::waves hello::

[hebridean_black_dragn]

Hi, everyone!

I was surprised (and pleased) to find this invitation in my inbox this
morning. I haven't been doing much HP theorizing lately, mostly
because I've found I can't keep up with the main list, so I stopped
trying. ::grin:: I do a bit on LiveJournal, though (mostly via
daily_snitch), and having some discussion here sounds great, too. 

Here's my intro:


***Name:
Wendy

***Nicknames/IDs:
Hebridean Black, Professor MacFusty, reginadibastoni (this is the YM
ID I use, but am hardly ever logged on), and most recently Here Be Dragons

***Age:
38

***Family:
Separated from my husband (but living in the same house), and mother
to a rather adorable (if I do say so myself ::grin::)
five-and-three-quarters-year-old son.

***Home
Currently, the Bay Area of California (San Ramon, in the East Bay, to
be more specific)

***Birthday, Place of Birth:
1 August, 1966; Los Angeles, California

***Education/Job/Role in Life etc:
Am currently a stay-at-home-mum, but plan to go back to school
sometime soon (probably next year). I have lots of credits, but no
degree as of yet, and I'd really like to finish it. Other than that,
I've worked mostly in bookstores and administrative assistant type
jobs. I know I don't want to go back to admin stuff, but I might
decide to do something with books in the future. Or one of the
sciences. I particularly enjoy physics.

***Other things we might want to know about you:
I like birding (and watching other wildlife), I read a lot (if you'd
like to see a list and reviews of the 80+ books I've read so far this
year, check out my LiveJournal), I sing for the Oakland Symphony
Chorus (soprano), and I'm on the board of directors, as well. Erm, my
best HP/British claim-to-fame is that I used to live in Scotland. Oh,
and that I've met Alan Rickman and Jason Isaacs (in fact, I met Isaacs
just a few weeks ago, and he was lovely, as was Rickman when I met him
a couple of years ago), and I once saw JKR shopping at John Lewis.
Can't think of anything else right now.

***First contact with Harry Potter:
Bought the first book because I have a step-son and nephews in the
right age-range for it. I didn't read it right away (but within a few
years of when it came out). I didn't read the others until early 2001,
though, and I didn't discover the fandom until after the first film
came out.

***Favourite Potter things (books, characters, ships, fics, objets
d'Art, general enthusing):
I have lots of favourite characters, but especially Lupin and Snape.
PoA is not only my favourite HP book, but one of my favourite books of
all time, and I would LOVE to have my memory of it obliviated so I
could read it again for the "first" time. My favourite (canon) ships
are: Lupin/Black, Crouch Sr./Winky. 

***Extent of Potter obsession:
Well, I was seriously obssessed there for a while, but that seems to
have passed. Now, I mostly have a bit of discussion now and again, and
I do have a fairly large collection of HP stuff (although I'm thinking
about culling some things out of the collection, when I can get my act
together on eBay). The biggest thing I'm doing right now is my
involvement in an HP RPG on LJ, which is LOTS of fun, but also takes a
surprisingly large amount of time. (The journal is hpfromtheashes if
anyone is interested in following it, or in playing - there are still
plenty of characters available). I'm also on the planning team for the
Lumos symposium scheduled for 2006.

***Other interests/activities:
Like I said above, reading, birding and music. I also like to do stuff
with my son - we go to planetariums and aquariums and places like that
fairly frequently. We went whale-watching together earlier this week.
I also sew and do other artsy sort of things (like working in stained
glass), and I enjoy a bit of gardening, particularly growing lavenders
(although I haven't been very attentive to them this summer;
fortunately, they don't really need much care in this climate).

***Current/recent reading:
About to start "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.

***Current/recent listening:
Gipsy Kings, Loreena McKennett, Beethoven "Missa Solemnis" (as my
chorus sang it a few months ago). J.S. Bach is my all-time favourite,
so I listen to him regularly, as well. Getting ready to sing
Rackmaninoff's "Vespers," and the Bernstein "Mass," so I'll be hearing
quite a bit of them in the future. 

***Current/recent viewing:
Don't watch much TV; I loved the PoA film, and Shrek 2. And I watch a
fair number of Disney videos, Dragontales, and that sort of thing, for
obvious reasons. ::grin::


Anyhow, I'm glad to be here, and I look forward to chatting with all
of you in the future!

:-)
Wendy

http://here_be_dragons.livejournal.com
Commit random acts of literacy! See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/herebedragons