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What Teddy Did.

The book launch on Saturday went good. Met my fellow writers, Alex, Jolin, Richard, Paul, Agnes and Karen-Ann as well as well-wishers like Farah, Shark, Irene and Allen. T'was good and all is well and I guess I can call myself a true published writer. I'm glad a lot of the writers were so happy that they had stories that were finally published. Their enthusiasm was heartening.

I wasn't as enthusiastic though. Not because I wasn't happy I got published. No, no. That's great. In fact, it's so awesome it's mind-blowingly freakingly coolz0rzx!!!11 and the only reason I wasn't leaping for joy was that well, I made the mistake of going to Tango Mango and Borders first before the launch... and to celebrate the launch I kinda splurged a bit on some stuff so in the end I was happier for the stuff that I got... than the fact that I was published. Huh. Weird. In a way, I guessed I peaked my joy before the launch started. Does that make any sense?

The sources of this outrageous imbalance of happiness was a large Plain Moleskine, to replace my current one (that's almost full), a copy of the Penguin Graphic Classics Edition of Paul Auster's New York Trilogy, and a copy of Max Barry's Jennifer Government which I've wanted to read for some time now.

If you're aware of the cult rep Moleskines have, well maybe you can understand that buying a new M is always a major event. It definitely is for me... ah! that wonderful oilskin-wrapped cover, those smooth and soft, slightly yellowed pages, that wonderful back-pocket of secrets, the allure of being in the same company as Chatwin and Hemingway Henry Jones Sr.! Who wouldn't love a Moleskine?

As for Paul Auster... when I saw the cover for the Penguin Graphics Classics... I had to have it. And the rest of the goddamned series too. They're too beautiful. They look wonderful, they feel wonderful and they read wonderful. Jack Kerouac has never looked sexier!

About Jennifer Government, I think I'll reserve my thoughts about that for another post. I read and finished it on New Year's Day and the book is to capitalism what Nineteen Eighty-Four is to Totalitarianism.
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