Before I get started, this is NOT an anti-H.P. thread. Read the last one I started. Rather than blog this, I thought I'd put it here in case anyone else's town had similar offerings.

I wonder if the people here in Oak Park are more crazy over H.P. than anywhere else! They turned a stretch of Oak Park Avenue into Diagon Alley, and did a pretty darn good job, too. The Divination Tea that my daughter and her best friend went to seemed pretty cool, especially as it was held in the Pleasant Home, an historical landmark. There was a HUGE quidditch field behind the home, too, and a few blocks away they had a Muggles Miniature Golf. That's just a sampling of the daylong activities.

We went to this old church for a reading of the "Prisoner of Azkaban" book (yeah, in a church!). While most of the performers were very good, and the adaptation fairly well done, what made the experience hard to take was that the church had no air conditioning, and all the fans were turned off! It was unbearable. We left at the end of the first act. No big deal. The tickets were free anyway.

My kid was supposed to be at the Magic Tree Bookstore at 11:30 p.m. to receive her award for that H.P. writing contest. No way, she, and the rest of us, were long asleep by then. She could have been one of the first 13 in line to buy the new book there. I don't think so - it was cheaper to order through Amazon. But it is a nice store.

All of this made the local news. I just wanted to know who was paying for all this!

I am praying that this new book is better than the last. MUCH better.

So, any other stories?

Okay, I found out who's paying for this in Oak Park. From what I understand the bulk, if not all, came from a grant and private funds. Don't get me wrong about H.P. now, folks (we've been through that before), but I didn't like the idea that my tax dollars MIGHT HAVE been used to promote a book when that woman has enough money, and our school systems are screaming for cash. But my tax dollars weren't used, so I'm cool with it all.

But I bet people will misread this posting. Anyone want to bet me on that point?

Mere- the local nobelbarnes held a midnight party starting at 9:30PM last night. Gee- I missed out- hah! I'll wait the the CD -if they keep using the same reader as earlier - it will be great. I imagine the bookstore was picketed too by the righteous right - HP is evil you know(?) - we have a lot of crazies around here. Luckily the HP books are in the local school libraries and the kids do read them. Some kids can only read them at school - I'm not certain whether their parents are illiterate or just plain stupid. Had a kid tell me that his mother wouldn't let him read about "witchcraft." I asked if his mother had read any books on witchcraft and he said no. I don't teach at that school any more - could it be I offended someone?
lol Mary Grace xxxxxxxxxx