Sunday January 9

I feel like shite. Sheeeeeit. I went to Rojo last night and met up with Keith and Lee. I drank several vodka and cranberry drinks. Urgh.
I was going to go kayaking today but a couple of things got in the way. First, it appeared that the local river we chose (Mulberry Fork) didn't get enough water to run. So I told my friends I was going to go to the lake and practice rolling instead. Then last night I found out that the river DID get water; someone posted on alabamawhitewater.com that it was at a great level thus the online gauge is wrong (probably stuck). But by then I had already called off the run with my friends, who both confessed that they really had other stuff to do anyway. Then my contact tore in my left eye, so it's scratched a bit (it is irritated this morning and making my nose run and generally contributing to making me feel like shite). So now it's not good for me to even go roll practicing because I could get my eye infected. I dunno. It's PERFECT for rolling - the forecast is to be near 70 whereas later this coming week it will be very cold; so say the prognosticators of weather. F Word. Of course, yes, the water in the lake is cold, so I would have to wear my drytop and fuzzy rubber pants and pogies on my hands.

Stuff going on: went to look at a lead on a cave in Talladega County. We will have to go back during the summer when it's dry to really see if it's a cave or not. It's in sandstone but could have limestone underneath. All of the water from this stream disappears into this place. It was too wet to dig out yesterday. Digging is required to push the lead.

I have borderline high blood pressure. I don't have the results of my cholesterol test yet. I have to lose weight and eat less salt and be good, and maybe in 6 months when I go back to my doctor she'll decide that I don't need blood pressure medicine (she didn't put it on me yet; I am hoping not to have to take more medicine). I like writing things in parentheses. (did you notice?) So I am following the South Beach Diet Phase II and also the DASH diet. I'll link the DASH diet because I bet you haven't heard of it before. It's a diet for reducing high blood pressure. The two diets are very similar. Essentially, it's this: You Have To Cook. And use healthy ingredients. Time is the issue, the recipes are yummy but they take TIME. No throwing frozen pizzas into the oven, or calling Pizza Hut either. No white flour, no white rice, no white pasta. As a person who used to eat either white rice or white pasta EVERY NIGHT, this is a challenge. Also no fried food. None of this is particularly hard, even not binging on pasta and rice, but finding time to cook is hard. I bought a set of nice kitchen knives and a Cuisinart as Christmas gifts to myself to facilitate the cooking part.

Hmmm other stuff: I get mopey about not having kids. I have been listening to the new U2 album alot. This lady at the cave lead (one of the property owners I guess) commented that she couldn't believe how I, and Dave's wife Valerie, show the grey hair we have instead of dyeing it. I am grooving on the Cruella DeVille look, however. I think my stratocaster is not staying in tune like it should. The high E string tuner has alot of 'play' in it for any kind of adjustment. I am considering buying some instructional DVDs on guitar playing.

I was pontificating last night, fueled by vodka and cranberry juice, on the fact that artists must associate their pain with the pain of the common man (to use a cliche) or their art is not a succesful communication of anything. What I mean is that artists tend to segregate themselves, mentally, from the 'everybodies' around them. We're 'special'. We're enlightened, gifted, better. After telling yourself this drek for years there comes a time when you realize that nobody else cares about what you are 'saying' with your art, even were you to pay for a giant billboard of it, or a screeching speaker set on the top of your car. Because, think about it: great art has a UNIVERSAL ABILITY TO TOUCH EVERYONE who allows the touch, of course. How can you touch everyone when you consider yourself above everyone? I have been thinking about this alot.