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Two Methyloctane

Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 6:14 am

Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 96 Location: Calgary, Canada

... Order of the Pheonix came out?

... You first got interested in HP?

OotP: Didn't know it had come out. I was finishing high school, studying, planning for grad, and preparing for soccer tournaments. I got OotP as a grad gift from my parents.

HP: My younger sister got HP for Christmas one year, and a few months after that, decided "heck, why not?" and fell in love... *sigh*

Where were you?

EDIT: Sorry for the number of new topics by yours truly... I'm quite tired and quite chatty right now... you can just ignore me if you're bored of me... or don't like me, lol... Confused

_________________
**In Snape We Trust**
"I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire

Verity Brown

Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 7:10 am

Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 150 Location: Midwest USA

When OotP came out, I was on my way home (with my family) from the first trip (of several) that resulted in our exile to the state I now live in. (Give me my ruby slippers; I'm not in Kansas anymore and I want go home!)

I first got interested in HP in the summer of 2000. My father had just died and I had the kids at my mother's house for a month, helping her get my dad's affairs settled. I had heard of Harry Potter, but I wasn't into "jump on the bandwagon" things. However, my best friend loaned me her family's copy of PS/SS, and I started reading it to my oldest son, who was then about eight (the younger siblings were there too, but I'm not convinced they were actually listening). That started both of us on the path of HP fandom.

_________________
I still have implicit faith in Severus Snape. Now more than ever.

astronae

Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 7:50 am

Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 6 Location: Brisbane, Australia

... You first got interested in HP?
Lying on a friends lounge hung over. She had rented the first movie and watching it made me completely forget about the hang-over.

... Order of the Pheonix came out?
In my bedroom studying for my Anatomy and Physiology exam that was on the monday after OOTPs release. Buying and reading OOTP was an extra special treat after two biology exams, a physics exam and an information systems exam.

Kherezae

Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 7:22 pm

Joined: 16 Jul 2005 Posts: 29 Location: Maryland

HP:

Seventh grade, I believe, shortly after Goblet of Fire had come out. I think a friend who rode the same bus encouraged me to try them, so I did.

OotP:

Having a sleepover with my two best friends so they could meet each other. While my dad went out to get the book at midnight. And I got to read it first even though it was his birthday. ...Parents are great.

Melvacaea

Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:14 pm

Joined: 06 May 2005 Posts: 36

...first interested in HP?

My dad brought it home the day after it came out when he came home from a meeting in the States. He saw it in the airport and thought it'd be a nice gift. I got hooked on HP then.

....when OotP came out?

Right here in this very house -- the old folk's house. I read it in 4 hours, stunning my grandparents.

_________________
"One word removes us from the weight and pain of life -- that word is love." -Sophocles

Severus' mind is his own. We can only speculate.

aphrodeia

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:20 am

Moderator Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 46

When Order of the Phoenix came out, I was working at a bookstore in Central Minnesota. We got the shipment with the books about a week in advance, and plastered all over the boxes were enormous electric-pink stickers which called for our termination if those boxes were opened before the street date. Very Happy

I hadn't read any of the Harry Potter books yet, so the suspense was bearable. I was intrigued, but I guess I hadn't gotten around to reading them yet. After catching some snippets from OotP in news articles, however, I knew I had to read this series and find out what this Dumbledore person was talking about.

That was it! I was hooked. I worked the store all day (which we were all forced to do, and with good reason, as I'm sure you can imagine), and took home copies of all of the HP books. The rest is history.

JackieJLH

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 6:15 am

Joined: 23 Mar 2005 Posts: 130 Location: Florida, USA

*Grins sheepishly*

I honestly have no idea where I was when OotP came out, because I didn't have the slightest idea that Harry Potter existed...

Which leads to when I first became interested in HP - My best friend is a huge fan, but I *blush* thought they looked like children's books, so I never bothered to read one...

So through a series of freak accidents, odd coincidences, and pure desperation, I found myself in dire need of a new home (damn those tricky hurricanes...Florida sucks, btw). Anyway, my friend and I ended up roommates, and then were subsequently slammed with another hurricane, rendering just about the entire town 'electricity-deficient', as Florida Power and Light called it, for nearly a month.

Well, I don't know if any of you have ever tried to sleep in 105+ degree weather (115+ with humidity, and higher on some days) with absolutely no air flow in your room, but it's next to impossible. Besides, it gets dark around seven p.m., but I'm a night person, so I would just sit there in the dark for hours and hours, trying to coax my body into sleep. Completely frustrated, and extremely bored, I pulled PS/SS off the bookshelf because the HP books were the only ones on there that I hadn't yet read.

Four flashlights worth of batteries, three candles and a sunrise later, I had read the first three books and was thoroughly hooked. The rest is a sordid tale of HP obsession, but I won't subject y'all to that. Smile

Most of it just revolves around Severus Snape anyway; I'm sure you can all relate.

Last edited by JackieJLH on Fri Mar 24, 2006 8:55 am; edited 1 time in total
_________________
~Jackie

I once had a real life. Then I discovered Harry Potter. Then I discovered Harry Potter on the internet... *shrug* Real life is overrated anyway.

Kedd

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 10:08 pm

Joined: 24 Apr 2005 Posts: 8 Location: NS or ON, Canada

OOTP: Seventh in line at the bookstore. In costume Very Happy

Yeah, a friend and I definitely get a few strange looks as we are definitely over the age of twenty and yet dress up for the release of the books.

Harry Potter: Well, the year it first came out, a friend of mine who works at a local bookstore had reccommended it to my mother who was, at that point, still trying to get my younger brother to read. We were on our way home from a family trip to ski in Quebec [12 hour drive or so], passing through New Brunswick when I finished off the last of the library books I had brought with me. My brother was, as per usual, not reading, so I reached to the back window and started. I was finished well before we got home. I think I started reading it again.

My brother did read it eventually. He grudgingly admitted that it "didn't suck".

celisnebula

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 2:38 pm

Joined: 31 Dec 2004 Posts: 312 Location: USA

[quote="Two Methyloctane"]... Order of the Pheonix came out?

... You first got interested in HP?

quote]

Order of the Pheonix came out?
Standing in line until 2:30 in the morning with my then, 8 year old son, who has been Harry Potter for Halloween every year since he was 6. Waldens down the street from us had a book party, and the whole street was filled with kids because those of us who live in the neighborhood decided to have a block party as well (we didn't do that this time though Crying or Very sad

.

You first got interested in HP?[br] Actually, I became a fan before the books made it across the Atlantic. I've quite a few friends and family members over in the UK, and when something comes out that they think I'll like, they send it over. I'm always getting Tom Holt books (he is a brilliant fantasy writer), Mark Chadbourn (I've actually only gotten one of his but it was good), and a few others (I got this really awesome book about fairies in modern day from a UK author but I can't remember his name for the life of me at the moment).

_________________
Celis~~~
And they say we're crazy
http://www.livejournal.com/users/celisnebula/

Sparrow

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 1:54 pm

Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Posts: 13 Location: The Wheat Fields of Kansas

OoTP: I have no idea. I do remember that it was a paperback edition that I bought first. Don't worry I have since updated to all hardback books. Embarassed

HP in general: Oh, that's easy. Hubby was working nights at the time, and the kiddies were asleep. I watched SS on HBO. Then went out the next day and rented CoS. Hubby was not happy when I bought books 3, 4, & 5 all at once. Read them and then bought books 1 & 2.

The poor guy has finally figured out what a bibliophile I am. He's talking about turning our little computer room into a library with built in shelves and everything. I love a man that can cook, and build furniture.

Now I have infected my sister with the HP bug. She has spent the last week reading the first 5 books. Then called me asking, " Who the hell is the Half Blood Prince?" Told her when she finishes the book to call me.

enough rambling.

_________________
Hurt heals, chicks dig scars and glory is forever. KKJ

azazello

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 4:11 pm

Joined: 29 Nov 2004 Posts: 183 Location: Northern UK

Quote:

.. Order of the Pheonix came out?

... You first got interested in HP?

I first bought PS/SS in 1997 when the Guardian newspaper's education page suggested it was good for reluctant readers. I have one of those at home,and bought it for Christmas (she was about 9). We read it, I got hooked and I sneaked ahead at night.

I became hooked at the point when the Hogwarts letters followed Harry about, and increased in numbers.

After we read, I went straight out and bought COS and then waited for POA. Remember the first two books were much more of a series than a serial. POA changed the Potter agenda, and I realised in 1999 this thing was bigger than just a set of cute quirky children's books. I've had every book from and including POA on first day, they are all first editions. They will never make me money, I've read them to rags.

OOTP: Bought on first day of issue, though never at midnight. I was read ahead of anyone, at this point and sought for someone or other to discuss it with. I had not owned a home PC until 2002.

I went online. Google found the discussion group Harry Potter for Grown Ups on yahoo. It was and is the canon discussion group for things Potter. The standard of posting is high, and there is a pleasing lack of fangirl, fanfiction references, and shipping. I still watch there, though sadly do not have the time to return to heavy duty canon debating.

Anyone who is genuinely interested in proper canon debate, on all subjects Harry Potter, can do no worse than join that group. It is NOT a place to pimp fanfic or refer to fanfic. Nor will arguments about what Rickman did or did not in the movies be welcome. This is book canon, and it's pretty serious, though there are one or two posters who can be fiendishly funny. Generally, I found it welcoming, encouraging, and the best non-bitchy way into fandom (compare and contrast with certain overcliquey shipping mailing boards, where you will be modded off for being OT without notice, UNLESS you are a chum of the moderator - then it seems you can post any old rubbish you want...) New posters are moderated until the time that the mods (the list elves) determine they can be trusted to keep on topic. Flaming, OT posting, and me-tooing is strictly prohibited, and if you do not clip your posts you'll be the recipient of a letter telling you to sort out your posts. That might sound snotty, but if you are new to mailing lists and stuff as I was, it's actually quite a good apprenticeship. The reason for such control is that there are 18000 members on the list, and also at times of high traffic, like right now, after a new book, the list is very high volume. I recommend this list to all serious posters (if you are more of a fanfic bent, I'd equally suggest you stay away) with the proviso you go either digest email, or special notices.

However, that aside...

After I'd read through all the archives on Snape, I was bored, followed their archives for links to fanfic, and there you go. I discovered fanfiction net one Sunday, was horrified, and stuck to recs list. I read a good Snape/OFC (R J Anderson's Darkness and Light Trilogy - still one of the best ever SS/OFC fics) and was struck by the fact that I would have paid to read that if it were published.

I could not find the story I wanted, a really good Snape/Lily, so in the end I wrote my own.

As we speak, I cannot find a really good Snape/Lily. My own is Jossed. I might write my own.

Call it the circle of life, or something.

_________________
Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony ~ Monty Python and the Holy Grail

rowenablue

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 6:26 pm

Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 2

HP-I was in my aunt's dining room, listening to her vast list of all the reasons why I should read the books and watch the first HP movie (which had just been released and she had rushed out to purchase.) It was late and I had to get up early the next morning to go to work, so I agreed to take the movie home with me and watch it. I'm one of those people that picks up a book and finds that it has glued itself to my hand with a Permanent Sticking Charm that will not wear off until I finish reading it. The next week was spent in a blur of many sleepless nights and unending days of trying to do my job with one hand as whichever HP book I was reading was stuck to the other one, until I finished GoF. After that it turned into months of agonizing waiting for the release of OotP.

OotP-I had only recently ventured into the world of owning a PC and having access to the web, and had not realized until too late that I could preorder the book. So, I had resigned myself to wait until the rush on the stores was over to buy my own copy, and was having a late night phone conversation with a friend of mine who had preordered and was receiving her copy in the mail the next day when OotP came out. We were talking about the bet they had going in Vegas about which character JKR was going to kill in OotP, and I was begging her to tell me if it was Hagrid. I think my exact words were, "Just tell me if it's Hagrid. I'll need to be forewarned if it is; one box of tissues won't be adequate and I'll need to have time to shop."

The next day, I had to make a trip to WalMart, and when I walked in the door, I noticed a large crowd of people fighting and pushing to try and get to the center of the mass, and then I saw one person emerge from the fray clutching a copy of OotP. Grateful for once that my purse weighed as much as a Saint Bernard, I promptly let out a great battle cry, beat my way to the center to find three shopping carts fastly emptying of their precious cargo of OotP books. I quickly grabbed two copies, one for me and one for my cousin and, snarling and still swinging my purse with my free hand, I pushed myself free from the crowd and ran to the register. I completely forgot about what I had originally intended to buy, which turned out to be catfood, but I don't think my cats minded as they got my dinner of shrimp cocktail that night as a result and I lived off of a diet of HP for the next two days.

Lady Whitehart

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 6:01 pm

Joined: 20 Jul 2005 Posts: 38 Location: East Coast USA

I got hooked on HP when I was stuck on bedrest during my first pregnancy in the summer of 1998. A friend lent them to me saying they were 'a good way to pass the time'. And they were.

OotP I purchased a marked-down hard-cover copy about three months after the release.

I recently stasted reading PS/SS with my oldest who will be seven in October.

_________________
There is no point in arguing with an idiot, they will just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

luckycharms

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 7:42 pm

Joined: 20 Jul 2005 Posts: 7

Where was I when the Order of the Pheonix came out? In line with my 10 year old son because he couldn't wait till morning to get his hands on it, when in truth it was I who stayed up till dawn reading it.

... You first got interested in HP? I had nothing to do with it at first, just thought it was another "kids" thing. The first movie came out, my son begged me to take him and I was hooked from then on.

LariLee

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 1:47 am

Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 27 Location: Kentucky, USA

I first became involved in the Harry Potter universe when I forgot to return my book club card in time and received Goblet of Fire when it first came out. I decided to read it because of all the hoopla surrounding it. Primarily, some people were picketing the local bookstores at the day it came out because it "promotes witchcraft".

(Aside -- I was particularly impressed with the local reporter who walked up and down the line asking if anyone had read any of the Harry Potter books. It took him some time to find someone who claimed to have read the first one. He asks some question about if her disdain arose from the fact that Harry and friends broke into a church and had something that could be considered a black mass. When she said that was the exact scene that made her stop breathing and several people around her chimed in with her opinions of that scene, the reporter looked at them and said, "I just made that up. There is no scene like that in any of the books." I'm sure they pulled the cameras away before the people took their picket signs and began beating the reporter or for making them look stupid. I decided I had to read the book because: 1). I already had received it and I had to pay for it anyway. And 2). I always wanted to make up my own mind on controversial books rather than have someone tell me what to think. Especially when they don't know what they're talking about. So I started to try to read GoF and quickly figured out I probably should read the first book first. I picked it up on my way home from work in the next day went back and bought the other two and had a wonderful weekend orgy of reading.)

When Order of the Phoenix came out, I had it preordered and met UPS at the door. I've been hooked since the weekend after GoF came out and I will be hooked for along time to come.

In June of 2004 I started daydreaming a story that just would not go away. I figured I was probably a very strange person to even think about wanting to write a story about the Harry Potter universe. Especially since my story dealt with adult aspects (I was clearly a pervert). In July, there was a newspaper story about fan fiction though it did not give any archives. I googled and found Fanfiction.net right before they instituted their ratings change. Well, that tossed out my story even before I had it written. So I started finding more archives and eventually, Fortune smiled on me and I found Sycophant Hex. The quality of writing that I was reading taught me quite a bit. Mostly, I learned that my first story was a Mary-Sue. I didn't totally abandon it until August 2004. Then, a Yahoo group I was on had a challenge that appealed to me and in October 2004 I became an official fan fiction writer on Occlumency. Eventually, I came up with a few ideas for Ashwinder and Lumos.

Looking back, I can't think of any series that has sparked my imagination more. And I'm really grateful to be here sharing it all.

~Lisa/LariLee

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