Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea.

I am a huge Chelsea Handler fan. I have been since the moment she hit the airwaves with E! Network's Chelsea Lately show. I like the wit without the bite. She's like a PG version of Kathy Griffin with a little bit of Rosemary Clooney thrown in for fun.

Then you read her books. I recently finished My Horizontal Life - Handler's first collection of essays - only to find that her life outside the show is a lot racier than I would expect anyone's life to be. Frankly, I didn't even understand some of the vocabulary. It is not unusual for comedians to alude to crazy behavior away from the stage but Chelsea dished out more fun in a few hundred pages than I would think anybody can live through in one lifetime.

I raved about her talent on the small screen and on paper to my friend M. who promptly went out and bought her second book only to inform me that it sucked. She bought it before me because I have a rule about only buying stuff after it comes out in paperback. I figure if I am going to devour everything at the local bookstore, I might as well develop some rules around my expensive little media habit. M. also helps the cause by swapping books with me about once a month. This little arrangement works out well on my side since she roughly reads three times as much as me so for every one book I give her, there are three in my little exchange bag.

But enough about the fabulous Miss M.


Anyway, she handed the tome over on Saturday afternoon and I had the whole thing read by Sunday night.

Granted, it is not the stellar prose of some lofty intellectual with a real memior (shout out to Joan Didion) but I laughed outloud the whole weekend. This even prompted my brother-in-law - who is staying with us while he looks for his own house - to say, "I'm glad I know you are reading because the random outburst of giggles make you sound like you're nuts."

Yeah, Chelsea is that kind of funny. She's me on a couch in the living room laughing my tuckus off while Bill and his brother look at me like I'm nuts.

Thank you Chelsea. I really look forward to living vicariously through your essays. If only my life were to interesting. If only I were a little nugget.