— Month of May workout totals: Swim-0; Bike-6; Run-1; Lift-0; Yoga-0<\/p>\n
— Unimpressed by my exercise stats, I have to remind myself that it\u2019s a big improvement over my uncharacteristically sedentary April, and that my workout log doesn’t include things like hauling truckloads of crumbled blacktop out to the asphalt plant. Well, I\u2019m still blessed with excellent health, my weight is under 160, and I\u2019ve got a 17.4 bmi. With everything going on around me, I have to be very, very thankful for that. So, now that it\u2019s summer, it\u2019s time to ratchet up the physical activity and get in shape. Muscle Club, anyone?<\/p>\n
— If you aren\u2019t reading Peat\u2019s European journal, you\u2019re really missing out. She calls it \u201cThe End of Fear is Where We Begin<\/a>,\u201d and it\u2019s classic Peat. Her smile shines right through every word on the screen. And how about that KK? Can\u2019t wait to see the BIG BLADE<\/a>!<\/p>\n — On a recent solo trip to Louisville and back, I finally broke into the \u201cZero Hour<\/a>\u201d tapes that Joan loaned me a long time ago. Who knew at the time that Rod Serling had hosted radio dramas for talents like Jessica Walter, Richard Crenna, Keenan Wynn, Joseph Campenella, Brock Peters, and Earl Holliman? Apparently, over 55 hours of drama were produced, and, like so many things these days, it\u2019s also available on CDs or as MP3 files. I still don’t mind listening to audio cassettes, but, come to think of it, if I don\u2019t copy my tape of Heston reading the Psalms I\u2019m likely to wear it out before long. <\/p>\n — I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever been this excited about an upcoming Brass Band Festival weekend, but I\u2019ve never been the featured artist before. It helps to be enormously pleased with how my highly visible contributions turned out. I can go into the whole thing knowing that it\u2019s my best effort on display. On the other hand, I seem to be feeling more and more awkward being in a position to take credit for things that come from the Source of all constructive influence, creativity, imagination, and beauty. I feel like I\u2019m merely the object of good fortune, and, at the same time, I know well the moments of struggle<\/a>, and the \u201cmeans\u201d it took to find my way over obstacles I wasn\u2019t sure I could surmount. I well remember Danny D<\/a>\u2019s remark to me that \u201cGod doesn’t write songs or make movies.\u201d Sorting all this out is why I continue to do it, I suppose, but it\u2019s a bit of a roller-coaster at times. It felt like I could finally catch my breath this week, with Mombo home from the hospital, and supervision of the poster printing behind me. Some kind of balance has returned to daily life, deadlines are being met, and the outlook in the studio hasn\u2019t been this bright for many, many moons. I\u2019m not saying that Graybeard<\/a> is dancing around his campfire, mind you. Things could always be better, but the worst is definitely in the past. In other words, I shouldn\u2019t need to sell any more mediocre cartoons to a nephew any time soon. And I\u2019m writing this with a calm heart, even though I didn\u2019t sell a single collage from my KOSMOS exhibition. Well, enough of that. Onward and upward, as they say.<\/p>\n