I must not tell lies.

It is Wednesday, July 15. This means two important things. Firstly, it is Kat's birthday. Secondly, it is the release date of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Price, the sixth installment in the movie franchise based on the best-selling books by J.K. Rowling. Maybe you've heard of them.

Waiting in line outside the theater last night:


I'm a huge fan of the books as are the majority of my friends. I think they are brilliant and fantastic and that J.K. Rowling is doubly those things. I think you're crazy if you haven't read them. (And I get my rage when your reason is to the tune of "I don't see what the big deal is. Such a fad." You are not the exception to the rule here. Read the books THEN form your opinion.)

One of the greatest parts about being a fan is the fanDOM. I can't explain what it's like to celebrate something fantastic and brilliant with others. It's about community, I suppose. Love and friendship, things the books preach out into a vortex of evil. The costumes, the gear, the vernacular are all by-products of this awesome. I learned how to knit so I could have a Gryffindor scarf.

Snacks by my friend Katherine for our Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book release party in July 2007:


At Barnes and Noble waiting for the release of the final book in this epic series in 2007:


My friends and I gearing up for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie. We are spectacular dorks. And not ashamed at all:


I hadn't read the books in two years and so I set to work four weeks ago. I read all seven, finishing the epilogue during dinner last night. I wanted to start from the beginning, to make charts and graphs and outline these characters. These books are powerful, powerful things and I feel privileged to be alive and around to attend release parties and movies.

I go to the midnight showing because of the fans. I've never had a better movie-viewing experience than with this group of people. These Potter-lovers grouped around blankets and chairs, casting hexes and reading aloud. And then, when we're in the theater, when the lights drop, there are cheers followed by silent reverence. Applause when our beloved characters take the screen.

The crowd last night waiting for the film to begin:


And the first few seconds of the movie last night, complete with the cheers of the 1,000 biggest fans in Southern California:


The fans are fantastic and brilliant just like the stories. And I repeat my plea time and time again, to give the books a chance. You don't have to knit your own scarf, but you might want to. You might not look or feel like my type of fan, but you'll still be a fan. I know it.