The Deathly Hollows

For the few of you who are not aware, the seventh and final Harry Potter installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (which I still keep on trying to pronounce wrong), came out today. Though it took me about 12 hours to read, excluding sleeping time, etc., the process of getting my hands on the book took over half as long.

I got to the local Barnes & Nobles at about a quarter to six in the evening. I presumed that the proceedings would be similar to the midnight party for the last book: a bit crowded, slightly disorganized, but a relatively quick process, assuming you can force your way through a geeky mosh pit.

Geeky mosh pit meaning hundreds of people looking like this^

The event was more organized than I expected; it was organized as far as the far end of the back of Staples! The line to get wristbands was a lot like Disneyland: it was long, and it took a long time to get through. Maybe the B&N people weren't so organized after all.

View from the back of the line. Time is 5:47.
...2 hours later...Look! we rounded a corner!
Finally, a view of the front (and boy, isn't a Starbucks sounding good now).
Wristband attained: 8:26.

Inside the Geek Hall...I mean, Great Hall! Of B&N, yes... Actually, these people are dressed fairly normally. The excited people must be upstairs.
12:01 arrives with thunderous cheers and the sound of tills.

I used to be a huge Harry Potter fan, especially leading up to the sixth installment (I figure that gets me the right to laugh at all of us crazy "Harry Potter Freaks"). I realized last night that I wasn't overwhelmingly excited about this book coming out. I supposed that part of the indifference is because I've been doing so many other activities that put the books in perspective as well as on the shelf. Despite this, the shock that the series is finally over is beginning to hit. This series has in essence been a symbol of my childhood; I've been following the books since I was a little kid. The end of the series represents the end of my childhood.

On that note, I need to start packing for that next stage in life. Next Sunday Jenn and I head out on our roadtrip to Wheaton, which doesn't leave much time for reminiscing about lost childhood and books. I've been leaving packing until after I finish the 7th book. Now it's time, I guess.