True to my late-adopter ways, I went to my first Meetup last night. Of course, I’ve met people from the internet before, but this was the first time I’ve done it this way. I signed up at meetup.com last fall hoping to find a Harry Potter group near me but there wasn’t one–or not an established one anyway; there was one that had one meeting and then disappeared due to lack of interest and/or funding, I’m not sure which–and I wasn’t so excited about the idea that I wanted to try and organize a new group so I wandered off and read more fanfic and then took up knitting so I could make house scarves. Then a few weeks ago an e-mail landed in one of my inboxes that a new HP group was starting up in the Detroit metro area. Rather surprising, as I’d forgotten I signed up for alerts like that. It turned out, the time and location worked for me, so I RSVP’d yes and there I was last night, at a Meetup.

As an unexpected bonus, I also got to be at a book signing, as Giada De Laurentiis was there promoting her cookbook. Since I neither watch much Food Network (now that I’m over Iron Chef) or cook much, I didn’t know who she was, but many, many people did–the line snaked around shelves for what seemed like miles. Once we were pretty sure no more people were going to show for the Meetup, we went and stood in the Giada line, since John (who’d organized the Meetup) had a copy to be signed. We talked Potter and semi-related stuff while we inched forward through travel books and music CDs and assorted DVDs and it seemed like an ideal way to pass time in line–meeting new people. Maybe I’ll try that next time I go to a theme park–though I suppose just picking random strangers out wouldn’t work as well. When we got up to the table I saw that Ms. De Laurentiis is very pretty and–near as I could tell with her sitting down behind a table–petite.

And then it was time to head home, but there’s another HP Meetup next month, at which perhaps we’ll sit down the whole time. I’m planning to bring my not-yet-a-Weasley-sweater. By then perhaps I’ll have finished the back and started on the front. It could happen.