I’ve got a little personal project going on. I keep a journal. I have for many years. I thought it might be cool to gradually put it on computer, make it searchable. That way, when somebody says, “What year was it we all went to Gilroy for the famous garlic festival therein, and Uncle Kyle had that bad gas all the way home?” I’ll be able to find it.

I’ve started with my current journal, which goes back five years. There are more in the closet, going back maybe another ten. So far, I’ve typed in May through June of 1999.

What I’ve learned so far is that I’m not much different, in terms of my discernable emotional life, than I was then. This isn’t good news. I need to lighten up.

The garlic festival begins July 23, and runs for three days. In the mean time, there’s Santa Barbara’s annual Solstice. Maybe I’ll go as a guy who didn’t just stumble out of a Chekov play.