To the drunk hottie who fell off my motorcycle…

Carlin was inspirational to me, in some ways, as a teen.  He had a biting wit and was more a social commentator than comedian.  I saw him live a couple of times – once at the University of Maine where he autographed a dollar bill for me.  The fact that it took me several months to spend that money was as much about my respect for him as my flat-broke-ness.

One of my favorite Carlin rants is here – Carlin on Politicians – and I’ll miss that penetrating side of him.  He could make us laugh so hard that our guts hurt, and not always because what he said was funny, exactly – but because it was so sadly true.  In his later years, I was sad to see him move more toward aimless anger and jokes about death and poop, but I suppose that’s how things go.

He died at Saint John’s in Santa Monica – just a mile or two from my place -  at the age of 71.

Flashback to a piece I did a couple years ago for Father’s Day, On This Day: Fatherlessness.

Or at least you’re going to think you have them now.

My friend Tom was out here in Los Angeles just a few weeks ago and began feeling unwell. He thought it was food poisoning, and opted to return home to Maine early. His illness turned out to be something much more serious; he had an inoperable, malignant tumor in his brain stem.

After his return home, Tom and I would not get another chance to speak. We traded a couple of e-mails as they struggled to diagnose his condition, but that would be all.

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Today was one of those days that reminds me why I love living – and as a bonus, doing it here. The sun was shining and it was well above 80. The birds were singing away and frantically going about their springtime business. I have some (sparrows, I think) nesting on the north side of the house. I hear so many different birdsongs day and night that I’ve started checking eNature.com to try to identify them.

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Dear Everyone,

I’m a year late at a true update. So, as 2007 comes to a close, it’s high time for a general update on my new scene – especially since I’ve not sent out holiday cards. Some of you have been following along here (thanks!), but most of you haven’t had the time, so here’s an abbreviation.

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Forbes has the list of America’s most lustful cities. Cincinnati? San Antonio? I’m not convinced.

Egads! What is the world coming to? A man marrying for money. How totally feminist.

Reader Rick sent me this thread from NYC Craigslist, and I had to share.

new york craigslist > manhattan > rants & raves
woman seeking $500k+ earning man
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