First of all, here are my predictions pre-reading. I think that Harry lives. I think that he and Voldermort fight it out and Voldermort dies. I am not sure about who dies, though. After talking about it at work today I’m thinking that maybe it’s Hagrid? I don’t think she will kill off Ron or Hermione. At least I hope not. I think that Dumbledore is still alive, though. Somehow I think he is still alive. I can’t believe that Snape, of all people, kills him.
Okay. On to my day.
8:30 AM: Okay. So today is the big day. I pre-ordered my copy from Amazon in April and am expecting it to arrive today. No problem. Frankly, I’m not in a big hurry to read it since I’m currently reading something that I really like,Abundance by Sena Jeter Nasland. I am planning to read through that first and then read H.P. Besides, Raf is planning on reading it first.
9:00 AM. I arrive at work. Open my e-mail. Most of them are from a youth services list-serve I subscribe to. They are all about Harry Potter. I read through a few of them. Okay. I’m getting kind of excited.
9:10: I check to see if our books came in. They did. The holds are getting processed. I am tempted to pick one of them up and look inside. I don’t.
10:00: Check news headlines. They are mostly about Harry Potter. Some of them are spoilers. I click on a link that says: “Spoiler warning.” I get to the article but don’t read it. I close the browser.
11:00: One of the pages is in the lunch room, buried in the book. She looks very serious.
11:30: I wonder if it would be wrong if I take one of the H.P. books off of the patron hold shelf and read it over the lunch break?
12:00: I decide against reading one of the patron hold books. I like my job too much. So I sit at lunch, reading “Abundance” while two of my coworkers read H.P. sigh.
2:00: Almost all of our H.P. holds are still on the hold shelf! I’m totally shocked that the patrons didn’t come to pick them up right away.
3:00: I read the headlines again. Tempted to find out the ending the easy way. Does Harry die or doesn’t he?
4:00: One of the pages tells me this story, “A little kid came to the desk and asked if he can just look at one of the H.P. books we have on hold. The book is handed to him. The kid opened the book and read the last page, closed it, and handed it back to the person behind the desk. Shocked, everyone in his vicinity says, “DON’T TELL US ANYTHING!”
5:00: Raf comes into the library to drop off the car keys. He tells me that we got the book and he has read the first chapter. He says he could hardly put it down. I realize I won’t be able to pry it out of his hands until he’s done with it.
5:05: Those holds are still there. I wonder if it would be bad if I take one home with me over the weekend?
5:15: Maybe I should buy another copy on the way home?
6:00: I’m off work and I come home to an empty house and The Book sitting on the couch. Alone.
6:01: I immediately pick it up. I look at the cover and open it. At the front of the book it states that this is the final installment of the Harry Potter series (or something like that) and I feel kind of sad. I read the dedication. I read the quotes. And then I start reading chapter one. I read the first two chapters before Raf comes home.
What do I think after the first two chapters? Now I’m thinking that Dumbledore really is gone. sigh. The first chapter is really good. The second chapter is, essentially, a “reprint” of what was written in memoriam of Albus Dumbledore in the Daily Prophet. It gets kind of dull and I dozed off a couple of times. This chapter is the reason why I get a little bit annoyed at the books. Rowling goes off on these tangents that take away from the story, in my opinion. But that’s all it is. Raf said he actually kind of liked that chapter.
I am going to try to sneak in a chapter here and there this weekend while Raf isn’t looking, and I think I will blog my progress. I can’t wait to see how this story plays out.
Sat at a booth that my mom and I manned at a craft show and knitted all day. Not a bad way to spend the day. We sold two things. Oh well.
A co-worker told me to watch last Friday’s edition of Bill Moyer’s Journal on PBS. The show was all about impeachment, specifically, how important it is that we impeach President Bush right now. That if we don’t do it we are setting a precedent for future presidents. When I went to the website I found I could subscribe to a weekly podcast of his program. And I did just that. And I listened to the “Tough Talk on Impeachment” show that was on last Friday. Can I just say? You need to watch or listen to this. It’s very interesting. It’s not just some crazy liberals sitting around saying that we need to impeach Bush (me, for example). One of the guys that is interviewed is Bruce Fein, the man who wrote the first article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, and the man who wrote a more recent article for Slate calling for the impeachment of Cheney. There are some VERY interesting points made in this program. You should seriously watch this .
And while you are there, watch “Buying the war.” It’s about how the mainstream media failed to do their job in the lead-up to the Iraq War. Can we impeach them, too? Just asking.
The Podcast can be found the usual way, search the iTunes store for “Bill Moyers” and it will come right up. It’s free and you can download the archives, as well.
