Nightglow Window

The Age Of Potter

Tomorrow at midnight the waiting will be over. Our pre-order is in. Heather G (a huge fan) has cleared her entire weekend. I can feel the extreme case of cotton mouth beginning already. What will happen? How will it end? And will life be bearable once the final page of the Harry Potter saga is finished and we must say goodbye to our excellent friends?

Stephen King wrote a nice essay on this in the latest Entertainment Weekly. Like all of us, he's eager to read Deathly Hallows but knows of the great melancholia that will accompany its conclusion. He also knows firsthand how hard it is to bring an epic to a satisfying climax.

I, for one, am grateful to have lived in the age of Potter -- and at precisely the best time possible: with young children to share the adventure with. The Sorcerer's Stone was one of the first chapter books I ever read to Sydney. I have read every page of every Harry Potter book to her since. As Harry has grown, so has Sydney. To the point where I was worried that she wouldn't want me to read the final book to her, since she is entering the fifth grade next year.

Not to worry. She understands the tradition as well as I do, how and why it's so special. So tomorrow night we will stay up late, head over to Barnes & Noble at midnight, and delve one final and hopefully wonderful time into J.K. Rowling's magical world. I intend to savor each moment.


Lord Voldemort

P.S.
So we went to see Order Of The Phoenix last night (which was wonderful) and when we all came home, hopped up on the movie's whirl, I checked my e-mail and did the most crazy double-take ever.

On some French fashion magazine Web Site was a photo gallery of some big la soirée Dom Pérignon whoop-de-doo party held during fashion week in Paris.

There among the party photos of Claudia Schiffer, Karl Lagerfeld, and Jude Law was Lord Voldemort himself, actor Ralph Fiennes. But no, the weird bit was who he was with in the photo: My Sister Janet! Seriously. My sister. In Paris. During Fashion Week. With Ralph Fiennes.

This, no doubt, will be quite a story. Fortunately, she arrives Saturday for her annual two week visit where she'll rent the same beach house down along La Jolla Shores.


My sister Janet with Lord Voldemort. Weird. Really weird.