September 13, 2005
Well, I heard gas has dipped down below $3 a gallon in Arizona, allegedly. But I’ve got to tell you, gas prices in Arizona have always been high. I remember icing jugs for tips in my father’s gas station on Route 66. At least ten times a day, tourists would pull in to Al Bell’s Flying A on Hilltop, on the outskirts of Kingman, Arizona, and get out, look at the pump and exclaim with disgust, “What have you got in your gas, gold?!” It was uncanny. They always thought they were being so funny, but they all had the same line. I must have heard that “gold” line a thousand times in the 1950s and sixties. The price for ethyl (prime grade) at that time was a staggering 49.9. It’s all relative, isn’t it? Seems quite quaint today.

I talked to Tomcat in NYC this morning and he’s dating exotic models (his father’s fantasy) and is thinking about getting a Phd (his mother’s fantasy). He’s also learning a thing or two about life. Here, I’ll let him tell you:

“I was talking to Xav about girls. I was explaining the situation with this girl Miriam I liked and had accepted defeat without even trying! Absurd! I called her that night and we ended up making out. Which brings me to where I'm at in life; not assuming. Assuming effects everything you do. I gotta live in Brooklyn because the market in Manhattan is impossible (not true, even for my salary). I can't get a job in NY because I'm competing with Ivy Leaguers (not true). Or the worst assumption, she's hot and all these guys like her so I don't stand a chance. In fact, in Miriams case, I stood out to her because I was more reserved and nice. How do you like that New Yorkers! HaHa!”

”You can't really be strong until you see a funny side to things.”
—Ken Kesey