Confession: I have been planning a tattoo around the Dave Matthews Band Fire Dancer for, oh, roughly five years now.

Why is it taking so long? Well, because 1) it’s not exactly a unique tattoo among DMB fans so I want to figure out a way to make mine personal for me, and 2) I’m an indecisive perfectionist.

Why am I doing this? I think we all know the answer to that one.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m obsessed with DMB. It’s a healthy obsession, mind you – I’m more annoying that I am dangerous (in other words, I wouldn’t stalk the band, but I have been known to harass non-fans with things like the “DMB Song of the Day” I recently started on Facebook for one of my friends).

That’s why the fan tattoos featured in a semi-recent article over at The Frisky don’t surprise me at all. Sure, some of the tattoos themselves surprise me (well, more like the subjects of the tattoos – one is Britney Spears circa her very public mental breakdown and I don’t even want to talk about the Patrick Swayze one), but, to each his own.

I’d never get a celebrity’s portrait tattooed on me, but, clearly I’m not the only fan obsessed enough with her favorite band or celebrity to permanently mark her body with something representative of that admiration. That’s not what attracted me to the article or pictures, though; what caught my attention was The Frisky’s tweet about it on the mag’s Twitter.

“[...] a little more than just obsessed!”

This made me laugh a little, and start to wonder…

Disclaimer: This post was based on the movie, but read the books. Seriously. Also note that spoilers follow, so if you haven’t yet read or watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and you plan to, you might want to skip over this.

Lesson #7: You have to keep going.

Midway through the Harry Potter series, I’d convinced myself J.K. Rowling wasn’t going to kill Dumbledore. Ever. I was sure the series would end with Dumbledore’s long and happy future left to our own imaginations, and I was certain of this based solely on my belief that Harry wouldn’t be able to make it without Dumbledore physically present somewhere to pull Harry’s tail out of tight spots and point him in the right direction.

Yet, he did.

Oh me of little faith.

Disclaimer: This post was based on the movie, but read the books. Seriously. Also note that spoilers follow, so if you haven’t yet read or watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and you plan to, you might want to skip over this.

Lesson #6: Friends: Sometimes, you just can’t live without them.

Literally.

Ron Weasley would be dead right now if it weren’t for Harry Potter’s quick thinking (and, of course, the Half-Blood Prince’s ratty old Potions book).

I’m glad this series is focused solely on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, because if I had to point out all the instances throughout the entire series that show just how important friendships are – well, it’d take days.

Disclaimer: This post was based on the movie, but read the books. Seriously. Also note that spoilers follow, so if you haven’t yet read or watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and you plan to, you might want to skip over this.

Lesson #5: Beware of taking things at face value.

If it looks like a chair, and sits like a chair, it must be a chair.

No, actually, it’s just Horace Slughorn avoiding Dumbledore again.

There are so many examples in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that point to why we shouldn’t be so quick to take things at face value – throughout the entire series, actually.

I suppose magic has a way of making us believe a thing is one way, when really, it’s another.

Disclaimer: This post was based on the movie, but read the books. Seriously. Also note that spoilers follow, so if you haven’t yet read or watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and you plan to, you might want to skip over this.

Lesson #4: Don’t judge a book by its cover.

Ah, ye old cliché.

If you’ve seen Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (and really, I hope you have; otherwise, you shouldn’t be reading these posts!), think back to the scene when Harry Potter and Ron Weasley show up in Professor Slughorn’s class for the first time. In the movie, neither kid has his Potions book yet, so Slughorn tells each one to grab a school copy.

Now, think about how they both reacted when they saw the school copies. Remember how eager each one was to get the “good” copy of the Potions book? Neither wanted the ratty old copy…

…yet, it turned out to be full of useful information.

If you’ve been keeping up with Celebrity Psychings over the past few days, you know I’ve been on a bit of a Harry Potter kick.

Specifically, I’ve launched into a series about the kinds of life lessons Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince can teach viewers (and readers) of all ages.

(If you need to catch up, check out Lesson #1: Laugh!, Lesson #2: Avoid Unhealthy Relationships, and Lesson #3: Pursue Your Dreams.)

In keeping with the Harry Potter theme we’ve had here at Celebrity Psychings, I thought I’d pass along this little tidbit, courtesy of omg! News on Yahoo!

Daniel Radcliffe, a.k.a. Harry Potter, a.k.a. The Boy Who Lived, a.k.a. The Chosen One, apparently has a clown phobia:

Daniel Radcliffe: Afraid of Clowns

You’d think a guy who’s gone head-to-head with Dementors and He Who Shall Not Be Named wouldn’t be afraid of anything anymore. But Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the world’s most powerful wizard, has a fear of clowns.

Of course, Radcliffe seems to be in good company. Yahoo! goes on to say “he’s not the only famous coulrophobic star: Johnny Depp and P. Diddy dread the circus entertainers, too.”

I’ve always been somewhat amused by the fear of clowns; not in a mean way, mind you (I realize phobias can be quite debilitating and wreak serious havoc on a person’s normal day-to-day activities), but more in a curious way. Clowns are supposed to bring joy and happiness and humor to people, so when I hear about folks who are afraid of them, I can’t help but take note of the irony.

Disclaimer: This post was based on the movie, but read the books. Seriously. Also note that spoilers follow, so if you haven’t yet read or watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and you plan to, you might want to skip over this.

Lesson #3: If you want something, stop sitting around and daydreaming about it. Get up off your butt and go get it!

The theme of going after what one wants is all through the Harry Potter series, and not always in such a good way (Voldemort, anyone?), but I think its clearest example in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (the movie version) is Hermione Granger’s relationship (or, lack thereof) with Ron Weasley.

Even though we never actually saw inside Hermione’s and Ron’s heads, anyone who’s read the Harry Potter series (or paid extremely close attention to the first five movies) saw this relationship coming from miles away.

(My apologies to the Harry/Hermione and Draco/Hermione shippers.)

Yet, neither character would actually make a move to make it happen and, in the end – probably because Ron had “the emotional range of a teaspoon” – it took his relationship with Lavender Brown to kick Hermione’s butt into action.

Emma Watson was, you guessed it – brilliant! – in her scene with Radcliffe after she sees Ron and Lavender snogging. I don’t think she could’ve done a better job conveying just how heartbroken and miserable Hermione felt seeing someone else get what she wanted

Things eventually worked out for Hermione and Ron, but that’s not always how things work out in life. Sometimes, we wait around so long, feeling insecure and lacking confidence, that the thing we want slips completely beyond our grasp and we end up feeling like Hermione did in that fantastic scene with Harry.

Why feel that way? Why sit around and twiddle your thumbs and risk something like that happening? If you want something, why not go out and get it? Sure, it might take some time and hard work, but really, the alternative – which includes knowing you never even tried – is much worse.

So, how do you get started?

Disclaimer: This post was based on the movie, but read the books. Seriously. Also note that spoilers follow, so if you haven’t yet read or watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and you plan to, you might want to skip over this.

Lesson #2: Recognize the difference between healthy and not-so-healthy relationships.

From Lavender Brown’s hilarious obsession with Ron Weasley to Romilda Vane’s desperate – and hysterically unsuccessful – love potion for Harry Potter, unhealthy relationships are sprinkled throughout Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Of course, the phrase “unhealthy relationship” stems beyond just describing romantic relationships. It can describe family relationships (think Dursleys and Malfoys), friendships and social relationships (pretty much anyone who hangs around Draco), and business relationships (I suppose we could really stretch that phrase to describe Voldemort and the Death Eaters).

Because every person is different, and every couple’s relationship dynamic is different, it’d be impossible to sit down and list every single sign of an abusive relationship. I’ve seen couples that’ve been quite happy together but have made me want to run away screaming.

To each his own, right?

However, there are a few universal signs that point to an unhealthy relationship, no matter who you are.

I watched the midnight premier of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Tuesday night and, just, wow.

So much fire, blood, death… Half-Blood Prince is definitely the darkest movie of the series so far. The cinematography was brilliant. The dynamic between Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint was brilliant. The way Tom Felton stepped up to the plate for Draco Malfoy’s “shining” moment was brilliant.

And Michael Gambon? Brilliant since the sad day Richard Harris left us.

Everything and everyone was brilliant!

So much so that I’m willing to overlook almost everything they added and left out.

But, that’s neither here nor there for Celebrity Psychings. After the buzz of my Harry Potter high calmed down a bit, I started thinking about how Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – like so many Harry Potter movies before it – packs some pretty good life lessons for viewers of all ages.

Thus, this series was born. For the next seven days, we’ll take a look at the kinds of lessons Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince can teach us.

Exciting stuff, yes? I thought so.

Disclaimer: This post was based on the movie, but read the books. Seriously. Also note that spoilers follow after the jump, so if you haven’t yet read or watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and you plan to, you might want to skip over this.

“It’s a scientific fact that, like small children or puppies, celebrities are incapable of protecting themselves and frequently injure themselves.” – State Assemblyman Howard Hughes on California’s new Celebrity Safety Bill.

Okay, no, there isn’t really a new bill in California to keep celebrities safe.

It’s just a little humor from Blogcritics writer The Crow.

Lack of funding and extreme imposition on civil liberties aside, though, what an interesting idea…