Busy Bee

I have been so tired and busy lately that even reading a book seems like too much of an effort. When I come home these days my evenings consist of diner, shower, BBC's Masterchef and bed. Not necessarily in that order.

This weekend is the kick off of our annual Boekenbeurs, where Flemish publishers and bookstores unite to (hopefully) bring you the best books in the business. In layman’s terms there will be lots of pushing and shoving by hot and sweaty people who foolishly believe that having their latest Aspe signed makes them a culturally rounded individual.

Personally I don’t see what all the fuss is about and I also truly believe that anyone who is remotely interested in reading wouldn’t endure this horror and would simply go to a bookstore where he / she could browse in peace minus the sweat, crowd and screaming children. Or as yours truly, do it from the comfort of their own couch, bliss.

But I have to admit, there are some interesting lectures and author signings this year like Michael Cunningham and Charles Burns, making me lean slightly towards the darkside of Flemish pseudo-intellectual commercial decadence.

What I am kind of excited about, is that this year I won’t be a mere spectator but I’ll also be working there, holding up the fort aka the Groene Waterman’s booth for a couple of days. Speaking of booths, we started “constructing” it today meaning: assembling the furniture and piling on the books. There’s still a lot of work to be done the next few days but I can’t wait for the end result. Watching this bookfair be built from scratch is an awesome experience.