“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” -Albus Dumbledore
Tag Archives: Harry Potter
The Cloak of Invisibility
Nothing in this world feels better than tucking you sleeping baby in and giving him a kiss after a long day… Especially when he looks this cute:
😘
PS: ^ Doesn’t he look like he’s wearing Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak?
In Difficult Times
As Jax begins a tough week (tougher for me then for him probably) I hope he knows that life isn’t always fair… But as Dumblefore once said, “It is our choices, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
Our entire lives we are lead to believe there is a reason that things happen the way they do, or that someone else is pulling the strings. That fate holds our lives close and dangles, what we think we want in front of us, only to pull it away like its a whimsical children’s game to be played when we are bored.
The problem with fate is that if we believe we are being controlled by an outside force then we are conceding that we are actually not in control of our own destiny. I refuse to believe that we do not have a say in how our lives turn out. Saying that something happens for a reason or that “it is what it is” is a cop out for the weak of heart and for those who underestimate the value and worth of what ever it was they are chasing. It is the characteristic of the strong man that he can bring momentous issues to the forefront and make a decision about them. The weak are always forced to decide between alternatives they have not chosen themselves.
Nothing in life is perfect, and nothing in life is ever going to follow the path that was cut by thoughts and ideas, but the things that are meaningful are worth working for, no matter what other say or the obstacles that stand in the way. The obstacles, that like an iceberg at the surface, seem simple to navigate, but are much deeper and can sink even the most sturdy ship.
But it’s the destination that makes every icy ocean, every complicated situation worth it in the end. They say all those who wonder are not lost… But then it can also be said not all those who are lost wonder. Once what you have is worth fighting for then it’s not about how you get to the point you want to be at… It’s about making sure that you do get there that matters.
Sometimes you have to take the harder path to make it to safety, and sometimes the path of least resistance is not always the best way to travel.
✌🏼️
😘
Jax’ Tattoo
As a guy who enjoys tattoos and also a guys who enjoys having a son… I’ve been wanting to get some ink done to represent Jax for a while now. I decide on a meaningful representation of a father and son taken from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows short story The Tale of the Three Brothers.
The story revolves around three wizard brothers who once conquered death for a short time by defeating a deadly obstacle with their magic. The personification of Death appeared out of anger because he felt that they had cheated him, but pretended to congratulate them by awarding them gifts of their choosing: The Elder Wand, The Resurrection Stone and the Invisibility Cloak. Two of the three brothers wished to conquer Death beyond what they had done already, and foolishly chose their gifts accordingly, leading to their early demise. The third brother was wiser, and hid under the Invisibility Cloak that allowed him to postpone death until he was ready; he lifted the veil that had helped him to evade the afterlife and was welcomed by Death.
The story’s moral is that you should live life for the right reasons: love and those you love. Greed will lead to unhappiness and you will die without having enjoyed what means the most to you, as the power-hungry Antioch Peverell asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence and he was the first to die. Cadmus was also greedy but not as much as Antioch, he was the second brother to die. But the youngest brother who was a humble man asked for a thing that he could use to live a long and happy life. One in which he was allowed to see his child grow. And thus because of this he attained a great age and passed The Cloak of Invisibility to his son.
Ignotus preferred a rather joyful, peaceful life, unlike his brothers. As such, he lived for several years with no quarrels or worries and raised a family. Ignotus saw to it that the very last thing he did in his life was pass the cloak on to his son, guaranteeing that his future descendants could live long happy lives as he had, and when he finally left the mortal world with Death, Ignotus had no regrets.
I was happy to get a tattoo representing a moment that every father dreams of… Passing down something (knowledge, skill, an invisibility cloak) to their child which will ensure he will live long, happy and successful live.
Thx to Nycci at the Inkwell for doing such great work!
The Tale of the Three Brothers (HD Video)
My other HP tats: 
Leaves are the Devil
I literally hate raking leaves… Like I literally would rather do about 25,000 things besides rake leaves. I love everything about yard work, building stone walls… Mowing the lawn… Laying brick walkways… But I can not say that there is anything I enjoy less than raking leaves.
See that is what brings me here… Where I am today… With a son. I had a son and I thought it would make life easier. You know, have a son and make him do chores and pretty much do all the yard work and stuff.
Ummmm… Someone explain to me the logistics of the child labor laws… Because I’ve been out here three hours and Jax is sleeping still. 🍁🍁🍂🍁 
I’m pretty angry at this point. I hate leaves and I hate the fact that I have 476,976,087 leaves to pick up by myself. I hate it so bad that I made a list of things I’d rather do than rake leaves…
1. Tell a kindergarten class that Santa put them on the naughty list.
2. Clean the gum under every desk in my school.
3. Count how many steps it takes to walk the Great Wall of China while someone skip counts next to me.
4. Read “50 Shades of Grey” to my grandma.
5. Sit front row at a Clay Aiken concert.
6. Throw away a perfectly good leftover pizza.
7. Watch “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and take a shot every time Kim takes a selfie.
8. Be a bathroom attendant at a bar downtown.
9. Swim in a pool before waiting 30 minutes after eating.
10. Tell a group of sorority girls that Starbuck’s no longer sells Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
11. Listen to an audio version of The Great Gatspy narrated by Fran Drescher.
12. Accept invitations to play Facebook games
13. Talk to a telemarketer
14. Sit in traffic for 13 hours after drinking
15. Walk barefoot over a pile of Legos.
… It’s too bad I actually had to actually clean up all these damn leaves. Like pick everyone up by hand… By myself… DAMN IT!
…19 hours later and all he’s doing is playing around. #GetToWork #ThatLaughThough…
Insane amount of leaves out there today. Too many to count. Too many to even think about doing by myself… Then again I might as well just hire someone. You know also bc my son isn’t going to do much out here.
… Well I better get back to work… At least one of us is having fun out here…
Jax and I when “we” started picking up leaves this morning
Jax and I when “we” finished picking up the leaves tonight
My Son is a Parseltongue
So I have been so hesitant to write anything about what’s been bothering me lately. Like really bothering me. I know I pretty much write about anything and everything on here because that’s what this blog is about… The real stuff… The good, the bad and the ugly… Clint Eastwood style. But I also want to make sure that later in life Jax doesn’t have a complex… (Or at least too much of a complex).
But I’m starting to worry. So this blog entry is less about me telling a story and more about me being able to get something off my chest. Something that is worrying me.
I’m pretty sure everyone knows I’m an educator. I’ve been a teacher and administrator for 15 years now. Maybe I have some sort of hypochondria or a super heightened sense of attention to detail when it comes to child development, but I feel like I’m starting to stress out.
So he’s almost 17 months old… He’s done a lot over the past year and a half. He’s hitting milestones left and right… But he’s still not taking. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m the first to defend the… “Everyone develops at their own pace” philosophy. But when it’s my own kid it’s stressful. Don’t forget… This is the type of literature I read on a daily basis:
Try reading that as a parent and not losing your mind. Try reading and article that says by 15 months your child should be able to order Lo Mein in Chinese and be able to use chopsticks to eat it. I’m struggling to balance my professional career as someone who diagnosis students’ reading problems and has to decide if a students behavior issues are developmental, environmental or learned… I’m struggling to balance that with my professional career as a dad who worries about everything.
I mean, we do have the basic “mama” and “dada”… and for whatever weird reason there’s also “nene” (bottle). But other than that he has the language skills of Animal from the Muppet Babies.
We talk to him (I mean… I could talk for hours… its my favorite pasttime). Grammy, literally gives him literacy and vocabulary lessons all day… half of his toys talk to him… and we read to him every night. And all we get in return is something that sounds like Parseltongue. I mean, maybe I’m looking into this to deeply… but he sure fits the bill of a Parselmouth
“Parseltongue is, when spoken, a hissing sound, similar to that of a snake; as such, normal people cannot understand it (one known exception being Dumbledore). Apart from merely communicating with serpentine lifeforms, Parselmouths also seem able to influence the will of serpents to a certain extent. Aside from serpent-based creatures, Parselmouths can communicate with each other with the language, as Harry understood Tom Riddle’s commands to the Basilisk and the House of Gauntcommunicate with each other almost exclusively in Parseltongue. While inherited, Parseltongue usually requires the speaker to face a snake-based creature or object shaped like a snake (e.g. a carving); more proficient speakers may be able to speak it at will.” -HarryPotter Wiki
So maybe I should be less worried about the fact that he isn’t really talking or more worried that my son may be a Dark Wizard?
#BackToHogwarts
Still waiting for some advice from JKRowling
September 1 is always such a cool time of year. Fall is creeping in, Octoberfest hits the shelves, but most importantly it’s the day we get to head back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
It’s crazy how all these years later, a simple date can still bring up so many great memories. From watching the first movie in the CCSU auditorium, reading the HPOoP in a weekend, getting engaged and then running to the midnight release of HPHBP in Wildwood, MuggleCast and MuggleNet theories getting me through endless yard word, reading 18 straight hours of HPDH all the way to visiting the Wizarding World and dressing Jax up as Harry Potter.
I can’t wait to read the series and experience the magic (no pun intended) all over again with Jax. 
Jackson Carmine and the Deathly Hallows
Jax what happened to your hand!??
Luckily Professor Snape was able to slow the spread of the curse
Apparently, my son has been hunting Horcruxes in his spare time. You think he would have learned from Dumbledore’s mistakes and left the Guant ring alone.
“The ring, Harry. Marvolo’s ring. And a terrible curse there was upon it too. Had it not been — forgive me the lack of seemly modesty — for my own prodigious skill, and for Professor Snape’s timely action when I returned to Hogwarts, desperately injured, I might not have lived to tell the tale. However, a withered hand does not seem an unreasonable exchange for a seventh of Voldemort’s soul. The ring is no longer a Horcrux.” —Albus Dumbledore (explaining the effects of the curse).
For in Dreams…
Snuck in to say good night… He’s all curled up tight, clutching his #blanky with his #CornishPixie napping by his side! #HarryPotter
“For in dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own. Let him swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud.” -Dumbledore
Santa vs He Who Must Not Be Named
Christmas Eve day and my kid is sick. I’m quite sure this is the real Fragola Family Christmas tradition. Without a doubt, every single Christmas I was sick.
*There was the year I was so out of it that I opened presents from my deathbed (the couch) while Uncle Vinny and Auntie Tricia handed me presents.
*There was the year I had strep throat and a fever during Christmas Eve mass.
*Of course there was the year Santa brought me the sony home stereo with dual tape decks and I was too sick to weak to walk down to the basement to see it all set up.
*And who could forget the year I spent the majority of Christmas puking and had a handful of Imodium as my Xmas dinner.
I’ll say this though, when it comes to being sick I’m a big baby… Stuffy nose? I’m dying. Upset stomach? I have the plague. Fever and a cough? Just fill out my death certificate now.
But Jax… This kid is a trooper. He sounds like Voldemort with all his wheezing… But he’s not letting anything stand in his way of his first Christmas. Stay strong little man… Stay strong!
Sorry Sons: Chronicles of a New Dad 