I got a haircut the other day at my wife's behest, which how I do most productive things. Left to my own devices, I wouldn't get a haircut... or wash my car, trim my toenails or brush my teeth. I float through life in a fog. Left to my own devices, I would float in a fog indefinitely. I need someone to yank me down to earth, hit me on the back of the head, wake me up from a haze that started in Berkeley and has lasted ever since. 

"You look like Jim from Taxi," the wife said. "Get a haircut. PLEASE."

This is a reference to Jim Ignatowski, a character on Taxi in the 1970s. Ignatowski was played by Christopher Lloyd, who had really wild hair. It is not a compliment to be compared to Jim Ignatowski. When I got home and walked into the kitchen with a brand-new haircut from Great Clips, the wife said - "Finally. My boyfriend's back." 

I didn't have the heart to tell her that I didn't get the haircut for her. I got it for John Friend... (read more)

asleep. I played golf twice this week, hitting the ball as badly as I have in 30 or 40 years. The last time I played golf this bad I was as what they called a "rock piler" at Woodmar Country Club in the early 1970s. Jim Romar was the golf instructor. ​

Thursday, June 13, 2024. 3:42 pm. 

It's a heavy summer rain so that means I open the garage door, pull up a chair, bring out my laptop and start typing. It's an automatic response to rumble in the sky and raindrops dancing on the driveway. It's the same sound that some of you pay to listen to every night when you go to sleep... white noise, waves on a beach, train, raindrops - subscribe now.. 

I've been off from the show for almost three weeks now. It is of course driving me crazy not to be on the radio and TV in the morning. But don't worry. I'm scheduled to come back on July 1st. I'm not sure why, but I think the right thing to do is stay away from the microphone for a whole month. I want very badly to email all of the people doing my show for me through June and tell them that I'm coming back early. But I won't.