Magic in the Air
October 26th, 2009
So! What did you do this weekend? Because I guarantee it wasn’t what I did, no matter who you are. We … well, folks, we went to a Quidditch match — the World Cup, in fact. Yes, QUIDDITCH. The mythical Harry Potter game? Yes, THAT. It seems something like five or six years ago, some college students decided to, uh, make it a real game and now there are TWENTY ONE COLLEGES with Quidditch teams. No, I don’t know why. But you guys, it’s … well, it’s serious, it what it is, with actual scores and these big HOOPS and seekers and bludgers and I don’t even know what else.
They run around the field on brooms. Brooms that do not fly. And they also wear capes. Yes. These kids wear CAPES and they take it SUPER-SERIOUSLY and the snitch? You know that little gold ball that Harry’s supposed to chase around and catch, and if they catch it, the game’s over? Yes, the snitch is a PERSON dressed in yellow — yellow tights, in most cases, with the little ball tucked into a sock dangling from the back of their shorts like a tail. And the snitch goes running around downtown like a CRAZY PERSON before finally showing up on the field and … wait, am I rambling? It was JUST. SO. RIDICULOUS. But also kind of awesome. No, it was definitely awesome.
Behold! Kids in capes on brooms beating each other to a pulp:
Sorry, we were kind of far away, but we were still very much in the action, and oh my God, really, what the hell, can you see that they’re carrying BROOMSTICKS BETWEEN THEIR LEGS?
The frightening part is that it did not, as it would seem, appear to be made up of D&D high school rejects, but was a reasonable cross-section of overly earnest liberal arts-focused college students. Bizarre, I tell you. Oh, and if you were wondering, Middlebury won out in the finals, grabbing the snitch in the nick of time from second-place winner Emerson College’s PURPLE-CLAD CLUTCHES.
(It was very dramatic. Or rather, anti-climactic, what with the snitch-grabbing and all.)
There is one person, however, who was less than impressed:
What the fuck, yo? Isn’t there some sort of EXERSAUCER PARTY I could be at instead? Jumperoo? Anything? Help?
Also, you should know that I cut and fixed my hair MAHSELF after that photo was taken, because although I love my hairdresser, there was a minor BANG SNAFU happening there, not to mention a lack of decent product or, uh, showering that day. Whatever. It’s much better now. Am haircutting genius! Just don’t ask me to cut yours.
On Quidditch Day, I also dropped my iPhone, and if you ever want to send your mother into some sort apoplectic fit wherein she thinks you’ve been abducted, please, lose your phone and have a stranger call her at home and ask about her youngest daughter. And then I returned home to six messages — SIX! — from my mother, brother, sister and father, all explaining in varying degrees of hysteria that a nice man named Joe found my phone. Which, you know, helpful and awesome and YAY JOE, seriously, but do you know that Joe only called my mother? And that my mother PANICKED and called the rest of my family, thinking that I was somewhere out in the ether and in some kind of DANGER, all because my phone fell out of the Ergo, oh my God?
I have a tendency to jump to worst-case scenario situations, no matter how statistically improbable. You see where this comes from, yes?
Anyway, Monday! Monday was SOMETHING! Monday involved a lot of this:
I wasn’t laughing at her, I swear, it’s just that two seconds before she was SMILING AT HER IMAGE and then … well, then this. But it matters not, because this was indicative of the ENTIRE AFTERNOON and the reason I pulled out PhotoBooth in the FIRST place. And might I add that this was BEFORE the dog ran off with part of my breast pump?
Monday was great, clearly.
Hey, happy Tuesday!
*Or, you know, THE GROUND. Badly Drawn Boy
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized
22 Comments Add your own
1. -R- | October 26th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Quidditch. Wow. I kind of admire the do-not-care attitude that permits a college student to dedicate himself or herself to an activity that requires wearing a cape and running around with a broom between his or her legs. I would not want to be the yellow ball person though.
Cell phone tip everyone probably knows: I put my husband’s cell phone number in my address book under “Home.” Then if someone finds it and wants to return it, they will hopefully try to call me at home and reach my husband. Avoids the panicky parent situation.
2. Suebob | October 26th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Holy cow, Quidditch. I think if the brooms don’t fly and the little golden ball isn’t rocket-propelled, they shouldn’t bother. But I spent my college years building a Rose Parade float (or two) so I really should not talk about nerdy activities.
Also – that look on Sam’s face is priceless. Just the first in a long string of boring events that her parents will inflict on her, doubtless.
3. Tara | October 27th, 2009 at 12:02 am
That Quidditch game sounds AWESOME. So fun. And crazy. But fun.
And your hair looks great.
4. jonniker | October 27th, 2009 at 7:09 am
R: Oh, he called Adam on his cell, but the game was so loud we didn’t hear it. Helpful! He got my MOM on her cell, which was awesome.
5. AndreAnna | October 27th, 2009 at 7:36 am
Quidditch, really? (am now googling for any in my area)
6. kakaty | October 27th, 2009 at 8:08 am
I have SO MANY photos like that from my maternity leave! That was when my husband worked over an hour a way and I would send him all these photo booth pics of her screaming and me laughing hysterically (and yes, I was laughing AT her) and tell him if he got home 1 minute past 7 PM I would leave forever….PS where is my mother fucking SPA DAY, damn it!!
Oh, those were the days (I hate to say that age 3 isn’t much better…but ages 1 and 2 pretty much rocked).
7. twojams | October 27th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Hi – new-ish reader here, really enjoying your blog! The Quidditch thing is so funny – I just saw an article in the paper here (Richmond, VA) about VCU participating in that. I must say, in the movies and the real-life version, it seems to me that catching the snitch is a cheap-ass way to win the game. Makes me feel sorry for all the other players, they try so hard with their little second-rate broomsticks.
Love the pictures. My daughter is 5 and still makes both those faces. Not quite as frequently, but still…
8. tracey | October 27th, 2009 at 9:20 am
The Quidditch was just too much for me.. The brooms. THE BROOMS. Between their legs! Awesome. I love that the Snitch is a person!
Lucky girl that he returned your phone!
9. Hilary | October 27th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Ok, I didn’t know the snitch was a person. I can’t decide whether I’m horrified or pleased that my alma mater invented this. Go Midd! I think.
10. Jen | October 27th, 2009 at 9:43 am
You’re lucky you got your phone back! Now why couldn’t a nice guy like Joe have found my wallet and returned it? COME ON JOE.
Yeah, I don’t know about the Quidditch thing, but it looks like it was a gorgeous day to get outside. Also, your sweater looks so cozy.
11. Jess | October 27th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I heard about this Quidditch thing when I was in college. But I had NO IDEA how serious it was. Oh, MY.
12. Cookie | October 27th, 2009 at 10:07 am
I had no idea that Quidditch had become a real thing. That actually sounds like a sport I would enjoy watching. Awesome (also am major nerd).
Glad you got your phone back. So many people would have kept the phone and just put a new smart card in it. Good to know that decent people are still out there.
Also, I think your hair looks great, even without you cutting it yourself.
13. bessie.viola | October 27th, 2009 at 10:23 am
That Quidditch thing is TEH AWESOME! I would so be a season-ticket-holder.
But then, I’m already planning my trip to Orlando for when Hogwarts opens at Universal Studios, so maybe I’m just exceptionally nerdy.
LOVE the pictures. You look fantastic, and Sam is adorable as always.
14. Rebecca (Bearca) | October 27th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Uh, Quidditch? QUIDDITCH? REALLY? Whoa now. I mean, I was a huge fan of Harry Potter (HUGE), but come on people.
15. Em | October 27th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Who says this generation will contribute nothing to society? Clearly they’ve given us Quidditch and I, for one, am very grateful. Now, I can tell my kids when they’re in college that I remember the first time I ever heard of the Quidditch conference (I’m sure by then there will be scholarships and TV coverage & everything!) and I’ll begin to regale them with the time in 2009 I called in sick to work, stayed home and read the Jonniker blog and learned of the new sport. Then, I will promptly give your dog props for stealing the breast pump. See? You’ll go down in infamy!!
16. HollyLynne | October 27th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
That Quidditch match looks like a total blast!
17. Megs | October 27th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I love that I look at these pictures and think, “egads! That baby is huge! She looks like a toddler!” and then remember that my baby, just about 8 months, is possibly huger, and this is what people think about us, particularly when strangers tell me that my baby’s and my heads are the same size.
Also, “egads! That baby is CUTE!”
18. Kristabella | October 27th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
You know, I saw you mention Quidditch on Twitter and I thought “how cool!” not actually thinking about the LOGISTICS, what with the whole NO FLYING BROOMS THING.
Wow. I’d like to see it in person now.
Sam is just so adorable! Even when she’s screaming!
19. Katie | October 27th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
So i was telling my sister about this post and she foud this web site i though you might find interesting..lol…http://collegequidditch.com/
have fun! lol
20. page | October 27th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
I just can’t comment on the Quidditch.
That picture, however? Cracks me UP!!!!
21. Carmen | October 28th, 2009 at 12:38 am
Quidditch=awesome. I so wish I could have been there.
Your tendency to jump to the worst-case scenario cannot possibly rival my mother’s. To wit: she once tried to call me (in Toronto) from Vancouver the day I was flying to BC to see her. She phoned AFTER we’d already left for the airport, but due to some freaky phone problem on our end, she got a busy signal. For an hour. So she immediately assumes we’ve had a burglar that bludgeoned us nearly to death and we’re lying in a pool of blood and before losing consciousness managed to reeeeeaaaach up and knock the phone off the hook. She calls my work but no one knew our schedule. She calls our apartment building managers who refuse to enter without giving us 24 hours notice. She calls the police (!!!) who tell her to wait a while longer before calling back. She calls the airline, who refuses to tell her whether we’re on the flight. She calls Leonard’s parents and freaks them out. Then calls the airline again and someone finally takes pity on her and tells her that as the plane has already landed it would be okay to tell her that we were on the plane. THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR HER. NOoooooo. She then figures that the thief bludgeoned us AND STOLE OUR TICKETS and flew to Vancouver. By the time I called her later that day she was in quite a state. Why that woman hasn’t dropped with a myocardial infarction due to severe stress is beyond me.
22. JMH | October 28th, 2009 at 4:44 am
I LOVE the Quiddich match!! I am a HUGE HP fan and I had no idea! Awesome!
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed