off topic

Things that have nothing (ok, almost nothing) to do with Harry Potter:

Now that I'm home, Moochka has become a little attention 'ho. I wake up in the morning and she's curled under my arm. I sit on my desk chair and she squeezes between my back and the seat. She now has a hanging belly, which my mother says may be the result of "only a few bagels" she was fed while staying with Granma. Spoiled brat.

I get to see my friend Jason on Friday, as he's coming in to go to Anthony's first performance in RENT on Broadway in...oh...what is it, 9 or 10 years or something? Crap, I should try to go to that. I was just going to show up at the end and act like we'd never met and I was asking for his autograph for the first time, as a goof. Now I really want to see it.

I read the book with my heart-friends, Kathleen and David, in the back room of a beautiful lake house owned by my friend Sarah in Hinsdale, Il. With John and Sue in the same house it was almost perfect, and with several other awesome Leakytype people with us, it was more than I could have asked for. And then there were ducks. (I'll explain later.)

I have become a narcoleptic. Not seriously, medically, but I keep dozing off as I visit friends. I saw Meg yesterday and passed right out on her sofa. Also today, while shopping with mom, zzzz. This is despite several full nights of sleep but no doubt relating to the near month of madness that just occurred.

My sister is taking the Bar Exam right now. I'm terrified to call her and disturb her and so I have not spoken to her since I returned. She left me a message that she'd picked up her DH, though, and it's sitting unopened in a bag until her tests are done. Doesn't that suck.

Also sisterly news: Sunday is her engagement dinner. I actually wrote Jo Rowling a note last month that thanked her for making the release of the book the 21st and not 28th. I narrowly escaped. Imagine that conversation. "Hey Steph, love you and all, and I'm your maid of honor and all that, but...Harry Potter is coming out. See ya." Right. That would have been GREAT. Anyway, I finally got a dress today, which I'll also use for that ball they're having at Prophecy in Toronto next week; it's shimmery and deep blue, with a taupe sash and a bubbled skirt. My mother found shoes, and my favorite-ever pieces of my grandmother's jewelry go perfectly with it. In a completely girly way the whole thing excites me. I used to love, love, love playing dressup, and haven't lost the excitement it brings now.

I know it's been posted publicly so thank god I can say it: Meg is now engaged. She met Devin on The Sugar Quill shortly after HBP; about 10 minutes after she finished reading DH, he took her to the spot where he finished reading and got down on one knee. And again, and again, and perhaps for all time, we're reminded how these books have changed people's lives. When she told me I just repeated "Oh my ... god!' for about five minutes, then started to say "Congratulations," but only got up to "Congratu," because the word felt so thin and cheap. They are so cute and happy, and I'm so happy for them.

OK, that was a lot about Harry Potter. Who cares! As Arjuna says, the world is bleeding Harry Potter. It is true. And certainly true for me. Because I have a ludicrous amount of work to do before January 9. Ack.

Since we're not really off topic, another HP-related story. I got a hilarious phone call from the Harry and the Potters caravan earlier. But first:

I'M

SO

GOING

TO

SPOIL

YOU

FOR

DEATHLY

HALLOWS

RIGHT

NOW

IF

YOU

DON'T

LEAVE

MY

PAGE

Anyway, I pick up the phone and it's Emily. "Hey Melissa. I have to tell you something."
"Yeah?"
"Hedwig dies."
"HOLY CRAP YOU JUST DESTROYED THE WHOLE BOOK FOR ME GODDAMIT!"
"Well, Brad wants to tell you something."
"OK."
"Hey Melissa."
"Hey Brad, whattup."
"Hedwig dies."
"Thanks a lot for killing the entire book for me, man."
"Hang on, Paul wants to tell you something."
"OK."
"Yo Anelli."
"Hey DeGeorge."
"Hedwig dies."
"You just ruined the WHOLE EFFING BOOK FOR ME, THANKS!"
[Laughter] "He didn't seem too broken up about it either! He just went RIGHT ON!"
"I know! And it was a pet! Pet deaths are no joke!"
"Hang on! Brian wants to tell you something."
"OK."
"Hey Melissa."
"Hey Brian, guess what, Hedwig dies!"
"..."
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Actually, Brad and my dog died in a motorcycle accident. So we were pretty bummed."
"Whoa, that sucks. I'm sorry."
"Oh, it's OK. Hold on, Joe wants to tell you something."
"OK."
"Hey Melissa!"
"Hey Joe, HEDWIG DIES!"
"NO NO NO, QUIRREL DIES!"
"NO WAY!"
"Yes way!"
"You - are - KIDDING me!"
"Totally! Voldemort was living in the back of his head, HOW WEIRD IS THAT?"
"Oh man, I can't believe it! I thought he was good!"
"ME TOO!"
"But you know what? GINNY opened the Chamber of Secrets!"
"GET OUTTA TOWN!"
"Seriously! Harry had to save Ginny Weasley from the Basilisk!"
"...[laughing]...Hang on, Paul has something else to tell you..."
"Hey Anelli, Cedric DIGGORY bites it!"
"OH DON'T EVEN, SERIOUSLY!?"
"Yes!"
"You know what, that Sirius Black? Not such a bad guy after all!"
"No way!"
"But then he dies."
"HE DIES? Man, who's she going to kill next, FRED?"
"I know!"
"I sure hope nothing happens to George's ear!"
"As long as Colin Creevy's all right, I'm OK!"

...

etc. etc etc etc. We are horrible people.