Back home to my Barretto routines, such as they are. Fed the gals, beers at IDM and Sloppy Joe’s, then back to the house for sleep. At least I have running water again. Maybe the ambivalence I’ve been feeling is just one of those things that are part and parcel of growing older. I’ve been feeling the effects of age physically for a while now, but this dysphoria aspect is also a struggle at times. Or maybe I’ll shake it off and regain the comfort of blissful ignorance once again. Regardless, I’m in for the duration, and hopefully, I’ll avoid subjecting my faithful few readers to future posts like this one. Bear with me!

It’s odd realizing that your mind isn’t what it once was. Maybe that goes away as the mental deterioration progresses. Joe Biden certainly doesn’t appear to possess an ounce of self-awareness these days, so perhaps I’ll stop caring one day soon. I’m especially bad at remembering names these days. I see people all the time that I recognize but can’t place in a “where do I know them from?” kind of way. I can see it in my writing, too; I’ve always sucked at punctuation, but nowadays, I’m leaving out words or using the wrong word, even though I know better. Their is nothing more embarrassing than that, is they’re? That’s an intentional example, of course, but it happens with increasing frequency. As bad as what I post here may be, you would hate to see what I catch when proofreading.

On the flip side, it is bizarre that I remember obscure things like old song lyrics from records my dad played when I was a child. Today, when I saw the cartoon I posted above, I remembered back in my pothead teen years reading what we called underground comic books. My favorite was R. Crumb and one of his monk-like characters, Mr. Natural. The memory that was triggered was of the comic below:

Alright, that’s enough of this navel-gazing. I have a life to live, such as it is, and part of that life is the Monday Hash. I’m going to attempt at least part of the trail and see how the leg holds on the ups and downs of the off-road.

Speaking of hiking, I’m now on day three of my Incheon to Busan cross-country Korea trek.

Of course, I’m only vicariously doing the hike. Kevin Kim is doing all the heavy lifting. You can join in the fun, too, by following along with the journey’s progress here. Happy trails!