Purgatory in Seoul

I am in Seoul, in the airport. I got here at 4:30 AM local time (HK+1hr). It is now 9:15. My flight leaves at noon.

I'd never sen an airport concourse so empty. It was eerie. I tok photos but his is a fre nternet cafe. I was lucky to get he keys to type Eglish and not Korean.

I love books. I knew I'd have a lot of layover time, so I brought several. I will buy more in the US.

I respect books. One of the few things I consider a sin is throwing a book away. Unles its utter crap.

My father and I have a term for essentaialy disposable reading (figuratively speaking here); 'airport books' are things like espionage novels, etc. Nice time-passers, but not literature by any stretch.

Wel, Hong Kong isn't necesarily a great 'book city.' I end up buying a lot of books at HMV from the '2 for $8' section. A lot of these are British books, and I am often buying blind because I know practicaly nowt (!) about British stuff. But I've enjoyed books about the supergrass Paul Grimes andthe biography of Brian Clough, the Notingham FOrest footbal club manager.

But I just spent several hours reading 'Playing with Fire' by Gordon Ramsay, the foul-mouthed chef.

I threw it out. I finished it, but chucked it in the rubish bin. Becase that's where it belongs. I've atempted a lot of things in my life that turned out o be shit, but let's be honest; EVERYTHING a chef does turns to shit, in 8-12 hours. THerfore, taking oneself so seriously is inherently stupid.

The book should be called Stroking Myself. It would be more honest and more acurate.

His use of profanity is utterly incongruous and strikes me as a cheap ploy for attention and marketing. Anyone who uses the word 'brand' as a verb except in matters bovine ought to be beaten like an errant stepchild and then branded like a horse's ass, since they are.

But what do  know about language? I'm just a doctor of communications.

My initial stop on this trip is still 16-18 flying hours away, not including 6 layover hours. But I have books.