People loved you in the way they knew how - and often it was not the way you knew. Or needed.

If there was one life skill everyone on the planet needed, it was the ability to think with critical objectivity

He said you were on the scene when that Laurel Canyon homicide went down.” “I’m lucky that way,” I said. “So are you two square again?” I halted, mid-ripping open the cookies, and stared at him. “Well, he’s pretty square,” I said. “I’m just a rectangular guy.” With latent triangular tendencies.

I noticed you right away." She gave me an approving look. "I like quiet, polite men. And men who wear Hugo Boss. I was hoping you weren't gay. Or that you were only half-gay. Like Paul." "Uh...sorry," I said. "It's pretty much full-time now. The pay's not great, but the perks...

Tiffs among the faggots were apparently the stuff of quiet merriment.

I thought again how odd it was to be on formal terms with someone you had once permitted to lick your ears.

I think it was Mark Twain who said, “Get your facts straight, and then you can distort them as much as you like.