Concerning Potter, Peepy and the Cupcake Bribe
Well, I had intended to pace myself while reading the last-and-final-and-no-more-after-this-HARRY-POTTER . . .


True to my word, I upheld my Harry Potter Diet, only reading while on the elliptical machine. But then I got to a point where I read/exercised for two hours straight, and the book got REALLY, REALLY, REALLY even more gripping. It totally drew me in, cast a spell on me, and made it so I couldn't move. It put a curse on me. But a good one.

So I STOOD frozen on the elliptical machine for half an hour while I read to the last page of the book.

No spoilers, here, but I will say that I am in awe of Ms. Rowling's mastery . . .

(Above: J.K. Rowling and Moi courtesy of The Toymaker.)

To sustain and increase interest in her books over seven volumes is incredible. I wept at the end of book seven because that was it. No more. Finito. Poof. What a journey we have all been privileged to be on. Ten years. For ten years we have lived with and loved the Harry Potter books. That's longer than a lot of marriages, presidential terms, and political promises.

Peepy is one of those who immediately read the last chapter first. In order to get her not to tell, I had to bribe her with a Top Hat (chocolate cupcake, topped with marshmallow cream, dipped in chocolate and chilled to a hard shell) from Violet's Cupcakes in Pasadena.

It worked. She was so cupcaked out she couldn't speak . . .








(If you'd like to meet Peepy in person, or discuss Harry Potter, we'll both be in Santa Monica this Saturday.)