Photography at the Philadephia Zoo

Yesterday, I went to the Philadelphia Zoo with my family and a few friends. It was a long drive, but we got there. It was great fun!

The first thing we had done when we arrived was get on the zoo's Channel 6 Zooballoon. The wait was around 50 minutes due to the long line, but it was completely worth the wait. The air balloon brought us up 400 feet in the air. I was able to see the Comcast building and the rest of the zoo from high up, as well as snap a photo...or five. My dad was also able to take a picture of the balloon going up before we entered the line.

Before the ride.

What we could see from the balloon!

My brother, sister and I in the balloon. Don't mind my lack of hair; it was hot in the line and I pulled it up in my cap.

Next, we saw many types of animals; reptiles, amphibians, mammals. Everything you can imagine! I went horse-back riding and had a photo-taking spree as well.

My brother and I on a horse. This photo wasn't taken by me, but by my dad.

I was able to see a cheetah up close, and even take a picture! It was tamed and roaming around its zoo habitat. I found it to be very exciting, because I've read about them in magazines and books.

I was able to snap the picture just as it was raising its paw!

I took a picture of something not as exciting, but much cuter and adorable! They had a small rabbit exhibit set up that I couldn't help but woo over. :)

A rabbit eating its food.

A group of rabbits sleeping together. Awwww!

There is one picture I can't help but post. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, we read and watch a green python escape from Harry and Dudley's local zoo. In the reptiles and amphibians exhibit, I was able to take a picture (not too sharp, but pretty decent nonetheless) of the same species of snake curled around a branch!

After going sight-seeing, we took our last stop as the gift shop, where I bought a post card for 69 cents. Just if you wanted to know.

-Dominique

More Pottermore

This week, I've been lying in front of my computer, my phone next to me and curled up on a bed, reading a book. My phone would make an email notification. I'd get up and scramble to my inbox like it was the end of the world. You know what that means! Pottermore beta is starting!

The acceptance letters welcome emails for Pottermore are being released now, every day, and are sent randomly. (Read in one of my last posts about Pottermore if you don't understand what I'm rambling on about.) This frustrates me because in the Terms and Conditions (Pottermore was the only time I actually read the terms and conditions; true fact) that the welcome emails were on a first-come first-serve basis, yet I created an account on Day 2 of the Magical Quill Challenge and there are people from Day 7 already Sorted and earning House points.

I really want to get into Pottermore already. I've been longing for the day I'd receive my acceptance letter, go to Diagon Alley, buy an owl, head to Hogwarts, get Sorted and learn a thing or two. Since the welcome emails are being sent to random beta members throughout these next seven weeks, I'll just need some luck to get in today or this week.

To get Pottermore off my mind, I'm finishing up the first series of the 39 Clues. I have just finished the eighth book, The Emperor's Code, and moved onto Storm Warning. It hasn't been a full day yet and I've already finished more than half of the book. Another thing that gets Pottermore off my mind is that I have a sleepover with a best friend on Friday, which is wonderful, because I've only had one other sleepover with her before.

Well, I'm going to go back to my reading and inbox-stalking. Goodbye for now. :)

-Dominique

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Reaction

From this (age 4)

I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 on July 19th last month and never got to write about it until today because I was busy trying to find the picture I took after we finished watching. Now that I've found it, I'm going to post about my reaction.

***SPOILERS***

This movie was incredibly powerful to me, because I've been watching the movies since I was around two years old, read the books at age eight as well as throwing a movie premiere party each year starting then with my friends (see picture below), and I was devastated when the movie had ended.

I did have lots of fun though. The movie was great, especially with that touch of comedy. I couldn't help but weep during The Prince's Tale (title of the chapter with Snape's memories of Lily and such) and when Snape had been attacked by Nagini and slowly faded towards death. Let's take all of the awards and give them to Alan Rickman and re-name the Oscars the Alans. His acting was truly, truly astonishing! Benedict Clarke was great as well! "She's jealous. Because she's normal, and you're special." He portrayed young Severus so well.

Fred's death. That was perfect. It was short and devastating. I do wish it went as it did in the book for that, too, though. Lupin and Tonks' death, too, was short and sad as well.

to this (age 11)

My friends couldn't help but woo over the Ron and Hermione kiss, as well as the Ginny and Harry one. It was sweet. Sort of a "love-of-your-life" kind of moment, because it's a dark time and you know that you're probably going to die by the end of the day. I do wish they used the script directly from the book for Ron and Hermione's kiss, though, because that was sweet and humorous. 

Evanna Lynch is an amazing actress. I loved the lines "Harry Potter, you listen to me right now!" and "I'm going to go have some pudding." Luna Lovegood had such a minor part in part two. I would have liked to have seen more of her, but her appearances in the movie were perfect. I also liked the chemistry between Neville and Luna. Though Neville ends up marrying Hannah Abbott and Luna to Rolf Scamander in the books, I still ship Neville and Luna together.

When Harry is with Dumbledore, that was innocent and pure. Honestly, I couldn't have imagined it better. "Of course it's in your head, Harry, but it doesn't mean it can't be real." 

When Harry woke up, Narcissa Malfoy's dialogue was wonderful! My friends and I were saying, "Go Mrs. Malfoy!" Some people don't seem to understand or realize that she's only evil because of her husband, Lucius, whom she stands by no matter what the consequence. She's a Death Eater because he's a Death Eater. 

Neville's speech was amazing. Amazing. He started winning five points for Gryffindor because he stood up to his friends to slicing a snake's head clean off its neck. 

I couldn't stop smiling when Harry jumped up to defend Neville and everyone else at Hogwarts once Draco crossed sides (I feel bad for him, I hate when people think of him as a "bad guy"! It's like, he's not! Get your facts straight!) to join his parents.

The epilogue. Bawled. Straight-out bawled. Also, Albus Severus, I DON'T RECALL FERRETS BEING ON THE LIST OF PETS AT HOGWARTS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. The ending was beautiful none-the-less. The kids in the compartment, like a next-generation trio. 

We were weeping when we left the theater. We took a few pictures (my favorite one listed above) and headed home. I was very depressed, but hey! My Pottermore welcome e-mail is coming soon. It's taken quite a while, so I suspect Errol is behind it. ;)

-Dominique

Waiting for Pottermore

If you don't know, Pottermore is a site that was announced on June 23 this year at around 6am that J.K. Rowling released where you can have your own virtual experience in Hogwarts. You find different pieces of information that weren't in the Harry Potter books that J.K. had been hoarding for quite a few years. That day it was also announced you could learn how to preregister on July 31. On July 31, it was released that you were to hunt for a Magical Quill, which you can learn about here. To find the Magical Quill, this whole week (beginning July 31 and ending August 6) there will be clues that will show up on the front page of Pottermore that will guide you to the Magical Quill once you answer it. On Day 1, the clue will be about the first book. Day 2 will be about the second book. Day 3 will be about the third book, so on and so forth. Clues one to three are the hardest ones and day four to seven are easier. The clues in my time-zone (EST) were released, the first being 4am and second being 5am.

The first two days, I completely missed it due to sleeping in or my alarm not waking me up. Today for the third clue, I managed to get to it. The clue was released at 6am. The clue was "In the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match, in Harry's third year, how many points was Gryffindor leading by before Harry catches the Golden Snitch? Multiply this number by 35." The answer I had resolved was 2,100, which was correct. The answer led me to an archive about the release of Pottermore. Soon I noticed the ad to the right side-bar of the archive wasn't just a plain Google ad; it was an ad that led me to the Magical Quill! I was told to "levitate" the Quill by moving my cursor rapidly underneath it, which I did and found the Quill easily. I registered. I also repeated the process and created an account for my sister, Alexis, who had went to bed.

Once I finished, I verified my Pottermore account and logged in. I noticed a note in the middle of the page. It had told me that I gained early access! I'm so excited for it. I'm nervous for the Sorting, though, because I've always been considered a Gryffindor or a Ravenclaw (Ravenclaw, mostly; I want to get into it more). I don't mind Hufflepuff, though, because I've been called it once, but if I get into Slytherin, I'll be most surprised.

My Pottermore username is CharmWillow118 if you were wondering. Sorry for the lack of blog posts, I've been quite addicted to a different site called Tumblr, which I find quite fun and interesting. If I'm not blogging here, I'm usually found there. Click here for my profile. I have posted a few screen caps from when I registered on Pottermore there, as well as photography and other funny things usually Potter-related.