#onlineprogressportfolio

Compared to most guitar players in the world, I would consider myself to be pretty guitar-illiterate, but that is exactly what this research is for. I know that I may not learn everything there is to know about guitars everywhere, that comes with time and experience, but I do intend on taking in a great amount of information during this time period however.

This semester I have been researching the guitar fandom world. I chose this fandom because I have developed a new love for guitars over the last year now. I come from a very musical family, most of us sing, my father and uncle plays the bass guitar, cousin plays the lead guitar, and my brother plays the piano. I have asked my dad to teach me how to play the bass since I was 6 years old, but he's just now getting me my first acoustic guitar at the age of 18 for Christmas; and to his surprise I caught on fast and have been playing ever since.

This semester I have been researching the guitar fandom world. I chose this fandom because I have developed a new love for guitars over the last year now. I come from a very musical family, most of us sing, my father and uncle plays the bass guitar, cousin plays the lead guitar, and my brother plays the piano. I have asked my dad to teach me how to play the bass since I was 6 years old, but he's just now getting me my first acoustic guitar at the age of 18 for Christmas; and to his surprise I caught on fast and have been playing ever since.

Although I haven’t been playing for a very long time, I have grown in interest in guitars, how they work, how they are built, and the difference in sounds varying from the different kinds and brands; beasically, how to make my guitar talk…literally everything about guitars that I can possibly learn.

So the whole research process is coming to an end. It is now time for me to gather all my research, make sense of it and then organize this in approximately 15 pages or so to get my point across. I am still, honestly, unsure about how this whole process will go and turn out. I haven’t been as focused this semester because of several other extenuating circumstances that have served as an adequate distraction. I am excited to finish this class because it means an end to my basic courses and one step closer to graduation. 

As I type this, my “O” button on my laptop popped off. Do you know how many words have an “O” in them?!?!  No fun!

So, as my research into this fandom continues, the more excited I become about all that I am finding. I absolutely love reading the direct movie quotes. J.K. Rowling really has many inspirational thoughts throughout the stories that tie into the real world really well. My favorite above all would be: “Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.” - Albus Dumbledore

If you have any interest in the Harry Potter fandom, you need to check out Pottermore.com. This website is the mothership of anything and everything Harry Potter. I think J.K. Rowling understands our obsession with all things Harry Potter and capitalized on that. I created my own account and had my wand choose me, and was even sorted into Hufflepuff House. It was pretty neat, although I think I would have liked to be in Gryfindor, I really am not that brave...

Okay so apparently I am quite talented at writing a blog and then somehow deleting said blog within seconds!!!! Technology hates me..

The Harry Potter Fandom is apparently making a comeback. Lucky me! I think it might have been fate that caused me to pick this as my topic when so many people in the fandom are making an effort to revive it. I mean, it is difficult to keep something alive that is ‘finished’ for all intents and purposes. The book series has come to an end, unfortunately, and all movies for said books have been filmed, premiered, and are now in the discount bins at Wal-Mart. But Harry Potter is a ‘classic’, it never gets old, and thankfully there are so many fans that love to write fanfiction and tumblr blogs to stay relevant and new with fresh material. As I was searching for ‘Artifacts’ for my project, I stumbled upon some pretty cool stuff. There was one, Artifact #2 to be exact, that I fell in love with. In a previous blog, I referenced the fact that there are soo many backstories and sidestories and whatever else you want to call them about pretty much every character ever mentioned in the original books. This image in particular showed a screen shot from the last movie where Professor Slughorn cast a patronus that took the shape of a fish. There was a story in the 6th book Slughorn told about a fish that Lilly had given him. This pictures caption mentions that Slughorn’s patronus was his way of keeping her memory alive...