OK, the sun has gone down and it’s now in the low 50’s — akin to a blizzard in Burbank, CA! — and, given this chill, my fingers aren’t quite able to type as felicitously as usual, so I guess I’m moving inside to write now, once this cigar is finished.

I’m sitting in my back yard drinking a glass of pinot noir and writing. Here’s the blog post I just put up at Counterintuity. Then my intention is to move on to my book.

In the meantime, I can’t help noticing how either indecisive or unsatisfied my dog is. She’s a 16-and-a-half-year-old mix (three quarters Australian Shepherd and one quarter Black Labrador), and judging solely from the past 30 minutes, she can’t decide if she’d rather be outside with me (pluses: near me and outside; minus: somewhat chilly) or inside with my kids who are playing Minecraft (pluses: near them and warm; minus: they’re so thoroughly engrossed in their game that the likelihood of their opening the refrigerator door is nil). I think overall this dog is now part of another breed I have known: indecisive / neurotic / fidgety elders.

Someone in one of the houses nearby is playing scales on a clarinet. A Christmas present, perhaps. I’m glad to hear it. But then, it’s 3:24 p.m. Good to hear now — but I don’t want to hear it at 7 a.m.

I’ve been struck today by how many of my Facebook friends have eagerly welcomed 2015 because, they say, 2014 was such a horrible year for them. (An annus horibilis.) All experiences are particular — just as all existence is individual — so there can’t be any debating their response. But I can say that I had a terrific year. I had a fine time skiing with my family (and hope to do that again in February), took my daughter to New York City and skeet shooting in New Jersey, had a glorious time in Nashville, successfully completed my board presidency with one non-profit, ascended in leadership with another that I care deeply about, and watched with appreciation and pride as new management succeeded with my theatre company. Business was robust, health was good, I had lots of enjoyable time with friends and family, I wrote a short play or two and made good progress on a longer one and am well into writing a book. I share all this not as a way to lord it over those who are glad 2014 is gone — I have had years like that myself, of course — but to document it because, of course, the screw always turns. I just feel grateful. Every single day.

The future arrives anew every day. Welcome to 2015. It’s going to last only a year. We should do our best to make the most of it.

The year ends tonight. But there’s lots of look forward to in 2015 — most especially including Dame Edna Everage coming back through the U.S. I’m sad that it’s her farewell tour, but given that she (he) is 80, it’s understandable. (Although being around 80 and saying farewell certainly hasn’t stopped Cher, has it?) I’ve got very good seats for her show on Friday, January 30th.

In the meantime, I’ll console myself with this very funny interview, and may I suggest that you do the same?

It’s raining again here in southern California (the girls’ll always warn ya), so here’s our updated 5-day forecast.

Tuesday: RAIN / CATASTROPHE / PANIC !!!

Wednesday: RAIN / CATASTROPHE / PANIC !!!

Thursday: drought

Friday: drought

Saturday: drought

I have seen many, many bands in my lifetime. Unfortunately, Mac Sabbath has not been one of them. I hope I get the chance before McDonald’s sues the pantaloons off them.

RAIN / CATASTROPHE / PANIC !!!

RAIN / CATASTROPHE / PANIC !!!

drought

drought

drought

You know, if it weren’t for one thing, I wouldn’t mind going through segmented sleep every night. Part of me likes the idea of sleeping in these little shifts and then awakening at, say, 2 a.m. for a good couple of hours of reading and writing. In fact, I would fully embrace it if I didn’t have to get up at 6 a.m. every morning. Because in that situation, which is the case five days a week to help get kids off to school, it really bites.

So let’s see… will it be reading more of the Leon Panetta memoir or comic books, or more writing? How best to occupy the next two hours…?

John Cleese, who’s on a book tour, recently got together with former comedy partner Eric Idle for a fun hour-long chat here in town. Here’s that chat. I know — you think you don’t want to watch it. I urge you to do so. But fair warning: If, like me, you think you’ll watch five or 10 minutes and then turn it off, you’ll be wrong. You’ll wind up watching the whole blessed thing. Because whether they’re reminiscing about the beginnings of Monty Python or dishing on their former castmates or tossing funny barbs back and forth or re-enacting hilarious sketches from the now-lost show Cleese did before Python, they’re hilarious.

1. I woke up yesterday without the taste of blood in my mouth. Yes, the green-tea bag seems to have worked. Either that, or my system rallied:  “C’mon, we’re not going to let us bleed to death. We’ve got decades of debilitation ahead of us first.”
2. It’s difficult to imagine that as a teenager I would have been so excited to attend the out-of-town seminar I went to yesterday — on tax strategy. In fact, I think the 14-year-old me would have bludgeoned my elder self to death in disappointment. But it was nevertheless thrilling yesterday to spend seven hours learning all the advantages of setting up multiple LLCs and S-Corps and Trusts and then linking them in byzantine ways so that ultimately one pays little or no tax. (Romney 2016, anyone?) Big takeaway:  How does one murder one’s wife and her suitor, leave incriminating footprints, attempt to flee via slow white Bronco, confess to the killing at the police station, get acquitted but lose a civil trial and therefore a multi-million-dollar judgment, get arrested in Las Vegas for menacing people with guns… and still have enough money to hire more attorneys and live the lifestyle in Key West? Shelter it all in your retirement plan. Evidently it’s completely untouchable. Good to know!
3. Yesterday I spent 8 dollars for 10 wing pieces at Wing Stop, but only 4 dollars for 4 books at a bookstore next door. There’s something wrong here. It’s clear the value we place on literature, versus fresh-cooked chicken.
4. My city is participating in the “Go Dirty for the Drought” campaign. Perfect — my car is unwashed-ready!