I recently finished reading So Anyway, a memoir by John Cleese.  I'm not sure I'd give it a hearty recommendation, even for a die-hard Python fan like me.  It is amusing, as you'd expect, and in some cases truly laugh-out-loud funny.  On the other hand, some parts just drag on and on.  It turns out that it took Cleese three years to read his law degree at Cambridge, and I was beginning to think it would take at least that long for me to slog through his narrative of it.

I loved the way he described his father's propensity for buying "'surprisingly inexpensive' stylish Yugoslavian sports jackets, or top-class Libyan shoes, or premier quality Albanian ham".  'Albanian ham' made me laugh so much every time I'd think about it; I mean, it's funny, but some things strike me as way out of proportion funny, and this was one.  I was chuckling about Albanian ham for days and trying to talk Alan into inquiring about it at the deli counter when we made our next grocery run.

Another LOL moment was a story about Graham Chapman.  John and his then-wife Connie were expecting a couple for dinner who were basically stuffed shirts, "formal and stuck-up", and that sort of thing irritated Graham.  The Cleeses realized about ten minutes before their guests arrived that Graham had been all over their flat hiding very small pieces of paper, upon each of which he'd written an obscenity.  They scrambled to find and dispose of all of them, but discovered after their guests had departed that they'd missed one; Graham had placed one upon which he'd written "anus" on the basin in the visitors' bathroom.  Cleese concludes, "I've always wondered whether our guests speculated why we might have put it there."

So a few nights ago I had a major crying jag.  After I finished, I went to the bathroom to have a hot bubble bath and try to do something about my very puffy eyes.  I have this plastic bin that I bought at Target in which I keep facial cleanser, toner, masques, unguents and various skin-care items, so I got that off the shelf.  Starting to rummage through it, I discovered that Alan had left me a small strip of paper with "anus" written on it.  It had been hidden there for some days, waiting for me to find it.

It just goes to show you how funny and unpredictable life can be, that I can now add, "Thank you for the anus!" to phrases I never expected to say to my husband.  But he was sincerely owed a thank you, because I really needed that laugh.