HARRY POTTER!: post three; 100% spoiler-free!

Mad props go out to the Madison West Side Barnes and Noble, because they really had their poop in a group last night. They herded, I don't know, a thousand people? (the highest number I actually heard was 700, but I think that was just one point in a very very long line) with extreme competance and efficiency through their gigantic store to their 8 registers. Well done on that front, Barnes and Noble.

Mad derision likewise goes out to the Madison West Side Barnes and Noble, for not letting me have one of the boxes that the book came in. For one thing, I have a box from Half-Blood Prince, so I really wanted one. For another thing, they had, like, a million of them. I would have been doing them a favor, really.

The store had activities set up, but they were not aimed at my demographic. The gentleman caller and I arrived there around 9, as we had been advised to get there early. You know, because of the craziness. And it was indeed already crazy in there. But we looked around, scouted the location where we'd be expected to pre-line up (there was a big pink sign for 450-500, and his Golden Bracelet said 469), and decided to go see if the mall was still open. As it was not, we ate a nice meal at Chili's before heading back to the, you know, craziness. And it had gotten crazier. The phrase "sea of humanity" could not be used amiss. More mad props go to the Madison West Side Barnes and Noble, therefore, for being enormous.* Well done again.

I think my favorite "activity" (out of, remember, slim competiton) was the countdown to the rolling out of the books. People were jazzed counting down those last thirty seconds, man. I suppose I'll call the costume contest my second favorite, because the guy who won was an outstanding Mad-Eye Moody. I wish I had brought my tiny pink camera, just for him. (I have a sneaking suspicion, though, that he would have dressed up that way whether the contest existed or not.)

Then, when I got home, I read the book.

I guess clandestine reading after hours when I was younger stood me in good stead. I didn't eat or drink anything, not even caffeine; I didn't take breaks; I just sat in my chair and read that book. (It took until a little after 8 a.m., if you're curious.)

Now, not to go on and on and on about my gentleman caller, but: when I stayed up all night to read Half-Blood Prince two summers ago, the worst thing was that I couldn't talk to anybody about it the next day. And it was so good and so exciting that it was pretty much all I wanted to talk about it, but of course no one I knew was done. And I surely wasn't to give out spoilers against anyone's will, because that's evil. I wouldn't ruin a single detail of a new Harry Potter book for my own worst enemy. Anyway, the point is, my gentleman caller is also the type to stay up all night to read Harry Potter, so we got to go over all the cool stuff today. Awesome.

Also, I intend to go over the book tomorrow in this space. But don't worry, I'll put big old warnings all over it. Like I said, I wouldn't intentionally spoil Harry Potter, much less the last Harry Potter, for my worst enemy.

Not that I really have worst enemies, like some boy wizards I could name.




*At one time, not too long ago, I would have used "ginormous" here. But its being recognized by Webster's dictionary takes all the fun out of it.