Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Surprise Ending!

Okay, there's no way I'm writing anything about Potter. I feel like that's what I see in every blog post these days. I literally have to read link titles with a hand over a (blurred) eye, and even then I have to avoid certain sites. CNN had an link yesterday titled "Potter Spoilers Flood the Web." Newspapers leak book 7 "theories" within articles supposedly about the movie! Who wants to know these things???

I used to enjoy a site called "You're the man now, dog!" It's completely inane, but entertaining during serious procrastination sessions. Each sub-domain (thiscleveridea.ytmnd.com) features an animated gif and a (sometimes) cleverly related sound clip. Here are a few examples, but I would advise Potter readers should not visit these links!*

No More Mister Nice Guy
Paris Hilton Doesn't Change Facial Expressions
Captain Jean Luc Picard (of the USS Enterprise)

Sometimes racy, sometimes irreverent and sometimes just plain stupid, it was a great place to waste some time. You have to visit a few times to understand how its cannibalistic authors operate.

Why shouldn't potter fans visit? When book 6 came out, they had a plethora of these mini-sites that gave away the "big surprise". One included a soundbyte of a guy visiting the midnight bookstore line and screaming the spoiler to the crowd. Talk about a jerk move.

They're at it again with book seven, even changing the title in the site's homepage to reflect their theory. Other YTMND sites have been replaced, so clicking on an old favorite takes you to a scan of the manuscript with selections highlighted for the unsuspecting public.

At 700 pages a book now, this series probably represents more printed material than I've read in the twenty-something years leading up to it. The Book 5 surprise was ruined for me days before the release. Book 6, same thing. I'm doing my darnedest to go into book seven with only one early, un-substantiated rumor (and the hope that the rumor is bunk)

With my last week being out of town, I have hundreds of blogs to catch up on. I will probably be out of touch for the next week too, since the book comes out Friday night. I'll certainly be avoiding CNN, all interesting blogs and any newspaper. I may hideout in the woods. I plan on purchasing our books with those heavy duty headphones so stylishly worn by jackhammer operators. And I'm doing my best to avoid phone calls, emails and all direct eye contact.

My warp-speed-reading DW will be done with the book by Sunday morning. The following three weeks will be spent saying "so, what just happened?" and "I can't wait to talk to you about the next chapter!!" What a good sport she is. :)