Fri. July 20

Here's one of the things we like least about modern life: Standing in line. We recently passed the line of eager beavers ready to buy the first iPhones off the assembly line and just shook our heads. Why? Why? Why? Then, when we found out some of them had to wait 18 hours for the damn things to work we were ... well, not sad. I mean, really. But it's an instant gratification age and since the iPhone is supposed to speed up and interconnect everything even more, well, 18 hours is eternity. We're guessing there won't be any glitches when "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" goes on sale at midnight Friday July 20. Like pages missing from the books, especially pages that decide young (is he still young?) Harry's fate. We assume the Potter-ites will buy their books,  J.K. Rowling will buy an island and Harry will live or die. What is the Vegas line on this, by the way? As you might be gathering, we're not a Muggle or a Wizard, nor do we have young children who are. We're just an adult looking at another youth trend that seems dumb: lining up overnight to buy a product you could probably buy in the next day or so anywhere. (Last time we did this: Bob Dylan and the Rolling Thunder tour in 1974, sleeping outside the Bangor Auditorium in Maine and freezing our kidneys. At least it was, you know, Dylan. And it was a great show.) So, we don't understand "Potterpalooza" as the Brookline Booksmith is calling the event in Brookline's Coolidge Corner. It's an indoor/outdoor street festival celebrating all things Potter, leading up to the on-sale moment. If you do purchase the book after midnight, you get 20 percent off or you pay $27.99 Before then co-operating merchants and sponsors will be offering contests, performances and lookalike competitions. You can start getting a ticket to purchase the book at 9 p.m. and then go back in line at 11 p.m. At midnight, the books will be distributed in the order of the ticket numbers. Presumably after getting the book, you race right home, take ephedrine, read all night and don't reveal anything to anybody. (We're quite certain the Booksmith isn't the only store going nuts with this, just the first local one we've come across. Check your Borders and Barnes & Nobles and Harvard Coops and we're sure you'll find the madness has spread everywhere.)

279 Harvard St., Brookline, 617-566-6660 www.brooklinebooksmith.com