For a metaphysical treat stop at the Big Sur Inn, which is also a haven for stray cats and dogs. Life along the South Coast is just a bed of roses, with a few thorns and nettles interspersed.

Develop an Interest in Life as you see it.

To have her here in bed with me, breathing on me, her hair in my mouth—I count that something of a miracle.

America is no place for an artist: to be an artist is to be a moral leper, an economic misfit, a social liability. A corn-fed hog enjoys a better life than a creative writer, painter or musician. To be a rabbit is better still.

Music is the can-opener of the soul.

We are dancing in the hollow of nothingness. We are one flesh, but separated like stars.

You have to write a million words before you find your voice as a writer.