Saturday, July 21, 2007

Got My Potter On (no Spoilers)

I'm pretty sure that taking a nap before heading out to the local Borders for the final Harry Potter release qualifies me as an old fart. I didn't make it there until 10:55pm, pulling in behind 4 other cars and parking at the nearby hotel. I wound up in the 5th wrist band group - pink - but number 8 in the group, which translated to 3 chapters read of Lean Mean 13 and a check out time of 1:22am. Not bad! I think I had roughly the same midnight-to-buy time as my twin sister (from another mother) who lives in DC.
Here is the take:
Harry Potter 7

I'm not sure when I'll next see 800 people in a bookstore. It was almost as crowded as an RWA literacy signing. Mom's also expecting a rush at the library tomorrow. She didn't say how many books they are getting, but she's on the hook for getting them all registered in the database. Their line might not be quite this big.
Harry Potter 7 Crowd

With all the kiddos hyped up on caffeine and adrenaline circulating through the stacks, Borders will have a lot of cleaning up to do tomorrow, but at least some of the staff - notably the ones in suits with earphones, like "it's Pat" in the middle here - were having the time of their lives.
Harry Potter 7 decoration and secret service wannabe

And I'm sure they had fun contriving all the decorations.
Harry Potter 7 Potions Lab decorative sign

Part of the time I spent in line I did what I do best and talked to strangers. While there was a dearth of 35 year old datable men, it was really fun listening to the young'ns talk about their hopes and dreams for this book and bemoan the fact that it appeared to be ONLY about 700 pages long judging the stacks from afar.
many many Harry Potter 7s

To entertain the masses there were various activities including a trivia quiz and a costume contest. Lots of adult ladies went in full witch wear, and several were nice enough to answer questions and direct traffic despite just being customers. There were some awfully cute costumes. There was a plethora of Harrys and Hermiones. Some skimpier outfits for specific houses were in evidence. One shy little girl dressed as Pigwidgeon. The tall boy dressed as Snape won, probably because he played the character on stage. His exuberance and ability to lead his crowd of friends (some of whom pretended they didn't *really* want to be there) reminded me a lot of a young version of a college boyfriend, even more so after I talked to him in the cafe line and found out his major expectation for this book is for Ron and Hermione to hook up. It made me feel a smidge less sick and wrong for hoping for just that thing too.
Harry Potter 7 Costume contest with winning Snape

I almost escaped the store without anything but the Potter and free poster, but as I passed the sale table I found my box was still there. Not just any box, but a box that goes delightfully with the cover of The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes, which is now my computer background because it's lovely. When I found it the other day, I decided not to get it but kept wanting it and decided that if one was still there on my next visit, I would get it. And here it is, my new cute box with pointy flowers and mariposas (butterflies).
Blue flowered novel and matching pink box
It's pink inside too. I used to hate pink but it's really grown on me recently and pretty soon dogs and cats will be living together. But it was a nice end to my evening of Magic and Witchcraft.

Tomorrow I plan to read by the pool until I fry or turn into a giant freckle. I want to get through the book before the spoilers hit the ether. [warning! speculation follows] I want to be surprised if Harry (a) dies, (b) dies but gets brought back to life (c) winds up back in the cupboard under the stairs or my favorite (d) lives Happily Ever After, preferably with the doting Ginny somewhere in the scene.

5 comments:

PSA said...

I was in our local Waterstones yesterday when the store was taking delivery of HP7. Just about every member of staff was involved in getting a huge number of boxes out of the lorry and into the back room. I wonder what would happen if I accidentally tripped one of the up but resisted the urge. My copy was delivered by Amazon this morning. Just about to start it :) should I be freaked that the last two letters in the word verification I've got are hp?

Hope you enjoy it

Anonymous said...

OK... how does it end.

I need to order one. I'm behind... I also admit I never got past the 2nd book but, maybe we'll try again when the boys are older...

S

Janet Webb said...

My dd's hasn't arrived yet ... she went to a party last night for a bit with a jagged bolt on her forehead -- she will be lost forever when it arrives. All of her childhood compasses this book! I'm stuck somewhere in Book 5 I think and farmwife, try the audio tapes for your boys ... that's what finally turned the tide for my dd.

Alaskan Hellcat said...

yes but did your local bookstore have an owlery, where you could check out a whole bunch of different owls???

One of the joys of living in AK I suppose!

The Big Guy and I will get our copy later this afternoon and start reading it tonight together. We have read all the books out loud to each other (started the first one when we was a courtin') which is great- but means that we won't finish for a couple of weeks... and I am nervous that the ending will be blazed all over by then and therefore RUINED for us...

CrankyOtter said...

My book store did indeed NOT have an owlery. Too cool that yours did!

Love that the verification letters were HP. too cool.