Yet another intro

[Anita Hillin]

I extend my Hello from scenic Lake Michigan, writing at 2:45 a.m. (don't ask).  I was pleased to get the invitation, although I presumed it was because I had posted my age at Yahoo.  However, I've decided not to take "old" at face value.

***Name:
Anita (now, there's a shock!)

***Nicknames/IDs:
akh, AnitaKH, akhillin.  Apart from my appalling lack of imagination when it comes to nicknames, I've never had one that stuck, so why fight destiny?

***Age:
50. Hence the comment above.

***Family:
Single, although I've been in a relationship for 11 years.  Bob collects the HP books, but he hasn't actually read them, so I turn to you good people for my HP discussion.

***Home
Chicago, IL.  I actually live in the city, in Rogers Park, if any of you know Chicago.


***Birthday, Place of Birth:
January 14, Wichita, KS.  I moved to Chicago to go to graduate school, and I never left.

***Education/Job/Role in Life etc:
I'm currently at leisure, but that will have to end soon, unless I choose destitution as my next life experience.  I am a fund-raiser by profession, having worked in higher education for 20 years, either in Development or Alumni Relations.  Looking for a bit of a change now.

***First contact with Harry Potter
I was taking a business flight to California in 2001, just as the first movie had been released.  I had forgotten my magazine, so I stopped in an O'Hare bookstore.  They were packed with paperbacks of "Sorcerer's Stone," and I had been meaning to read it, so I picked it up and read it on that trip.  Of course, my next three business trips featured Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire, the latter in hardcover.  I haven't looked back since.
 

***Favourite Potter things (books, characters, ships, fics, objets d'Art, general enthusing):
I seem to have begun collecting the books, since I now have both the American and the British editions of all five books.  I also bought the collector's editions of SS and COS for Bob.  

My favorite book of the five published is "Prisoner of Azkaban," although my feeling about this is that my least favorite HP book ranks well above much of what I've read, and that's fairly extensive, given I have a minor in English.  I thoroughly enjoy the movies; I'm one of those who appreciates the differences as well as the similarities to the books.  There you go.

***Extent of Potter obsession:
Bob decided I was completely obsessed when I pre-ordered both the British and American versions of OOTP.  I had already ordered the Bloomsbury edition, but once I heard I could get the Scholastic edition delivered on June 21, of course I had to order it.  I then proceeded to read it in one sitting.  I have every intention to do the same thing with HBP.  

***Other interests/activities:
I am an actress by training, so I'm very interested in the arts.  I do shows occasionally, but since I hate auditioning, it limits my roles.  I sing in a church choir and serve on various committees.

***Current/recent reading:
I make an annual pilgrimage to the land of Jane Austen (and work very hard to incorporate Jane into my posts).  I've been on a recent non-fiction kick, reading "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" and I'm getting ready to tackle the new Alexander Hamilton biography.

***Current/recent listening:
Usually, I'm an NPR junkie, but I have little patience for any political convention coverage, and I'm not a Republican, so I've been avoiding them this week.  When NPR is not running conventions or fund drives (that was also this week; what a combination!), I try to catch "This American Life" and "Fresh Air."

***Current/recent viewing:

Taking the summer off confirmed my suspicion that daytime television is skimpy.  Therefore, I've become a big fan of "SpongeBob SquarePants," which is on three times a day.  Woohoo!!  I feel like I've been to a lot of movies this summer, but then I realized I've just seen the same three or four movies several times.  Not sure how that happened...


akh, who's impressed you made it this far, if you're reading this!




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