Delaying Gratification

I have this big, meaningful post half-written, but I can't seem to refocus to continue writing it. In the meantime, I thought I'd write a little ditty about delayed gratification. It's not a concept most of us are familiar with these days. You want an iPod? No need to work a few extra hours to get it, just put it on the AMEX. After all, you DO get miles.

In this me-me-me, now-now-now world, I've decided to do something almost unprecedented and delay doing something I want to do that I could do right now. You follow? Anyway, two of my favorite authors (who are oddly similar writers) have come out with brand new books. David Sedaris has just released "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" and Augusten Burroughs publised "A Wolf At the Table" this spring.

I cannot wait to read these books. I am one of those dorks who practically groans with pleasure upon entering a bookstore. I love it all: the quiet, the tall rows of perfect books whose spines are virgin, uncreased. I can (and do) spend hours in Barnes & Noble. I love nothing more than getting lost in a good book. However, as much as I want to read these two books, I've decided that I will leave them for my October vacation.

Is it a small sacrifice? Of course. It's not a delayed gratification that really means anything to the world or to my bottom line. But it's something to look forward to. Knowing that when I arrive at the airport on October 3rd, I will have two unblemished, unread, glossy books in the my travelpack that I am positive I will enjoy reading.

The thought makes me dizzy with anticipation. Weird? Yes. But I became friends with weird a long time ago.