And maybe your lovers, too. The universe gives us what we need and what we can accept.

It stings for a friend to compare you to someone you don't like.

I'm losing fat, and probably gaining muscle. Something about the way I've been training recently.

I helped set up a party in San Francisco this afternoon, in the part of the Tenderloin around 6th and Market. Despite the improvements, it's still a really sad and uncomfortable place, a basin full of broken and wounded human beings suffering from addiction and mental illness. I hate going there, partly because parking is impossible, partly because it's so damn depressing, but also because I, of all people, don't feel thoroughly safe there, even in daylight--it's not a smart thing to attack people in public places in daytime, but you can't really count on drunken homeless schizophrenics to be about criminal violence.

Dinner last night for a friend: shallots and mushrooms (oyster and crimini) sweated in ghee, turn up heat and brown chicken, add vegetable stock and some fresh basil leaves, turn heat to medium, cover and let poach until the chicken's done and everything smells good. Serve with steamed asparagus. Strawberries and fresh whipped cream for dessert.

I can still cook. We now return to your regularly-scheduled takeout menu.