Pardon my dust...

I'm on a bit of a mission this summer: I want to be a new person when classes resume this fall.

I've altered my diet (no soda, no deep-fried foods, no ice cream, no pizza, and generally less of everything) and started excercising regularly. After a few weeks, I'm liking it.

I tried a can of soda one week ago to see what it was like after two weeks abstinence. I couldn't finish it, it was nasty. I used to have up to two, sometimes three, bottles of that crap every day and I liked it, but after keeping away from it for long enough my sense of taste has reset itself.

Now that my taste buds aren't being maxed out on Pepsi and Mountain Dew every day, everything else tastes better. Sandwiches. Fruit. Even Tap Water. They all seem to have finally shown their hidden flavors I'd been missing thanks to that carbonated garbage. I may never consume the stuff on a regular basis, and I like that. It feels like having one less thing have control over my decisions.

There are other changes I'm bringing into my life. I bought a pair of hiking boots a few weeks ago, and I intend to use them to go hike some pastures around here. They're owned by a farmer who wants photos of his land, and I figure it'll be a chance to have some real solitude and practice my craft. For now, my feet bear the marks that come from breaking in a pair of new leather boots.

I'm tempted to liken it to taming a wild animal. You have this creature that has never known human touch but must become used to it on a permanent basis. The blisters and callouses are the marks of the fight.

It has been harder on my left foot than my right, though. I recently discovered that my right foot has a taller arch than my left and thus it is half an inch shorter. It scared the hell out of me when I noticed that, but it certainly explained the nasty broken blister on the back of my left heel. I'm thinking of taking it to a shoe shop in Aggieville where they can stretch shoes. Might get just enough to make it fit perfectly. Then no hill shall stop me.

I've also purchased a new hiking backpack and some water bottles, thanks to a gift certificate to the Pathfinder I got for my birthday. I can carry enough water, film, and gear in there to last me a whole day in the field.

Work on the novel will continue this week now that I've finished my summer course, MC 510: Germany and the Cinema of War. I have no idea when I'll get my grade. I plan on filling the time between work on chapters with excercise and such. Also, stories for the Collegian and photography. On that note, I made an order this morning for 1,000 new business cards since I'd run out of the ones I've had since last year.

I want to do a lot more bike riding now as well. I have a bike, but it's always been a piece of junk. The seat is ripped, the tires, tubes, brakes and handles need replaced, and the gears are cheap. I could fix it up, but I imagine it'll only be as bad as when I first had it, which wasn't that good. So I'm thinking of buying a new one. Wal-Mart has some decent ones for $100-$140 I'm thinking about, so we'll see.