(diaryland) December 20, 2005 - 10:52 p.m.

There was the most annoying advertisment on the telly I had ever seen. It was all about a massive, life-changing sale at the exhibition building. When you talked to someone while it was on, they couldn't hear you. An alarm went off, a lot of pointy balloon shapes flashed and a psychotic voiceover guy screamed until he got hoarse maybe or something.

I thought it was funny the first time, but then it was on all the time. I couldn't tear my eyes away. It was invading my life. It was getting out of hand.

I decided that the only way to stop the whole thing was to go there. I thought by doing this, I could get my identity back. And so, in the middle of the day on Sunday, I found myself on the fringes of a fierce throng. I sort of blacked things out after that time.

Several hours later, I turned up at home with 5 zillion five buck books, a hypo-allergenic pillow, and a CD of Martha Argerich's debut recital at a super cheap price. That was cool. It was like a Christmas present to me.

Anyway, the advertisment is still on the telly. I thought I could stop it by going, but I couldn't.

Oh yeah, and I had to adjudicate a fight in the queue between two middle-aged women. It was the best part about standing there for half an hour, waiting to buy everything.

I got sore arms.