Last night, the missus and I drove up through self-obsessed after-work traffic to the Barnes & Noble in Buckhead to see and hear a reading by one of my favorite contemporary writers: John Hodgman. You may know him as the Resident Expert on The Daily Show or as the PC to Justin Long’s Mac in Apple’s ad campaign. He was on Conan the night prior, in fact: see the evidence! (It’s cued up and everything.)

Last night, at our reading, he was wearing the very same tuxedo, with many of the same jokes still in it from his visit on Late Night. Also, he was reading from his new book (“the new technology”), More Information Than You Require. Ostensibly. To be fair, he did get around to it, but who the hell cared? He was terribly hilarious before he even got to his fake-trivia tome, and I already had the book and could read it myself. I was happy just to see him riff on us in the audience. (If you were there, I was the guy dressed in the style of the 19th century, apparently.)

Earlier in the day, Hodgman shot an appearance for your local morning program, Good Day Atlanta. (It’s not my local morning program, because I get up at 11am.) On set he met the Internet-famous GA Tech rap duo, The GTGs, and they showed up at the reading, too. They rapped. We sang along (in our fashion). Hodgman laid down some beats. Good times.

You can see some more photos of the evening here.

Standing in line to get my book signed, I chatted with some other glasses-and/or-beard types about MMO games, like World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online. It was nice to be reminded that talking to real folks about silly games in real life isn’t like reading Internet forums. Thanks, guys.

I sort of blacked out during my time at the signing table with Hodgman. I do that. Somehow, I came away with the nickname “Stardate.” Could be worse.

Afterward, we stopped off on Ponce to try out the Book House Pub, which I’d heard was mostly hardwoods and paperbacks. It was. Also: stained glass, glowing rocks, and a bathroom that smelled like strawberries. But that place deserves a post of its own. Short version: yes.

For whatever reason, I don’t get out to many local readings. I really should. So should you. Let’s try a little harder to make that happen. Any readings coming up that I absolutely must attend?

A fairly small and quiet contingent of a dozen or so anti-abortion/right-to-life activists were on the Georgia Tech side of the 10th Street bridge this morning.  They had graphic signs and red shirts (I didn’t catch the denominational affiliation or specific church).

They disbanded at about 9:30 or so as my wife and I were returning from daycare on our way to work.

Thankfully our 5-year-old didn’t see them on the way over the bridge.

As much as I disagree with their views AND support their right to express them, I’m fairly certain my wife would have jumped out of a moving car to beat one of them had her little girl seen the aborted fetus on their signs.

I’m just sayin’.

If you’ve got a picture or your own recollection, share a comment.