A violin plays a single note that hangs in the air. As it fades, a guitar plucks a quick rhythm. The sun rises. 

These things are not related.

I got lost in a hedge maze. It was on purpose. To get out of any hedge maze, just turn left at every junction and eventually, you will be out. Unless it's some multi-level hedge maze that has some kind of cloverleaf ramp that will lead you on to another level, and then that one will lead you back again. I'm sure some diabolical arborist has constructed something like that. Must be careful. Topiary was included in the first draft of the seven deadly sins. Then the authors all woke up to pruning shears in their beds and it was hastily removed.

Eating much less meat will help the world a little bit. Now if I could wean myself off of Amazon that would probably help the world too. And I'd end up with a lot less crap.

OnePlus is coming out with a smart watch. I might get one. I like the company. And my Garmin 235 works fine but it only buzzes once when people call me. Makes me miss calls. Which is usually just my mom, but she's sensitive to that sort of thing.

Note to self: start small business.

I don't know what's happening to me. Maybe nothing, and I'm just noticing it now? Maybe I don't feel different and that's confusing to me. I'm assuming, if I were to go mad, that I could look back at my writing and get some insight as to why. Or at least when. Maybe I feel okay because I keep dreaming of Watson the dog. I feel some guilt that I don't love my other dogs the way I loved him. If that's even the right word for it. I felt a connection to Watson, like we understood each other. 

There are people who clone their dogs, which I am not okay with. You can't clone that connection though, and it discourages me to think of people who can love their dogs so much but still miss the point of why they loved. They only know the trappings of love, but not the substance. Or maybe they do know and just don't care. I don't know. Maybe it's all those things. Maybe we all have to pretend a little anytime we love. 

It's a hell of a day. The Suez Canal is blocked by a massive container ship. I know the Suez Canal intimately, as I've played many hours of Battlefield 1 on the PS4 trying to capture it...or liberate it. Both? I forget what my objective was exactly but I assure you I was passionate about it. 

My pants are too loose. I'm at that awkward point where I'm a 34" waist but I don't want to spend money on pants. Maybe I'll swing by the thrift store. I could also look for an old suit. Maybe I'll stumble upon a tweed Norfolk suit. 

Do I even have writing advice? Sometimes I talk about stories and how they work and I think I have no idea what I'm talking about.  What are all these imaginary rules? How does this all work together? I remember Joseph Campbell's work and how he went through all the stories ever told and found patterns in the mythic tales. Then are storytellers trapped in that? I'm no master of stories over here, so I certainly don't feel constrained by the art form. 

And now I spend my time not writing much at all. I haven't read too much lately either. Must get back in the habit. I do listen to audiobooks but it's not the same process. Something different happens in my brain when I'm reading as opposed to listening. It's probably because I read so much faster than most audiobooks are. Oh, I could speed them up. Or I could create a market for it. Audiobooks Read Hella Fast. Not sped up and level-corrected, because that would still sound strange to the ear. Maybe I'll try my hand at reading Moby Dick hella fast and see how it goes. Or maybe just kinda fast. 

Now I have a fez. The tassel is interesting. Reminds me of the time I had long hair. Maybe I'll subtly pin it to the side so it's not swinging into my face. 

I'm happy with it. It's not uncomfortable. 

Plus if I'm wearing a suit, now I can throw on this fez and nobody will take me seriously. 

I was immediately tempted to buy another one. I will resist. Because it's still something I'll only wear in extremely niche situations. Plus, there's no design that really speaks to me at the moment.

Do I, at times, despair? Yes, sort of. I hold my despair like a crappy tattoo of a werewolf fighting a unicorn. It's there, it's not going anywhere, and while I can't get rid of it, it doesn't seem to be getting any worse. 

If I had a month off, I might stop taking my medication and see what happens. So very curious. 

Travel back into the psychological past.

I don't know. I'm not unhappy with my brain now. I'm just curious. Trying to remember how I used to think. Maybe it's like trying to remember when I was in really good shape. Everything was easier? I have been pushing my exercise regimen to slightly more than I feel I can handle when I noticed I wasn't struggling at the end like I used to. 

I've probably told this old army story about how I was mistakenly placed in the fastest running group "A Group!" and I'm pretty sure I was not among the fastest. Still, there I was. I managed to not "fall out" so I guess it worked out.

My knee still likes to remind me it isn't entirely happy with me from time to time. Hey, join the club, knee. Join the club.

Spent part of yesterday looking up zoning laws. Hypothetically, would I be allowed to keep a large replica of a ship in my backyard? If it were a non-permanent structure, technically a vehicle, with some sweet sails that could be flown and double as shade? 

Maybe if I called it an RV? Throw some wheels on it. Or get a trailer, license that badboy, and then build it on the trailer?

I guess I would need a work shop of some kind. Oh, and this would look like an old whaling ship, of course. Look, it's going to be fancy deck. Conceptually that the ground is the ocean and the ship is sitting submerged in the dirt. Hang out on the ship. Relax. Maybe get a giant try-pot. 

But the zoning...

There are some pretty relaxed rules about animal enclosures. Maybe if I kept a chicken in there or something...

There's no house behind us; maybe I could just buy an old ship and have a crane plop it into my backyard. Done and done. 

Now I just have to hope that no one asks me why I'm doing this...because I don't really know. I want to be able to look outside and see a ship? Perhaps upon that ship, I may spy a whale. Perhaps that whale will have a white hump, and almost certainly I will give chase. It is my nature. But unlikely, to find one singular whale amongst the vast wideness of the world.