Saltwater, Days 1-2

End of day 2 on Hilton Head island. Weather's good, still a little in the pre-season, water's a bit cold and the breeze is somewhat chilly, but the sun's bright. I am now even darker than I already was. The sea here is a murky green. Most of the people here appear to be either over the age of 55 or under 15. Also, there are probably less than half a dozen non-white people here, and I am one of them. In the day they're sprawled on the beach and off to the south as far as the horizon; the beach is outfitted with beach umbrellas and beach bikes for the express indulgence. You can find some less populated stretches of shore about a mile or so to the north. The poolside bar expects $14.50 for your first cocktail and $8 for refills. We stick to our stock of Yuenglings and Natty Bohs. All this, of course, is very strange to me.

Still it's not so bad. For some reason I enjoy the sight of people outlined against the seamless sheet of sea and sky. Like small human-shaped holes cut from a huge blue canvas revealing an under-layer composed solely of flabby skin and tacky swimsuit colors. I also like how the waves wash the sand out from under my feet if I stand in the tide for a few minutes. In day I read a lot of Auden. At night we walk along the surf with our pant cuffs rolled up and cans of beer. The stars are so bright out over the ocean; this is possibly the first time I've ever seen Scorpio and recognized it. Dad was a Scorpio.

I have decided to play two games with myself this week. The first is not to shave. If it looks bad, only these kids here will see it, and they're stuck with it. The second is not to wear socks. I succeed by wearing only my Tevas and Converse sans socks. I'm all for socks and closed-toe shoes normally; this actually doesn't feel too bad if I don't walk around for long. Such are the things that occupy my mind this utterly complacent week.

Started working on a song last night because when you get Diamond and I in a room we start competing to make music. I can never win these things. Anyway, the song is mostly done now, I believe, I just need to get home and layer some fingerstyle guitar and vocals(!) over it. It samples from all over the place, but you wouldn't know it to hear it. I preempt copyright infringement with time stretching, pitch shifting, and gratuitous amounts of digital distortion.