On Monday I received a totally puzzling e-mail from a friend in Florida. Here is what she wrote:

“We hear such terrible stories, are you ok out there??? Is there anything we can do?”

That one gave me pause. Terrible stories? Nothing particularly terrible has happened in Thailand recently; no coups, riots, tsunamis, or transvestite tragedies. This friend knows that I travel to Myanmar frequently — and was she was one of the kind people who donated money for Nargis relief last year — so I wondered if could she have been referring to that country? But nothing horrible had happened there recently either. Even if someone was thinking of the recent trial, that was more farce than tragedy, and hardly unexpected or alarming. And nothing shocking has happened on a personal level. I have to move my bookshop soon, but other than the slight annoyance of having to haul 15,000 books up and down two flights of stairs, that may turn out to be a good thing in the long run. So what had worried my friend enough to write me? Later in the day, while I was sorting through a huge stack of books that had arrived (everything from occult and magick tomes to art guides and cookbooks) it dawned on me: maybe she is thinking of the mudslides in Taiwan. Thailand … Taiwan … it all sounds the same the some geographically challenged people back in the USA. I sent her a note asking what she was referring to, and sure enough, in her reply she confessed that she thought it was Thailand that had been devastated by the recent storms. I can forgive her for her geography blunder; at least I’m reassured her heart is in the right place.

We’ve had a parade of interesting visitors in my bookshop this week, highlighted by Hla Myo from Mandalay,Beth from Phnom Penh, Pascale from Paris, and local expats such as Janet Brown John Clewley, all dropping in to buy books or catch up on the latest news. Speaking of which, we start moving my bookshop to our new location on Monday. It appears we will have to shut down for three full days to accommodate the movers and plumbers and electricians and painters and air conditioner repair dudes and other assorted craftsmen who are putting the final touches on our new digs. I wish we could make a quick overnight move but there are just too many things to move, re-wire, and re-configure, that it simply won’t be possible.

I was taking a walk around my neighborhood on Tuesday morning when I ran into Pong, a Thai guy who I frequently see playing soccer on the court next to where I shoot basketball. He asked me where I’d been lately, a fair question since I haven’t been on the court in nearly two months. I explained that I had travelled to Myanmar and upon return had lost my basketball. Which was not quite the truth; I still have the basketball, but it’s pretty much flat and won’t hold air any longer. I went to the Emporium last week and looked into buying a new one and was shocked at the prices they were charging; 1,200 to over 2,000 baht. I decided to wait. Next week I’ll look for one at the Mall Bangkapi, which is where Pong suggested that I can find a much cheaper one.

Posted by dgilliland Bangkok