LJ icon meme from slashtacular...pass it on!

[burendasan4]

At first, I "made" made my own LJ icons by simply shrinking pictures (usually of actors I thought were cute) on Paint. In other words, I'm not very creative when it comes to making LJ icons and I'm kind of lazy too, so I usually go scrounging around LJ icon communities for icons that pertain to my favorite things (yes, I am guilty of movie quote icons ;-)). I was kind of glad that slashtacular came up with this meme because I had wanted to write about why I had chosen my current default icon...now I get to write about all six! So I guess in this entry, I am obligated to credit the makers of the icons I currently use. But I must say, my admiration goes out to them for taking the time to make such beautiful icons! I could never do such a good job. Here's the meme:

User icons are a great way to express who you are. What do your icons mean to you? Write a few sentences about each of your icons, and pass this along to your friends!

"Patronus"

This is my most recently uploaded icon and am currently using it as my default icon. It was made by iconseeyou, who made some really awesome Harry Potter icons that incorporated pop culture symbols with references to the books. In Harry Potter, a "Patronus" (is it pronounced Patronus or Patronus??) is a spell that takes takes a shape (usually an animal) that is unique to each person conjuring it. It is used to fight creatures called Boggarts, which take shape of your worst fears. (EDIT: Harry Potter used the Patronus to fight off Dementors, which basically made you super-depressed and took your will to live--thanks tovaks! ) Harry Potter's Patronus comes out in the shape of a stag, hence the John Deere thing going on in the icon. While the story itself is a fantasy, I like how these spells symbolize a person's ability to overcome one's worst fears...and how it's within all of us to do so, but difficult to learn.

"Rotten"

I've had this icon up for the longest time out of the ones I am currently using. At one point this was my default icon. It's an icon that I actually "made" by shrinking a picture of Johnny Rotten leftover from my "History of Rock" class presentation on the Sex Pistols (surprised?). I just thought it was a cool and wacky picture and I often use this icon when I am in a silly or spazzy mood.

"Garden State"

It's a line from the movie "Garden State" that was directed by Zach Braff (cutie of the moment!) who is also the main character in the movie and is the one pictured on this icon. The coolest thing is that the song that is being referred to is a Shins song!!!! And it's true...it WILL change your life! (at least that's my opinion ;-)) I like this icon for my more introspective entries. Thanks to lvlwing for making this icon.

"Felix Felicis"

Another icon by iconseeyou. This makes a reference to "Felix Felicis", which is the name of a potion in Harry Potter that gives you incredible luck for one day. You instinctively know what to do to make things go your way. But, in the story, one learns that you don't actually need it to have good luck...that in a way, "Felix Felicis" exists in all of us.

"Napoleon Dynamite"

Yes, this is just another "quote from a movie" icon, but it was a quote from "Napoleon Dynamite" that I found hilariously funny because it makes absolutely no sense. There were several icons with this quote but finally settled on this one made by oh_really_now. And now I will always think of my last trip to New York when tovaks kept saying "Your mom (insert predicate here)" (grin at tovaks). Strangely enough, I often use it when writing about grad school related stuff, since that's the closest thing that comes to it (you know..."college")

"Voldemart"

Third icon made by iconseeyou. Even if you haven't read Harry Potter, you probably know that Voldemort is the most evil character in the series. And what's more evil that Wal-Mart? Fits perfectly. I even used it in an entry I wrote where I mention Wal-Mart. And yes, I AM guilty of going there once in a while. But anywayz, I use this icon when I write about things I think are "evil", bad, or that just piss me off.

Now it's YOUR turn to write about your icons!

Comments

[tovaks.livejournal.com]

Harry actually used the Patronus charm to ward off DEMENTORS, which *were* his worst fears; Lupin merely had him practicing on Boggarts so he could develop the skill. **Is a geek** I'm pretty sure it's pronounced pa-TRO-nus, too. **Huggle** about the "your mom" thing. ;)

[burendasan4.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the correction. I need to reread the books...hehe. I guess I didn't get to make corrections on time because I meant to say "grin AT you" not "grin TO you" and I also wanted to explain why the icon had a stag in it ;-)

[dancerdiva.livejournal.com]

Tovaks is right... you don't use the Patronus to fight boggarts. How you fight boggarts is you say "Ridikulus!" and the scary thing you're viewing turns into something funny, like when Neville saw Snape as is worst fear, when he said the spell it turned into Snape wearing his Grandmother's clothes.

And yes, the Patronus charm ("Expacto Patronum"), is used by anyone to fight dementors.

[tovaks.livejournal.com]

And not just dementors, if I recall correctly from Book 5--they can be used to ward off all sorts of baddies, or even be used to signal others as to your location (as in Book 6).

[slashtacular.livejournal.com]

It's actually kind of funny - you had the Johnny Rotten icon as your default when you were still in your "cute guy icons" phase, so I half wondered if you considered him attractive. ;) (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) Guess I know better now.

[dancerdiva.livejournal.com]

Yeah actually I thought so too :-p