What Harry Potter has in common with the Olympics, the World Cup, and American Idol.
I don’t follow the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the World Cup, or American Idol, so I never realized how MUCH FUN it is to be swept up in a national frenzy of anticipation.
A friend and I went to stand in line outside the Barnes and Noble at Union Square, to pick up the wristbands that would give us a place in line to buy the books tonight after 12:01. The line wrapped around the block, and we waited for two hours to get number 348.
It was a pain, but it was also a lot of fun.
I've seen people all over the city carrying copies of various Harry Potter books under their arms. I saw a hip girl with a t-shirt that read, “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.” A guy on the subway saw our Barnes and Noble schedule and asked us about the countdown party.
It's thrilling to realize that so many strangers are as excited as I am. Being a participant in this mass enthusiasm is really making me happy. The whole city seems friendlier.
Maybe I’ll start watching the Olympics.
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Via 43 Folders, I saw an interesting post made by Mike Davidson about that perennial subject, how to manage emails. His suggestion: don't write or send any email that's longer than 5 sentences. Hmmm....I'm going to give it a shot.
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This is so fun! I'm excited to be swept up in your happiness. : ).
Posted by: Suze | July 20, 2007 at 02:28 PM
I remember Mike's e-mail suggestion(s) as well. I've been slowly but surely moving towards more concise messages. There is of course, those several page e-mails that just need to be written :-)
Posted by: Grayson De Ritis | July 20, 2007 at 03:20 PM
Yikes, 5 lines? I'm doomed. :-)
Nice site. I followed a link and ended up here.
Posted by: Marijke | July 20, 2007 at 10:23 PM
The problem with anticipation like this is that it can so often be disappointed. For instance, I anticipated a great performance by England in the last World Cup. What a disappointment! Any fun of anticipation was far outweighed by the depression introduced by their performance.
Posted by: Mal | July 22, 2007 at 06:20 AM
"Maybe I’ll start watching the Olympics." Well, as the commentator above indicated, you have to be careful if you start seeking that euphoria associated with sports. Studies have shown that people actually get physiologically depressed if the team they identify with loses. There's a real cost, and to get the highs associated with winning, you have to be a real fan, which means you can't suddenly decide you won't identify with the team if they do poorly.... Seems to me that your interest in the next Potter book is far safer.
Posted by: sea | July 22, 2007 at 10:19 AM
...and I'd bet you are deeply into HP7, right this very minute...
Posted by: Sharyn | July 23, 2007 at 08:13 AM
Oh, what a joy HP7 was. It's now Monday morning, and I've read it twice. And now I can look forward to re-reading the entire series, with the end in mind. This is far, far better than the Olympics could be.
Posted by: Gretchen Rubin | July 23, 2007 at 09:19 AM