After a week or so without a post about the SCOKY (and particularly given that, in the intervening period, traditional media sources reported the unfortunate news about Justice McAnulty’s illness [SCOKYBLOG’s only comment upon which is our prayers for his rapid and complete recovery), I wanted to offer the only explanation I have for SCOKYBLOG’s sloth.

Harry Potter.

Yep, Harry Potter.

Sure, I may be SCOKYBLOG’s EiC, and may be thirty-something husband and father, but I’m a kid at heart, and, for better or worse, I got hooked on the Harry Potter phenomenon several years back. While it might be more socially acceptable among my peers to be hooked on something like “the white horse,” in terms of intensity, chasing the dragon doesn’t hold a candle to a Harry Potter addiction.

So, a couple of weeks ago, when it became clear that some of the details of the sixth Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, or “HBP” for the initiated) had become fuzzy since the last reading, I decided that I needed to do some remedial reading to prepare for the release of the seventh and final book next Saturday (7/21).

Unfortunately, quality “reading time” in my house is at a premium. I have read the Madeline book aloud a couple of times, and I made it half-way through Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel earlier this week before my daughter dozed off, but I’ve found it difficult to find the time to make large dents in HBP. So, I’ve had to settle for what little reading time I can borrow from other activities. GIven that work demands have ramped up the last couple of weeks, I’m afraid that Harry-Potter-reading-time and SCOKYBLOG-musing-and-typing-time have been in a zero-sum relationship.

So, that’s my explanation. Not an excuse. Just an explanation.

Fortunately, this “perfect storm” of Harry Potter activities, e.g., the new movie, the book release, etc., should die down soon, and we can return to a more-normal schedule of updating SCOKYBLOG.