Wimped Out

Did I ski? I did not. Cold, wind, wildly upset stomach — pick any two. I decided against three hours of driving for a couple of hours of very limited skiing. Stayed home anyway, though; need some time off. Desperately. Did some needed work around the house, including a massive spiderweb eradication program in the basement. Searched for our Christmas present, a new rug for the living room, but without success. We knew that wouldn’t be easy.

Recorded and started to burn a couple of albums of surf music. That Jan and Dean collection that I’ve played maybe twice in 20 years? There’s a reason. Once you get past “Dead Man’s Curve,” it’s note-for-note Beach Boys covers, and the one song they experiment with shows they were better off being slavish to the originals. Note to Jan and Dean: you can’t improve a Chuck Berry song. No one has ever done it. Just play it the way it was written.

It got real cold, real fast around here. Currently 10.9 degrees, and not expected to break 20 today. Good for the skiing, anyway.