There's a place where I can go and tell my secrets to: in my blog... in my blog, (in my blog, in my)...

My struggles with insomnia have taken a turn for the worse. Last night I simply could not fall asleep before 7 am. It's somewhat maddening, and it pretty much messes up my whole schedule daily schedule. And here I am, another post-3 AM writing session.

SPOILER ALERT: there are no spoilers in the rest of this post

If there is one thing that really upsets me, it's spoilers: a creation of our increasingly impatient information-hungry ADD internet culture. Spoilers only remove the fun of a surprise for the overwhelmingly satisfying feeling "wow, I wish I didn't read that." Spoilers kill fun.

Example: What's better than a surprise party? All your friends plan something just for you! In your honor. Instead of a mundane Monday night at home watching a rerun of "Two and a Half Men" on TiVo, a party came out of nowhere and rocked your face off. You'll be telling the story of how your awesome friends surprised you for years to come. "I noticed my door was unlocked, and I thought someone broke in, but then I heard everyone yell surprise! That was my favorite birthday ever."

Imagine this scenario, but someone (let's call him Brian) comes up to you earlier in the day. Brian says he's sorry that he has to miss your party tonight. You say "What party?" He laughs embarrassedly, and then the douche says "Oh, oh... you didn't know? Oh, fuck... Yeah, Mary said something about that... man, I'm so sorry." Then you have to spend the rest of the night pretending to be surprised, and you'll spend the rest of your life telling the story of how Brian was an asshole.

Spoilers are like Brian.

Which is why I'm reading the internet very carefully nowadays. I've been spending a good deal of this summer reading the Harry Potter books (I still have two and a half books to get caught up, but I've been reading at a good pace lately). I'm really enjoying the vastness and complexity of the story, and I can't wait to finish the books.
But I think that I speak for many when I say this: I might go psychotic if I get spoiled.

In all of this, I always wonder about what's next for J.K. Rowling. Not that anything has to be next. She could make herself a house, a bed, and a complete wardrobe out of 100 dollar bills and gold bars. And she has the right to. However, I would love to see what her "difficult second album" would be beyond the Potter stories. Also, I would love to see what happens to her creation after the test of time.

Of course, there is always the chance in our business-dominated society, the artist might lose her creation to the work of a corporate shill.


And wouldn't that be a horrible thing?