On this eve of all holy days, I'd like to pay homage to my favorite Easter story: "Jesus Shaves" by David Sedaris, the most hilarious living essayist I know of. In this chapter of his side-splitting bestseller, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Sedaris describes the discussion of holiday traditions in his French as a second language class:

Faced with the challenge of explaining the cornerstone of Christianity, we did what any self-respecting group of people might do. We talked about food instead.

"Easter is a party for to eat of the lamb," the Italian nanny explained. "One, too, may eat of the chocolate."

"And who brings the chocolate?" the teacher asked.

I knew the word, and so I raised my hand, saying, "The Rabbit of Easter. He bring of the chocolate."

Sedaris has published seven books of stories and essays, and the whole collection is a must-read for anyone willing to subject themselves to helpless laughter. My introduction to his work was the book Naked, which I picked up on the recommendation of a friend. She'd mentioned Sedaris a couple of times, but the name never made it to the top of my mental list whenever I was browsing the bookstore stacks. One day, standing in her living room, I announced that I was headed to the library. She took the opportunity to remind me:

"Would you please get Naked and...." She trailed off while trying to think of another title. Of course, without the benefit of punctuation in this conversation, I was as confused as the students in "Jesus Shaves." I stood there nonplussed.

"Get naked and what? Do the dishes?... Dance a jig?"

Once we started speaking the same language, I did indeed pick up copies of Naked and Me Talk Pretty One Day. It was a good call, and I've been a devoted fan ever since. So I'm going to make the same recommendation to you, online friends. Would you please get Naked and [subtlety alert!] follow this blog.