Philosopher’s Stone. The sorting hat said to Harry, “…not a bad mind either…there’s talent oh yes…and a thirst to prove yourself. And I do have that thirst, though I don’t like to tell people constantly I want something to drink. I like to think of myself as a Neville Longbottom. Not the Neville who keeps getting bullied by Dracao Malfoy, or being clobbered in every academic subject. I want to be Neville who makes a huge contribution, though no one would ever expect it, like when he destroyed one of the horcruxes. This is probably insane writing about this stuff, but since it’s my blog, I’m allowed a couple of personal posts.
I really think I learned more about myself after the sorting hat in Pottermore. Silly? Probably. But J.K. Rowling, has once again, manipulated my life by giving me this whole thought bubble thingy.This summer, I want to recreate, reinvent myself. Can I shine out like Neville Longbottom did, can I stop being the underdog, the sidekick, just for once? I want to bring out the real Gryffindor side of me. I didn’t get sorted into the house Harry Potter was in for nothing! Maybe this is the “dark” side of me, but everyone has one, right?
Thanks for reading if you did, this was a long post on blabber and nothing important. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, get on Pottermore, and add me; Draconismist9427.
{Sorry if I bored you readers, I promise to post some food reviews, makeup reviews, and other fun stuff this week! Stay tuned!)
Top 5 Dumbledore Quotes
Heck, my grade 12 grad yearbook quote was from Dumbledore.
5) And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.
Life is always an adventure, and it’s better to tackle it head on.
4) It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.
Whatever you do, no matter how wrong, don’t be stuck for hours thinking about it and lose yourself. There is no way to turn time around (unless you have a time turner) so we should focus on living in the present and not think of the past.
3) Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.
Dumbledore hits the spot with this quote- even though everyone knows short term pain is worse, we all do it anyway to avoid the problem. Feeling the pain gives us the ability to relieve it.
2) It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
Harry has some abilities of Voldemort, but he chooses to be brave and not join the dark side. Although my problems are much more minor than Harry- just as I am choosing to blog instead of concentrating on my studying, it shows I’m a procrastinating student. One doesn’t need to be talented in every way to find their own definition. This was my grade 12 graduation quote in my yearbook, as I had to make new choices post graduation. And sometimes I find faults in my abilities while studying in my undergrad year now, I’m still happy with my choice.
1) Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light.
This is an especially powerful quote, because sometimes I do feel like I’m stuck in the darkness, but there’s always a chance of happiness if I turn on the lights- if I find something to escape the dark.
Doesn’t matter if there are dementors following you, because there’s always happiness to fight them off.
I think Dumbledore can give life lessons better than anyone else.