Here I am at a coffee shop in L.A. It's just as i had imagined, having a toasted sesame-seed bagel, no butter, and tea, editing my book, surrounded by others writing, mostly screenplays judging by the conversations, but who knows? What I didn't imagine was how uncomfortable the chairs would be. I've been here an hour and I'm ready to bolt. Not only that, the loud-talkers at the next table . . . I can't tune them out. I am not impressed with the name-dropping. Or, maybe I am, which annoys me more than the decibels. I leave, write this in-the-moment moment back at the room. I'm used to country-quiet and my own company. I thought I would enjoy this, thought it might boost my creativity. It's wonderful in its own way, but no. I'll ride to the beach in a while, watch the surfers, the gulls, or close my eyes, think thoughts, listen.

2014

Dobie Gray