station.

The summer of Star Wars: Episode One was a riot. Try to imagine a time before you could buy movie tickets online. I waited in line with my high school bestie at the only theatre capable of digital projection in Massachusetts. Mind you, this was weeks before the movie even opened. It was super sunny and people were in tents. There was an adjacent Taco Bell and they gave out Episode One pogs. I still don't know what a pog is but by the end of that summer I had them all! I even developed a taste for Doritos to complete my collection. This was also the summer of Eyes Wide Shut. I was living in Brookline and working the 5am shift at Starbucks between acting jobs. I had passed up a scholarship to Northeasterns' pre-law program in favor of waxing my legs to play a 12 year old boy in "To Kill a Mockingbird". This was the summer I read the first three Harry Potter books.

A year later, I went to midnight release of the 4th book at the bookstore in Harvard Square with Jake. It was a perfect night. The crowd was comprised of students and waspy rich kids and the whole thing felt magical and new. I remember sitting at the fountains outside the Christian Science Center in Boston trying desperately to get through the book, but completely distracted by the nearby Boston Chicken Market and its siren song.

9/11 made the people care about magic and wizards and comic book movies. I saw the first movie alone in Columbus Circle in the middle of the day. I was living on the lower east side but I preferred the uptown theatre because you could pay for one movie and stay all day and it was usually more than half empty. I don't like a lot of people. I fell fast asleep.

I had one of the best "dates" in my life going to the midnight launch party for the 6th book at the Columbus Circle Barnes & Noble - complete with margaritas and aggressive making out against a brownstone. By this time, the adorable children wearing cloaks with kitschy forehead scars were replaced by a bevy of fat girls with stringy hair and officially licensed merchandise.

Do I really like Harry Potter?
Not really. I like Luna Lovegood and I like using magic wands as a metaphor for masturbation. I like Ron Weasley's mom and the arc of Percy Weasley. Other than that, I remember nothing.

Have I made it through any of the films without sleeping?
No. However, I think 10years, three states, and two different romantic midnight book launch parties is worth noting.