The drive across the desert was awful. I'm pretty patient about delays, generally. But having to sit through an hour of one-lane traffic on I-8 in order to facilitate the illusion that the Border Patrol is defending our "homeland" instead of merely extending the reach of the state drained me of all calm. I may turn into a libertarian yet.

On the other hand, I scored at the Ross in Yuma, finding the two-disc DVD of My Fair Lady for $6 and Flipper for $5. Skylar and I had enormous fun watching the former during the remainder of the drive, including that excruciating wait at the checkpoint just inside the California line. There are so many great songs in the musical. And Audrey Hepburn is so pretty it hurts to look upon her.

Needless to say, though, I was even happier than usual to arrive at the coast. After everyone was asleep, I walked down to the beach with the excellent digital music player that danlmarmot was surpassingly generous to send my way and listened to Prince, Curtis Mayfield, and, for the grand finale, the first fifteen minutes of The Who's Quadrophenia, which surely qualifies as one of the best standing-by-the-sea records of all time. "Can you see the real me?"

Tags: autobiography, everyday, travel
Current Location: 92024