What would have been different in your life if you never read Harry Potter?

[Caius Marcius]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" 
<dumbledore11214 at ...> wrote:
>
> I wanted to post this on Main, but realised just in time that this 
> could go quite off topic, so here we go.
> 
> What would have been different in your life had Harry Potter books 
> never existed? It does not have to be anything monumental, I mean 
> these ARE just books, but any change will do.

I suppose the biggest things for me is that it unlocked my creativity 
in writing song parodies.  I'd written these parodies intermittently 
over the years on various matters, but never in a focused and 
sustained manner until HP.  I had never even heard the word "filk" 
until I starting posting my parodies on the main list. 

It also forced me to learn HTML - or the rudiments therof, at least - 
so I could have a website to display my filks.  My site first went up 
in August 2001, and of course, I've enjoyed much correspondence over 
the years with the 250 or so contributors, as well as inumerable HP 
fans.  And I had a great time meeting some of my fellow filkers at 
fancons in Orlando and Vegas (even had my name and pic in the Orlando 
paper!).

Now, if I could only get HMS Dumbledore staged.....! 

    - CMC

HARRY POTTER FILKS
http://home.att.net/~coriolan/hpfilks.htm