New Guy Hi

[Mike]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Judy" <judy at ...> wrote:

> Haha! Yeah, you are right down the road from me.  There are a 
> couple of other Potter fans in the area, too -- maybe we can all
> get together sometime.  There's also a Great Lakes HP fan Yahoo 
> site, but the activity seems to mostly be in Grand Rapids.

Mike:
Yeah, Ive followed the Grand Rapids group vicariously through the 
Great Lakes digest. They sound like a fun group, don't they? It's 
just a little far, 400 miles roundtrip, to hook up for a meeting, 
isn't it?

I've met a few local Potterphiles through Meetup.com, mostly a bunch 
of twentysomething girls from Dearborn.


> Judy
> Of course, if we ever do meet, I'll probably regale you with
> reasons why Snape is wonderful....

Mike:
Oh, bring it on. Since I was blessed with a Y chromosome, I have 
avoided being afflicted by Snape's sultry, brooding allure that 
seemed to attract those without my genetic make-up. I'll buy Severus 
was a "gift of a character" for JKR, and that he is interesting to 
read, but I'm afraid you'll never get me to like him.

I have met a fair few Snapes. Those folks that were predisposed to 
disdain for the "jock" types, like me. Whether lacking the aptitude 
or the competitive urge mattered not, they were sure that "sports" 
were for the feeble of mind. They also can't be bothered with the 
mundane act of socializing and are sure that their superiority of 
intelligence over all things worth knowing excuses them from being 
civil to the lesser beings of this world. 

Often enough, when the veneer was peeled back, one discovered that 
these Snape-types were neither emotionally superior nor the smartest 
person in the room. At various times, I've made the effort to make 
more than a superficial acquaintenance of these types. Me being both 
a jock and somewhat of a rabble-rouser, they were frequently amazed 
that there were more than ten brain cells in my head. Discovering I 
am a Mensan just did not compute, it blew their categorical heirarchy 
to have an intelligent jock.

The Snape I know would look down his nose at me, that is if his 
vision is good enough to see that far. ;) He would have neither the 
time nor the inclination to see me as anything other than the stupid 
jock and park me into that slot without a backwards glance. 

So, have I misread our dear Severus? Or would you care to regale me 
with his "other" virtues which have eluded my attention?

Be forewarned, if you aren't already, I love to hate this guy. I get 
a visceral enjoyment out of smacking him down from my keyboard.

Mike