"Let me see." I said, glancing at the calendar. "Oh, I can't make it. That day is July 21. I have a meeting with HP. I can't do anything else that day."
"Who the heck is HP?", C exclaimed.
"Duh - Harry Potter!!!" said I.
C complained, "So Harry Potter is more important to you than your friend? Hmph X-(!"
Puzzled that someone should even have the doubt, I replied, "Of course! Harry Potter is more important than *anyone* else!"
Yes, I have been planning for tomorrow for a long time. I have carefully avoided scheduling any other activity for the day. The only tasks on tomorrow's agenda are:
- get up in the morning
- wait for my book to be delivered from Amazon
- start reading it
- continue reading till I turn the last page of the book.
I was telling another friend, V about it. He asked me why I was not buying the book from the store. I said I wanted to have the luxury of sitting in my pajamas, drinking tea when the book arrived.
V grinned wickedly and said, "Going by your past experience, when tomorrow evening comes around, you will be in stinky pajamas with a cold cup of tea, still awaiting the arrival of the book. After all, it has happened before."
My heart sank as my mind raced back to 2005. I had pre-ordered book HP book number 6 from Amazon. The great day of the book release, Saturday, July 16, 2005, dawned bright and clear. And turned into an even brighter and clearer noon. And then started fading into an inky dusk. But of my book, there was no sign. On Sunday morning, I finally convinced myself that it was not going to show up "on time".
What had happened was this. My former roomie shares my first name. When she had moved out of our apartment a couple of months earlier, she had made a change of address request at the USPS office. After that, the USPS folks, in their infinite wisdom, started forwarding quite a few of my mails to her new address (is it such an unusual thing for two people to share the same first name?). My poor HP book-6 had also apparently joined the ranks of the mis-delivered mail. And since my roomie was not home that day, the book went back to the post office and then to the warehouse and then to Sacramento and then.... oh, lets not focus on that sordid tale.
The net result was, a month after book-6's release, I finally got a replacement copy from Amazon. But long before that, I borrowed V's copy of the book and read it from cover to cover.
For a hard-core HP fan like me, each of the few days between the date of book-6's release and the date I actually got to reading it felt like I was stepping through land mines. It was impossible to log onto the Net without bumping into 20 million HP-related links, possibly with spoilers. It was difficult to talk to ppl without warning them beforehand to stay off the HP topic. Not to mention, my almost unbearable curiosity. Phew!
I don't want a repeat performance of 2005. I want my HP book-7 tomorrow, safe and sound. And by this time tomorrow, I want to have finished reading it :-). Amen to that!
p.s. Is book-7 really the last HP book? Sniff!
17 comments:
I got up early, took shower... and now waiting to hear my door bell ring.
Reading ur post made me a little worried... I'll be so sad if I don't get my book today.
My book just got here... I had to tell someone...
Happy reading, we will share notes on sunday.
Happy reading.
HP countdown in your blog has gone crazy like you and every other HP fan since the release of the book. I was hoping that it would change to "time-since-release" timer after the release, but it is broken.
u did get the book finally?? didja??
So where r u at now... I'm at pg 388, chapter 20. Lots of stuff happening...
-thanu ... too lazy to log in
lol finished reading it :) see the review ;)
Finished reading at 2.30 AM.... mixed feeling abt the book.
What do u think happened to Luna?
Maybe it was mentioned... probably read over it..
They don't talk abt anyone else but ginny and ron... I like how ron says don't marry a pureblood grandfather will be mad.
Do u remember Ginny carrying a gal who was hurt? Maybe that was Luna? Maybe Luna didn't make it.
Email me @ thanurambles@gmail.com so we don't spoil for ppl reading the comments here
how did neville get the sword..
LOL! :--) I am assuming the book made it to you without any issues this time.
I should write a similar post now.
Agree with your PS. I am a little sad its all over though.
Thanu, Neville got it from the Sorting Hat.
I think Luna is safe and sound. Every death was described so much, JKR wouldnt have left her out.
I enjoyed the last chapter a lot! So cute. ;--)
Watched the Order of Phoenix yesterday. It was decent.
Thanu - glad that you got the book on time and finished before going to bed too :-))!
K2K - I know :-D! I guess the timer got pretty excited too!
Wacko - yup, it arrived at 2.00p on Saturday :-). I don't think I have ever been so excited to the see the postman :-)!
Vishesh - neat! Did you like it? Which of your blogs had the review - you have too many blogs :-((!
Saranya - yup, yup it did make it to me safe and sound (or you guys would have been treated to the biggest crib of the century ;-))).
Archana - very busy these days, kya? I liked the HP-5 movie too!
my hubby and I are not talking to each other these days, because I finished the book, and he hasn't :)
No spoilers....no hints......geez!
Saumya - lol - thats funny! But totally understandable though!
Ive had hilarious experiences... I had to wait a month (!!!) before i could read boook 6... i made sure to have LOUD music playing on my earphones wherever i went.. finally when i went with my book to sit and read it, i went to open my window. a friend who lives adjacent appeared at her window, saw the book in my hand and said- Oh dumbledore dies in this na? **@&#%^#)*#) she had to grovel for more than a month before i forgave her for that one... She hadnt even ever read a single HP...
Before book 7, i had to wait a week or so. i stayed offline for the whole time (impossible for me) and walked around college clamping my hands to my ears whenever i saw talking people approaching... Ppl thought i was insane... :P
Wasnt worth it... Book 7 was a total disappointment..
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