Sunday, September 21, 2008

80 Pence

Really. My ISO went to London for summer and he didn't even get me a lousy t-shirt.

Fortunately he brought a gift - something even cheaper than the 5 pound tee. He'd better since I seriously wanted to bean him when I found out he'd be doing London for three weeks. Fucking bastard. Usually I'd be resentful as hell but I've found kabbalah.

My ISO : I'm going to London to see the queen.
Paul : Motherchucker.
My ISO : You could come along.
Paul : Fucking basstard.

Okay I haven't actually found kabbalah. It wasn't my best day.

Sure he did the sweet thing asking me but I figure I'd better not take such a risk. An impulsive weekend jaunt over to a neighbouring country would be one thing but three weeks strolling hand-in-hand through the streets of London would be criminally dangerous. For me, nostalgia on paper is sweet, nostalgia in real life has dangerous consequences.

Books
A day at the bookstore

So during his walks around London, my ISO stumbled into a secondhand store and got me a book. Cheap tattered paperback actually all of 80 pence at the most. Probably less if he'd bargained hard. But I adored it. Seems like he remembered my penchant for picking up Heyers on the go while I was there last.

One of my peculiar obsessions - anyone who has been to my library can attest to the fact that I have multiple copies of her regency novels all stacked up in several shelves. Started with a handful of inherited novels by Georgette Heyer that came in a steamer trunk in secondary. Fell in love with her wit and style which led to randomly buying her paperbacks wherever I saw them. Since they were out-of-print for quite a few years, I only found them in dark, dusty secondhand stores full of nostalgia, knickknacks and forgotten memories - all the way from Bangkok to Paris.

Obviously my ISO hasn't forgotten the endless summers tramping through the dust, cobwebs and silverfish just to find that coffee-stained copy of the Grand Sophy.

15 comments:

nase said...

Be thankful, bitch! lol. at least he didn't forget and still got you something special. Now that's insightful and thoughtful of him. :-)

Anonymous said...

dah-link, you couldn't have seen the in-betweens of romance books' shelves in stores for some time now.

Heyer is back and you better take advantage of the Times Bookstore Pavilion sale for members (sign up if you haven't already - plus, you get a statement from LHDN at the end of the year so you don't have to hold on to those pesky receipts) from 19th to 28th September 2008!

Happy hunting..

ABC123 said...

lol Paul, I have not read any novels by Georgette Heyer before. Maybe I should try reading one and hopefully i am able to understand why you are so obsessed with them. :p

Nase, what you said is true. Hehe.

Kris Bass said...

Very cool blog, doc - from a mutant doc!

ikanbilis said...

i want to go London.

Twilight Man said...

I think we make good buddies. I have lots of books and have liking for old stuffs. I was a bppks importer a few years back

Unknown said...

haha.. it's the thought that counts i'd say..

but motherchucker indeed. He should have gotten u like.. i dunno, some rly expensive but not practical thing. Like a 100% faux fur trench coat~ Just incase it gets too cold in the operation theatre...

=)

Cyclohelix said...

I would be doing the same, continue yapping yet happy :)

Prash said...

I didn't know that t-shirts from London are popular ! LOL

Mr.D said...

Who is Heyer? Famous meh?

So far the only gift i got from foreign is 2 honey comb sweet from China. Lolz.

Medie007 said...

ooo London...

[chocoley] said...

Ohhh, london XD




owwww tht's bad, at leats he didn't forget to bring you at least one :)

savante said...

Never look a gift horse in teh mouth so yeah, I'm grateful nase!

Seen that in the stores. Damned expensive though. Hope the sales are good, reality! Trust me, went over my tax break in February!

Go try it out, looi!

Thanks, dr kris!

Miss London too, ikanbilis.

Yay! What kinda books do you read, twilight!

I'd prefer to get that trench coat myself. I have my eye on this zara coat, aaron!

Same here, helix.

Not really. But they are cheap, prash :P

Trust me, she's famez, darren!

Yes. London baby, ah bong and dazedblu!

P

__S.B__ said...

you should go how romantic, wish it could happen to me

Anonymous said...

speaking of london
i went to london with my ex this summer
and we came back "hand in hand"
haha

missed ur blog for quite a while
i didn't even know what happen btween u & c.calvin
tried your archives but somehow its not working >"<