My annual physical is scheduled for ten. If I were smart I'd make a list of the questions I've thought I'd like to bring up with the doctor to be sure they're covered. But I won't. I never do. There are only one or two things I've in mind this time and I'll remember them this time when I'm there in an hour. I will. No sympathy if I drop the ball, it's been a bad habit of mine in a life of bad habits when talking and listening to doctors. They say let's cut and I say go ahead and cut. They ask what's up and I do my best without a list to remember. It's a surprise I'm still alive.

Are we depressed?

The sun is out and we're doing fine. Gallows humor is, after all, still humor. A doctor's appointment this morning and a haircut tomorrow morning, more than enough on my plate to say the week will be busy and productive.

Time to stop.

Later. An easy drive over to the doctor's office for the physical, an easy drive back. Nothing to report, although I learned my height is now five feet, nine and three-quarters inches when, in my younger years, it was exactly six feet. Two and a quarter inches of shrinkage in what? The last decade? The last whatever? Such (I guess) is life.

The shorter I then turned around and took a bus downtown to pick up a prescription that's been hanging now for a week, as well as picking up a bus pass at the transit office. A return bus then to the morning café for lunch: a patty melt (no onions), ice cream and lemonade. I'd had my fill of coffee earlier at the City Center while waiting for another bus.

Pretty strenuous morning I'd have to say. Maybe you should now think of a nap, wipe your brow, cool your jets.

Now, now. At least I remembered the questions I wanted to ask. One of the answers will now waiting on a visit to the lab next week when I go in for my monthly Protime test.

A stream of ragged clouds has been moving overhead, coming in from the west with plenty of gaps for the sun, so the day is starting well. Feel pretty good. I think we'll go through the guitar lesson from beginning to end as many times as we can with the music the rest of the day, see if we haven't made progress.

The fret movements are getting smoother and I'm more often hitting the right notes. I've found it's always good to press the fingers on the right strings and frets if you want people to listen (for more than a minute). Some say you also need to stay on the beat, but we'll deal with the more esoteric stuff when we come to it.

Evening. A Maigret at six. I've seen it before, but watching it makes you sit in front of the screen to read the subtitles and that encourages the guitar, so the practice I got in before six is now added to the hour or so I've gotten watching Maigret and I can give myself a kiss and another gold star.

You wanted to watch it anyway, don't credit the guitar.

Well.

The Moyers & Company program I've mentioned that I've seen twice now over the weekend was on again after Maigret and so I listened to it (for not quite a third time) while working on the Fruitvale Dia de los Muertos section for artandlife, preparing it to receive the photographs that will be coming from the festival running this coming weekend. Better to prepare ahead of time, cuts down the preparation time required after the festival is over (and it gives me an excuse to put down the guitar and play with pictures).

Ha!

Just kidding. I've gotten in quite a bit of practice today and I feel I'm on a roll.