Fresh Loaf

Actor and humorist John Hodgman isn’t some kind of human computer, although he plays the PC on Apple’s popular “I’m a Mac” ads. He does qualify as a font of obscure knowledge and “fake facts” in his recurring appearances as a “Resident Expert” on “The Daily Show” and through such books as his latest, More Information Than You Require, which he’ll be signing at the Buckhead Barnes & Noble on Nov. 19. Hodgman also seems to be a perfect gentleman and is my favorite interview of the year (so far).

This page links to his many “Daily Show” appearances, but for a taste of his authorial voice, consider this PBS-style documentary (which may merely be a cunning mockumentary) on “Hobo Matters,” a faux-factual history of the hobos of the Great Depression, drawn from his first book, The Areas of My Expertise.

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Overheard this morning in Aurora Coffee, Little Five Points: One lean guy wearing light, somewhat worn clothes and work boots passes my table in the back to the one just behind me. Another lean guy wearing light, somewhat worn clothes, a black jean jacket, and baseball cap and work boots is sitting there, charging his phone.

“Hey, man, are you traveling?”

“No, I’ve been here for a while.”

“I just got to town, man, and I’m trying to figure out where everything is.”

“Well, I don’t really live here anymore. I spend most of the year up in Alaska.”

“I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“There’s not really anything going on in Atlanta anymore. You might want to head over to Athens.”

“Athens? Where’s that?”

“It’s this little town about 45 minutes away. They got more of a punk scene — a lot more stuff going on. You just head on down to DeKalb Avenue and catch the CSX.”

“DeKalb Avenue, where’s that?”

“Just go out of here and take a right. And when you get to the tracks, there’ll be two MARTA tracks and then there’s a CSX track. Just go left, and follow it down to where it forks up there, and the one that goes left — that’ll take you to Athens.”

“Oh, hey, man, thanks a lot, man. That’s great.”

After the guy asking the questions got out of the bathroom, they conversed more. The guy asking the questions was from New Hampshire. The other guy had been charging his phone. He warned the questioner to keep an eye out for people who’d been working on the lines.

This is a world I did not know about before.

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