Hail Caesar!

Drove down to San Diego today to attend a Memorial Reception for my late friend Dr. Michael Clark, who passed away in January at 61 years of age.

I met Michael in 1980 or 1981 through the California Young Republicans. He was a colorful character, a great story teller, always a hoot at the dinner table and he made an immediate impression on me.

I was 18 years old at the time and Michael seemed like such a bon vivant. Sometimes we found ourselves on the opposite side of the "YR wars" but Michael was always courteous and friendly to me. I like to think I learned to be that way to others from him.

And I'll never forget one dinner I had with Michael about 20 years ago when he told me of his practice of ordering Caesar's salad whenever he visited a restaurant with it on the menu. He liked to compare each restaurant's Caesar's against all the other Caesar's he'd had before. I've been ordering Caesar's salads ever since.

I saw Michael last May at Audrey Merkin's funeral in Las Vegas. It had been several years since I had seen him. And seven months later he was dead. I'm so happy I had the chance to really catch up with him last year.

When I got in my car to drive home the Dodgers vs. Padres game was in the bottom of the seventh inning. I was looking forward to listening to the final couple of innings during the drive home. But since the game ended up going seventeen innings I not only drove home, but I made three stops along the way and still got to watch the end of the game at home on TV. The Dodgers won 5 to 4.