The shades of fall–fall back east, that is, or up in the mountains–are back on the mantle. Here in the O.C., a few blocks from the beach, yards and trees glow green. If you want to see evidence of fall, you look to the hills. The South gets hurricanes; Southern California is headed into fire season.

It’s Friday afternoon. Travis is at the beach with a friend and his mom. Brian’s out doing errands. I just worked on Starletta’s Kitchen using the timer; the timer works over and over again, no matter how long you’ve been writing. Once you set it you just can’t turn it off. You’ve got to write till it goes off on its own.

I bought a paper shredder today. TC Boyle’s novel (Talk Talk) and his words on my show–“I shred, and then I burn”–are fresh in my mind. It shreds credit cards, staples, paper. Cross-cut shreds.

Travis is shredding his workbooks from the 6th grade, now that he’s veering into 7th.