Why I just bought my first Harry Potter book

Yes, it is true...two weeks ago I bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.


No, I didn't stand in line for 8 hours at a Barnes & Noble to snatch up a copy of Deathly Hallows the moment it was released. Nor did I dress up like Dumbledore. And never fear, I did not pre-order book 7 to be FedEx-ed to my door the morning of the release. But the fact remains: I bought the book.


So how did I go from never reading a Harry Potter book (and only watching the movies), to owning and obsessing over Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?

reason #1. Without saying too much about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the latest movie left me wanting more. As I said before, I have seen all the previous Harry Potter movies, and each one felt like a chapter from Harry's life. But the latest movie felt more like a snippet...a slice...a mere placeholder for the better movies to come. I left the movie theater entertained, but wholly unfulfilled--I wanted more.

reason #2. I knew book 7 was coming out soon. And with book 7 would come the end of the series.

reason #3. I knew that with the way the internet and news media work these days, the public would know the end of book 7--and thus the conclusion of the Harry Potter series--within weeks.

reason #4. It will be four years until Deathly Hallows will be released as a movie. I predicted that by that time, my interest in the lives of Harry, Ron, and Hermione may have waned.

So, to avoid this anti-climatic end to Harry Potter, I decided to avoid all media stories about book 7, buy a copy of the book, read it cover-to-cover, and enjoy all the plot twists, magical spells, untimely deaths, mystical creatures, and whatever else J.K. Rowling had in store. I wanted to approach the end of the Harry Potter series the way it was supposed to be approached.


Well, almost the way it was supposed to be approached. I must face facts: I have committed a cardinal sin in the world of Harry Potter. I have not read book 1-6. Worse yet, instead of reading book 6, I just went to Half-Blooded Prince's Wikipedia page to get the quick synopsis.

You see, by buying book 7, I jumped to the end of the series and used the movies as a pale and inadequate facsimile of the actual books. But you have to understand something: while I consider Harry Potter to be good storytelling steeped in an intricate world of rich and dynamic characters, the books aren't a part of my life--they're not what I grew up on.

Nevertheless, despite not reading books 1-6 (and thus facing reading book 7 with far less gusto than other Harry Potter fans), two Saturdays ago I went to buy Deathly Hallows. As I said before, I did not stand in a line for 8 hours to get the book. I just went to Best Buy at 10am. Why Best Buy? Well, I wanted to avoid a large Harry Potter crowd, and I figured no one would think to go to the "computer/tv/music store" to buy a book. Not only that, but a relative gave me a $20 gift card to Best Buy. In other words: "Two birds, one stone."

Now, for some reason I assumed that my local Best Buy opened at 9am. Well, when I strolled in at 10:05am, I realized that the store actually opens at 10am on Saturdays. "Great" I thought, "I'm here five minutes after they opened to buy Harry Potter, I look real cool right about now." As I walked through the doors, and exchanged "good morning" pleasantries with the security guard, I turned straight ahead and saw a very prominent Harry Potter display. We're talking a big, yellow display with a cardboard Harry Potter standing next to it.


"What to do," I thought. "If I just waltz up to this advertising monstrosity, grab a copy of book 7, and walk over to the cashier, people may think that I'm about 30 seconds away from breaking down in a hysterical, tears-of-joy, Deathly Hallows conniption." I had to make this shopping trip as nonchalant as possible.

So, what would be "nonchalant"? Oh, randomly meandering throughout the store, that's what.

Yeah, I somehow found myself looking over Best Buy's vacuum cleaner selection, and comparing their washer & dryers. About 30 seconds later I was in the computer section. After that, headphones were staring me in the face.

So, after about 2 minutes of bouncing aimlessly throughout the store, I had to face the truth--I had nothing to do in this store except buy the damn book. Well, at least I avoided the whole "run up to the book, snatch the closest copy, high tail it to the cashier, and scurry off to read the book in one sitting" scenario.

Well, once I decided just go buy the book, I knew the awkwardness would be over. Or so I thought. I got my copy of the book, walked to the cashier, and placed the book on the counter. The cashier, who had probably been on the job for about 7 minutes by this point, said "oh, Harry Potter" with equal parts "oh yeah, this came out today" and "oooohhh, you're one of them." Now, as you can tell, I wanted to avoid all perception that I was a crazy, obsessed, un-balanced fanatic (petty, I know), so I quickly responded "oh, I'm not one of those people." And the cashier's response to my rebuttal? "Uhuhh, sure you're not."

*Grrrr*

I flirted with the idea of explaining my reasoning for buying book 7...thought about stating that this was my first Harry Potter book purchase...thought about saying anything that would disapprove his assumption that I had a life-sized cutout of Albus Dumbledore at home.

But, to avoid a "methinks the lady doth protest too much" situation, I just shut up and let him scan the book. And then, it was time to pay. And it was here when I remembered how I was buying this book--my gift card.

Great! Suddenly, without warning, I became an apparent self-hating Harry Potter fan-in-denial, using a gift card that my grandma probably bought me, buying the latest Harry Potter book as soon as the store opened. You know my mission to buy this book as nonchalantly as possible? Yeah, consider that mission a failure.

But you wanna know something? As I got back in my car, and drove off, I realized that I had the last book of the Harry Potter series in MY CAR. Right there, about two feet from me, was how it all ends. I felt like I had Texas gold; I couldn't wait to start reading.


Two weeks--and 759 pages later--I have finished the book. I won't go into too much detail, but I will say that book 7 was a superb read that delivered everything I expected and more. Yes, it's true that I did not stand in a line for 8 hours, or read each and every Harry Potter book cover-to-cover, but that doesn't really matter. I threw myself head-first into Deathly Hallows: I dedicated myself to the book, and I soaked in every word along the way. So now count me amongst the legion of fans who shoot evil-death-eyes at anyone who has disparaging remarks about the book, the plot, the author, or anything else having to do with Potter.


And if anyone can get me a Cloak of Invisibility, that would be great.

Dream-y

(warning: heterosexual males [and lesbians] may not find this post very interesting)






Oh Matt Damon...so down-to-earth, so not corrupted by Hollywood, so guy-next-door, so into football, so adorable.

In other words: *drool*

Another awesome shirt

If you were wondering, yes I did end up buying that shirt, but I doubt I'll be buying this one:





Yeah, no question that the shirt is awesome. So why am I not buying? Well, I figure people will spend 5 minutes reading my chest, and will either end up loving shirt, or will be confused by some of the references. That, or people will be pissed off that I just "ruined" The Usual Suspects for them (because I know that the shirt "ruined" Dumbledore's killer for me).

Any thoughts? Opinions?

Theories as to why that guy is making that face?

Who is our largest enemy in Iraq?

The L.A. Times has an answer:

Although Bush administration officials have frequently lashed out at Syria and Iran, accusing it of helping insurgents and militias here, the largest number of foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from a third neighbor, Saudi Arabia, according to a senior U.S. military officer and Iraqi lawmakers.

About 45% of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians and security forces are from Saudi Arabia; 15% are from Syria and Lebanon; and 10% are from North Africa, according to official U.S. military figures made available to The Times by the senior officer. Nearly half of the 135 foreigners in U.S. detention facilities in Iraq are Saudis, he said.

Fighters from Saudi Arabia are thought to have carried out more suicide bombings than those of any other nationality, said the senior U.S. officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity.

Well, seeing that 15 of the 19 September 11th hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, I guess this supports the President's ascertation that "the same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq are the ones who attacked us on Sept. 11." Of course, President Bush was talking about Al Qaeda in Iraq, and not Saudis, but even I can admit when the President inadvertently gets it half-right.

Now, I'd be a lax blogger if I didn't make two follow-up points:

1. Who is one of our allies in the War on Terrorism? Saudi Arabia.

2. Which Middle Eastern royal family has good and friendly relationship with the Bush family? Saudi Arabia's royal family.

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe--nor am I saying--that all Saudis are against us. But based on the above paragraph, it seems pretty clear why we haven't heard much about the Saudi Arabia/Iraq insurgency connection...

Finally, someone figured out those damn Pearl Jam lyrics!

what a relief, it's all so clear now!

Leahy lays a smackdown

Hot damn. Or, as Andrew Sullivan notes, "here's what's been wrong with the Bush administration from Day One."

Pick the new SC licence plate

Do you live in South Carolina? Are you originally from South Carolina? Did you go to a school in South Carolina? Do you ever drive through South Carolina? Well then, you'd probably prefer it if South Carolina's next license plate is not boring as hell (Michigan), does not resemble a Saturday morning cartoon (Kentucky), literally be "gay" (Hawaii), look like someone spent about 3 seconds designing it (Missouri), or have an outline of the state so people know they're not in Kansas anymore (Nebraska).

Well, you're in luck, because the Palmetto State wants your help in picking the next license plate. The three choices are below:




















I know what you're thinking: "Wow, I really like that one, but those other two are ugly as sin, and I would hate to see them darken the fair Palmetto State. I better make sure the one I like wins." Good, I like the way you think! And because you have a favorite choice, you should go here, vote, and ensure that for years to come, all South Carolinians will be proud to look at the backside of the car in front of them.