Chicago, USA

Wicker Park.

I lean into the stacks closely to read the titles at a quirky bookstore fitly named “Myopic books”.

Piles of classics, beat poetry, chick lit and jitterbug funk to go through. A stream of adventures waiting to be explored. Literate hipster paradise.

Suddenly, I stumble across a dusty old book jacket. I pick it up.

“Thirty Things Everyone Should Know How To Do Before Turning Thirty”.

Oh, come on. Am I on Candid Camera? Is this for real?

Fine. I’ll bite.

I pay the $6 and put the paperback into my man-bag.

It turns out that I have a lot to learn. Quick.

I turn to a random chapter → ‘How to write superior thank you notes.’ How hard could this be? Apparently, and according to the book… the key is to emphasize and concentrate on the adverbs and verbs. The rest is inconsequential. People do not read it.

Dear so-and-so, thank you so much for the AMAZING whatever. I really LOVE it. It is the GREATEST and most MARVELOUS thing I have ever seen. I want to DRINK your blood. You are the BEST. LOVE, Daniel.

There. Easy.