Yes, we have been out of touch. On Friday the 20th of July we joined the "I MUST HAVE THE BOOK NOW" craziness at our local Barnes and Nobles. (I did manage to cancel some of the copies I had pre-ordered from Amazon.) So we arrived about 11:00 a.m. at the book store. We were not smart enough to figure out that there were rules for all of this. One had to enter the very overcrowded bookstore full of people in costume, helicopter parents and old ladies that were ready to jump on anyone that even was thinking about cutting in line, and obtain a band that allowed your color and letter to be called for buying the book.
Instead, we went to have some coffee.... Seemed like the thing to do. We watched the people and marveled at the variety of those "attending" the event. There were scores of 20-30's all decked out. They had been fans for 10 years. They were serious about their outfits. Lots of dementors and school girl outfits. Then there were the 40ish parents with the "SOLO AND MUCH OVERPROTECTED' child. These parents joined in the frivolity by wearing capes, Harry Potter glasses and carrying a wand or two. The SOLO AND MUCH OVERPROTECTED child was also dressed in a very spiffy outfit that was made by the OVERPROTECTIVE mother between Child and Me Yoga classes and Latin for 6 year olds. This group sort of puzzled me because once everyone commented on the cute child enough they wanted to go home. I overheard multiple conversations that followed this path:
Emily, Courtny, Madison, Zoe, Zach, Zim, (Pick a name) can you agree we have had a great night and you have had a chance to participate in an event that will forever be a part of your catalogue of special events that will provide you with the necessary depth of experience in the future so that you may write the perfect " Why I must be admitted to the exclusive _____________ ( fill in blank of any exclusive Middle School.) essay. Wouldn't it be a better use of our time if we went home instead of waiting with all these crazy people for hours and hours to purchase a book we are not going to read until tomorrow anyway????
I was not quite sure why people were here for this if they weren't going to stay to buy the book, but then, we had actually read the books and seen the movies and really wanted to start reading.
So we waited, we named people and guessed about their lives, we cut in line for fun and tried to buy three and not just two books. We finally held the sacred tome at 2:20 a.m. Yes, we did wait. I must say it was worth the process. M-E started to read in the car as we headed to deliver a copy (via owl mail) to someone that would never have made it to the store.
3:00 a.m. We were in bed. For the next two days we read. Tucker was so upset that we did not move and ignored him that he decimated M-E's book. Great end, good book. Fun things and lots of loose ends tied up nicely. Deaths not too bad. It was fun to be a part of the "event" 8 million books were sold in 24 hours..... in the United States. Pretty impressive. I think Shakespeare would have approved.
We read the next three days. Tucker expressed his displeasure at the reading part by taking apart M-E's book. Oh, well. She still was able to read it.
Good ending. Satisfying ending. Harry will be missed but then an entire generation has learned that a book can suck you in and keep you there. Great to know it is not just TV, Video games or movies....
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