Home Again

Even though I arrived back in L.A. on Sunday I haven't felt like the tour was over until today. Tuesday I drove to Palm Springs for another gig with Tyrell then drove back yesterday to do a gig with a great local drummer and pianist at a local jazz club.
It is good to be back. I was prepared for Milo to be stand-offish with me at first but both in FL and home he gave me a big hug and really made me feel missed. It's really unbelievable to watch him walk (even though he's more of a handful these days).

Taxes
Getting back home after a long tour means being thrust back in to a life you've abandoned while you were gone. At the moment this means taxes. It is SUCH A DRAG doing my taxes. If I were smart and organized I'd have a computer program that I'd update throughout the year but I'm so good at procrastinating why not wait until April and pour over forms and receipts at the last possible moment? This is what I'm faced with today. Since my income is untaxed I've owed as much as $6,000 in the past. Last year I was able to get my untaxed federal income down to $0, let's hope I can do it again.

Books
Last year I didn't read so much as I was in a sleep-deprived fog for most of the year and anytime I picked up a book I immediately fell asleep, a trait I picked up from my grandmother. But this year I've been reading quite a bit. I read Choke by Chuck Pahlaniuk (author of Fight Club) because there is a movie coming out soon. The book was good (not as good as others of his I've read) and I have no clue how its going to translate.

Afterwards I unknowingly (subconsciously?) devoured two books set in (and on some levels about) Las Vegas. I didn't realize the connection until after I had finished them. The fist is without a doubt the best book about poker I've ever read The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time. It chronicles the story of Andy Beal a Texas billionaire who wants to play the best poker players in the world at the highest stakes. What results is a coalition of lifelong poker pros battling Beal one at a time wagering literally millions of dollars PER HAND. All of the tournament poker on TV is child's play compared to the poker played here. A fantastic read.

The second was the debut novel by Joe McGuiness Jr. The Delivery Man. McGuiness is a disciple of Brett Easton Ellis and this novel is direct ape of Less Than Zero complete with a detached narrative of horrific debauchery and italicized flashbacks. Its about a group of youngsters who start a prostitution ring with high school girls and is a dark and fascinating read. (I know there are a lot Ellis haters out there including my seestah-in-law, here is a great story an interview with him.)

After ripping through all of these short books I picked up Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets a book by David Simon that begat the TV programs Homicide: Life on the streets and The Wire. Since The Wire is over I have to get my Simon fix somewhere.

Back to the taxes. Wish me luck.