Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Romancing the Crone

Hello.

Hello.

Are you still rooting around for a reason to breathe?

Not today.

What's different about today?

Persuasion.

Jane Austen?

Yes.

And how many others?

About 25.

A veritable library.

Yes.

And after you are free to stop breathing?

Technically, yes.

How long do you think it will take.

Well I was averaging a book a day so I would have said 25 days. But All The Pretty Horses confounded me. So I switched to Freakonomics. It may be more.

Freakonomics? Good one. Conclusions?

That I will never be an economist.

Why not? You're crazy enough.

Yes, but I always base my conclusions on a sample size of one. They call it anecdotal. I call it the last word in truth.

I see your problem there. What conclusions did you draw from this sample size of one?

People who read nothing (and I mean nothing) but The Malaysian Accountant are so boring, they're scary.

And you extrapolated that from...

Yeah, from...

But he was scary.

I know. But maybe he's Unique. Maybe there are other factors that cause the uninterest in books which lead to his stagnant pond, relate-the-same-anecdote-fifty- million-times sort of personality.

You mean the lack of reading could be an effect, not a cause?

Yes.

I see your point. But The Malaysian Accountant? I mean, come on.

Oh yeah, that and Auditors' Reports: The Best Of, series.

You're shitting me.

I'm not.

So 25?

Yeah.

Care to tell me what?

No, not really. Too much of a fag. But you take one trip to England, throw in one birthday and two booksales and you have...

A library?

You got it!

OK then, call me when you want to stop.

Reading?

No, breathing.

14 comments:

Nessa said...

I love that title.

I want to just read and read and read. I could live a happy life if I could just read.

Accountants are scary. And I used a sampling of more than just one.

Anonymous said...

Jenn, you are so off the wall! I just love to come here and read your stories - you always evoke some emotion from me! I haven't heard anything about the mother for awhile, though. Are she (and the neighbors) behaving themselves?

John Calica said...

Interesting, engaging stuff.

Question: Which one is better in terms of location, price and facilities, Cititel Express or Swiss Inn (the ones in KL)?

Thanks :)

Jenn said...

Nessa: I guess it comes from putting everything in two columns -debit and credit - neat little columns to explain away life.

Jackie: My Blessed Mamma is in Johor while I am in KL at the moment. So no Mommy stories. The neighbours are as badly behaved as ever. Some things don't change...

John: You mean you're coming over here? I think I would prefer Cititel to Swiss Inn. (Swiss Inn had bad toilets). When are you coming?

John Calica said...

I'd get Cititel then. Nothing's final yet but I will inform you in case everything works out fine :)

Unknown said...

I have started reading productively again (as in: less Harper's Bazaar).

Novels to read when one is down - any suggestions? Would love to read your list!

(And yes, accounting IS scary - just left a job where that was like 90 percent of what I was doing near the end. I adore the Wall Street Journal, but would set myself aflame if I ever returned to days and weeks again of spreadsheets and figures.)

Jenn said...

John: Yipee! You'll be the first blogger I meet if you do.

Ling: Oh dear. I don't hate all accountants. Just this particular one turned "boring" into an art of perfection. I love the Financial Times, myself. But then, I'm biased there cos we had FT people come to my newspaper to train us.

OK I will post list. Haha. Some of the books are goofy but goofy is good where I come from.

Jenn said...

Ling, I couldn't get into your blog? Send me an invite?

Anonymous said...

This is hilarious Jenn. Being a writer, I distrust people who deal in numbers. The fact that my brother (who deals in futures) may be the spawn of Satan doesn't ameliorate that notion at all.

From now on I vow to throw potato salad at anyone holding a calculator.

Nessa said...

PTB: What do you have against potato salad?

Jenn said...

PTB: Wow. I just finished Confessions of An Economic Hitman and I think that whole manipulating numbers thing is nothing short of murderous. Who could have thought that "economists" could be on par with ethnic cleansers?

Nessa: :)

Unknown said...

Jenn! What's your email? Send to mine - the_duck_808@hotmail.com. I'll put you on the list!

And I LOVE the booklist!

Andrew said...

I agree that people who mess about with numbers/money are a scary bunch. I also believe that money is the fundamental, underlying motive behind nearly all of the most important events in human history. I may even go out on a limb and say "all" instead of "nearly all."

Oh, and "I always base my conclusions on a sample size of one. They call it anecdotal. I call it the last word in truth." just became my latest email signature.

Jenn said...

Hey Andy! Great to have you back.

Hahahaha - I like your new email signature.