Notebook number three

Am on my third Chinese notebook now - well, second and a half if you count all the pages that have been ripped out for scratch paper, used for kids' drawing paper as a last-ditch attempt to maintain sanity in restaurants, etc.. My Chinese is... well, depends on how you look at it. On one hand, I know about 800 characters or so, and can buy bus tickets like nobody's business. On the other hand, if I keep up at this rate, in a year I can look forward to being able to read a few stories from Ysa's four-year old kindergarten book...

Yes, Chinese is Just That Danged Hard. (An excellent article, by the way, for anyone even remotely curious about the language.)

Fortunately, my notebooks save the day. The cover of notebook #1 states that "This is the most comfortable notebook you have ever run into." Notebook #2 goes even further:

Our finest quality paper
ensure the smooth surface that
is a pleasure to write on.
This is the most comfortable notebook
you have ever run into.
You will feel like writing
with it all the time.

Or Notebook #3:

CHECK DESIGN
M & G Notebooks contain
the best paper motivating writing enjoyment.

Them's mighty big shoes to fill. Guess I'd better get studying right away...