David Sedaris made a visit to 23rd Avenue books and a bunch of us sat out in the back court to hear him read. It was a cold, rainy afternoon (it’s Rose Vegetable after all) and the back court isn’t covered. We were cold, wet, and shivering but David Sedaris is worth it. He read from his new book, “Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim,” and from his diary, and the rain kept coming down. He wanted to stop, but the audience wouldn’t let him.

The surprising thing is how nice he was when he was signing his books. He talked with everyone and went out of his way to say something unique to everyone. He wandered the edge of the crowd before his reading and randomly signed books, even drawing a picture of the cake that was waiting for him in his hotel room. Here’s how he signed a book for my sister:

I told him a story about how she has a book with a questionable author signature and he even asked a bystander to sign as a witness.

I could go on and complain about how I had to change medical insurance at work so we could get coverage for Naturopathic quackery, and how I had to wait 30 minutes at the pharmacy before they sent me away with NOTHING — especially not the drugs that are supposed to keep me alive beyond my 2-5 year death sentence — but it’s much more fun to think about how funny David Sedaris was.

Distractions are good.