For those of you who are not familiar with Dave Barry and his effect on who I am today -- Dave had a widely syndicated humor column in most major US newspapers. He's also written a ton of books, but I think he's funniest when he can filter his brand of funny into 600 words or so. Then, he's pure genius. My family and I have always been big readers of his; I know one of my dad's prized possessions (if he still has it) was the "Thank you for being an Alert Reader" postcard that he got after sending Barry some funny newspaper clipping.
I try to sneak in some Barryisms on occasion. If you ever see in my writing the phrases "I am not making this up," "______ would be a really good name for a rock band," or "I support the death penalty for the creator of the low-flow toilet," you are witnessing a direct homage to (read: ripoff of) Dave Barry. Even my CrapCam wouldn't have a name without him. God bless him, he's right up there with Gary Larson in my world.
Dave's talk was great -- he told many stories that I remember from his old columns (some involving the dogs he used to have: his main dog, Ernest; and his auxiliary emergency backup dog, Zippy) and some great ones that were from his more recent adventures at the political conventions and the Beijing Olympics. Good times. At the booksigning, I was able to thank him wholeheartedly for his blog, which has "sustained me so far through three crappy jobs, and I hope it's there for the next several crappy jobs." I hope that pleased him.
Anyway, here's the picture. I took it with my nice camera, but since I was sitting on the signing table and leaning back, and taking the picture myself, and Dave is looking at the camera screen instead of the lens, I think this qualifies as a CrapCam photo. As it should.
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