Off the Record

Everyone is busy, driving along like we know where we’re going. In truth, all we really know is where we already left.

Walking by walking stick chollas in the rain.

While at the car service center, I noticed they had a free latte machine. So I downed two cups while watching a censored version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, found a trail behind the place, and hiked a mountain in Vans.

This is the best one. It felt like driving on another planet.

During snowbird season in the Coachella Valley, the planes stack up high in the sky above state Highway 111.

A fun little pre-dusk drive along I-40 westbound in New Mexico.

This is a sunset walk I took in Joshua Tree National Park last fall.

There’s a neighborhood bar near San Diego where everybody knows my name.

Rainfall is a special thing in the desert — especially if you live here year-round. It’s like a mild winter day in New England. Elsewhere it brings gloom. Here it elicits gratitude.

I heard just a few seconds of this song while driving through Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, skipped it because I didn’t know it, then decided to go back because it sounded promising. It was the best decision I made music-wise in 2025.