Me Talk Pretty

I had so much fun earlier this week attending a David Sedaris lecture in Binghamton, NY. It's been about five years since the only other time I saw him read, which was in my beloved Portland, Oregon. There's nothing I can think of that I enjoy more than seeing David Sedaris live. I get completely wrapped up in listening to his stories, told as only he can tell them. I notice that I throw my head back and laugh more freely and more often than I do at any other time. There's something about his material - the specific combination of truth/weird/crazy, and more - that I deeply appreciate.

Afterwards I stood in line for the opportunity to meet him and have him sign my book. I'm not really one to go for autographs or even for meeting celebrities, but this is different. It's David. I ended up waiting an hour, which was totally worth it, and had maybe five minutes with him. During his lecture he mentioned that he took his first trip to Japan earlier this year, so I asked him about his time there while he was signing my book.

It was so fun to discuss Japan with him. He loved it, said it changed his life, and tried out lots of Japanese phrases on me. He asked my assistance with pronunciation, as he learned Japanese from a language CD that was recorded by a woman. While in Japan he was pulled aside by a hotel employee and told that he was speaking like a Japanese woman, so he wanted my opinion as to his intonation. I admitted that his pronunciation sounded particularly sing-song-y, and tried to demonstrate a more even tone. I laughed myself silly through the whole thing. After I left, he welcomed the next couple in line by saying, "Good evening" in Japanese. He called after to me and ask if he said it correctly. And I told him - almost :) .

After I left the civic hall I was so excited to open my book to see what he wrote. I heard him speaking with the group of college-age girls who were in line ahead of me as he was signing a book for one of their friends from church. He said, "Uh ho, I called him a pot-head." The girls laughed and said, "That's ok, he is one." In my book he wrote his favorite Japanese word - the word for taxi - which he talked about during his performance. I love having it, it feels like a tiny inside joke. The entire evening was a true pleasure and exactly the goofiness that I needed.