Tell Us About Yourself; Updates, Please?!

Please re-introduce yourself. If you're not a current member, please remind us of what your user name(s) used to be so we will recognise you. Please update us on what's been going on in your life; we're interested in knowing what people have been doing.

Hello! Guess I'll get the ball rolling here.

I've been a HPL forum member since February (?) 2003. My username has always been shepherdess (even on the temporary EZBoard forums). I became a host on the World Crossing version of the forum in late 2003 after our return from EZBoard. So, yes, I was one of those always telling people to use proper English and punctuation and play nice.   

I have three kids (who were actually kids when I originally joined the forum). This year my "baby" will turn thirty.   This, of course, happened while I wasn't looking.    I now have two eight year old granddaughters (Hailey and Chloe), and two grandsons (Bradley, five; and Bane, three). Bane was born with Spina Bifida and his feet are somewhat deformed. He has limited to no feeling below his knees. He has been going to physical therapy since he was a few months old, and just recently has become mobile in a walker.

Early on I didn't talk about it much (except among the hosts), but I separated from my husband in 2004, and that chapter of my life is done.

I have been working the front desk at a hotel for the past seven years. I quite like it.

I am still a huge HP fan! I still re-read the books and just finished a re-read a few months ago. I have the American version of the books as well as Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Tales of Beedle the Bard in hardback and the British version on my Kindle (the ones I recently read). I own all the movies and am a member of Pottermore.

I am so grateful to JKR for creating Harry's world for us. I am also grateful to Lexicon Steve for creating the HPL Forum, giving us the opportunity to explore the books as they were being written in a way never before done with any (set of) books.

The forum was a phenomenon I am proud and happy to have been a part of. It had a greater impact on my life than I can begin to express. It deepened and enriched my already existing love of the books, permitted me to develop friendships I otherwise never would have and allowed me to be part of a most unique and amazing experience, the likes of which are unmatched. I cherish the memories of members, discussions, debates, and theorizing. Being able to (impatiently) await the release of the next book in the series was made easier by spending the time discussing them with others who loved them and waited as anxiously for the next as I. The forum will always hold a special place in my heart.

What makes me sad is that so many members/friends have drifted away and we've lost contact with them. There are many that I remember fondly and miss very much. I wonder where they are, how they're doing and what's happening in their lives now.

I'm now opening this thread for current members, lurkers, former members and reunion attendees to reintroduce yourself and tell us about you.

An HP forum reunion is such a great idea! Thank you to all who made it happen!

I joined the HP Lexicon forum about 2002, after reading the first 5 books. I'd avoided reading HP on the basis that "nothing could live up to that hype." Boy was I wrong! I bought SS to read during a camping trip, and when I returned home, immediately read the next 3 books, and OotP came out a few months later....lucky me! The only snag was when I did not find PoA immediately, and went ahead and read GoF....while wondering "who in the heck is this Sirius character?"   

While waiting for book 6, I discovered the Lexicon and forum, and later, fanfics. These kept me sane and entertained while waiting for the next books. Actually, it brought me friendly and interesting discussions and predictions, that kept me sane through the daily challenges of being a youngish widow and single-mom.

About 6 years ago I sold my house in a smallish town, and moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I still work as a Special Education teacher. I loved my job working with elementary students who struggle with reading, writing and math. Unfortunately, our teacher for EBD (emotional-behavioral disorders) died suddenly, and my principal asked (er....insisted) that I take over the room (7 boys, in one room, all. day. long.) for the rest of the year. Hey, I can do anything for a month, right? Well, now it turns out I'm slated to be there all of next year, too. I am intensely frustrated at not being allowed to do what I love most, what I do best, and what I've trained for for years. I truly believe that my administration is trying to push me to the point of leaving so that he can hire 1.5 or 2 younger, less experienced teacher with my salary.   I'm so frustrated and disheartened that I've decided to retire in a year, go to Italy, and be trained to teach English abroad.    I'm so excited about this new adventure in my life, that I might just have to thank my principal for driving me to the point of considering other options!   

My son, who is now 19 (when did THAT happen?!?!) just graduated from high school, and is considering the possibility of coming to Italy with me....he has a whole year to decide.

In other HP news, I have all the books on CD, read by Stephen Fry (whom I LOVE a lot more than Jim Dale! just MHO...). and I keep at least one set by my bed to play in the CD player when I can't sleep.    I recently bought myself a Kindle Paperwhite, so I suppose I'll need to save up to put all 7 HP books on it, for my trip to Italy. I am actually excited about shedding a LOT of my possessions, but certain things: my spinning wheel, my favorite rocking chair, my HP books....may require storage until I'm certain where I'll be living long term.

so...I'm off to see who else is on-line!

Hi! I'm Michelle aka Viola Intonada or just Viola for short.

I came to the forum within a week after OotP came out. No one else I knew had finished it yet and I just had to talk to SOMEONE. So I went on to the internet and found the HPLF, but it was having problems. I managed to find my way over to EasyBoards. There I did the most posting of my career, but lurked continually (posted occasionally) on World Crossing and here until a couple of years ago. I have so many fond memories here. I treasure the people and the view of the world I have been granted here on this forum.

I'm still in the Cleveland area. I am currently teaching biology and chemistry labs at a local community college. My oldest daughter just completed her first year at Purdue. My youngest has one more year of high school before she goes to join her sister. We are all doing well. I have picked up running as a hobby and have discovered the convenience of audiobooks as a distraction on longer distances.

I have yet to make it to Universal Studios. Someday....

In the spring of 2002 the movie Sorcerer's Stone came out on video and I rented it for Shayla-then five years old. She watched it over five times in one weekend so I checked the book out from the library to read to her and ended up checking out and reading the remaining three in the series myself. In July of that year I was back home in North Dakota and found out my aunt Carol was a huge HP fan. We were talking about the books and she said the fateful words: Have you been online? She had the Lexicon bookmarked but, as far as I know, she was never on the Forum . I knew the Forum was starting up and lurked for about a week or so before introducing myself.

Back in 2002 Bill (Mr E) was recently seperated from the Air Force after 14 years and had just started working for Lockheed Martin. He is now working as a systems administrator for a hospital. I had just started working for KinderCare as a kindergarten teacher after staying at home with the kids for three years. I'm still with KinderCare and have moved up from third in charge, to assistant director, to director. My center recently closed so I'm a free agent at moment. Shayla is now seventeen and finished her junior year and Lex, who was pontailed in one of my old avatars, is now fifteen and just completed her freshman year.

I'm Julia H., and I'm quite a late-comer to the Forum, because I only found it after the last book came out. I was actually looking for HP-related sites on the Internet because there were so many things I just couldn't get out of my mind after finishing the books. I was a lurker on the Forum for quite a while, and I was fascinated first by finding other people who were so dead serious about exploring and discussing the books and secondly by the discussions themselves. In the end I dived in and became part of an amazing journey through the HP-world.

A lot of things have happened since then - in those years I lived in another country, and I have found a new job since, and my children have become teenagers, and even the Forum has moved and has changed in other ways, too. I don't read HP to my children any more - they mostly read for themselves nowadays. I have read other books, wonderful ones...  but I'm still here and I still love playing HP-related games and I still feel at home here.

I found the forum in 2005, I'm pretty certain. I was kaykay1970 back then. My husband and I were busy raising 5 children ages 2-17. These days we have 2 yet to leave the nest ages 11 (his birthday balloons this year were discovered attached to the foot of a ceramic owl) and 17, a 20 year old on summer break from college, a 23 and 25 year old, the eldest if which is still teaching English in Japan. She'll be home for a visit next month and I am anxious to see her.

When I joined the forum we lived in a small town in Tennessee, right on the highway where the houses were too close for comfort. We currently live it an even smaller neighboring town, just outside the city limits on 2-3 acres. I love being out here as I am raising chickens and turkeys and keeping up a vegetable garden.

I met a lot of wonderful people here. Some that I have missed through the years and a couple that I have kept up with via facebook. I have many fond memories of the forum.

(Soli, have you gotten younger? I thought your were 99 when we opened at this new address)

Hi all, I am Mar, (Maritza) when I first worked up the courage to post back in 2002. Shortly thereafter someone, posting with a variation of Maritza, was posting in a way that I absolutely did not want to be associated with, so I changed my name to Mrs. Sirius because Serius is my absolute favorite character. I am certain of when I joined because our old computer was so old we could not access the internet and I sooo wanted to look for more information about HP. I was really afraid of the dangers I'd heard about the internet so i was thrilled when I found the WC had board.

Back then my son was 6, (he just celebrated his 18th birthday and he graduates high school on Wednesday) my triplets were almost 4 and didn't sleep all night, (they are now sophomores). I would stay up chatting in the chat rooms until about1-2 am EST because I had to be up with the girls anyway. That was the best, we chatted about HP with people from all over the world and make great discoveries. I remember one night chatting with a guy from the London School of economics about the differences between the the UK and American versions of the books, that was really interesting. I have also met some people that I met some former forum members.

I have read the books many times and in several "languages", American, British, and Spanish (my husband has SS in every language it was published in I think). Except for the first few years, I have been mostly a lurker, between kids work and volunteer activities. I am now try to become certified as a teacher which has proven to be more challenging that I anticipated, but I am still working on that.

The oldest of the triplets and I recently started to read the books again and I hope we can go through the entire series before summers end. I am looking forward to this reunion.

Hi all, I'm Chris, and I'm a Potterholic.  Unfortunately, JKR quit after only seven steps, so I guess I'll never recover.

I found out about the Lex (from Puck, I think) right after POA and joined, mostly as a lurker, as I do believe I was the Queen of the Thread-Killers.  I still lurk.
On the personal side:  My age is none of your business ( at Kip, he'll know why) but I'm old enough to have been married for thirty-six years and have four sons, 33, 31, 25, and 23.  I have recently stopped working due to a disability incurred at work.  I am also mom to 2 cats (a seven year old Persian mix and an eighteen year old Maine Coon cat), and every wild critter in the area that comes to my house to get fed.

Bonjour à tous!

My real name's Audrey, I'm French and I live in a very small town just South of Burgundy. It's kept most of its medival houses (some were built in the 13th century!) and its beautiful 11th century Benedictine Abbey and 13th century Franciscan Convent. The Abbey and its great 12th century dungeon are just accross my street and I so love seeing them every day!

On a personal level, after studying history at the university, I firt worked in the monuments of my town as a guide and then became a teacher. I've taught 1st and 2nd grades for 10 years in the same school and I learned just yesterday that I will be teaching at another school next year (I had asked for the change). In addition, I will become the principal of that school! It's a very small countryside school with only two classes but it will be exciting, and more than a little bit stressing, lol! Apart from that, I'm a happy single woman with two wonderful nephews with whom I spend a lot of time: Esteban (5) and his little sister Justine (2 and a half).

I have joined the forum in the summer of 2004. I **had** to find a place where to discuss the series and what I found here was a true home. The alchemy thread soon became my favorite and I will forever have wonderful memories of the passionate discussions we've had there. I actually liked the subject so much that I wrote a (VERY ) long essay on the subject with the help of Nick. It's never been published but one never knows!

I made wonderful friends here and I was lucky enough to meet some of them over the years.
First, I met Detail Seeker, Mare, Septentrion, Troels, Gina, Julie and Phelim at the Accio gathering in Reading in 2005 (see pictures on the history of forum thread) where I was lucky enough to present a paper on the alchemical symbolism in HP. Accio was such an amazing experience!

I was also Lucky enough to travel to sunny California several times and meet my great friends Nick, Solitaire and Hollywand. What a great time we had!

I miss the time when we would "meet" on the forum and chat for hours. Love seeing you guys here again!!

Big hugs to all!
Audrey

Hi, my name in real life is Donna.
I don't remember the exact date I came across/joined the forum but I think it was around the time of the 5th book, it was on WC - I was never on the temporary site (memory is not as good as it used to be so I may be mistaken!)
I live in suburban south New Jersey having moved here from UK in August 2000, when my husband's job transferred him here.
I gave up work ( I have a degree in food science) to look after my three girls who I call Fleur, Luna & Hermione on the forum and were 7, 4 and 9 months when we arrived.
I did a couple of years as a special education classroom assistant here in the US working with autistic/special needs kids one on one when Hermione started school, but gave it up when the school was making cuts as others needed the job more than I did and I wasn't happy with some of the way things were run.
I started reading book one to Fleur and got hooked. We have some British copies from when we lived there and the rest US versions. We have two copies of Philosopher's stone one of which was given to the girls by my father-in-law in January 2001 and has a message inside from him to them which is very precious now as he died in February of that year.
We have the books on CD (unfortunately not the Stephen Fry versions) and all the movies.
The girls are all Harry Potter fans and we even managed to get Mr. W to read the last couple of books (and he's not a reader) after seeing the first few films.
The girls are now nearly 21 (July) and a rising college senior, just turned 18 and about to graduate high school in 2 weeks and 14 graduating 8th grade in 2 weeks. Fleur is the one who has re-read the books the most, Luna & Hermione probably have watched the movies the most.
I love reading everyone's posts and feel like I have a second family here. I miss the people that were on here regulary than we don't hear from now.

Lady Arabella here . .. I've been MIA for several months due to an incredibly stressful work situation but couldn't miss the reunion!

I found the forum in 2005, just after HBP was published - I was desperate to find discussion of whether Snape really killed Dumbledore, and the Forum provided intelligent discussion without "netspeak." I loved it! And what mind-boggling theories and ideas!! I lurked until 2009 (Queen of the Procrastinators) when I finally joined.

Hopefully the work situation will become more manageable in July, and I will be able to post oftener. And I still have lots of saved material from the old Forum I intend to re-post. Someday.  

Good to see you, LA! I do hope that stressful work situation straightens itself out for you soon. That kind of thing can take it's toll on you after a while. ((LA))

OK, to continue a trend, my name is Steve.

Welcome Steve! Nice introduction!   

My first meeting with the HPLF was meeting a few dedicated forumers (I only remember Elanor by name) and Steve at the 2005 Accio conference in Reading. The company was so pleasant that I joined the forum, though I was never terribly active. My primary Harry Potter forum was always the usenet alt.fan.harry-potter, and it is great to see that our FAQ site is still on-line where we left it at hp-lexicon.org/library/.

I sort of lost most of my interest in Harry Potter with the last couple of books in the series – they seemed to lack many of the qualities that had initially attracted me to the series, but my daughter's (15 years old now) love for the series has made me wonder how I might shuffle my time about a bit to find the time to read the series again.


Since leaving the Harry Potter fandom, I became again more active in Tolkien studies. I have presented at the Tolkien Society's 2008 seminar (proceedings available from the Tolkien Society, Peter Roe booklet no. 15, Freedom, Fate and Choice in Middle-earth. Ed. Christopher Kreuzer – it can be ordered here: tolkiensociety.org/society/publications/other/) and the 2012 conference, The Return of the Ring (see e.g. the abstract at returnofthering.org/timetable_items.php#Forchhammer), and I am maintaining a blog, Parma-kenta, with a monthly round-up of news at parmarkenta.blogspot.com


In other issues, Nokia decided in 2011 to close down the Copenhagen R&D site which started a turn-about. From having worked in the the telecommunications industry for more than a decade, I now work in the medical industry, working with testing of medical devices (pen injectors) for a Danish company. Given the public interest, and importance, of the medical industry, this industry is far more regulated than the telecommunications industry (though the latter is also regulated) – but it has been quite a change to have to live with regulatory authorities having an opinion not just on the final product, but also on how we do our daily work :-)

I don't know if I ever mentioned that I was active in Scouting, but this work has also increased, so that I am now a member of our national Programme Committee and project manager for our current programme renewal – another thing that takes up quite a lot of my time.


That's the last 6 years or so packed into a few paragraphs – more could probably be said, but that will have to wait :-)

I joined the Lexicon in early 2002 as Saralinda, which was the name of my boss cat at the time. Our son had turned my husband and me on to Potter in September of 2001 and we'd already raced through all the books that were available at the time. I recall thinking, as we speculated obsessively about what might happen in Order of the Phoenix, that this must have been what Charles Dickens' readers went through waiting from month to month for the next installment in his serialized stories -- except, of course, that we had hundreds, thousands more people to speculate with as well as our neighbors.

Somewhere between Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows, my participation here dwindled to nothing due to a combination of poor health, a lot more work, and frustration with the WorldCrossing interface (which seems somewhat improved now). I missed the release party for Deathly Hallows because I was in the hospital; my husband brought me our copy the next day, after he'd read it.

Michael and I are in our late 60s now and both retired, although I still do some writing and some editing. I've had several stories published and even co-wrote a novel-length (non-Potter, TV show) fan fiction with a friend of mine. We've moved into a mobile home court for seniors about 30 miles from Pittsburgh, with free bus service, a clubhouse, and a pool. Our old knees really enjoy going from "three-story house on a hill" to "no steps whatsoever." We've enjoyed watching our grandchildren discover Harry Potter. I'm a big fan of the "Song of Ice and Fire" books, but I've always been, first and foremost, a nonfiction junkie. The book on my bedside table currently is Simon Singh's The Code Book.

The only thing I don't miss about posting on the Lexicon is the nursery-school scoldings for using an unapproved acronym or making a typo. I have found the world of professional publishing to be far more neutral and understanding than the moderators here.   

Oh, and my name is Kitty.

Detail Seeker is the name, I travel(ed) with on all the HPLF Fora (WX, EZBoard, here), Immo is my real one.
I discovered the Forum end of 2002/early 2003 after discovering the Harry Potter World on a transatlantic flight by twice watching the first movie. THen I read all the then available books and got hooked.
Science and Magic was my theme. After Accio 2005 with the fun of meeting a lot of Forumers, I also participated in Patronus 2006 ( in Kopenhagen) and Sectus 2007 with the ideal event of getting the last book on that convention. I reall enjoyed these interesting times with chances to speculate about the continuation at each stage.
On WX, I also served the Forum as a moderator

In real life I am an engineer ( the real Vernon Dursley .-) ...)in Germany, now 50 years old and mosly lurking here. I am happy to see some old contacts here now and then.
Looking forward to more good times here on this Forum