Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Postponing Potter
()
We here at Laist are not too proud to enjoy the simpler pleasures in life – ice cream, sunshine, Elimidate, and the latest installment of Harry Potter. We’re not even ashamed to say that we’ve had our copy reserved for six months, and have been pleasantly anticipating it every step of the way. We resisted picking it up at the midnight Potter party, deciding that discretion was the better part of wallowing in young adult literature. We waited till the next morning, then checked in at our local megastore. But, due to a strange sequence of events, we’ve decided to do the unthinkable – yes, to postpone reading the book.
When we got to the store, a cartload of Potter hardbacks was stashed behind the information desk looking like Christmas morning, with a steely-eyed guardian at the helm. She checked our name in a fifty-page list of reserved copies, then handed us the book with a knowing sneer. (We didn't care.) Then, as we held our perfect hardback in the checkout line, it suddenly dawned on us that we could get a lot done - a lot done - if we held the book out a little longer as the carrot on the end of the stick. Since psychological manipulation is the only way to make ourselves productive, we jumped at the chance. Harry Potter is still sitting on our floor, still in its plastic bag, the spine not even cracked.
We have now been in possession of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince for forty-eight hours, and have resisted reading it, despite our mother calling us from Massachussetts to leave two messages ("I'm in the middle of Harry Potter. It's great!" and then, "I finished Harry Potter. It's great!" And we've done laundry, dishes, gone to the grocery store, and even started (but not finished) organizing our desk. The thought of Potter waiting at the end of this week is enough to make us work like we're under an enchantment.
Support for LAist comes from
If the best things in life are worth waiting for, this one is worth waiting for a little longer. Sometimes drastic measures are necessary to motivate ourselves. And we're already looking forward to next Saturday, when we will disconnect all the phones, unplug the computer, dim the blinds, and read - when a sweltering Los Angeles July becomes some place very British and very cold.
Do you have a ritual of perfect postponement associated with a book you love? Do you wait till the next day, then the next, to read that last page? We'd like to hear from you if you enjoy putting off things you enjoy, or if you have to go to drastic lengths to make yourself vacuum the carpet. LAIST will publish the most twisted and sadistic narratives of literature postponement we receive. But don't try to get in contact with us on Saturday, OK? We've got other plans.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
If approved, the more than 62-acre project would include 50 housing lots and a marina less than a mile from Jackie and Shadow's famous nest overlooking the lake. -
The U.S. Supreme Court lifted limits on immigration sweeps in Southern California, overturning a lower court ruling that prohibited agents from stopping people based on their appearance.
-
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars.
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
Best of LAist