You'd better believe I gots me some bargains at my local Officeworks in order to plot my new combined characters (and a whole new timeline too, which will make it look like a completely different book in some respects, to those who have read the first draft - Steve calls it the 'Director's Cut' because of its current length and tedium).
The woman who served me was a closet new stationery junkie like me. It took me nearly thirty minutes to browse the store, even though I had long since chosen my stack of index cards... and OMG they were a find in themselves; imagine my sheer delight when, after deciding I really could not justify the extra $5 for the 500 white ones when yellow cards would be just as suitable - and then when I pulled the yellow ones off the shelf, I let out an "EEEP!" because there's more colours in the box!! Yeahhhhh!
And then, the register woman asks me if I've seen the clearance highlighters - four for .40c. Why no, I say, trying to act casual and sounding as nonchalant as Homer Simpson when he attempts to downplay his excitement (ie. not very). Where, pray tell, are these?
She knew by the excited whites of my eyes that I was as gone as her. She led me to the rack where just four packets remained underneath the clearance ticket. I took two packets. She took the last two, hastily justifying that the three she'd already bought would only go around her kids and she wanted some for herself..... And then we bellowed with laughter at each other. I grabbed a two-pack of liquid highlighters as well, marked down to $5.00 (those really cool Artline ones that look like biro's but have two edges - a fine tip and the usual thick edge - which I can think of a dozen uses for, now that I have some, even though I was living my life just fine without them).
Who knew that discount stationery is to some as a bottle of tequila in the linen cupboard is to others??
I'm not ashamed of my stationery obsession. Just don't ask me to explain it. If you ever see a woman flat on her back making 'snow' angels in a bin of clearance exercise books (OMG they're 10c for 96-page books right now, go and buy some!!), that'll be me. And only then do I grant you permission to organise an intervention.
