Everybody?!

Just added an outstanding book to my list to the right, David Sedaris' When You Are Engulfed in Flames, and it reminded me of his scary insight and dedication to honesty, no matter how much it hurts.

Sedaris came to Canton's Cherry Hill Theater last winter. Fantastic venue for it - it was like he was in one of the nearby McMansion living rooms, but smaller and without predictable reprints on the walls and Romney donation slips on the table. He was signing autographs before the show and M wanted to get one of his books signed for me. I never know what to say to even marginally famous people without feeling like Chris Farley in the SNL skit where he asks movie stars whether they remember 'that one part' in that movie they were in so I passed. For a Christmas gift she bought Holidays On Ice and got it signed anyway.
Building up to the show, she'd told me she thought something along the lines of 'Merry Christmas, look out for six to eight black men' would be good to have him inscribe. From how it was told to me, he smiled politely when that was suggested to him but then said he was going to make something up himself. I unwrapped the book at Christmas, turned to the inside cover, and guffawed:

Jimmy,
Everybody thinks you are gay.
David Sedaris