Tomorrow, Spousal Unit and I head off to a distant location for beach time... with 65 of Spousal Unit's closest relatives. It will look a lot like the painting above, except I won't wear black pantyhose and a dress to the beach, as reasonable as that sounds today as I contemplate the age-old waxing/shaving/chemical extraction-removal procedure involved in getting my hairy self into a modern swimsuit. (What is with that whole thing, anyway? Why do guys get these nice modest bathing shorts to wear -- consequently eliminating any need for removing hair from their sensitive acreage -- while we have to wear what amounts to floss for our netherregions, consequences and comfort be damned, and spend hours and big bucks to essentially sandblast our most precious parts?? Sometimes I REALLY fucking hate the patriarchy.)

But, I love the beach more than anything. Even enough to engage in the oppressive sandblasting procedures. The beach recharges me completely. It's that rhythmic wave thing, I think. And the Unit family reunion is always a blast -- despite astronomical differences in religious beliefs and political persuasions, the Units all love and respect each other so obviously it is a joy to watch and to be a part of. Plus there are like 4 or 5 really new babies to cuddle this year.

The only bummer is that I'm about 3-4 paragraphs away from being done with the first draft of my new introduction. I finally broke through that wall that was keeping me all stymied, and only have the gender significance section to go. Which feels great. I'm bringing the computer and assorted academic accessories and have told myself that I will do at least 2 hours of work each day at noon when it is too hot to be on the beach anyway. I really don't want to lose the rhythm I've got going now. I'm going to try to finish those paragraph tonight, but we're in the middle of a record heat wave, the laundry isn't done, and of course we haven't packed a damned thing even though we're leaving tomorrow. Ah, procrastination ... Ain't it grand?

So, Ta everyone. Blog you in a week or two!