How I met my favorite author

On Tuesday, Brad and I met David Sedaris.

For those of you who are not familiar, he’s an author, humorist, frequent contributor to NPR’s This American Life and the New Yorker. And he’s brilliant.

De Rode Hoed in Amsterdam hosted him, on the occasion of his new book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames. De Rode Hoed is a very small venue, which provided a relatively close and intimate atmosphere.

During his appearance, he read three stories, including one from his new book. The readings were followed by a lively Q&A session and a book signing. I am a fan, to this was truly a treat.

After a 15 minute wait in the line, where Brad and I attempted to think of what clever and witty things we were going to say to him (none of which we did, of course), it was finally our turn.

After a brief introduction, we chatted with him for about 2 minutes, as he drew an owl inside the front cover of our book and described a platter he just purchased in Amsterdam, which had a large uncircumcised penis painted in the middle.

A Sedaris original:

Unfortunately we don’t have a foto of the aforementioned platter.

Anyone still there????

It’s 2:45am on a Thursday night … err … Friday morning … I flew back from Chicago today, and unfortunately after forcing my way though a jet lagged work day, I feel there is no chance of me getting a wink of sleep any time soon.

What a great opportunity to catch up on the last 3 months of blogging!

The upside of my absence is that a lot has happened over the summer and there’s a lot to write about. But if anyone has been reading my past posts, you know that I am not a voluminous contributor. So here are some highlights:

Got married on May 25 to http://april-31.blogspot.com/ !


Took a very fun trip to St. Lucia in June, where I got Open Water Diving certified and now I can’t wait to start planning a diving trip.

Hosted numerous visitors over the summer, including my brand new in-laws and several friends from Chicago.

Saw some great shows in Amsterdam, including Radiohead and Death Cab for Cutie (check out http://april-31.blogspot.com/ July 21^st posting for more details … yes, that’s right, I’m a lazy blogger!)

Bought a NEW BED!!! See my posting from October 22^nd to understand the significance of this event!!

Picked up a new sport – rowing! Great way to spend time in Amsterdam canals.

Took some quick trips to Brugge, Prague and Warsaw. And also took my 4th trip to Chicago since moving to Amsterdam. I’m a bit Chicagoed-out at the moment … but this could be just the jet lag talking.

One thing that has not yet happened: I have not yet figured out how to make sure that my posting has a uniform font and size ... any suggestions?

I promise … that I will try … to post more often, although I have a feeling that the 2 readers of this blog may have long forgotten of it’s existence, due only to my blogosphere absence. So check back soon, as I/we have a lot of new adventures planned for this autumn.