The last week has been a blur: NBA draft, celebrity deaths, weird sleeping patterns, my first L.A.-based-casino poker excursion with "the guys" (fun but I should have left at 1:00am, not 3:00am), runarounds by auto mechanics, confusion surrounding a traffic ticket, too many phone calls to ignore, too much mail to not open, and my least favorite month is July and it hasn't even started yet but will very soon. But I can have dreams and wishes, right? Here are 4:

1. That the Timberwolves keep - and not trade - Ricky Rubio. There is that small part of my brain where my love of basketball intersects with my nostalgia for Minnesota. Yes, floppy-haired that 18-year old from Spain that we just got with the 5th pick is worth the wait.

2. That there is a book or a movie or an experience that can inspire me and shake me out of this goddamn fiction writer's block.

3. That clarity and peace and love and inspiration can all show up at the same time.

4. That Long Beach gets more interesting.