BEA 2011 Day Four or How a Map and A Sawbuck Saved Me From a Life of Crime

Book Expo America draws all sorts of people to its shores.  One of the things I most enjoy is swimming around the non-book exhibits.  Yes, it's true, I love the gadget displays of store furniture; stationery; calendars; and maps.  And this year, I about fell over myself with joy upon discovering the Moleskine exhibit.

If you have not discovered the pleasure of Moleskine, stop reading this blog post right now and go here.

I've pawed through the Moleskin offerings for years, just cause I love the feel of them. I've never been able to bring myself to spend the money on a notebook though.  (I buy my notepads from Staples for a buck a piece...and that's after three years of trying every different notepad on the market!)

This year at BEA though, my sharkly eye was instantly drawn to something new in the Moleskin offerings: briefcases and messenger bags.  I have a lovely bag I bought a couple years ago, but it weighs a ton even empty.  I've been on the hunt for something more lightweight.

And here it was.  I picked it up. I stroked it.  An eagle eyed booth attendant was on me instantly with a glint in her eye that meant "put down the bag; back away from the display."

I enthused.
I extolled.

I drooled.
I fawned.

And I think I might have offered to steal it.

Well, that brought out the head honcho who briskly frog marched kindly escorted me to the other end of the exhibit and brought out a clever map showing where Moleskine products can be purchased in NYC.

I snatched the map from her hand so fast she got a paper cut.

I might have hollered "thank you!" but it was over my shoulder at full speed gallop.

Yes, I flagged a cab and waved a twenty at the driver. "Hurry!" I screamed, "the store closes in five minutes."

Say what you will about NYC cabbies, they know how to leapfrog over double-parked cars, and carom around belching buses, and dawdling pedestrians.

My cabbie deposited me in a shower of flame and crack of the sound barrier in 93 seconds flat.  I threw him the twenty and another ten for the fare.  At last glimpse he was in conversation with New York's Finest, a conversation I did not pause to join.

I leaped into the store, spent several moments oohing and ahhing over all the choices, then grabbed the messenger bag.  I think it might weigh ten ounces total. It's sleek, like a seal. It was all I could do not to eat it.

So I bought it.

An added bonus was the gorgeous bag enclosing my new gorgeous bag:

I hope the Moleskin exhibitors at BEA read this. I'd hate to have them think I wasn't serious when I said if I couldn't buy it soon I'd have to steal it. 


Saved from a life of crime!