Today is one of those days where you find yourself in the office with almost nothing to do. Most of the rest of the world has managed to take the few work days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve off, but I am here, answering the ocassional email and working on a “research project.”

Luckily, I have This American Life episodes to keep me company. I love talk radio! Whenever I’m on a drive by myself, I like to listen to NPR or whatever local talk show I can find, mostly because it’s like having a talkative friend along for the ride to tell you stories — even if those stories are about the collapsing economy or the new voice behind Dora the Explorer.

One of the best “friends” to have along on the ride is David Sedaris. I like his books, though it tends to take me awhile to get through them, because collections of short stories and essays often fail at keeping my interest between stories. So far, only Barbara Kingsolver is able to keep me reading her collections night after night. In any case, Sedaris makes me laugh…out loud. So when he is actually reading his own stuff, in that crazy voice, sometimes singing like Billie Holiday I am prone to terrifying the Fed Ex guy with my raucous laughter.