Book fair woes and relief

It's book fair season and I'm all broke, for crying out loud! WUAAAAAHHH!!!!

Entering the trade hall full of books made me feel like dropping down on my knees to worship its floors or diving into the shelves holding all these precious jewels together. Though my cash meter is really, really running low these days (and not succumbing into my credit card's enticing offers, that I'm proud of), I found simple (and voracious) satisfaction at the mere sight of these diverse assortments. Just like in the previous years, I volunteered enthusiastically to do selection work (i.e., cashless shopping, hehehe) for my department and indulgently bucketed general reference materials into those carts. It was like sweet saving grace. I may not be able to acquire those books personally as of yet – or not even having the slightest chance of owning them all – but "pampering" myself at the disguise of the moment bestowed me with that rewarding sense of being a librarian.

Another plus side to book fairs is impromptu reunions. I bumped into old classmates who are now colleagues in the field just last Wednesday (August 31st), when I was there on the first day of the 26th Manila International Book Fair. It's funny because it seemed like only yesterday when we were only worried about beating term paper/case study/pathfinder deadlines and praying for non-working holidays and typhoons that would suspend classes for instant hols; hence, extending more deadliest deadlines in school. And now, here we are, exchanging notes on manning our respective libraries and for some of us, even trading pregnancy tips! In one forum I attended, I think I appropriated 50% or so of my time sitting down keeping updates with some college friends I haven't seen for the longest time. Being invisible in lectures like this doesn't surprise me anymore. After all these years, I still have the knack for it. Hehehe.

And finally, the star of the day down the memory lane has been and will always be my colleague, Che Leonardo. Who, after greeting our newly installed College Dean (who's also my thesis adviser) cheek-to-cheek, took pride at passing on good wishes to her by saying, "Ma'am, congratulations! Balita 'ko Dean-OIC na kayo (I heard you're the Dean-OIC)!"

Some things never change :-)