The art of non-comformity

I had never been to a book signing. It just never really occurred to me, and my previous opportunities had been limited. I also don't read all that many books, so combining a book I've read (or plan to read) with the author visiting nearby has been, to this point, relatively rare.

I received The Art of Non-Conformity as a gift and was supposed to wrap it myself for our tree, but instead I took

it to the signing. (I'm sure Aunt Sandra won't mind that I got the book signed. Maybe I'll wrap it before Christmas. Probably not.)

I've followed the author, Chris Guillebeau, for the past couple years. I've posted before about his online manifesto, A Brief Guide to World Domination, and his blog was my favorite of 2009.

The book signing event was fun. First off, it was at a bookstore in the University District, an area of Seattle we haven't visited yet. We keep finding these separate pockets of life in the city, and this one will be fun to explore in the future.

The event itself was bigger than I had expected. There were 100+ people there, and I ended up in Standing Room Only, leaning against Stieg Larsson novels with the others who showed up right at 7pm. The crowd was "varied"

in a Seattle way - mostly white, hip-looking vegetarians, but ranging in paleness and widely in age).

My take-home from the event was this: Trade efficiency for adventure. We tend to work very hard to increase our efficiency, but in doing so we often fill the created void with additional busyness and "soul-less" efforts. In my own life, I'm often looking for the most efficient way to complete my list of tasks, so I can then move on to my other list of tasks, complete that list, and then start on a new task. Guillebeau asks me to consider a new perspective altogether. I like being asked to do that.

The author has completed a 53-city tour to every state in the U.S., and he's heading to Canada in January. In our current social-networking-as-relationship world, and Chris's work as a blogger, a more obvious choice may have been an online campaign to support the book. That he purposely set up an inefficient, "Unconventional Book Tour" underscores the concept of the book.

So this will likely be my "over the holidays" read. What about you? Expecting a book for Christmas?